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The Women of Tough Enough: Where Are They Now? (Part 2)

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Lee Burton returns with the second part of his look at the women of Tough Enough, this time focusing on the best of the rest. Click here to read part one.

In the original part of this look back of The Women of Tough Enough, we checked out the three winners – Nidia Guenard, Linda Miles and Jackie Gayda Haas. In this concluding part, we should take a peek at some of the other contestants who ended up in the biz, as well as the applicants who didn’t make it into the house but still forged a career in wrestling anyway.

So let’s go through it season by season…

Tough Enough 1
As mentioned in the previous article, Nidia won the original season after being picked over her only other real competition, Taylor Matheny (now 30). At the finale, Taylor promised that she wouldn’t quit her dream of making it as a wrestler, and stuck to her promise… at first.

Taylor was a salty character on Tough Enough. Participating in the show at the disapproval of her parents and being very focused on the prize at the end, she pushed herself in the ring and was dedicated to learning the craft. However, things went south when the remaining contestants went on the road with Al Snow, as she got utterly hammered in a bar and was very delicate the next day. If anything, this might have been an indicator to the WWF that she had pangs of irresponsibility and had some growing up to do. If anything, Taylor wanted it TOO much.

Nobody could doubt her desire though – as evidenced on the final live episode where she looked utterly crushed when Nidia was announced as the victor.

After TE1 ended, Matheny wrestled dates in the US, Canada and Japan (most notably with the celebrated ARSION promotion), defeating the likes of Cheerleader Melissa along the way, and tangling with the likes of SHIMMER co-founder Allison Danger, earning her a 3rd runner-up spot in the Pro Wrestling Illustrated Rookie of the Year rankings. The problem was that by the time she had earned that honour, Taylor was starting to wind down as a wrestler.

In 2004, Matheny quit wrestling to take up a course studying Hollywood make-up, though she did appear in the Florida promotion Full Impact Pro in a special guest appearance with her then-boyfriend, now-husband. His name: Brian Kendrick.

Yes, THE Brian Kendrick – the one who held the WWE Tag Team Championship for a year and currently plies his craft in TNA. Even after removing herself from wrestling, Taylor’s still associated with it, thanks to her marijuana-loving beau.

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Complete Results from WSU’s Second Taping on Saturday

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As well as the live iPPV (results here), WSU taped a second show afterwards which will be distributed on iPPV and DVD at a later date. Complete results from the second taping below courtesy of WSU.

Angel Orsini came out to talk about making her All Guts No Glory Championship the biggest prize in WSU. Orsini said she’d take on anyone. The Cosmo Club came out. Brittney Savage, who has been trying to recruit Orsini for the Cosmo Club since April 2010, said that if any member of the Cosmo Club could defeat Orsini, then not only was the AGNG Championship hers, but Orsini would have to join the Cosmo Club. Orsini accepted.

MATCH ONE
For the WSU All Guts, No Glory Championship vs Forced To Join Cosmo Club
Angel Orsini d. Rick Cataldo in 10 seconds
Angel Orsini d. Cindy Rogers
Angel Orsini d. Jana
Angel Orsini d. Melissa Coates via tapout
Angel Orsini d. Brittney Savage

Angel made it clear that these were 5 more victims, and said she would wipe out everyone in WSU until there was no one left until WSU was forced to rescind the Ironwoman stipulation and finally give her a WSU World Title match.

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PPV Predictions: TNA Turning Point 2010

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Former WWE Women’s Champions, Mickie James and Tara collide tonight in a big grudge match live on pay per view. Who will get the last laugh? The Diva Dirt team weigh in…

Cryssi: Let me start off by asking the Diva Dirt World a question. Does it make me a bad person seeing as how I had no clue these two were even feuding? Last I checked, I thought Sarita was getting a push, but no matter. Tara and Mickie are ex-WWE stars which means they will be built up bigger than any indy/SHIMMER/ROH girl ever. Seeing as how Mickie is the newest, and perhaps the biggest signing TNA has made since Kurt Angle (because lets face it, Hulk Hogan/Flair/Bischoff are not prizes) I expect to see her pushed to the moon. She’s probably going for Madison after tonight so yeah, Mickie totally wins this match via handcuffing Tara to the ring rope and forcing her to listen to ‘Hardcore Country.’ Tara’s ears will start to bleed and for her safety, the match will be called and Mickie will be declared the winner. Meanwhile Tara will have to be committed because that song will make her want to jump off Epcot Center and that’s not really healthy.

