As the video applications of hopeful candidates for the next season of Tough Enough keep pouring in with independent wrestlers and the average joes of the world alike, we can’t help but think back to some of the past seasons of Tough Enough; the winners, losers and bigger personalities of the show’s history.
Like in American Idol, you don’t need to win the competition to make it. For example, Jennifer Hudson, engaged to current WWE employee David Otunga, was eliminated in the top 7 in the third season of American Idol, and she went on to star in Dreamgirls, where she’d win an Oscar for her performance, along with many other awards and accolades for her role in the film and her musical work.
We all know about Maven Huffman, the former Hardcore Champion and the guy that eliminated the Undertaker in the 2002 Royal Rumble, and his eventual departure from the company, which he then completely put behind him and took a job as a bouncer at 1015 Midtown in New York City. We know about Nidia and her work as the manager of Jamie Noble (baby). But what about those that have made the wrestling industry without winning, or who’s stories were barely featured? Then there are those that put the industry in the rear-view mirror and took a whole new path that likely would not be there had it not been for their exposure in Tough Enough.
In this two part series, we take a look at some of the great stories of those that have made it and those that fell short but had their lives affected in a positive way. We first take a look at those that either had a short run and went on to bigger (and sometimes better) things, and those that never did make it but were heavily impacted by their participation in Tough Enough.
Christopher Nowinski (Season One, Finalist)
In 2001, Chris Nowinski was one of the three finalists, losing out to Maven. Failing to capture the Tough Enough title, Nowinski went back to the independent circuit to hone his abilities. The decision paid off, as the WWE hired Nowinski to wrestle for their company.
Aligning himself with William Regal, Chris’ gimmick took his real-life achievement of being the first ever Harvard graduate to wrestle in the WWE and created a smug, arrogant heel that thought he was head-and-shoulders above the rest, due to his intelligence. Doning the H logo on his tights, Nowinski went on to be a 2-time Hardcore Champion and the youngest wrestler in the company’s history to capture that title. But it wasn’t all smiles, as his run was short-lived and rather uneventful. Pro Wrestling Illustrated named the match of Chris Nowinski and Jackie Gayda versus Bradshaw and Trish Stratus, worked on July 7th, as the worst worked match of 2002.
Following his tenure with the WWE, Chris released Head Games: Football’s Concussion Crisis, where he covered his story and the year-long battle he went through with post-concussion symptoms, and also highlighted the problems with concussions in impact sports, such as American football and professional wrestling. This led to the Andre Waters case, the story of a former NFL defensive linebacker who shot and killed himself in 2006, at the age of 44. Testing on a piece of his brain, it was discovered that Waters had suffered several concussions, which deteriorated his brain to the point that he had one of an 85-year-old with early stages of Alzheimers. Nowinski also alerted police and the coroner of the Chris Benoit case, suggesting they examine his brain as well.
In 2007, along with the help of Dr. Robert Cantu, Nowinski founded the Sports Legacy Institute. SLI, according to Chris, was founded to solve the problem of concussion in all sports and military, and how to treat and prevent injuries to the head and brain, while educating proper methods of maintaining a healthy life after sustaining one. Also a co-director at the CTE Center of the Boston University School of Medicine, Chris has completely submerged himself in research and education of brain trauma in order to put an end to all deaths and problems related to head injuries in contact sports.
Taylor Matheny (Season One, Finalist)
As one of the two female finalists, Taylor Matheny lost out to Nidia. Following the show’s finale, Matheny made her in-ring debut in World Wrestling Alliance, sparking her career in the independent wrestling circuit.
Wrestling for other independent promotions such as New Era Wrestling, Universal Wrestling Federation, and Jersey All Pro Wrestling, Matheny got a big break when she was offered a three and a half month stint with Japanese promotion ARISON. In August of 2002, Matheny took on Ai Fujita for the WWWA Super Lightweight Championship, in a losing effort, after taking on Baby A and Rie Tamada in singles matches.
After returning to the United States, Matheny decided to call it a career in 2003 after she fell out of love with wrestling and grew tired of it all. While she made an appearance in 2005 at Full Impact Pro, it was mainly to stand side-by-side with her husband and current WWE employee Brian Kendrick.
Also in 2005, Matheny was hired as a makeup artist for the Croatian film The Last Will, a comedy about a tour guide who inherited a large sum of money from a distant relative living in the United States, only to be followed by professional assassins. Matheny was also hired as a first assistant makeup artist in the 2009 American film, Lost Angels, a drama about a teenage runaway who is out for revenge against the man that destroyed her family.
As of right now, Matheny has a profile set up at modelmayhem.com, indicating her intentions of becoming a serious makeup artist and making a career out of it.
