Two weeks ago, Last Word On Sports took a trip down memory lane and covered some of the lesser known success stories that the Tough Enough competition has provided. Stories such as Chris Nowinski’s short stint in the WWE, to later becoming an advocate to brain-related injuries, to the brain in all contact sports, and Jessie Ward’s early exit in season two, that eventually turned into a fruitful career as an associate producer.
Today, we’re reviewing some of the biggest in-ring successes in the competition’s history. Note that all stories discussed here do NOT include the $1,000,000 Tough Enough competition, which we will be covering exclusively in the final edition of this three part series. Originally, this series was meant to be just two parts, however, with season 4 being such a phenomenal year on it’s own merit, it’s only fair to feature it separately. Part two covers seasons 1, 2, 3 and 5, and pulls out the five biggest examples of competitors that went through the wire and managed to have a glamourous wrestling career.
A Look Into Tough Enough’s Biggest Success Stories
Final note: This edition will not be featuring past winners in Maven Huffman, Nidia Guenard, Linda Miles, and Jackie Gayda. While all four would appear in the WWE, and have relatively decent runs, Maven becoming a Hardcore Champion and eliminating The Undertaker in the 2002 Royal Rumble, and the three others holding onto good campaigns as valets to such wrestlers as Jamie Noble, Rico, and the Basham Brothers, their careers in wrestling pale in comparison to those that have made the list.
Honorable Mention: Josh Lomberger
You may know him by his company name of Josh Matthews, the man behind the scenes in the WWE, and current play-by-play commentator with TNA.
We didn’t want to break our own rule of “in-ring competitor” right off the bat, but with the career Josh has had in wrestling, it’s hard not to give him his recognition. Holding down a job with the WWE since 2002, Matthews appeared in several roles, such as backstage interviewer, and as a commentator. Matthews has been bounced around just about every show, filling in as a color commentator when needed, and appeared in a few PPV teams as well. Matthews also had the chance to host the pre-show on a few occasions, before the WWE went with the regular team of Corey Graves and Booker T, hosted by Renee Young.
As of 2015, Matthews has taken over Mike Tenay’s position as lead commentator in TNA. Matthews was a part of the TNA team in late 2014, appearing in several videos on the company’s Youtube page.
Now, on to our top 5.
Kenny King (Season Two, Finalist)
The second season of Tough Enough ended in controversy when Jackie Gayda and Linda Miles were named the winners of the competition. With the promise of one male winner and one female winner, and a confused Stacy Keibler, who asked if Vince McMahon knew of the decision, Kenny Layne was left on the sidelines as a runner-up.
Not letting the decision affect him, Layne returned to the independent circuit and stayed there until 2005, when Total Nonstop Action came knocking. Donning the new ring name of Kenny King, his first stint with the company lasted just eight months, and Layne was used as a jobber for the entirety of his run, in both singles and tag team competition. In August of 2006, Layne was released from TNA, and he then joined Full Impact Pro. The most significant thing King had going for him in FIP was the year-long reign as Tag Team Champion with Jason Blade. In 2008, King made a full disconnect from FIP to join Ring of Honor.
For the next four years, King laid it all out on the line and became a Tag Team Champion with Rhett Titus. Unfortunately, five days later, ROH decided to cut all ties with King and end their relationship with the wrestler, later stripping him and Titus of the titles. King described the decision as a “piss poor” process of attempting to re-sign him, while also going on the record to say that he was moving on to better and bigger things. That being TNA, for a second run.
His second stint has been much more relevant than the first, as King is a two-time X-Division Champion, and is currently a part of the Beat Down Clan, a trio consisting of himself, MVP, and Bobby Lashley.
Matt Morgan (Season Two)
In week four of season two, Matt Morgan was diagnosed with a torn ligament in his knee, and was forced to withdraw from the competition after told that he would not be able to continue wrestling.
Fortunately enough for him, the WWE was not willing to let the large, athletic man go, signing Morgan to a developmental contract with Ohio Valley Wrestling, in 2002. With his new handle, “The Blueprint”, a shout-out to the Jay Z album of the same name, Morgan appeared in OVW for a full year before making the jump to the Smackdown brand. His run with the WWE would last just six months, as there wasn’t a fit for him, aside from teaming up with Brock Lesnar, or pretty much any other big guy. After eliminating The Hurricane in the 2004 Royal Rumble, Morgan was thrown out by the eventual winner, Chris Benoit. Morgan was then sent back to OVW for further conditioning and evaluation. In 2005, Morgan was re-packaged under a new gimmick, a stuttering giant that got angry when he was made fun of. As you’d expect, the character was a huge flop, and Morgan was released five months later.
In 2007, Morgan joined TNA as a “back-up” character to Jim Cornette. His run with the company lasted from 2007 to 2013, where he teamed and feuded with the likes of Abyss, Hernandez, and Crimson, while also briefly aligning with the stable Fortune. Morgan became a two-time tag team champion, once with Hernandez and once with Crimson, and was also featured in several runs to capture the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, although he was unsuccessful every time.
