Melissa Coates
Wrestler
Wrestler and bodybuilder known for the work she did with World Wrestling Entertainment's Ohio Valley Wrestling and Deep South Wrestling. She starred in Extreme Dodgeball for the show's first two seasons. She went on to wrestle for independent circuits, and she eventually went into fitness modeling. In 2020, she developed blood clots and underwent life-saving surgery to amputate her left leg above the knee.
She was inspired by Martina Navratilova and originally trained as a tennis player. She took up weightlifting at the age of 15 in hopes of improving her endurance on the tennis court. She entered her first tennis competition in 1984 but switched to bodybuilding by 1991.
She earned a bachelor's of science in biology from Lakehead University. She aspired to be a veterinarian.
Her mother was a nurse, as well as an amateur actress and body builder. Her father was a doctor. She had a brother and two sisters, and she was the baby of the family.
Lisa Marie Varon is another bodybuilder-turned-wrestler who performed with WWE.