Wrestling Stars React To Melissa Coates Passing Away

By Eric Mutter

Last night it was revealed that Melissa Coates, also known as the Super Genie, had passed away at the age of 50. Wrestlers from the independents and companies like WWE, AEW and ROH have since taken to Twitter to remember Melissa, a nearly twenty year pro who got her start training under Killer Kowalski.

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"I had my very first match against Melissa Coates," tweeted WWE star Bayley. "There's always a forever connection when you share the ring with someone and I'm honored to have that with her. Thank you for being so sweet, helpful and busting my brace face open. I'll truly never forget you."

"Thinking about Melissa Coates today," Natalya tweeted. "I am sad to hear of her passing. Melissa was always so kind to everyone she met and had a huge heart. She said that this was her favorite picture of herself. You are loved and remembered, Melissa."

"Saddened to hear of Melissa Coates' passing tonight," tweeted Lance Storm. "I didn't know her that well, but I worked with her some during my time in OVW. Coates (that's what we called her. Never Melissa) wasn't under WWE contract then but I trained with her a few times and she was at all the shows. Coates was always super nice and friendly and on the occasion when we'd see each other at a signing or convention we were always happy to see each other again. RIP Melissa Coates."

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"RIP Melissa Coates," tweeted Frankie Kazarian, who like Coates trained under Kowalski. "Very sad to hear. Glad I got to know you almost 20 years ago. Gone way too soon. Godspeed ma'am."

"When I was going thru my health issues last yr, Melissa Coates, @RealSuperGenie reached out to check on me & sent me this message of encouragement," Velvet Sky tweeted. "Goes to show what a sweet, amazing person & friend she was. I'll miss her so much. Rest in eternal peace, my beautiful friend."

"It's never easy losing a friend, the memories and laughter we shared are stomach aching hilarious," Elijah Burke. "I'm saddened to learn of the passing of Melissa Coates, she was truly a special one in every sense of the word."

Born on June 18, 1971 in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, Coates discovered bodybuilding while training to become a tennis player. She would leave bodybuilding in 1999 to become a model, but instead would transition into pro wrestling after training with wrestling legend Kowalski. She made her debut in 2002.

Coates worked for Ohio Valley Wrestling, WWE's developmental promotion at the time, in the early 2000's, though it's not clear if she ever signed with WWE. She would serve as the security for Kenny Bolin's stable Bolin's Services and even take part in Chris Masters' MasterLock challenge before leaving OVW around 2007. Coates wrestle for NWA Wrestling Anarchy, the Funkin' Conservatory, Maryland Championship Wrestling and other indie promotions over the next several years.

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Coates retired from in ring competition in October 2014, but continued to be involved in wrestling as a manager. This led to Coates taking on the Super Genie persona in order to manage ECW legend Sabu. The two continued as an act until 2020, with Coates making one last appearance in Sabu's corner for PCW Ultra's Anniversary Show.

You can see several tweets remembering Coates below.

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