Former WWE Diva and 7-time Women’s Champion, Trish Stratus had an interview with The Wrestler magazine and had the following to say about Melina:
On the “next” Trish: “When I saw Melina debut with M-N-M, I remember thinking that was the new T&A. But she was so much sexier than me, when she came in with that split! I was like, ‘Damn, that is hot!’”
You were heavily involved in the previous generation of Divas, and then you were still around for the newer stars such as Mickie James & Melina. Who were some of the women you thought had a lot of progress?
Melina reminded me of myself because she started as a valet, which gave her the time to develop her character and transition to wrestling. When I saw Melina debut with MNM, I remember thinking that was the new T&A. But she was much sexier than me, when she came in with that split! I was like “Damn, that is hot!”From T&A to MNM- they didn’t go far did they?
I’ve been waiting for Melina to develop, and I have no doubt that she will- but she’s had back luck along the way. Just as her momentum gets going, injuries take her out. She’s called me for advice and visited me in Toronto a couple of times, and we’ve done yoga together. If you’ve noticed, she’s integrated the Ma-Trish – my back-bridge ducking maneuver- into her repertoire. I derived that from my yoga.