101 Shocking Wrestling Plans You Won't Believe Almost Happened
41. Melina Is Actually A Drag Queen
It's unreal they even considered this.
In December 2005, Melina tried to disarm Batista by seducing 'The Animal' in his locker room on SmackDown. Her play was that distracting Dave would cause him to call off a planned tag title shot with Rey Mysterio vs. MNM duo Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury. It didn't work - Batista had a fling with Melina then went for the gold anyway.
Retaliating, Melina and MNM claimed that the main-eventer had forced himself on her (which WWE's own footage proved was false), and they vowed justice. Here's where things get truly shocking: WWE nearly scripted Melina to come out as a man in drag, not the Diva she'd claimed to be.
Again, and typically for pro wrestling, it's an impossible thought to envision WWE bosses (including Vince McMahon) handling any of this with grace. It's said that none other than Stephanie McMahon stepped in and put the brakes on this storyline, because she feared that it'd potentially ruin Melina's career and be something she'd never be able to put in the rearview mirror.
That's probably accurate. One can only imagine the trolling chants that would've followed Perez once her time with MNM was finished and she was breaking out as a singles star in the women's division. Steph spotted that a mile off, so she cancelled the drag queen direction with one stroke of her pen.
Compare how innocent Liv Morgan's seduction of Danhausen was in 2026 for evidence of how much WWE has changed in 20-ish years.