Cheerleader Melissa

Anderson's father wrestled professionally in the early 1980s.

Growing up she became a fan of her father's work and began showing an aptitude for sports, particularly soccer, as well as joining Palmdale High School's athletics and amateur wrestling team as one of only four girls.

When only 15, she had already become involved in the wrestling business, traveling to San Bernardino frequently to train in and work for the wrestling school of Billy Anderson, her father's former tag team partner, as well as involving herself in the running of things and before long she made her debut front of stage.

Despite touring so young, Anderson still studied and gained her high school diploma largely through the help of e-mailing teachers; she also credits the Internet for helping her become famous while only wrestling in front of small crowds.

While training at Billy Anderson's school, she met the Ballard Brothers (Shannon and Shane) who were using the gimmick of hockey players, similar to the Hanson Brothers from the film Slap Shot.

They were looking for a valet and due to their sporting gimmick, Anderson took on the role of a heel and the gimmick of a cheerleader.

They toured the West Coast, mostly appearing with All Pro Wrestling (APW) where she would interfere in matches, often using high-flying moves.

As Cheerleader Melissa she also received training from Christopher Daniels for a short period of time before moving on to APW where she trained under the tutelage of Robert Thompson and "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson.

Melissa Anderson (born August 17, 1982) is an American professional wrestler, better known by her ring name Cheerleader Melissa.

She is best known for her work in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where she worked as Alissa Flash and Raisha Saeed.

She is currently performing on the independent circuit for promotions such as Shimmer Women Athletes, where she is a former two-time Shimmer Champion.

In 2001, she entered into Ultimate Pro Wrestling and lost a tag team match alongside Looney Lane which led to a feud between the two.

The first loss in the tag team match would be her only one with the company as she went on to win a grudge match between the two followed by a succession of mixed tag matches, first with Shannon Ballard and then alongside both Ballard Brothers, beating Lane and Frankie Kazarian in the mixed tag team match as well as Nova in the final six-person intergender tag match.

The following year, in the summer of 2002, Anderson was personally invited to wrestle and train for three months in Japan for the promotion Arsion.

She was selected alongside Taylor Matheny who had recently received exposure in World Wrestling Entertainment's Tough Enough program, and thus Anderson received much internet attention by association.

Among the rigorous training schedule she wrestled what she claims to be some of her favorite matches, particularly a 15-minute draw against Rie Tamada and her loss to Mariko Yoshida.

Also as a present for her 20th birthday, she was allowed to tag team with veteran female wrestler Lioness Asuka.

After Anderson returned from Japan, she became a full-time wrestler.

Moving on from her pre-Japan feud with Nikki, she continued to wrestle for APW winning its Above The Law Championship from Robert Thompson in July 2004.

Under her reign it was renamed the Future Legends Championship, the title under which she lost it to Daizee Haze the following year before winning it back and retiring the belt.

In October, APW associated itself with the newly formed, all-female tournament-cum-promotion ChickFight (CF).

In the first event, staged under the APW banner for their Halloween Hell weekend, Anderson made it through two rounds only to be defeated in a steel cage match for the final round by luchadora Princess Sugey.

She would become a staple of ChickFight, appearing at the first ten of their major events, missing the eleventh event due to injury sustained less than a week before the show.

She made the final in the first two tournaments but exited the third in the first round after a double disqualification during a match with former rival Nikki, now under her better known name Sara Del Rey.

Melissa won ChickFight V tournament, beating Jazz in the final, and she also went on to win ChickFight VII: The UK vs The USA tournament when it moved from the United States over to the United Kingdom pinning "The Jezebel" Eden Black in the last match.

However, the focus of ChickFight VII was on the controversial ending to her first match that saw Sweet Saraya's head hung in the ropes, Anderson continued to assault her despite being trapped until the referee ended the match and Saraya was stretchered from ringside.

As Anderson celebrated her tournament victory Saraya reappeared and threatened her.

The feud was cut short during a pre-match brawl for Real Quality Wrestling (RQW) in June that saw the two brawl both in and outside of the building and ended with Anderson winning shortly after Saraya was thrown on an already utilized aluminum can, tearing through her ligament and leaving her hospitalized.

She was forced to forfeit her ChickFight IX: Our Final Chance match the following day and would not wrestle again for six months.

Meanwhile, Anderson had begun a new feud.

She did not participate in the tournament at ChickFight VIII but instead had a rematch against Eden Black for the newly created Transatlantic Women's Championship, which she won.

Later in the show she successfully defended the title against Croatian wrestler Wesna Busic.

The two had met years previously when her internet celebrity saw her invited to German Stampede Wrestling to face Wesna in a losing effort at International Impact I.

After defending her Transatlantic Championship at ChickFight VII, their next CF meeting saw Wesna defend her RQW Women's Championship fought under ChickFight Rules (no disqualification and falls count anywhere) which saw the two go to a forty-five-minute time limit draw.

This left the two at 1–1 and so a decisive match was to be held at ChickFight X but this ended in controversy when Wesna claimed that her tap out was merely an attempt to grab the rope for a rope break; their rematch later that night saw Wesna pick up the victory leaving them drawn again at 2–2.

CF XI was originally slated to be a two out of three falls match to find a decisive victory until Anderson pulled out due to injury.

Their feud was picked up the following year for Shimmer Women Athletes at Volume 23 in May 2009.

The company preluded the match with a video package showing their matches in Europe and announced that the winner would go on to face the Shimmer Champion at a later event.

In 2013, Anderson was ranked number 1 in Pro Wrestling Illustrated's annual Top 50 Females list.

After gaining experience from ring side, Cheerleader Melissa eventually had her first proper match on her 17th birthday against Lexie Fyfe in a losing effort at an outdoor carnival event.