Erin: TNA is never one to slack when it comes to pushing those new acquisitions that have a whiff of the WWE still on them, and Mickie’s still carrying the scent, while Tara’s has all but worn off. Thus, they’re probably dead set on giving Mickie a nice big push for as long as they can. The fact that this is a storyline based on their former Diva status only reinforces the belief that any association to the WWE makes TNA see dollar signs, and having one of the most popular Divas in recent history at their disposal tells me that they’re not going to do much to hold her back this early on. Add to that the fact that this match, in all likelihood, will be a stepping stone to Mickie challenging Madison for the Knockouts Title, and it becomes clear that Tara probably doesn’t stand much of a chance. While this match has the chance of being pretty damn good, I don’t think it’s going to serve as much more than preparation for the eventual title feud. Mickie wins.

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In Video: Rare Documentary Featuring Angelina Love, Kristin Astara & Taylor Wilde

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A rare short documentary featuring TNA Knockouts, Angelina Love and Taylor Wilde as well as Diva Dirt’s Kristin Astara was brought to our attention today and I thought it’d be cool to post it. ‘Learning the Ropes’ features the three ladies during their time training in Deep South Wrestling back in 2005 when all three … Read more

WSU Announces Line-Up for 4th Anniversary Show Next March: Martinez vs Serena, Luna Vachon Inducted Into Hall of Fame

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Coming out of last night’s big double taping, including a live iPPV, WSU has finalised the card for its fourth anniversary show due to take on March 5th, 2011. Full card below:

WSU World Championship
Mercedes Martinez vs Serena

All Guts No Glory Championship
Angel Orsini vs ODB

WSU Tag Team Championship
The Belle Saints vs The Soul Sisters vs Amy Lee & Cindy Rogers

WSU Spirit Championship
Brittney Savage vs Sassy Stephie
* Cosmo Club banned from ringside

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YouTube Classic: Mickie James vs Victoria at New Year’s Revolution 2007

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Tonight at TNA’s Turning Point pay per view, Mickie James meets Tara in a battle of two former WWE Divas. It’s been nearly four years since their last pay per view encounter which took place at New Year’s Revolution in 2007 when Mickie defended her Women’s Championship against the then-Victoria. Relive that match as a … Read more

SHIMMER Announces March Return

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SHIMMER Women Athletes has announced its return for the Volume 37-40 tapings. The tapings will take place on March 27th and 28th next year at the usual spot, the Eagles Club in Berwyn, IL. Details below: SHIMMER – WOMEN ATHLETES returns to the Berwyn Eagles Club (6309 26th Street) on Saturday & Sunday, March 26th … Read more

Live Coverage of WSU’s iPPV (November 6th, 2010): Mercedes Martinez vs Jazz, Homicide’s Challenge, Alicia vs Angel Orsini, Serena, ODB & More

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Diva Dirt presents live play-by-play from WSU’s Internet pay per view taking place live from the ACE Arena in New Jersey. The show begins at 5.30pm ET and can be viewed via GoFightLive.tv. Stay tuned for a full report (and sarcastic opinion) from the pay per view.

Show begins with ring announcer Destiny announcing that we are live for WSU on iPPV!

Our opening segment will be an award ceremony with Mercedes Martinez (who ranked #3 on the PWI Female 50) being honored by Pro Wrestling Illustrated.

But before that can happen — Homicide’s music hits in the arena. After what seems like the longest minute ever, he finally comes out and hits the ring.

Homicide takes the microphone (which is super quiet by the way, so I’ll do the best I can). He says he wants all the women to come out to the ring. The entire roster makes their way down to ringside and surrounds the ring. Homicide exchanges words with Amy Lee at ringside. Mercedes Martinez’s music hits now and she makes her way down to the ring.

Homicide addresses Mercedes and compliments WSU from what I can hear. He thanks Mercedes Martinez and the ladies at ringside for making wrestling what it should be. The Cosmo Club enter the ring and interrupt. Rick Cataldo says he’s sick and tired of Mercedes Martinez and calls her overrated. Cataldo says he has a two page spread in the latest Pro Wrestling Illustrated. He says between Martinez and Homicide, all we need in the ring is a pinata (racist much?). He says the spotlight belongs on the Cosmo Club because they are WSU. The crowd begins chanting ‘Eric Cartman’. Cataldo says if Homicide wants to come to WSU and team with real queens, they could give him a makeover. He says we should call Homicide, ‘Homo-cide’ and slaps his cap off. Homicide hits the Ace Crusher on Cataldo and the rest of the Cosmo Club quickly leave the ring.

