Remember Linda Miles? She played the forgettable role of the Bashams’ dominatrix/manager Shaniqua. She disappeared off the face of the wrestling world in 2004. Few fans noticed.
Jackie Gayda stuck around a little bit longer most recently in TNA - but her impact was almost equally negligible. Her biggest claim to fame in wrestling was marrying Charlie Haas.
If the forgettable wrestling careers of those two women are not enough evidence that the wrong person won the second season of WWE’s Tough Enough six years ago, I would refer you to look up whatever happened to the first runner up.
Some of you might recall that “Kenny,” as he was simply known at the time, showed tremendous athleticism and heart during the MTV reality series, and was considered a lock to win one of the two WWE contracts. But, instead both of the spots went to the ladies.
Well, while attending a Ring of Honor show in Orlando over WrestleMania weekend, I noticed a familiar face walking into the ring as a member of the stable of flashy, arrogant heels, "Young, Rich and Ready for Action." I later recognized “Kenny King,” as he is now known, as the former WWE hopeful. King, a regular in ROH’s Florida-based sister promotion Full Impact Pro wrestling, really shone on this night, and did not at all look out of place among the elite athletes of ROH.
Even after being dealt a pretty big blow six years ago, it was nice to see Kenny was still at it - if only for love of the game.
After the show, King was kind enough to talk to me for a few minutes. Check it out.
