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‘Tough Enough’ has become a phrase that makes people within the industry roll their eyes. What started off as the WWE’s first step into reality television has become a recurring joke. Despite a long chain of disasters, the WWE are currently filming a sixth series of the show. Let’s take a look at the some of the people who were involved with this show.
Where are they now?
The Boogeyman
The Boogeyman was originally disqualified from the season 4 auditions for lying about his age. Up until that point, he had done better than most of the other contestants, and was offered a developmental deal. During a training match, Boogeyman accidentally broke his front teeth. He kept the teeth out and created the Boogeyman gimmick. He later made it onto the main roster, but he didn’t achieve much. It was believed that his age meant that he had already passed his physical peak. He now works sparingly on the independent circuit.
Cameron
Cameron was the very first person eliminated in season 5 due to her lack of passion for wrestling. However, she would be the only contestant to make it onto the main roster. She had spent most of her run as half of the Funkadactyls tag team. In spite of this, she has shown little interest in learning her craft. She is also involved with Total Divas.
Christopher Nowinski
Nowinski was offered a developmental deal immediately after finishing college, making him the first Harvard graduate to be on the main roster. His career was cut short after a serious concussion. Since then, Nowinski has become a main director with the Sports Legacy Institute. The SLI treats people with head injuries caused by contact sports and professional wrestling. He is also a leading concussion advocate.
Daniel Puder – Season 4 winner.
MMA fighter Puder got an audition in season 3, but did not make the main show. Very early into season 4, a fatigued Puder legitimately beat Olympic gold medallist Kurt Angle in a genuine amateur wrestling bout. However, a quick thinking Referee protected kayfabe by counting Puder’s shoulders down when there was no pin attempt. This sealed Puder’s chances of winning. However, he only worked his contractually guaranteed Royal Rumble appearance and was then released. It was never explained to him that his $1 million prize was actually the value of his 4-year contract. As he was released after 1 month, he never saw most of that money.
Dan Rodman
Rodman was offered a developmental deal just before the competition began, causing him to believe that it had been fixed for him to win. He developed an arrogant attitude and lost the competition, resigning him to Ohio Valley Wrestling. He almost made it onto the main roster a few times, but his attitude kept getting plans dropped.
Desire
The season 2 contestant competed briefly in developmental before heading to TNA Wrestling. She is currently retired.
Gunner
Gunner failed to make the final cut in season 3. But he went on to become a top-tier star in TNA Wrestling. He is a former TNA Television and Tag Team Champion.
John Morrison – Season 3 winner.
Morrison originally competed in season 2, but was eliminated due to his poor attitude. He would win season 3, but was sent straight to developmental after a poor match on Raw. His first run on the main roster was mired by constant ring name changes. His second run was much more successful. He debuted as part of the MNM stable as Johnny Nitro. By the time of his release, he had been a major mid-card star. He is a former multi-time Intercontinental Champion, multi-time Tag Team Champion, ECW (brand) champion and World Tag Team Champion. He is currently having moderate success as an actor.
Josh Lomberger
Josh reached the finals of season 1, but did not win. He then worked for the WWE as part of the broadcast team with the name Josh Matthews. After almost 13 years, he was released a few weeks ago. He has allegedly signed with TNA Wrestling in a similar role.
Justin Roberts
Justin Roberts was shown in an audition tape in season 1. He did not get an audition. He currently works as the main ring announcer for WWE events.
Kenny King
Kenny King reached the finals of season 2. He attempted to sue MTV because his contract promised that one of the competition winners had to be male (both were women). King currently competes in TNA Wrestling in a stable with MVP and Lashley. He is a former TNA X-Division champion. He was the only champion to hold the title during the ill-fated “all title matches will be triple threat matches†stipulation.
Kharma
Kharma auditioned for season 3 but did not make the final cut. She was not rejected by Jim Ross for being “too fatâ€, as Ross had nothing to do with her evaluation. She would work the independent scene in the US and Japan as Amazing Kong. She then had a successful run in TNA Wrestling as Awesome Kong, the most dominant person in the Knockout division in her time there. She quit in 2010 after a disagreement with Bubba The Love Sponge. She eventually made it into the WWE as Kharma with a lot of support from WWE alumni. However, she spent most of her time there on maternity leave. Her only match was in the Royal Rumble, making her the first African-American woman to compete in the event. She was later released due to mental and physical health issues. She has recently been training for a return to the ring.