Jessie Ward (Season Two)
Unlike the previous two contestants mentioned, Jessie Ward didn’t make it to the finals, yet she wasn’t cut either. During one of the episodes, Ward would take a bump in the ring that would leave her hands and legs numb. A trip to the hospital would reveal that Ward suffered from Vasovagal syncope, a malaise mediated by the vagus nerve (tenth cranial nerve), putting Ward at constant risk of fainting. She was given a heart monitor as well. Two weeks later, Ward opted to drop out of the competition due to continuous pain and lethargy.
In October, that same year, the WWE reached out to Ward and hired her as a stage manager. As part of the Tough Enough III production team, Ward also got the chance to travel with both Raw and Smackdown shows as a production assistant until she departed from the company in 2004. The decision was her own, as Ward wanted to go back to college to finish up her degree in Visual Media Arts. She would enroll at Emerson College, in Boston.
During her time at Emerson, Ward also worked with Total Nonstop Action as an assistant director. Working under head director David Sahadi in 2005, Ward left the company in 2007, the same year she graduated from Emerson, majoring in television/video.
After receiving her degree, Jessie went on to work with several noteworthy stations such as The History Channel, The Discovery Channel and Animal Planet, as an associate producer to several series. As of 2012, Ward has been working as a challenge producer for shows like Redneck Islander (hosted by Stone Cold Steve Austin), Ink Master, and Big Brother.
In September of 2013, Ward married former Ring of Honor performer Tommaso Whitney (known by his ring name, Tommaso Ciampa).
Christina Crawford (Season Five)
After giving the best performance in the skills competition the previous week, Christina Crawford found herself in the bottom three after delivering a less than stellar display of charisma. As part of the bottom three, both her and A.J. Kirsch – who had actually won that week’s skill competition – were both cut from the show in a surprise double elimination. Despite being dropped from the show, Crawford signed a developmental deal with the WWE in June of 2011.
What’s interesting is that this wasn’t her first contract. In fact, Crawford originally had a developmental deal with the WWE and asked for her release to participate in the Tough Enough competition.
Storyline wise, Crawford formed an alliance with Audrey Marie and Kaitlyn to take on the Anti-Diva Army stable, which consisted of Paige, Sofia Cortez and Raquel Diaz. Following that, Crawford captured the FCW Divas Championship after defeating Diaz, and then successfully defended it against Cortez. Once FCW transitioned into NXT, the title was retired, and Crawford was officially the last holder of the FCW Divas Championship. Following the re-branding, Crawford portrayed a guest ring host until she debuted in the ring as a heel character, teaming with Kaitlyn.
While her career after the WWE was short-lived, a tryout match in TNA and a stint with New Era Wrestling, Crawford went on to become a cheerleader for the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Meanwhile, her real-life sister, Alicia Fox, is still currently employed by the WWE.
Jeremiah Riggs (Season Five)
Before his participation in season five of Tough Enough, Jeremiah Riggs was a known face inside a ring. Only the ring he was familiar with was one that sported mixed martial arts rather than professional wrestling. In fact, he had a 7-5 record before joining the cast and that was thanks to another reality-based competition show that he was a part of; 2007’s Ultimate Fighter. He also was a participant on the VH1 reality dating show Daisy of Love, back in 2010.
From being in the army to owning a truck company in Mississippi, Riggs left all of that behind to become an MMA fighter, which then led him to Tough Enough.
After finishing third in the competition, Riggs was signed by the WWE in May of 2011 and sent to their developmental program to get some experience, learn the craft and hone his skills while utilizing his mixed martial arts background. Unfortunately, he was released shortly after his debut match after the company expressed no interest in doing anything with him. Riggs reportedly expressed poor behavior backstage and even got into an altercation with Dusty Rhodes backstage, following a promo he cut. Riggs later stated that, “Sometimes locker rooms are just like beauty parlors. It’s nothing but a bunch of drama and a bunch gossip. I like to consider myself away from that stuff. That’s like after the promo stuff. Don’t shake my hand and then whenever something goes down walk past me like, ‘I don’t know that dude.’ That’s phony. That’s being fake to me.”
Riggs, 32, moved back on to his MMA career and appeared in three fights, spanning from 2012 to 2013. He lost all three bouts, two by submission and one by split decision, ending his run with MMA for the present time. In 2015, Riggs appeared in episode 207 of Stone Cold Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Challenge where he would lose in the first of three rounds to a contestant named Will.
In part two, we’ll take a look at some of the names that went on to have successful careers in professional wrestling and finally, in part three, we’ll take an exclusive look at the $1,000,000 Tough Enough season, or the fourth installment of the Tough Enough brand, and cover all the success stories that came out of that year.
Chris Nowinski photo – courtesy of Getty Images and uncredited photo from WrestlingNews.co
Taylor Matheny photo – courtesy of onlineworldofwrestling.com
Jessie Ward photo – courtesy of Wikipedia
Christina Crawford photo – courtesy of wrestleheat.com
Jeremiah Riggs photo – courtesy of bloodandsweat.ru