After being released in 2013, Morgan returned to the independent circuit for a short time before retiring completely from wrestling. His decision came after the birth of his first son. Morgan had expressed that his biggest dream was to be a father, and leaving wrestling to take on a full-time job allowed him to be closer to home at all times.
John Hennigan (Season Three, Co-Winner)
Failing through the audition stage of season two, John tried out once again for season three and made it. Not only did he get to be a part of the competition and live through all the experiences, but he also ended up being one of the two winners, along with Matt Cappotelli.
As one of the winners, Hennigan signed a developmental deal with OVW and was featured a few times in the WWE in 2003 and early 2004, in backstage segments and matches on the second tier shows, such as Velocity and Sunday Night Heat. In March of 2004, Hennigan later debuted, and after a short run, returned to OVW as Johnny Nitro. There, he would join forces with Joey Mercury and Melina, forming the MNM stable. The trio would return to Smackdown and in their very first match on the main roster and would capture the WWE Tag Team Championships, defeating Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio.
From there, Nitro would later become the ECW Champion, changing his ring name from Johnny Nitro to John Morrison, and feud with CM Punk for the title. After dropping it, Morisson would team up with The Miz, forming one of the more entertaining tag teams of the late 2000s, and adding two more tag title runs to his repertoire, bringing him up to five (3 with Mercury, 2 with Miz). Upon splitting up, Morisson would test the waters as a single wrestler, winning the Intercontinental Championship on three occasions.
A multitude of gold, two-time Slammy winner, and one of the coolest entrances of his time, Morrison is now a member of Lucha Underground, where he continues to impress wrestling fans.
Matthew Capiccioni (Season Five)
Matthew Capiccioni is one of the biggest exceptions I’ll make to the list, as his career in the ring far exceeds his Tough Enough appearance. One could say he didn’t need Tough Enough to make it in the business. Appearing in season five, Capiccioni was eliminated in the second week of competition, much to the surprise of everyone.
Before his participation in the competition, Capiccioni wrestled in several notable circuits. Debuting in the indies in 1999, he made his way through the circuit until finding a home in Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW). From 2002 to 2004, Capiccioni, packaged as M-Dogg, feuded with the likes of Sonjay Dutt, Jimmy Rave, and Amazing Red. Following a two year stint that lacked any significant run with gold, Capiccioni made his way to Ring of Honor donning the ring name Matt Cross. From 2006 until 2009, Cross wrestled under the ROH name, while also appearing in the 2007 series Wrestling Society X. It’s also notable that from 2005, until his 2011 inclusion into Tough Enough, Cross had wrestled around the world. Prior to the competition, Cross had a tryout match on Smackdown.
Following his week two elimination, Capiccioni returned to the independent circuit before making a big signing with Lucha Underground. Joining the league in 2014, the wrestler donned a new ring name, Son of Havoc, and started to wear a mask, with his beard grown out. Along with Angélico and Ivelisse (who also participated in season five of Tough Enough), the three won the Trios Championship Tournament.
Ariane Andrew (Season Five)
Alright, let’s take a deep breath. Ariane Andrew, who participated in season five, was eliminated in the very first week of the show. Her battle of words with Stone Cold Steve Austin was spectacular (in a bad way) to watch, and it was almost cringe-worthy to hear her clumsily answer “Melina vs Alicia Fox” to Austin’s question regarding her favourite match of all time.
The irony surrounding all of this is that Ariane is currently the only season five contestant to be employed by the WWE, including the winner of the competition. After signing a developmental deal with the WWE in 2011, Ariane joined the main roster in 2012 as Cameron, alongside Naomi, as of the two Funkadactyls, a two-woman dance crew who accompanied the debuting Brodus Clay. Cameron and Naomi continued to strut their stuff with the Tons of Funk team (Clay and Tensai) up until 2014, when the team disbanded, and Clay departed from the company, leaving Tensai to take a broadcasting role in NXT.
Cameron and Naomi wrestled as a team up until their eventual split, when Cameron turned heel. Since the split, Cameron has been sparsely used in the ring, and instead, her talents have been utilized in the WWE reality show, Total Divas, a weekly show where cameras follow select members of the WWE Divas on their day-to-day operations. Cameron has been widely featured in the show, especially regarding her relationship with Vincent Isayan.
Outside of the company, Ariane has recorded her signing as well, debuting the single Bye Bye, and following it up with a second single, Wrong Number.
While Tough Enough closed the door on her early, there seems to be no telling Ariane “Girl, Bye.”
In the final part of our series, we will take an exclusive look at the stories to come out of season four of Tough Enough, which was billed as the $1,000,000 Tough Enough competition. In that edition, we’ll cover the journey of The Miz and Ryback, while also covering some ground on those that didn’t quite make it, and where they ended up after the cameras went down.
Main Photo – courtesy of wwe.com
Kenny King photo – courtesy of illegalforeignobject.com
Matt Morgan photo – courtesy of pwmania.com
John Morrison photo – courtesy of pwmania.com
Son of Havoc photo – courtesy of Lucha Underground Youtube
Cameron photo – courtesy of diva-dirt.com
