As a prototype for the photogenic flirty female personality that would become commonplace in the world of wrestling in the ensuing years, it could be argued that Melissa Ann Hiatt was ahead of her time with her Missy Hyatt character in the mid 1980’s. She wasn’t the first, by any means, but she was one of the most high profile on a national scale.
She started her career in WCCW (World Class Championship Wrestling) in 1985 as the manager of John Tatum, who she was not so coincidentally dating in real life at the time. The two were an entertaining combination of “high-school” jock and bitch girlfriend characters and as Tatum’s verbal skills were average at best, Hyatt was given the opportunity to talk for them. Her major feud there was with Sunshine, another valet, and they went on to settle their feud in a Mud-Pit match in Texas Stadium at 1986’s Parade Of Champions. As it was a mud match it went on last on the card.
Hyatt followed Tatum to Bill Watts’ Universal Wrestling Federation when former WCCW booker Ken Mantell defected there and took a number of WCCW wrestlers and talent with him. There she joined forces on-screen with Eddie Gilbert’s Hot Stuff International faction (which included the likes of future WCW stars Sting and Rick Steiner) as a manger/valet. In another of those “life imitating art” moments, Hyatt stated an off-screen affair with Gilbert which led to the break up of her relationship with Tatum, a split that was mirrored on screen as well. Hyatt and Gilbert would marry in 1988.
Hyatt’s look and verbal skills led to an offer from the WWF, with the idea of her hosting her own interview segment to replace that of the “retired” Roddy Piper. As if the pressure of following the Hot Rod wasn’t bad enough, the “Missy’s Manor” taped segments were awful (have a look on YouTube at her interview with the Can Am Connection for confirmation of that fact) and were canned after the first few attempts. The WWF asked her to stay as a ring-girl but Missy, probably quite rightfully, thought that was a role beneath her talents and she returned to the UWF.
When Jim Crockett purchased the ailing UWF group, Missy and Eddie went to the Memphis and Continental territories after being disillusioned by the treatment of the UWF wrestlers, before a job offer as a booker took Gilbert back and Missy joined them as a commentator and then a manager. Amongst those she managed where Eddie himself and The Steiner Brothers. After returning to the commentary booth she started a feud with fellow commentator Paul E. Dangerously (Paul Heyman) and the two had a series of confrontations, including an arm wrestling match. Missy also had a feud with Madusa (who was part of The Dangerous Alliance, managed by Paul E.) over who was the “First Lady” of WCW with the two “clashing” in a Bikini Contest that Missy won at Beach Blast 1992.
The following year, after The Dangerous Alliance had been disbanded(largely due to Bill Watt’s dislike of Paul E.), Hyatt returned to managing duties alongside The Nasty Boys and the Barbarian. It wasn’t the greatest part of her career and when a wardrobe malfunction during a match was apparently photographed and plastered all over the WCW offices, Hyatt quit the company and sued for sexual harassment. The settlement remains secret but Hyatt has often claimed it was enough to put her kids through college.
It was three years before she resurfaced for a short stint in Extreme Championship Wrestling. She worked a sexual harassment storyline where Stevie Richards accused her of kissing him against his will, which has to be seen as somewhat of a knock on her situation with WCW. From there she managed Sandman in his battles with Raven, often fighting with Sandman’s wife Lori Fullington, who was in Raven’s corner.
Hyatt continued to make independent appearances and also branched out into “adult” modeling along with other wrestling personalities, most famously Tammy “Sunny” Sytch. She also released an autobiography, with another apparently on the way soon, which was full of indiscreet tales and did more than allude to her, shall we say, voracious sexual appetite.
Such tales perhaps overshadow her career in wrestling to some extent but if that is understandable in some ways (not least because she is so happy to talk about that side of her life), it should also be noted that Hyatt was generally an engaging on-screen presence who was portraying the type of character that would become commonplace a decade later.
TITLES HELD: AWF Heavyweight Champion (1 time).
“RECCOMENDED” MATCHES: Vs Sunshine (WCCW Parade of Champions 1986), Vs Paul E. Dangerously (Arm-Wrestling Match, Clash of the Champions XIV)
By Matthew Roberts