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WSU Debuts on iPPV Today at 5.30pm ET: Full Card & How to Order

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WSU makes its debut on iPPV today at 5.30pm ET (4.30pm CT, 1.30pm PDT, 9.30pm UK) via GoFightLive.tv. Diva Dirt‘s Eric is on hand at the event and will be bringing us exclusive news, notes and video interviews with the stars of WSU. Plus, we’ll have live coverage of the iPPV right here on the site.

Full card and details on how to order below:

WSU To Debut LIVE on iPPV via GoFightLive.TV on November 6th

Live Event Info:
When: November 6th, 2010
Where: ACE Arena, 725 Sip Street, Union City, NJ
Times: Convention 3p-5p, First Show 5:30, Second Show: 7:30
Tickets $20 pre-order, $25 at the door
For ticket information, visit WSUWrestling.com

You can now pre-order this huge iPPV event today at:
http://www.gofightlive.tv/Events/Fight/Wrestling/WSU_LIve_Fall_2010__Pro_Wrestling/840

Women Superstars Uncensored (WSU) will be debuting LIVE on iPPV on November 6th in conjunction with the Go Fight Live network. WSU, the leader in womens wrestling today, will be filming two separate PPV events. Our first PPV event will air live, with our second taping to be aired at a later date. Our 11/6 PPV will air live at 5:30 PM EST, for fans who can’t attend the show live. The show will also be archived for fans who want to see the PPV at GoFightLive.tv

As a special bonus for fans who order the PPV, WSU will be airing a special award ceremony, as Pro Wrestling Illustrated magazine will be in the house to honor Mercedes Martinez as “WSU Wrestler of the Year”. Martinez will also be honored by PWI magazine for being the highest ranked independent wrestler in this year’s PWI’s “Top 50 Females of Wrestling”. Never before has an independent wrestler ranked so high and PWI will be on hand to honor the WSU World Champion.

Card after the cut:

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SmackDown Redux (November 5th, 2010): The Vickie, Dolph, and Kaitlyn Show Rolls Into SD

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It’s no secret that NXT rookie Diva, Kaitlyn, has a thing for Intercontinental Champion, Dolph Ziggler, and as we found this past week on NXT, those lustful feelings and that undeniable sexual attraction is more than mutual. Kaitlyn and Dolph paint a pretty picture; they’re both hot, passionate, young. They have all the makings of a professional wrestling supercouple. Too bad there’s one giant roadblock standing in their way.

Dun…dun…duuuuuuuuun!

Dolph has a girlfriend. She is Vickie Guerrero. And Vickie, who just so happens to be Kaitlyn’s mentor on NXT, was none to happy to witness Dolph’s giant betrayal on Tuesday night. To make matters worse, the official consultant of Friday Night SmackDown ended up with cake, all over her face!

Things take a nasty turn this week as this little triangle comes to a head on SmackDown. Like sands through the hourglass….

Tonight’s episode of SmackDown kicked off in dramatic fashion for our trio. Dolph, who last won a match in God knows when, took on former tag team competitor, JTG. Interesting tidbit for all of us JTG fans: JTG and his former tag team partner, Shad Gaspard, never won the tag team titles during their tenure together.

It’s fair to say that Dolph basically dominated the match. It could even be deemed a squash. Dolph hit his finisher, the aptly titled Zig Zag, but decided to yank JTG up mid-cover. Our savvy champion didn’t just want to settle for a routine pinfall tonight. He wrapped JTG up in the most devastating of sleeper holds and pretty much sent Brooklyn native to sleep. The referee called for the bell and Ziggler was awarded a much needed victory.

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Impact Write-Up (November 4, 2010): Knockouts, Knockouts Everywhere

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Heading into Sunday’s “Turning Point” pay-per-view, we had plenty of action featuring the Knockouts last night. Let’s get right into it, shall we?