Linda Myles - Season 2 winner.
Myles’ debut was delayed after suffering an injury in her first week on the main roster. One of those two matches was the infamous “worst match in Raw history†with Miss Jackie. She would return as Shaniqua, the manager of the Basham Brothers tag team. She annoyed a lot of people with her bad backstage attitude and clumsy nature in the ring. She was eventually released after swearing repeatedly on a SmackDown taping.
Matt Morgan
Morgan competed in season 3 but did not win. He eventually made it onto the main roster as a member of the short-lived Team Lesnar, but was side-lined with an injury after 2 months. He then returned with the career-threatening “stammer†gimmick. He managed to save his career with a successful run in TNA Wrestling. He eventually left TNA Wrestling due to under-booking (meaning that he was not able to make enough money in order to get by). He is taking a break from wrestling to focus a new career in Pharmaceutical medicine. He says that he is not retired from wrestling, but could not turn down the financial security of the full-time position.
Matt Cappotelli – Season 3 winner.
Cappotelli won season 3 by default after he was legitimately attacked by Hardcore Holly during a training match. He dominated in Ohio Valley Wrestling and was due to be called up to the main roster. However, he retired from wrestling after the discovery of a brain tumour. It was successfully treated, but he may never be healthy enough to return to the ring.
Maven – Season 1 winner.
Maven debuted immediately, and proved that 3 months is not nearly enough time to train for a full-time career in wrestling. His famous first Royal Rumble appearance was meant to be his final WWE appearance. However, Undertaker botched* a spot and got eliminated by Maven. As a result, Maven immediately got over with fans and was given a chance at a proper run in WWE. Since being released in 2005, Maven has struggled to get bookings on the independent scene.
*The original script called for Undertaker to pulverise Maven for almost eliminating him from the Rumble. Then the “injuries†from the attack would explain Maven’s retirement. However, Undertaker intentionally fell out of the ring, but lied that he had “slippedâ€.
Melina
Melina made it into the final 25 for season 3 but did not make the main show. She would dominate the women’s division in OVW before joining the main roster as the manager of the MNM stable. She had a successful run in the women’s division, winning the Women’s and Divas’ Championships multiple times. However, she was eventually released because of her difficult behaviour. She is known to have had sexual flings with multiple WWE superstars. However, a persistent rumour is that many of these flings happened while she was still in a relationship with John Morrison.
Miss Jackie – Season 2 winner.
Miss Jackie had short careers in both WWE and TNA Wrestling, serving mainly as a non-wrestling manager. Her first WWE match is still considered to be the “worst in Raw historyâ€. She and her husband Charlie Haas were released when she was on honeymoon. She did not make much of an impact while she was in TNA.
Nidia – Season 1 winner.
When Nidia made it onto the main roster, she spent most of her career as the valet and girlfriend of Jamie Noble. She was involved in an angle where she was blinded for 4 months (and mysteriously caused her boobs to grow). She was released after a disastrous singles run.
Mitch
Mitch debuted on the main roster as a member of the Spirit Squad. He would serve mainly as a manager, competing in the fewest matches. Mitch would return to the independents after being released.
The Miz
The Miz originally debuted on WWE.com. The website ran an article on him because of his constant references to the WWE and The Rock on ‘The Real World’. This earned him safe passage to the final 2 in season 4. The Miz would be added to the main roster and showed little improvement for the first few years. Because of his recognition as a reality TV personality, he would do a lot of publicity work for the WWE. He was rewarded with strong pushes and frequent title wins. His career highlight was successfully defending the WWE Championship (with a customised belt) at WrestleMania 27. He continues to pushed as a big star, despite still not being properly over with fans.
ODB
ODB auditioned for season 1 but did not make the main show. She returned to the independent scene as the Old Dirty Bitch. She also had a two decent runs in TNA Wrestling as ODB.
Ryback
Ryback was one of the finalists in Season 4, but was eliminated early. He bemused trainers with his constant appetite. He was given a version of the Ryback gimmick in developmental and got over. But he was then brought onto the main roster with a cowboy gimmick named Skip Sheffield. He didn’t wrestle a single match before being demoted to NXT. He was the first person eliminated. He joined the Nexus but was sidelined for a very long time with injury. He was never actually removed from the Nexus, so can be considered as being a member from beginning to end. He returned to the main roster as Ryback and received a strong push. However his clumsy nature in the ring and strange behaviour on social media has set him back.
