WWE News: Former Tough Enough Winner’s Health ‘Declining’

One of the sadder stories in pro wrestling over recent years has been that of Matt Cappotelli, the former WWE Tough Enough star whose career was cut short due to brain cancer. Cappotelli won season three of Tough Enough (along with John Hennigan, the future John Morrison) and was also involved in a controversial episode in which one of the trainers, Hardcore Holly, legitimately left him bleeding.

Matt was then sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling to continue his training and became regarded as one of WWE’s top prospects, however in February 2006 he announced that he was diagnosed with astrocytoma, a form of brain cancer. Cappotelli would have the tumor removed successfully in 2007, but his in-ring career was over. He later would become a trainer for OVW in 2013, but was hit again with a grade IV glioblastoma multiforme, the most aggressive form of brain cancer, in 2017.

Cappotelli has been undergoing treatment ever since, however a recent blog post in early May from his wife, Lindsay, has surfaced today. In the post, Lindsay reveals that Matt’s health is declining and he will not be continuing his current treatments. According to Mrs. Cappotelli, Matt is unable to communicate very well and is having trouble taking in food. Below are some quotes:

“Here’s where we’re at right now: Matt finished his radiation treatments last week. Did they help? I don’t know. He’s sleeping a lot more. Having trouble chewing and swallowing. Not eating much. Not talking much, at least not in full sentences. It’s just been a slow, steady decline for the last few months. I think it was really too late for radiation….But who knows, maybe it is delaying things.

She would continue:

“I don’t know how much longer we have left, so I’m just loving him and kissing him and encouraging him with my words(I hope) and reading the bible to him at night….making sure he knows that I’ll be okay. And I am okay…right now. I’m okay right now, because I still have his hand to hold. I’m okay right now, because I say “I love you”, and I get to hear him whisper, “I love you, too.” I’m okay right now, because I still get to fall asleep with him by my side and wake up in the morning with my arm around him. I’m okay right now, because I get to look into his beautiful eyes and see his smile and kiss his face every day. I’m okay right now, because he’s still here with me. But when he’s not…you might as well just rip out my heart right out of my chest. I try to imagine life without him…I try to prepare myself for that outcome…but I just can’t really know what it will feel like. Life without him seems unimagineable.”

You can read Mrs. Cappotelli’s full blog post at this link

EA’s Take: I don’t know how many people reading this are old enough to remember Matt, but I certainly do. He was extremely likable on Tough Enough and I remember hearing about how he had loads of potential during his OVW run. After all, he is a former OVW World Champion. Cancer sucks, there’s just no two-ways about it, especially when it happens to someone that had so much promise and so much to offer. My deepest sympathies are with the entire Cappotelli family.

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