The Art of Wrestling with Colt Cabana
Episode 275 – Cheerleader Melissa
Airdate: November 5, 2015
DIRECT LINK TO LISTEN/DOWNLOAD
Report by Chris Davidson
HOT TOPICS
– Cheerleader Melissa talks wrestling around the world
– Colt Cabana and Chris Hero talk about their current Japan run
EPISODE TIMESTAMPS
0:00 – Introduction
10:30 – Song of the week
16:34 – Cheerleader Melissa Interview
21:10 – Melissa talks growing up athletic
32:21 – Melissa talks wrestling training
44:14 – Melissa talks early bookings and touring the world
1:05:58 – Melissa talks current work
1:08:10 – Colt wraps up the show
1:11:58 – Bonus Clip: Colt tries to break a chair
EPISODE SUMMARY
0:00 – Introduction – Colt Cabana opened the show from Japan, joking that he is not a Japanese speaker, and isn’t even fluent in English. Chris Hero joined Colt for the introduction, and they joked about the small bedrooms in Japan and talked about this week’s guest, Cheerleader Melissa, having a gimmick that doesn’t quite fit her personality. Colt and Hero joked about wrestling with fake versions of famous wrestlers and Hero brought up a Juggalo Championship Wrestling angle where some wrestlers had to become Doink the Clown. Colt and Hero talked about touring the world and wrestling training. Colt told a story from a Pro Wrestling NOAH match where he saw a baby fall to the ground in the first row and no one seemed to care, except for someone who went to replace the chair. Hero closed out the segment joking about Super Crazy.
13:20 – Song of the week – The song of the week this week is “Red Tarps and Green Burritos” by Shark Week.
16:34 – Cheerleader Melissa Interview – The interview opened with Colt’s chair popping and Melissa talking about almost breaking a chair at a SHIMMER show. Colt told Melissa that he hadn’t asked her to be on the podcast before because he heard rumors that she didn’t do podcasts, and Melissa said she is very selective of podcasts, but is glad to be on the Art of Wrestling. Colt mentioned that he doesn’t have a lot of women on the show, likely because he doesn’t have a lot of women wrestlers as close friends, and asked if Melissa felt she had a disproportionate amount of male wrestling friends. Melissa talked about Shimmer and how successful women’s wrestling can be.
21:10 – Melissa talks growing up athletic – Melissa talked about wrestling being male-dominated, and being told that she needs to be in beginner classes because she is a woman, despite being a hard working pro. Melissa wrestled on her high school wrestling team with four other girls. Melissa talked about the women in her family playing sports, including football in high school, and about playing piano growing up. Melissa thinks women go into amateur wrestling because they are aggressive, which she admitted to being. Colt praised Melissa for taking wrestling seriously, as he has met a lot of “girly-girls” who don’t take it too seriously, which bothers him. Melissa noted that growing up watching WWE Divas on TV, she wanted to move more like the men and be a good wrestler. Melissa gushed over Rick Martel’s execution and movements in the ring, and wanted to wrestle as well as he did. Melissa said Shimmer was where she found a group of like-minded women who had a similar drive.
32:21 – Melissa talks wrestling training – Melissa brought up her first time working for All Pro Wrestling, as a manager, and seeing great wrestlers that had only been in the ring for a short time. Melissa decided to move from Los Angeles to San Francisco to train with All Pro, since she thought they had exceptional training. Melissa graduated high school early and moved to San Francisco with little money. Colt brought up Melissa’s wrestling pedigree, with her dad and uncle both wrestling in the 1980s as the Famous Andersons and a lot of the wrestlers would film promos in her backyard. Melissa talked about knowing Louie Spicolli and whenever WWF would come to town, her uncle would do their ring announcing and she would meet wrestlers such as Bo Beverly, Marty Jannetty, and Crush. Melissa started training when her dad reconnected with her uncle, who by then had a wrestling school. Melissa’s dad would get mad at other wrestlers who “babied” her, because he didn’t want her to get special treatment to see if she’d stick with wrestling.
44:14 – Melissa talks early bookings and touring the world – Melissa said the Cheerleader gimmick came up without her wanting it, since she hated cheerleaders in high school, and now she’s stuck with it. She then talked about her first booking, which was against Lexie Fyfe. Melissa got her first contract to Japan at 19, based on being watched in a training session. Melissa spoke about the “tough love” in Japanese training, and how wrestling in Japan has helped her develop as a wrestler because of her experience as a young girl. Melissa told a story about Brian Kendrick in Japan as “Leonardo Spanky,” which was basically Leonardo DiCaprio’s character from “Titanic,” that was very hot in Japan. She also talked about a costume she wore in Japan that she felt made her look like a grandma, but she got over just for showing up. Melissa and Colt talked about various promotions and shows in Japan and Mexico. Melissa said her most random booking was a match for New Japan in Taiwan with all men, where she had to share the locker room with them. Melissa said she met Nelson Frasier (Big Daddy V) in Taiwan, and they got very close prior to his death. Colt and Melissa discussed deaths of wrestlers impacting them, and how hard it is to lose a friend.
1:05:58 – Melissa talks current work – Colt started to wrap up the interview with Melissa plugging ClickWrestle, a wrestling video site. She also plugged World Wonder Ring Stardom, her current promotion. Colt thanked Melissa, and wrapped up the interview.
1:08:10 – Colt wraps up the show – Colt said this was the last episode while he’s in Japan. Before signing off, Colt complained about the heating in his room in Japan. Colt also talked about the WWE show “Breaking Ground” and poked fun at Triple H in “Breaking Ground” saying he struggled for years on the independents. Colt thanked his fans, Melissa, and his sponsors, plugged his upcoming appearances and signed off.
1:11:58 – Bonus Clip: Colt tries to break a chair – Colt contemplates breaking his chair, but decides against it.
OVERALL SCORE
6.5: Cheerleader Melissa brings a welcome female presence to the Art of Wrestling, and she and Colt clearly have a friendship, making this episode another in a long line of easy to listen to episodes. Melissa didn’t get too deep on any one topic, and while her story is interesting, there weren’t any major or breaking stories to be shared. Colt clearly banked this episode to be released while he was in Japan, so it focused more on Melissa’s past than what she’s currently doing. Fan’s of Cheerleader Melissa or women’s wrestling will enjoy it, but for the casual fan looking for big names or big revelations, it’s an episode that can be skipped.
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