Salinas
Salinas auditioned in season 3 but did not make the main show. Because of her looks, she was offered a developmental deal. She used a pirate gimmick while there. She later debuted on the ECW brand as Ariel, the valet and girlfriend of Kevin Thorn. She quit after frequent disputes with Elijah Burke and especially Batista. She later turned up in TNA Wrestling as Salinas, the valet of the LAX stable. She has since left wrestling.
Shad Gaspard
Shad Gaspard actually qualified for season 2, but was rejected for unknown reasons. Shad enjoyed success in developmental as Da Beast. He then joined the main roster in the Cryme Tyme tag team with JTG. When the tag team split, he was quickly released. He enjoyed moderate success on the independent scene as Da Beast. But he is currently back in his old Cryme Tyme tag team.
Shawn Daivari
Daivari auditioned for season 3 but did not make the main show. He later debuted on the main roster as the manager of Muhammad Hassan. He later became the manager of Kurt Angle after Hassan left the company. Davari became the manager of the Great Khali until he was eventually released. He currently works the independents as Sheik Abdul Bashir, the gimmick that brought him success in TNA Wrestling and Ring Ka King.
“Lisaâ€
“Lisa†is the real reason why the original show was cancelled. Her antics were so dangerous that MTV would not reveal her real name on television. Lisa made it onto the main show. One night, while all the other contestants were at a bar, Lisa has a “psychotic episodeâ€. She threw her body into the walls until she broke through one of them into a hidden room reserved for MTV’s technical equipment. She then climbed onto the roof and stayed there until MTV staff encouraged her to come down. Lisa was then taken into hospital for psychiatric treatment. MTV paid for Lisa’s parents to come and see her, but Lisa attacked them, claiming not to recognise them and that they were imposters. She later left the hospital and tried to rejoin the show, but MTV refused due to her mental state. She then showed up at an OVW event, claiming that Al Snow had sent her there for further training. After this, she managed to talk her way backstage at a WWE event and even helped with the pyrotechnic displays for wrestler entrances. Rumour had it that she even got to talk to Vince McMahon in person. However, she disappeared after security got her photo.
The contestants and the viewers were led to believe that she left the competition due to a family issue.
Where are they now?
The Boogeyman
The Boogeyman was originally disqualified from the season 4 auditions for lying about his age. Up until that point, he had done better than most of the other contestants, and was offered a developmental deal. During a training match, Boogeyman accidentally broke his front teeth. He kept the teeth out and created the Boogeyman gimmick. He later made it onto the main roster, but he didn’t achieve much. It was believed that his age meant that he had already passed his physical peak. He now works sparingly on the independent circuit.
Cameron
Cameron was the very first person eliminated in season 5 due to her lack of passion for wrestling. However, she would be the only contestant to make it onto the main roster. She had spent most of her run as half of the Funkadactyls tag team. In spite of this, she has shown little interest in learning her craft. She is also involved with Total Divas.
Christopher Nowinski
Nowinski was offered a developmental deal immediately after finishing college, making him the first Harvard graduate to be on the main roster. His career was cut short after a serious concussion. Since then, Nowinski has become a main director with the Sports Legacy Institute. The SLI treats people with head injuries caused by contact sports and professional wrestling. He is also a leading concussion advocate.
Daniel Puder – Season 4 winner.
MMA fighter Puder got an audition in season 3, but did not make the main show. Very early into season 4, a fatigued Puder legitimately beat Olympic gold medallist Kurt Angle in a genuine amateur wrestling bout. However, a quick thinking Referee protected kayfabe by counting Puder’s shoulders down when there was no pin attempt. This sealed Puder’s chances of winning. However, he only worked his contractually guaranteed Royal Rumble appearance and was then released. It was never explained to him that his $1 million prize was actually the value of his 4-year contract. As he was released after 1 month, he never saw most of that money.
Dan Rodman
Rodman was offered a developmental deal just before the competition began, causing him to believe that it had been fixed for him to win. He developed an arrogant attitude and lost the competition, resigning him to Ohio Valley Wrestling. He almost made it onto the main roster a few times, but his attitude kept getting plans dropped.
Desire
The season 2 contestant competed briefly in developmental before heading to TNA Wrestling. She is currently retired.
