Melissa Coates was one of the most photographed women in professional bodybuilding, and reached top 10 in the world status before making the decision to go into pro wrestling. Although not under contract, Coates trained in the WWE development system at OVW and Deep South. She is currently a featured performer with NWA Anarchy.

Q: I wanted to ask you about your family background. In your bio, you said the rest of your family was pretty conventional.
Coates: I’m from Thunder Bay, Ontario. My father was a doctor. My mom was a nurse, and she was also an amateur actress, which is probably where I got some of performing interest from. My two brothers are doctors. My sister has written a few books, but she’s actually more of a social worker now. She also studied philosophy. I also went to school and got degree in Biology. I just ended up enjoying weightlifting and started doing powerlifting, and from there it progressed. I played a lot of sports when I was younger. I really loved tennis. At the time, the person I most looked up to was Martina Navratilova because of her muscular build, so I actually started using weights to train for tennis and I developed really easily, and it just kind of went from there. I have my college degree. I can fall back on it, I suppose, but I just enjoy sports. I’m the best athlete in my family. That’s what I enjoy, and lucky for me, I’ve had some success doing it. Read more »

TNA will be crowning their first ever Women’s Champion in a 10-women gauntlet match at their annual Bound For Glory pay-per-view next month in Atlanta.

Jim Cornette noted that the match would feature “five girls you know” and “five girls you don’t know.” Christy Hemme, Gail Kim, Ms. Brooks, Jackie Moore and Roxxi Laveaux are pretty much locks to appear in the match.

According to WrestlingInc.com, the five other names contacted and likely booked for the match include Northeast women’s wrestler Talia Madison, former ECW Diva Shelly “Ariel” Martinez, ODB (who regularly appears on OVW shows, but is without a WWE developmental contract), Angel Williams, and international women’s wrestler Amazing Kong. According to WrestlingInc.com, Talia Madison and Shelly “Ariel” Martinez have been 100% confirmed to appear in the match.

The girl who seems to have the best chance at securing a permanent spot in the company is Martinez because TNA is already thinking about using her as a valet for LAX or James Mitchell’s group. Also, TNA is very interested in using Angel Williams and also feel that Amazing Kong would be make for a great addition to the company.

Other names being tossed around for the women’s division/gauntlet match include April Hunter, Sarah Stock and So Cal Val. Val would probably only be used as a backup in case someone can’t make it. Sarah Stock is a pretty girl that works under the name “Dark Angel” for CMLL in Mexico. WrestlingInc.com is reporting that TNA would like to bring her in for the women’s division, but there could be a hold-up due to the transportation costs if she chooses stay in Mexico City.

It should be noted that no one has been signed to a contract as of yet, just contacted and possibly booked. The gauntlet match will be a “tryout match” of sorts for the five uncontracted ladies. Depending on how things go during the match, the girls who put on the best performances will likely be offered contracts.

Late last week, we reported that the legendary Sensational Sherri had passed away.

After a lengthy investigation, detectives have announced that it is “not a natural death”. Foul play is not suspected at the time. Toxicology tests are currently being run to determine the cause of death.

We’ve also learned that prior to her death, Sherri was working on an autobiography.

Upon hearing about Sherri’s death, the WWE front office had discussions about ending the Vince McMahon Death storyline early, but the final decision was to keep it going. Management also made the decision to cover Sherri’s death on the website and keep it off TV. The reason for keeping it off TV was because Kevin Dunn did not want it to interfere with the McMahon storyline.

Several of the agents are friends with Sherri, so they lobbied hard to get Dunn to change his mind. Michael Hayes, who currently is one of the bigger voices in the back, was able to convince Dunn to change his mind, which is why you saw the quick tribute to Sherri on TV.

On a side note, head Raw writer Brian Gewirtz fought pretty hard to prevent this from happening. He was more concerned with a storyline than he was with doing a tribute to someone who had given so much to the business. That’s pretty disgusting.

We’ll have more on the story as it develops.

The following was posted on WWE.com today. The staff of Women’s Wrestling Xposed would like to take this opportunity to send our condolences to the family and friends of Ms. Martel. She was truly a legend in this sport, and she will be deeply missed.

WWE is saddened to learn of the death of WWE Hall of Famer “Sensational” Sherri. She was 49.

Sherri was enshrined in the WWE Hall of Fame in 2006. “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase was her presenter.

We are headed toward a big weekend for many of the SHIMMER competitors around the wrestling world.

Boston native NIKKI ROXX gets her second opportunity to appear for Ring of Honor this Friday night, 5/11, at the Connecticut Expo Center (265 Reverend Moody Overpass) in Hartford, CT. Nikki will be in action against DAIZEE HAZE.

Also on Friday night, new NWA World Women’s Champion and current AWA World Women’s Champion AMAZING KONG returns to the midwest for Fight Sports Midwest at Camelot Sportsplex (5201 US Hwy 6) in Portage, IN. Kong faces ANN BROOKSTONE on FSM’s “Chapter Two” event. Also on the card are Alex Shelley, Low Ki, Joey Mercury, Marty Jannetty, and more.

On Saturday night, 5/12, is a huge evening for the ROH’s Women of Honor, as the company films its first pay-per-view at the Manhattan Center (311 West 34th Street) in New York, NY! The event, titled “Respect Is Earned,” will air on pay-per-view during the month of July.

This Sunday, 5/13, will see Inoki Sports Management present a live event at the Inoki USA Dojo (1557 Esperanza Street) in Los Angeles, CA. Featured on the card is an AWA World Women’s Title bout between champion AMAZING KONG and challenger NANAE TAKAHASHI of Pro Wrestling SUN in Japan. Also in for the event from Pro Wrestling SUN is SAKI MAEMURA, who will be taking on CHEERLEADER MELISSA on the show. Masato Tanaka is among those also appearing on the card.

If you’re in the vicinity of any of these events this weekend, come out and show your support!