COVER STORY: Melody Malone

@patricia Wolfe: Welcome EWC Nation to the Wolfe Report! This month I have the privilege of interviewing the most dominant woman in all of professional wrestling currently, and the “Queen” of the EWC, Undisputed champion Melody Malone. Melody thank you so much for taking the time to sit down and talk with me a bit today.

Melody Malone: Absolutely, thank you for having me. I haven’t actually gotten a sit down with anybody during my time here, so this’ll be interesting.

@wolfe: So I want to start off with a simple question: Has it set in yet for you? You are the Undisputed Champion of the largest wrestling company on the planet. Has that set in yet, and if so when did it happen? Take the readers through your thoughts in that moment if you could please.

Melody Malone: You know, it really didn’t set in at Wrestlefest that it actually happened. There was a lot going on, there were a lot of emotions that everybody saw kind of come out.. I don’t think I really grasped the gravity of ‘I’m the Undisputed Champion’ until the EWC Honors show, where I talked to a lot of great people and I got a lot of… unsolicited advice from people. I think that was ultimately when it began to sink in, you know? You’re getting attention from people who might otherwise not even give you a second look, but suddenly you’re worth watching.

@wolfe:: Absolutely. I bet that was an…interesting night. EWC Honors saw you take home Rookie of the year AND Female wrestler of the year though. That was another big night to cap off an absolutely amazing rookie season in EWC. Tell us, are you approaching this season any differently than your rookie season?

Melody Malone: Not really, no. I mean, I started last season with an FSW title shot in my back pocket so from day one of the 2019 season, I had my eyes on the prize. The only real difference this year, is I’m coming in with so much more experience and so much more perspective than I did last year. Last year, things kind of seemed really laissez-faire and I just kind of let whatever happen, happen and saw where the universe wanted to take me. This year, there’s a lot more introspection going on, a lot more self-preservation, which you kind of have to adopt when you’re on the top of the mountain.

@wolfe: Top of the mountain indeed. You are not only the Undisputed Champion but also one half of the EWC Tag Team Champions with your partner and fellow America’s Most Hated member Iggy Swago as the Foxy Ladies of Dream Sound Revolution II. Tell us a little about how that team came together and how you were able to form that chemistry so quickly with Iggy?

Melody Malone: That’s an awfully loaded question. Iggy and I, it’s weird. We came together overnight after the ah… sudden departure of my former tag team partner. We’d already secured the contendership for the tag team titles, and suddenly? I had nobody to tag with. Iggy was on deck to challenge for the International championship in her own right, and truthfully? She wasn’t a big fan of my former partner to begin with, so when he left the spot open we decided to see what we could do together. We both figured, worst case scenario, we just wouldn’t gel together but we’d at least put up a fighting chance against ReBelle at the Rumble in Texas. We wound up really kind of being the yin to each other’s yang. It was crazy how we meshed so well together, I don’t think either of us expected it but we love it. I think we compliment each other in the ring really well just because we’re so different and we cover each other’s weaknesses with our own strengths, and we’re not really intimated by each other’s strengths either, which I think is the really big part of our success.

@wolfe: Certainly worked out well in your favor!… Speaking of ReBelle. You face one half of ReBelle and the man that beat Ace King to end his record setting United States title reign, Scorpio, at StrangleMania. This will be your first defense of the Undisputed title. It’s kind of apropos that it’s come full circle here, isn’t it?

Melody Malone:: There’s some symmetry for sure, you know. Scorpio and I have a long history and Stranglemania is the only place I could imagine the two of us squaring off. My goal is that I can come out of it without the same outcome as last year, but Hell in a Cell sounds infinitely easier to endure than the Wondercrush last year. I thought I’d closed the chapter on Scorpio at Youngblood, but some books just don’t end and he and I might be one of those books that transcends the EWC entirely.

@wolfe: Great answer. We all certainly have enjoyed anytime you two have been in the ring together… Your night at StrangleMania isn’t just the Main Event though. You are also set to face off against arguably the greatest tag team to ever step foot in an EWC ring in NSFW. How are the Foxy Ladies preparing for that match?

Melody Malone: Uh.. carefully. She and I have been successful as a team and we’re grateful for one another, but she and I both are cognizant of the fact that NSFW has been eyes on the prize, gunning for us ever since they came back and jumped us, me, on Brawl back in October. She and I have both been occupied with the International championship, the Undisputed championship, and our focus hasn’t really been on the tag team championships. They’re coming in laser focused on us and the Tag Team championships, and at Stranglemania we’re both in for a double header, so right now we’re doing our best to try and see where we can strike the fastest, the most efficiently, and leave enough of ourselves for our obligations later in the night.

Melody Malone: I wouldn’t say that it isn’t important to us, I mean on the contrary we’ve fought hard in every match we’ve been in to make sure that we don’t embarrass ourselves or the championships, and I can’t speak for Iggy directly but I mean… answer me honestly. If you were holding the Undisputed championship, with the likes of Scorpio breathing down your neck, or staring down the consequences of having to put someone you care about deeply at risk across the ring from you, is your focus going to be on the tag team championships? Between that and Iggy’s history with alcohol and her suspension at the end of 2019 – All things considered, the fact that Iggy and I have not only maintained the tag team championships through Wrestlefest but have still managed to lose only one tag team match together since we formed, I’d say is remarkably impressive given the duress we’ve both been under throughout our reign as tag team champions. It’s going to take the kind of laser focus that NSFW is bringing to Stranglemania to be able to dethrone a team so cohesive that suspensions, other championships, and personal crisis’ couldn’t dethrone.

@wolfe: So the other thing that I wanted to focus on was your statement about leaving something left to fight your other fights. That is a huge concern of course anytime you are pulling double duty. It worked out in your favor at WrestleFest. Have you upped your stamina training heading into StrangleMania?

Melody Malone: I’ve had to. Wrestlefest gave me the unique opportunity to take two full days between defending the tag team championships, and competing for the Undisputed championship. I might get two hours, if I’m lucky, going into Stranglemania. Everything is going to be a matter of working smarter, not harder, when I get into the ring at Stranglemania. In all honesty though, I think I’m more prepared for that than I was Wrestlefest. The adrenaline, the energy, that’s the kind of thing that will keep me going as I get ready for that main event. I worked for too long, and too hard, to let the Undisputed championship slip through my fingers, and Scorpio isn’t in for an easier night himself, so we’re going to be on an even playing field, even if its a very exhausted field

@wolfe: Wow we’ve covered a lot so far today. I have one final question for you champ: Cyrus Black. He’s been suspended and stripped of the International championship. No one has heard from him. Can you give us any update on his injury or a timeline for his return?

Melody Malone: I won’t give out any personal details, suffice to say that I care very deeply for Cyrus and when he’s ready to speak on his own behalf, then the entirety of EWC will be the first to hear it. He was very insistent to not share the details of his injury with me prior to his suspension, so I can’t venture any guesses as far as a timeline or update. All I know, is he has my support throughout this period and I can’t wait to get back to cheering him on backstage.

@wolfe: Fair enough. Melody thank you so much for your time. The EWC Nation looks forward to you competing at StrangleMania at the end of the month. Best of luck to you.

Melody Malone: Thank you, I look forward to the next interview when I break Xplode’s title reign.

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