Tough Enough 3, February 7 Update: Backstage Info and Matt & John's First Match

A lot has been going on since the live finale!

Most importantly, TE3 winners Matt Cappotelli and John Henigan put on a special Tough Enough Exhibition match on the January 27th Raw. It started out as a typical match, the likes of which we've seen on many episodes of TE3. John at one point hit a dropkick, but instead of falling on his side like normal, he flipped backwards in mid-air and landed on his feet. Suddenly, my #1 fan Harvard Chris Nowinski ran out and stopped the match, complaining that he didn't need the two of them reminding them that he lost the first Tough Enough.

Before Chris could physically assault either of them, Chris' nemesis and TE3 guest trainer Tommy Dreamer chased Chris off with a cane. He congratulated Matt and John, and welcomed them to WWE… with caneshots to the head.

On Saturday's Confidential, the lead story took us all backstage at The World for the finale. Well, that's one place I wasn't able to go.

The most interesting aspect of the show, to me, were parts that clarified questions we had. First, they showed that all five families were backstage during the cut, not just Jamie's. Hers were just the ones we were able to see. Second, Al mentioned that the internet cut was brought about because they caught a lot of heat about the TE2 selections. Actually, Al thinks the right people won, and the right people DIDN'T win. Cut to a clip of Jake. Subtle. But what about Kenny?!

Finally, my favorite bit was of Coach, telling Chris before the show that it was a good thing they didn't have the vote in TE1 because "They HATED you, man!" Oh, great. So Chris was already good and pissed off before he even GOT to me! Thanks, Coach!

Matt has been in a few interviews lately, one of the most in-depth was on the Feel the Pain radio show. You can click here to check out a (pretty sparse) recap, as well as listen to the show.

According to 1wrestling.com, Jonah has been impressing people with his dedication to wrestling. He is believed to be the first TE3 non-winner to receive a developmental deal. And I, for one, hope he does receive one soon.

Speaking of Jonah, he conducted an interview with TheWrestlerOnline. I'm not a huge fan of the host (it's RealityNewsOnline, Vinnie!) but the interview was very thorough and well done. Jonah covered everything from Jill and Lisa to Bill DeMott and back again. I want to reiterate that the interview once again shows that he has matured immensely since the beginning of the season. But check out the link to listen to the show, it's a good one.

Jonah is also appearing for American Championship Wrestling in Gardiner, ME on March 15th. According to the above interview, Jonah claims that he is booked solid on the independents through April (some of which are for Jersey All-Pro Wrestling), so keep your eyes open in the Northeast if you're interested in seeing Jonah before he makes it big.

Jonah, as well as Eric and Scott, join TE2's Danny and Hawk in accepting independent show bookings at www.extremebookings.com.

The Tough Enough 3 finale scored a 2.6 cable rating, which is twice what a normal episode would bring in at times. That has to be a positive sign for a possible future series.

Make sure you keep an eye on RealityNewsOnline (and sign up for the free weekly updates) for MORE Tough Enough coverage than any other website. We have an interview with Scott partially completed and hope to have more interviews soon!

E-mail Mike at: mikmaria@earthlink.net.

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