WWF Tough Enough Update

It’s been quite a while since I’ve updated on the happenings in the world of WWF Tough Enough, and it so happens that there’s quite a bit of news to report. Let’s dive right in with the two winners:

Maven:

On WWF Smackdown in October, Maven was finally able to beat Tazz with help from his fellow Tough Enough winner, Nidia.

The following Monday, hosting Raw from WWF New York restaurant, announcer Jim Ross asked Maven what was in store for him next. Maven told J.R. that, much as he liked the WWF, he was a perfectionist. He knew he wasn’t yet ready for main events. Maven ‘decided’ to spend some time in the WWF’s “farm system” to hone his skills a little more.

Of course, you and I know that he’s been scheduled to do further training in Heartland Valley Association in Cincinnati, but this little interview was for the sole purpose of creating a reason for him to disappear from WWF TV for a while. I haven’t seen any reports that he has been wrestling in HWA as yet.

More importantly, it seems that Maven is doing himself proud and putting his fame to good use. Coach Chris Dodson emailed me recently, telling me about Maven’s visits to his special education class at Spottswood High School. You can see pictures of his first visit (before Tough Enough was even aired) by going to this site and clicking on the “Tough Enough” link.

Chris told me that Maven has made other visits to his classroom, even making a special unannounced appearance the day after returning from the Montreal Smackdown taping. The kids are always incredibly happy to see Maven, and he makes them all feel special.

Here’s to you, Maven. Best of luck in Heartland Wrestling.

Nidia:

The WWF hasn’t taken much advantage of Nidia’s popularity either. Then again, making a list of everything the WWF’s been doing wrong lately might max out our bandwidth.

Nidia appeared on Raw with The Acolytes and trainer Jackie. She didn’t say a whole lot, but was present at ringside during their match that evening. On Smackdown, as I mentioned, she assisted Maven in defeating Tazz, which led to her being browbeaten by Tazz. This brought out Al Snow, quick to protect his “child.” Al and Tazz had a match the next week, which Al won handily.

Yep, that’s it. See what I mean?

Nidia also hasn’t appeared yet for her “farm team,” Ohio Valley Wrestling, but she is reportedly in Louisville working with some of the women in that promotion (including Paisley from WCW and Jazz from ECW.) From all accounts, she is quite popular with the wrestlers and is having none of the trouble I warned of in the previous report.

I have just been told that Nidia has a new website at nidiaistoughenough.com. It's her official site, run by a friend of hers. It's brand new, so content is still limited, but I have been promised that they would be adding quite a bit to the site in the next few days." [We'd like to encourage everyone to check it out. And if they're looking for content, maybe I could suggest linking to our articles. -- Ed.]

Josh:

Josh is getting quite a bit of experience under his belt. He wrestled his first professional match on October 20 for World Wrestling Zone in Hammond, Indiana. He defeated Rory Fox, who some might remember from MTV’s “I Wanna be a Wrestler” special from a couple of years ago as “Rapid Delivery” Rory Fox. I have not seen any reports on the match except to say that Josh “was great and is sooooo cute,” so take that for whatever it’s worth.

Josh also has his own webpage (he was the first of the contestants to do so, to my knowledge) at joshmathews.com. The site is his official site, and is run with his knowledge and participation.

For those of you wondering, yes, Josh’s last name is Lomberger, but he is wrestling under the name Josh Mathews.

Even better for Josh, he is a part of the newest wrestling promotion to attempt to go nationwide, XWF. (No, I don’t know what it stands for, either.)

The XWF promises to bring “back all of the tradition, excitement and fan-friendly activities that seem to have been missing in recent years from one of America's favorite pastimes,” at least according to their press release. (Josh has posted the full press release at his website, in the ‘news’ section.)

Most of the talent consists of people… how to phrase this delicately… who have not been signed by the WWF. Josh is in the company of such wrestlers as Buff Bagwell, Vampiro, the Road Warriors, Curt Hennig, Konnan, the Kiss Demon, and Juventud Guerrera. Also on the roster are such up-and-comers as Chris Daniels and Shark Boy.

In all seriousness, the XWF could be a very interesting promotion, provided they can get the necessary television coverage. I’ve always been a fan of wrestling (as opposed to ‘sports entertainment’) so I know I’ll be watching if I can. They will be holding a press conference on Thursday, November 15, to give details of the promotion. The first matches were scheduled to be taped Tuesday and Wednesday, the 13th and 14th. Josh’s first two scheduled opponents are AJ Styles and Horace Hogan.

I’ll be bringing you news of the XWF as it pertains to Josh (and your ability to watch him on TV) in the Headlines section of the main page.

Taylor:

Taylor appeared at a Pacific Wrestling Federation show in Tacoma (near her hometown). She had hoped to participate as a wrestler, but Washington requires all wrestlers (even those just walking at ringside) to be licensed with the State Athletic Commission. She is not licensed, so she was not able to wrestle.

RealityNewsOnline reader Chris Lytle was able to meet Taylor at the show. He says she is hoping to be signed to a contract soon. The next PWF show is Friday, November 16, and I will let you know if Taylor makes this one. Thanks to Chris for the info.

Harvard Chris:

Chris has been wrestling around the New England area as “Chris Harvard.” Sigh…{shakes head}…

Does anyone care?

The Tough Enough DVD:

I did not order the “available only through the WWF” $59.99 Tough Enough DVD. Good thing, because it’s available at Amazon for only $37.49 (you can order it now and it will ship around January 8).

Also available is a special MTV’s Behind Tough Enough DVD which contains only the 50-minute extra disc, for those of us who taped the whole thing already.

Tough Enough 2:

The tryouts (or “Casting Special”) for Tough Enough 2: The Outback were held November 7 and 8 in Las Vegas. It was open to the public but I have yet to see or hear one report. Remember, independent wrestlers were specifically invited to participate, and Jim Ross said in his weekly report on WWF.com that even after last year, many applicants showed up dreadfully out of shape. That’s OK, we’re into our thirdSurvivor and these people still can’t seem to understand how to play the game.

The only news I can confirm on TE2 is that our favorite contestant Daniel Lue was not invited to audition. All I can say is, the show will be all the worse for his absence.

Full reports and updates can of course be found right here at RealityNewsOnline.

I would like to invite any reader who attends a show where a Tough Enough cast member is wrestling to email me. Unless you see Harvard Chris, of course.

In Memoriam: Mark Martini. You probably don’t know who he is, but he was one of the Finance heads of the company I used to work for in Memphis. He died this weekend after a long battle with cancer. Mark was always a joy to be around, and I will always be glad to have had the honor of knowing him. If you are so inclined, please make a donation to a Sudden Infant Death Syndrome organization in his name.

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