Melina Perez on Bullying and Relationships in WWE

I still remember the screeches. Melina Perez was one of the bright spots in a pretty dark time for women’s wrestling. She was quite the athlete and offered quite the balance of looks and in-ring abilities but there was always another side. Her backstage issues caused her some problems and now she seems to be out of the business for the most part. However, it seems that she’s not completely over some parts of it.

Perez was recently interviewed by the “Huffington Post” with the primary focus being on dealing with bullying in the company. The interview talks about how fans didn’t seem to get the difference between her character and her personal life, as well as her relationships in wrestling. Here are a few highlights:

On Her WWE Experience:

“I talk to people now, and they thought I was so confident. I was doing all this awesome stuff onstage, and they didn’t realize I was going through so much loneliness and hurt backstage. It was like high school.”

On Relationships With Fellow Wrestlers

“I had actual relationships — I got shamed for getting another boyfriend, and I was just trying to find love. People shame women, but then you see all these guys, and they can do whatever they want. That isn’t just in wrestling, that is life. This is the way women are seen now in general.”

And On Her One Off Appearance with Lucha Underground

“That’s how much I did not want to go back into wrestling,” she stated. It proved to be the right choice though. The audience was so amazing, and I remembered how much I loved wrestling and being a character only I can be. I know I hold onto bad stuff, and I was trying to recover from traumas, but I missed it.”

Opinion: The recent events between Ranallo and Layfield show that there’s a lot more to this bullying issue than you could ever guess from the surface. It’s been a problem for years now and I can’t imagine that’s going to change anytime soon. The more of a spotlight that is put on it, the more likely something about it is going to change.