Gunner
Gunner failed to make the final cut in season 3. But he went on to become a top-tier star in TNA Wrestling. He is a former TNA Television and Tag Team Champion.
John Morrison – Season 3 winner.
Morrison originally competed in season 2, but was eliminated due to his poor attitude. He would win season 3, but was sent straight to developmental after a poor match on Raw. His first run on the main roster was mired by constant ring name changes. His second run was much more successful. He debuted as part of the MNM stable as Johnny Nitro. By the time of his release, he had been a major mid-card star. He is a former multi-time Intercontinental Champion, multi-time Tag Team Champion, ECW (brand) champion and World Tag Team Champion. He is currently having moderate success as an actor.
Josh Lomberger
Josh reached the finals of season 1, but did not win. He then worked for the WWE as part of the broadcast team with the name Josh Matthews. After almost 13 years, he was released a few weeks ago. He has allegedly signed with TNA Wrestling in a similar role.
Justin Roberts
Justin Roberts was shown in an audition tape in season 1. He did not get an audition. He currently works as the main ring announcer for WWE events.
Kenny King
Kenny King reached the finals of season 2. He attempted to sue MTV because his contract promised that one of the competition winners had to be male (both were women). King currently competes in TNA Wrestling in a stable with MVP and Lashley. He is a former TNA X-Division champion. He was the only champion to hold the title during the ill-fated “all title matches will be triple threat matches†stipulation.
Kharma
Kharma auditioned for season 3 but did not make the final cut. She was not rejected by Jim Ross for being “too fatâ€, as Ross had nothing to do with her evaluation. She would work the independent scene in the US and Japan as Amazing Kong. She then had a successful run in TNA Wrestling as Awesome Kong, the most dominant person in the Knockout division in her time there. She quit in 2010 after a disagreement with Bubba The Love Sponge. She eventually made it into the WWE as Kharma with a lot of support from WWE alumni. However, she spent most of her time there on maternity leave. Her only match was in the Royal Rumble, making her the first African-American woman to compete in the event. She was later released due to mental and physical health issues. She has recently been training for a return to the ring.
Linda Myles - Season 2 winner.
Myles’ debut was delayed after suffering an injury in her first week on the main roster. One of those two matches was the infamous “worst match in Raw history†with Miss Jackie. She would return as Shaniqua, the manager of the Basham Brothers tag team. She annoyed a lot of people with her bad backstage attitude and clumsy nature in the ring. She was eventually released after swearing repeatedly on a SmackDown taping.
Matt Morgan
Morgan competed in season 3 but did not win. He eventually made it onto the main roster as a member of the short-lived Team Lesnar, but was side-lined with an injury after 2 months. He then returned with the career-threatening “stammer†gimmick. He managed to save his career with a successful run in TNA Wrestling. He eventually left TNA Wrestling due to under-booking (meaning that he was not able to make enough money in order to get by). He is taking a break from wrestling to focus a new career in Pharmaceutical medicine. He says that he is not retired from wrestling, but could not turn down the financial security of the full-time position.
Matt Cappotelli – Season 3 winner.
Cappotelli won season 3 by default after he was legitimately attacked by Hardcore Holly during a training match. He dominated in Ohio Valley Wrestling and was due to be called up to the main roster. However, he retired from wrestling after the discovery of a brain tumour. It was successfully treated, but he may never be healthy enough to return to the ring.
Maven – Season 1 winner.
Maven debuted immediately, and proved that 3 months is not nearly enough time to train for a full-time career in wrestling. His famous first Royal Rumble appearance was meant to be his final WWE appearance. However, Undertaker botched* a spot and got eliminated by Maven. As a result, Maven immediately got over with fans and was given a chance at a proper run in WWE. Since being released in 2005, Maven has struggled to get bookings on the independent scene.
*The original script called for Undertaker to pulverise Maven for almost eliminating him from the Rumble. Then the “injuries†from the attack would explain Maven’s retirement. However, Undertaker intentionally fell out of the ring, but lied that he had “slippedâ€.
Melina
Melina made it into the final 25 for season 3 but did not make the main show. She would dominate the women’s division in OVW before joining the main roster as the manager of the MNM stable. She had a successful run in the women’s division, winning the Women’s and Divas’ Championships multiple times. However, she was eventually released because of her difficult behaviour. She is known to have had sexual flings with multiple WWE superstars. However, a persistent rumour is that many of these flings happened while she was still in a relationship with John Morrison.
