Who was Melissa Coates, former WWE wrestler who died at 50?

Former wrestler Melissa Coates known as WWE Super Genie has died at the age of 50. Coates’ death comes several months after she had her leg amputated, although the cause of the death has not been revealed yet. She was a bodybuilder in the 90s before switching over to a career in wrestling.

She appeared on WWE TV in 2005.  

She was trained by a fellow Canadian Killer Kowalski and was best known in the wrestling world as Super Genie for her role as Sabu’s valet and manager. On Wednesday, a friend of Coates confirmed the news of her death on Facebook.

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The post read: “This may be the hardest post I have ever made… Just got word from Terry ‘Sabu’ Brunk that Super Genie Melissa Coates has passed away this afternoon,” they wrote. “I also have spoken to her brother, JR Coates, and niece, Cassi. They told me to post this sad news.”

The friends also added that Sabu would not be taking calls and asked to respect their privacy and keep them all in their thoughts and prayers. Coates worked alongside Sabu in the latter stage of her career, accompanying the wrestler to the ring. 

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Tributes from the wrestling world along with the fans have come pouring in for Coates, Sabu retweeted a Twitter post by the Cauliflower Alley Club (CAC), a non-profit organization caring for former professionals wrestlers.

In October 2020, a GoFundMe page was set up to raise money for her surgery after she began experiencing pain in her left leg and it was found she had blood clots blocking her arteries.