1.) What are you doing these days... have you been offered any solid Indy work, and do you still keep in touch with any of the other Tough Enough contestants, do you plan to?

I've moved back to Boston, and am working independents around here. I work regularly for Chaotic Wrestling, and will work for the WWA next weekend. I am also in talks with other promotions. I also attend Chaotic's wrestling school a few times a week and get trained by Mike Hollow, who was my trainer at Kowalski's. I keep in touch with Josh and Taylor. Josh and I have talked a few times, mostly about helping each other find work and passing along information. He's been very cool about it. Taylor and I have talked a few times too, and she'll be coming out to Boston Thanksgiving weekend to work two shows with me for the WWA. We're all trying to help each other out.

2.) A few days before the Tough Enough finale we had a poll on our website, 82% of our readers believed that you were a shoe-in to win the competition. A few weeks have passed since then... how's does it feel not to have reached your goal of becoming a WWF superstar and why do you think Maven won?

First of all, I am shocked that I was the favorite. The only poll I can remember was the toughenough.com poll, which they showed me when I was on WWF Excess that had me at 15%. I was very disappointed at the live show when I didn't win, but that disappointment has tapered off quite a bit. Once I got away from Stamford, I regained perspective on just how fortunate I was to be a part of it, and what an accomplishment it was to be a finalist with the others. To ask me how I feel not to have reached my goal of becoming a WWF superstar is the wrong question to ask. When I decided to get into wrestling about a year ago, my goal was not to be in the WWF in a year. I knew that to be unrealistic and would set me up for failure. My goal was to learn as quickly as I could, become a good worker, and have fun. I didn't know what it took to be a WWF superstar, so I wasn't sure if I could get there.
Now that I've been on the inside a bit and have seen what it takes I don't feel that I've been a failure. I think I'm pretty far along in terms of knowledge and skills for one year in. Now I get to climb back up just like everyone else and earn my way into the WWF.
I think Maven won because he deserved it. There is no one way to quantify who was the best wrestler or performer or had the best look, so I've avoided speculating on why he won and I didn't. I gave it my best shot, and I obviously was not the right person to get the contract. Maven worked hard, had obvious talents, and people liked him. There were reasons for all three of us to win, and Maven's were the strongest.

3.) Ultimately Jim Ross is the WWF's talent chief do you think he had any influence on the final outcome? Do you feel that the winners were determined before the show had aired, and edited to make the eventual winners look better?

I believe Jim Ross did have an influence on the final outcome. He came by one day during the finalists' training in the fall and evaluated us for an afternoon, and Big and Al treated it like it was a very big deal. I believe the winners were determined before the show aired, but they weren't written in stone. If that person faltered and another excelled when we went back, it could have been reversed, but that did not appear to happen. I do think it was edited to make the winners look better. I definitely believe that was the case with Maven, as he was portrayed as the ultimate baby face, without any flaws. I'm not saying he's a bad guy, because he's not, but he is human, and there were instances that would seem to make for great TV involving him that did not make the show. But it was the smart thing for the WWF to do, because they were obviously creating characters. Frankly, they protected all of us somehow, removing things that the rest of the world didn't need to see, and that will remain our little secrets.

4.) What are your impressions so far of how Maven and Nidia have fared on TV... should Maven have got the win over Tazz, do you believe in the age old tradition of paying your dues?

I'm very proud of how Maven and Nidia have fared on TV. They did as well as could be expected considering our level of experience, and I hope they continue to improve. I don't know if Maven should have gotten the win over Tazz. I mean, I do believe in paying your dues, but I also believe that it's a show and it's not about who wins but how and why. If Vince McMahon believed Maven should have won, then I guess he should have.

5.) In between training yourself and the rest of the finalists had the opportunity to get backstage at several WWF tapings, what was that experience like, how did 'the boys' treat you, did you feel welcome, and what were your thoughts?

Getting to go backstage was a huge rush. It was like going to the promised land, or joining a secret society. You always hear about it, but few have actually been there. When we went backstage, we were made to feel very welcome, both while the cameras were on us and not. Many of the wrestlers made an effort to come by and say hello and share their thoughts with us. Others kind of kept their distance, often because they were busy or possibly bitter about the whole concept of the show. However, if they were, they never indicated it to our face, and were hospitable and professional.

6.) Describe a typical 9-5 day whilst filming Tough Enough, Tazz seemed to take pleasure in screaming at you guys from a truck as you ran behind... how "tough" was it really?

Realistically, Tough Enough was the hardest thing I've ever done, both physically and mentally. I thought it was very much like preseason practice when I played football at Harvard. We gave about twelve hours a day to training and working out. Except while football two-a-days lasts only two weeks, this went for nine. You were learning things you've never done before, you couldn't get hurt, and you couldn't say no. And your whole future was on the line. We began training at Trax about 9 am Monday through Thursday, broke for a 45 minute lunch, and quit for the day about 4-4:30. We would then drive over to Titan Towers, where we would lift and do cardio for around three hours. We would get home about 9 pm, and then take care of day to day tasks. Fridays were for challenges like the mud pit, and we would never know what we were doing until we were doing it. We would only hear the day before to "bring your boots and your swimsuits, you're gonna get wet. We'll see you at 8." That was mentally draining.
On the weekends, we spent about half of one day doing interviews, and the rest of the time we had to "relax". The stress levels were ridiculous, because we were forced to be isolated from all family and friends, and we never had a moment without knowing somebody was watching us. As much as you think you can get used to the cameras, you never get comfortable with them. And knowing every time you have a bad day or say something stupid you would have to relive it with the rest of the country was unsettling. It literally took me weeks to recover from the filming, and to get comfortable in my own skin again. Now I have a comfortable distance from the character everyone saw on TV, but it took some getting used to.

7.) Thanks for answering our questions... if any promoters want to book you how do they go about it...? Any upcoming shows/appearances?

You're welcome.

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