Alissa Flash (akas Cheerleader Melissa & Raisha Saeed) came to the Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Knockout division looking to make a name for herself. She is one of the most technically sound female wrestlers of her time and will bring yet another style to the already diverse TNA Knockouts division.
Real Name : Melissa Marie Anderson
Alias(es) : Alissa Flash, Raisha Saeed, Cheerleader Melissa, & Angelica
Date Of Birth : August 17, 1982 Height : 5’8 Weight : Approx. 140lbs
Pro Debut : August 17,1999
Wrestling Organization : Total Nonstop Action (TNA)
Trainer(s) : Christopher Daniels, Bryan Danielson, Mariko Yoshida, Billy Anderson, & Robert Thompson
Finisher(s) : Kudo Driver
Independent Promotions
Melissa Anderson started her pro wrestling career using the name Cheerleader Melissa as a valet for the Ballard Brothers. The three toured in with the west coast promotion All Pro Wrestling (APW) and Melissa would routinely interfere in matches, often utilizing hi-impact moves. On her 17th birthday, she competed professionally for the first time in an outdoor carnival wrestling event. In 2001, she began wrestling for Ultime Pro Wrestling (UPW) and lost only one match during the entire year she was with the company. In the summer of 2002, she was invited to Japan to join ARSION for three months. During her time there, her training was rigorous and she gained a lot of attention because she was paired with Taylor Matheny who had competed in WWE’s Tough Enough contest.
Upon her return from Japan Anderson re-joined the APW organization, no longer as a valet, but a full time wrestler. By July of 2004, she had taken the Above The Law Championship strap from Robert Thompson and renamed it the “Future Legends Championship”. The belt was taken from her only by Daizee Haze once before it was retired. APW began associating itself with another promotion entitle “ChickFight”. She competed in this promotions first ten tournaments as a regular under the names Raisha Saeed and Cheerleader Melissa. In 2005, she appeared in all of the SHIMMER women’s wrestling tapings competing against wrestlers such as Daizee Haze, MsChif, Alison Danger, Rain, Black, and Sarah Del Rey. But none of her rivalries quite compared to her rivalry with Wesna Busic. On April 22nd, 2007, Cheerleader Melissa won the Transatlantic Women’s Championship. The following year at ChickFight 9, Wesna Busic defended her Real Quality Wrestling (RQW) strap in a 45 minute long match that ended in a draw. Their feud spilled into the SHIMMER organization but neither woman could prove a consecutive win over the other. The feud finally ended in a 3 to 3 match draw. While Anderson was in SHIMMER she won 14 of the 22 matches she competed in, touting a very impressive win record and showing a very hardcore side to women’s wrestling.
Total Nonstop Action (TNA)
On January 10th, 2008, Raisha Saeed appeared with Awesome Kong as a manager-tag team partner. Now hiding her face behind a burqa and sporting an arab accent, she appeared with Kong on a regular basis interfering in matches where necessary and speaking for Kong during promos. On April 13th, Raisha Saeed made her in ring debut wrestling with tag team partner Awesome Kong against ODB and Gail Kim in a losing effort. On July 3rd, she racked up a loss to newcomer Taylor Wilde which put Wilde in line for a title shot at teammate Kong’s Knockout Championship. Raisha Saeed began gaining momentum on September 4th when she was chased out of the iMPACT zone by ODB who returned to the ring with her burqa in hand. ODB was attacked by Awesome Kong as Saeed hid her face with her hair and came to the ring to reclaimed her head attire.
Raisha Saeed and the Kongtourage
On November 6th, Raisha Saeed and Awesome Kong added Rhaka Khan to their group and by December they had recruited Sojourner Bolt also. These four women called themselves the Kongtourage and were not as dominate as one would think with wrestlers of this side. The group lost several matches to such wrestlers as: Roxxi Laveaux, Taylor Wilde, ODB, and Christy Hemme. While Saeed and Kong stayed side by side, eventually Bolt and Khan left the Kongtourage.
Alissa Flash – TNA Knockout & Future Legend
On July 16th, 2009, Anderson appeared without the Arabian garb as Alissa Flash, the self proclaimed future legend of women’s wrestling. While her first competition against newcomer Sarita did not get her points in the “win column”, she dominated ninety percent of the match making Sarita earn every inch of her victory. On September 17th, she picked up her first victory in TNA by defeating Cody Deaner in a lumber-jill match (with a little help from the Knockouts). A week later, she expressed her frustrations about being ignored by TNA and interrupted an interview with Hamada. Things became quickly heated and Flash attacked Hamada eventually throwing her down a flight of bleachers.
Best Alissa Flash Performances
As dual wrestlers making their respective debuts in Total Nonstop Action wrestling, Alissa Flash faced Sarita inside of the six-sided ring making a very impressive debut for the Knockout division. During this match, Alissa demands to be referred to as the “future legend” and though she is not victorious, she shows you why.
Alissa Flash vs Sarita - Total Nonstop Action Debut
Melissa is not the type of woman to hold back how she feels. During this interview between Lauren and Hamada, Flash interrupts and states her views on what you have to do to get noticed in TNA. This leads to a vicious fight that show Hamada being thrown down a flight of bleachers and Alissa all over her.
Alissa interrupts Hamada interview.