cut of the first episode. After she was eliminated from the contest, trainer Al Snow encouraged her to keep trying to pursue her dream as a wrestler. On November 27, 2003 episode of SmackDown!, Melina was seen as a Native American alongside John Cena during a feast. World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE MNM (2004–2006) Perez debuted in WWE's then-developmental territory OVW in March 2004, being placed in a storyline as John Hennigan's ex-girlfriend. The storyline had Matt Cappotelli introduce her to the ring as a way to taunt Hennigan. Melina, however, turned on Cappotelli and aligned herself with Hennigan, who later changed his ring name to Johnny Nitro. Soon after, the duo began teaming with Joey Matthews, later known as Joey Mercury. The trio became known as MNM and on November 10, Melina managed Mercury and Nitro to win the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship, holding it for over two months. During her time in OVW, Melina, Nitro, and Steven Adkins came up with Melina's trademark split ring entrance. Melina made her first Raw appearance on November 29, 2004, when Randy Orton was the guest General Manager and hosted a Diva lingerie fashion show. She made another Raw appearance in December, participating in a limbo contest when Chris Jericho was General Manager for the night. Melina made her official debut in WWE as a heel, resuming her role as the manager of MNM, on the April 14, 2005 episode of SmackDown!. The team interrupted the first ever Carlito's Cabana interview segment, where one half of the WWE Tag Team Champions, Rey Mysterio, was a guest. Melina insulted Mysterio and had Mercury and Nitro attack him, leading to MNM's in-ring debut the next week on SmackDown! in a title match. The team won the match against Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero, starting their first WWE Tag Team Title reign. While managing the Tag Team Champions, Melina's character was developed to be more egotistical, as she declared herself "the most-dominant Diva in WWE". She made her official in-ring debut on June 30 against Michelle McCool, and had her first pay-per-view match against Torrie Wilson at The Great American Bash in a bra and panties match, winning both matches. In the same night, MNM dropped their championships to the Legion of Doom, prompting a new storyline where Melina hired Jillian Hall, a fixer, to assist them. MNM regained the titles on October 28 in a fatal