Reported by Adam Martin of WrestleView.com
On Monday, August 21, 2006 at 2:28 PM EST

The following was transcribed by Victoria Lee of wrestlingweekly.com:

After airing Rhino's TNA Press Conference last week, Wrestling Weekly welcomed live guests Cheerleader Melissa and Kevin Kelly to the show on 8/15! Since we couldn't reach Kevin until later in the night, Melissa was our first guest, and she had plenty to discuss with Doc and Les.

As Melissa fans may already know, Melissa is a second-generation wrestler, being brought into the wrestling world early by her father, WWF's Doug Anderson. But Melissa is also former WWF referee Billy Anderson's niece. Wrestling is all in the family for Melissa.

Speaking of Melissa's wrestling family, she said that her father's health is "doing fine", and noted that he recently got married and moved to Oregon.

Melissa discussed Japanese wrestler Mariko Yoshida, who she wrestled in a Cauliflower Alley elimination match in 2004. Mariko was the main trainer in Tokyo, where Melissa lived and trained for four months. Even after 18 years in the industry, Mariko still loves learning.

Melissa often hangs with Mariko when in Japan. Not only is she a great gal, but she understands English enough to help Melissa through the language barrier when she's working in Japan. Melissa can speak a little Japanese, though. She knew how to order a beer in Japanese - per request of a member of the Wrestling Weekly chat room - but she didn't know how to order one for Doc.

Melissa was asked if she has experienced any sexism or sexual harassment in her career. She has come up against some of this, and we all know it's out there. In Melissa's opinion, wrestling is definitely a male-dominated sport. In the places Melissa frequents, gender equality is the norm, so it can be a culture shock when she works a place that treats women differently. Melissa feels that sexism in wrestling is wrong, and that women need to pay their dues just like men do. It took Melissa a few years, though, to make her name and be able to put her foot down about the issue.

Melissa praised Jazz's work, saying that she has "great aggression," and that her intensity just when entering the ring is enough to scare ya.

Melissa also discussed Daizee Haze, saying, "don't let her size fool you." Daizee is tough, and has one painful dropkick off the top turnbuckle.

From the chat room, Melissa was asked which WWE Diva she would "most like to kick in the head." Melissa said Mickie James could use a good swift kick in the noggin.

Melissa said that her favorite worker in WWE is Finlay, and that she would like to be the "female version" of him.

Doc asked Melissa where the "Cheerleader" part of her name came from, since he never really seen her play a cheerleader. One of her first wrestling giga was as a valet for the Canadian tag team The Ballard Brothers. The Ballard Brothers' gimmick was an imitation of the movie "Slap Shot" (which Doc noted was also the inspiration for The Dudley Boyz' gimmick). While there are no cheerleaders in hockey , the Ballards wanted a "cheerleader" valet, and Melissa happened to be in the right place at the right time. Melissa noted that she and the Ballard Brothers were initially based out of southern California, but moved north for All-Pro Wrestling, an organization Melissa praised highly.

Finally, Melissa said that, while she does like TNA, she would rather work for WWE. TNA may be setting a little bit of ground work for a women's division, but they are nowhere near establishing one. Melissa doesn't want to go to WWE if they're going to give her some stupid gimmick, though. She plans to keep working and improving on the indy scene until she builds enough of a name that WWE will want to use her as she is.

Melissa also discussed SHIMMER, MsChif, her next return to Japan, and more about Mariko Yoshida. Melissa also noted that her birthday was this August 17th. A big fat "happy birthday" to you, Melissa! Doc, the nice guy that he is, mentioned later in the show that Wrestling Weekly's Publicist/Senior News Editor/"To the Mat" Columnist, Victoria Lee, also has a birthday in her family this week. August 20th is the birthday of her mother, known to readers as "D'Ma." Another "happy birthday" to D'Ma!

Check out www.wrestlingweekly.com to hear the show in it's entirety.

Our final guest of the evening was Kevin Kelly, who reminisced with Les about the days when wrestling was wrestling, and you didn't have to read a script to build a feud. This was the way Les taught Kevin, and the way Kevin is going to run his upcoming training session with Bob Evans in Rhode Island. Kevin feels that, if he doesn't pass on the knowledge taught to him by Les and his other peers, Hopefully, this form of wrestling will one day reign supreme once again.

Kevin talked about one of his favorite experiences in wrestling, which happened very recently. Kevin and Charlie Haas had the opportunity to sit at a table with Les Thatcher, Dr. Tom Prichard, Terry Taylor, Jerry Lynn, Jim Cornette, and "Cowboy" Bill Watts as they discussed wrestling. Kevin and Charlie were just in awe of the knowledge and experience surrounding the table. Kevin said that the love these men had for wrestling was still there, and noted that the love of the business is something that is missing from WWE these days.

Kevin laughed as he told Doc and Les about friends of his who talk about wrestling "not being like the good old days" of - get this! - '97 and '98!

People talk about Superstar Billy Graham being a great interview, but Kevin said that Blackjack Mulligan (and this time, I KNOW he said "Mulligan"!) is "amazing" and that he could "command the audience" like no other. He got this special glint in his eye when he did an interview that Kevin loved. Kevin said, "you [could] tell that he's been in a lot of fights." He spoke with such passion that you would believe every word he said.

Kevin said that he hopes - being an unrelenting optimist - that WWE won't script Ric Flair and Mick Foley for their match at Summerslam this Sunday, August 20th. Les said that, even though one guy is in his 50s and the other is in his 40s with the body of a 90-year old, they could steal the show if they aren't scripted because they're just that good. Kevin pointed out that the Ric Flair v. Terry Funk match that has been used as a point of reference in this storyline wasn't scripted, and wouldn't have been as good if it was. Kevin agreed, and noted that the reason WCW stopped doing Legends matches was because the older wrestlers were actually outshining the younger guys WCW was trying to push.

It was a shame when we had to say goodbye to Kevin, but Doc and Les promised Kevin another interview next month. Stay tuned for the second book in this wrestling encyclopedia!

Wrestling Weekly is a part of the Wrestling Radio Network at www.wrestlingradionetwork.com, with replays also available at www.audiowrestling.com. The Wrestling Weekly radio program featuring Doc Young and Les Thatcher can be heard every Tuesday from 8:00-10:00pm EST at www.wrestlingweekly.com.