The first match will feature Sarita taking on Velvet Sky, but before we get to that, we see both members of the Beautiful People in the back. Angelina and Velvet are primping in the mirror, chatting as Vel Vel gets ready for her match. Surprising me, she tells Angelina she wants to do this on her own without any back-up. Angel doesn’t take offense, sending her off with a hug and words of encouragement. Sky leaves…which signals the appearance of the mysterious Winter in the mirror. Angelina calls her a “creeper” (LOL!) and wants to know what she’s doing there. Winter tells her quietly she doesn’t have to worry, “I won’t leave you. You’ll never have to be alone again.” At which point, Love says she likes being alone and makes her escape. The camera pans back to the mirror – empty.

Musings: Creepy! Still loving it, still interested. I could listen to Kat speak for hours, her voice is so soft and pretty. Maybe it’s my partiality for accents, I’m not sure. I also liked the fact Velvet wanted to go it alone against Sarita. I take it as a sign she doesn’t want to rely overly much on Angelina’s assistance in her solo matches, which is a good point. Both women are strong characters on their own, they don’t need to have tag matches all the time.

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WWE Realises Aksana is Comedic Gold, Launches Soundboard to Prove It

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For weeks now, we’ve been giggling away as our favorite billion dollar baby from Lithuania has dropped some classic one-liners. Now, WWE.com is getting in on the action with an epic(!!!) soundboard dedicated to Aksana. To check out “Bleep Aksana Say” (an pop culture reference that is actually relevant to today and not six months … Read more

WWE Superstars Redux (November 4, 2010): Is That Gail Kim? It is!

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This week on Superstars, we finally get to see her doing something other than entertaining the guest hosts – it will be Gail Kim taking on Alicia Fox in a battle between two former champions. Can Alicia outfox Gail, or will she eat defeat? (I’ll leave the jokes up to David!) Let’s find out.

Out first is Alicia Fox in her brown and blue gear, looking sassy as ever. It’s now that I realize there’s a new commentator beside Lawler, who’s name is Scott. As I watch and listen to the match, I have to wonder where they got this man. He’s as wooden as…well, as a piece of wood. I mustn’t be too harsh, and honestly I tune out the commentary during the women’s matches anyways. Gail Kim’s music hits and tonight she’s in her light purple gear, which she looks stunning in. I must say the extensions look very good on her. She gets a good pop from the crowd as she makes her way into the ring.

The bell rings and the two lock up, jockeying for position. Gail winds up forcing her against the ropes. The referee breaks them up, Alicia shoving her face and smirking. Another lockup, Alicia getting Gail into a side headlock, then flips her over to the canvas. Gail reverses, wrapping her legs around Fox’s neck.

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Live Report & Pictures from SmackDown in Belfast, Ireland (Layla vs Natalya)

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Diva Dirt reader, Hayley sent in the following results and pictures from last night’s SmackDown house show in Belfast, Ireland that saw Layla take on Natalya. Read her report below:

Before the intermission, Kelly Kelly was announced as the guest hostess and she came out to a rather big pop from the Belfast crowd. Tony Chimel then proceeded to bring out Hornswoggle and then gave them t-shirts that were on sale at the merchandise stores around the arena and had them hold them up and model them. Kelly and Hornswoggle then proceeded to throw some t-shirts and wristbands into the crowd before they left the ring.

After the intermission there was then a Divas match and I was like FINALLY!! I have heard reports on how usually during the Diva matches people get up to go to the restroom or concession stand but I honestly didn’t see many people leaving which put me in a great mood. I was right beside the entrance where they come out so I was listening really carefully, and then I heard, “You’re not enough for me!” and everyone started booing, I didn’t really want to boo so I smiled and sang along, while Layla came out. She was wearing her usual ring attire and she had brought out a big white exercise ball which she kicked down the ramp and shouted at people saying not to touch it, she then threw it into the ring and proceeded to pose on the turnbuckles while some type of chant went up.

More after the cut:

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In Pictures: Trish Flaunts Her Amazing Body on ‘Inside Fitness’ Cover

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Cue a sigh of envy amongst women everywhere! Former Women’s Champion, Trish Stratus bags another magazine cover, this time showing off her amazingly toned stomach for ‘Inside Fitness Canada’.

She may be four years into retirement, but the Diva legend shows no sign of complacency. We salute you and grumble in envy, Trish.

The issue (Dec/Jan) can be ordered via Trish’s site.

Check out the full cover below:

[nggallery id=444]

To see a video of Trish shooting the cover, follow the cut:

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