Taylor Matheny Taylor Ann Matheny ( November 23 , 1979 ) is a retired American professional wrestler who competed in North American independent promotions including Ohio Valley Wrestling , a developmental territory of World Wrestling Entertainment . She is best known , however , as a contestant on MTV ' s " Tough Enough " in 2001 , making it to the finals before losing out to Nidia Guenard . Career . Growing up in Maple Valley , Washington , she became interested in professional wrestling during the late 1990s and , seeing a commercial for " WWE Tough Enough " during Monday Night Raw , auditioned for the reality television series . Originally one of thirteen contestants , she eventually reached the finals with Chris Nowinski , Maven Huffman , Josh Mathews and Nidia Guenard . In November 2001 , Soon after the finale of the show , Matheny made her professional wrestling debut in New England ' s World Wrestling Alliance in November 2001 . Within a short time , she appeared on the independent wrestling circuit across the United States . During the next year , Matheny appeared in numerous independent promotions . She defeated Frost in an intergender match at Alaska Superslam II in Anchorage on February 17 . While competing for New Era Wrestling , she teamed with Rory Fox to defeat Gage Octane and Vixen in a mixed tag team match on April 6 . She also faced April Hunter at a Universal Wrestling Federation event in Oxford , Pennsylvania on April 19 , 2006 ; this was one of two matches during which Hunter made her professional debut . After making an appearance in Liberty All - Star Wrestling defeating Danny Rose & Allison Danger in a mixed tag team match on April 20 , Matheny began competing for the Nova Scotia - based Mainstream Wrestling . She defeated Kyle Kruze in a series of intergender matches and teamed with Lincoln Steen to defeat Flexx Falcone & Morgan Storm in mixed tag team matches during late April . She defeated Morgan Storm in two subsequent " Ladies " matches on April 28 and 29 , 2002 . After wrestling against Allison Danger at Jersey All Pro Wrestling ' s Memorial Day Massacre supercard on May 26 , Matheny accepted an invitation by the Japanese female wrestling promotion ARSION for a three and a half month tour in Japan . During the tour , she teamed with Bionic J and Cheerleader Melissa in a 6 - man tag team match to defeat Mariko Yoshida , Kaori Yoneyama and Baby A on June 23 . She also faced Baby A and Rie Tamada in singles matches before losing to Ai Fujita in a match for the WWWA Super Lightweight Championship on August 25 , 2002 . After facing Rena Takase , Mika Nishio and MARU in a 6 - man tag team match with Bionic J and Cheerleader Melissa on September 12 , Matheny returned to the United States . Inactive during late 2002 , she briefly feuded with Cheerleader Melissa in Live Action Wrestling in January 2003 . Later that month , she appeared at a LAW event with B . G . James , Disco Inferno , Norman Smiley , Buff Bagwell and the Road Warriors . Although scheduled to debut in the Carolina Wrestling Federation at the BattleCade III supercard on December 28 , Matheny canceled her appearance , and by the latter part of 2003 , Matheny became tired of the wrestling business and retired . However , on September 2 , 2005 , she made a surprise appearance with her boyfriend Brian Kendrick at a show for Full Impact Pro . Matheny was , at last word , pursuing a career as a Hollywood make - up artist , working on the 2005 film " The Last Will " . Personal life . Matheny has been married to Brian Kendrick since August 2008