Miss Jackie – Season 2 winner.
Miss Jackie had short careers in both WWE and TNA Wrestling, serving mainly as a non-wrestling manager. Her first WWE match is still considered to be the “worst in Raw historyâ€. She and her husband Charlie Haas were released when she was on honeymoon. She did not make much of an impact while she was in TNA.
Nidia – Season 1 winner.
When Nidia made it onto the main roster, she spent most of her career as the valet and girlfriend of Jamie Noble. She was involved in an angle where she was blinded for 4 months (and mysteriously caused her boobs to grow). She was released after a disastrous singles run.
Mitch
Mitch debuted on the main roster as a member of the Spirit Squad. He would serve mainly as a manager, competing in the fewest matches. Mitch would return to the independents after being released.
The Miz
The Miz originally debuted on WWE.com. The website ran an article on him because of his constant references to the WWE and The Rock on ‘The Real World’. This earned him safe passage to the final 2 in season 4. The Miz would be added to the main roster and showed little improvement for the first few years. Because of his recognition as a reality TV personality, he would do a lot of publicity work for the WWE. He was rewarded with strong pushes and frequent title wins. His career highlight was successfully defending the WWE Championship (with a customised belt) at WrestleMania 27. He continues to pushed as a big star, despite still not being properly over with fans.
ODB
ODB auditioned for season 1 but did not make the main show. She returned to the independent scene as the Old Dirty Bitch. She also had a two decent runs in TNA Wrestling as ODB.
Ryback
Ryback was one of the finalists in Season 4, but was eliminated early. He bemused trainers with his constant appetite. He was given a version of the Ryback gimmick in developmental and got over. But he was then brought onto the main roster with a cowboy gimmick named Skip Sheffield. He didn’t wrestle a single match before being demoted to NXT. He was the first person eliminated. He joined the Nexus but was sidelined for a very long time with injury. He was never actually removed from the Nexus, so can be considered as being a member from beginning to end. He returned to the main roster as Ryback and received a strong push. However his clumsy nature in the ring and strange behaviour on social media has set him back.
Salinas
Salinas auditioned in season 3 but did not make the main show. Because of her looks, she was offered a developmental deal. She used a pirate gimmick while there. She later debuted on the ECW brand as Ariel, the valet and girlfriend of Kevin Thorn. She quit after frequent disputes with Elijah Burke and especially Batista. She later turned up in TNA Wrestling as Salinas, the valet of the LAX stable. She has since left wrestling.
Shad Gaspard
Shad Gaspard actually qualified for season 2, but was rejected for unknown reasons. Shad enjoyed success in developmental as Da Beast. He then joined the main roster in the Cryme Tyme tag team with JTG. When the tag team split, he was quickly released. He enjoyed moderate success on the independent scene as Da Beast. But he is currently back in his old Cryme Tyme tag team.
Shawn Daivari
Daivari auditioned for season 3 but did not make the main show. He later debuted on the main roster as the manager of Muhammad Hassan. He later became the manager of Kurt Angle after Hassan left the company. Davari became the manager of the Great Khali until he was eventually released. He currently works the independents as Sheik Abdul Bashir, the gimmick that brought him success in TNA Wrestling and Ring Ka King.
“Lisaâ€
“Lisa†is the real reason why the original show was cancelled. Her antics were so dangerous that MTV would not reveal her real name on television. Lisa made it onto the main show. One night, while all the other contestants were at a bar, Lisa has a “psychotic episodeâ€. She threw her body into the walls until she broke through one of them into a hidden room reserved for MTV’s technical equipment. She then climbed onto the roof and stayed there until MTV staff encouraged her to come down. Lisa was then taken into hospital for psychiatric treatment. MTV paid for Lisa’s parents to come and see her, but Lisa attacked them, claiming not to recognise them and that they were imposters. She later left the hospital and tried to rejoin the show, but MTV refused due to her mental state. She then showed up at an OVW event, claiming that Al Snow had sent her there for further training. After this, she managed to talk her way backstage at a WWE event and even helped with the pyrotechnic displays for wrestler entrances. Rumour had it that she even got to talk to Vince McMahon in person. However, she disappeared after security got her photo.
The contestants and the viewers were led to believe that she left the competition due to a family issue.
