INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines - Put a sweating, scantily clad woman in front of a packed, testosterone-reeking audience and there’s bound to be a feminist group not far behind, decrying yet another example of the exploitation of the fairer sex—a scene familiar even during beauty contests.

But what happens on top a wrestling ring—however staged—is far from a beauty contest.

Ask 30-year-old female professional wrestler and reigning WWE women’s champion Melina (Melina Nava Perez in real life), who has had to go through bumps and bruises to fulfill a dream of being able to perform in a male-dominated industry.

“I really had to fight much harder so people would respect me,” she told the Inquirer during an early morning overseas phone conversation.

For people outside WWE’s cult following, the introduction of the Divas—female wrestlers—into the “sport” looked more like an exploitative maneuver to further reel in more male fans.

But Melina’s story shreds that argument. The Los Angeles native who once modeled for a sporting apparel giant actually enrolled in The School of Hard Knocks in San Bernardino, California, to hone her professional wrestling skills.

“I loved wrestling [as a kid],” said Melina, giggling as she jokingly recounted that watching wrestling on TV with her brother was the “only time he didn’t beat me up.

“But I got more into it when I met my first boyfriend. We were so into it and we would just watch every single wrestling show we could.”

Now, Melina has the chance to showcase her stunts—including her famous split entrance—in front of the Filipino audience when she joins fellow wrestling superstars Jeff Hardy, Edge, CM Punk, and others for the WWE SmackDown and ECW Live Tour on July 10 at the Araneta Coliseum.

And she is secure in the knowledge that she won’t be coming for the wrong reasons.

“We’re not just girls who go out there [in skimpy clothes],” she said. “I have a lot of respect for what we do.

“We’re smart, sexy and athletic,” she added, with a girlish laugh that belies the fact that she performs muscle-ripping stunts like the diving double knee drop, the Divastator (a roundhouse kick) and the Extreme Makeover (a diving, spinning face-buster).

And you can trust her when she says she doesn’t feel exploited by the show—even if one of her earliest appearances in the WWE was a Bra and Panties match, where the winner is the one who strips her opponent to her underwear.

After all, this is also the same diva who spurned a popular men’s magazine’s request to pose nude, even if it had become a fad for her fellow female wrestling stars.

“I wouldn’t put myself out there if I feel like I am being exploited,” she said.