27 Wrestlers Who Have Died In 2021

9. Melissa Coates

Melissa Coates
NWA Anarchy

A bodybuilder and featured player on the Extreme Dodgeball gameshow, Melissa Coates was trained by Killer Kowalski before having a couple of years in WWE's development territories of OVW and Deep South Wrestling. She would also make an appearance at WWE Backlash 2005, famously being put in the Master Lock as part of Chris Masters' Master Lock Challenge.

Coates would work for NWA Anarchy, Women Superstars Uncensored, Funking Conservatory and more once she hit the independent circuit, and 2014 would see her start managing Sabu under her Super Genie moniker.

Melissa sadly passed away on 23 June, five days after her 50th birthday.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer and Presenter, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund and Eli Roth to Kevin Smith and the Russo Brothers, to Kevin Conroy and Frank Miller, to Bret Hart and Sting, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, and Brian Flynn, to many, many more. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is a long-standing season ticket holder and an FSA Award-winner for his time co-hosting the Fearless in Devotion podcast.