Cappotelli, along with
John Hennigan, won a WWE contract by winning
Tough Enough III. He was then sent to OVW in order to continue his training and work on his vocal skills. In OVW, Cappotelli formed a
face tag team known as
The Thrill Seekers with
Johnny Jeter.
Cappotelli was embroiled in controversy when one of the
Tough Enough trainers,
Bob "Hardcore" Holly, assaulted him in the course of a practice match, leaving him bruised and bloody. Holly later accidentally concussed Cappotelli while wrestling him at a live event on
April 24, 2004.
On
July 31, 2005, Cappotelli suffered a broken fibula during a match against The Blond Bombers (
Chad and
Tank Toland) at an OVW event in
Elizabethtown, Kentucky, in which he landed awkwardly after a
suplex. He was out of action for approximately eight weeks.
On
November 9, 2005, at an OVW television taping, Cappotelli captured the
OVW Heavyweight Championship by defeating his former tag team partner,
Johnny Jeter, who would later be called up into WWE as part of the
Spirit Squad. WWE were planning to bring Cappotelli up into the main roster but before this could happen, he was diagnosed with a grade 2
astrocytoma in
December 2005. He was scheduled to undergo tests to further diagnose the tumor and plan treatment.
On
February 8, 2006, he announced the brain tumor was indeed cancerous and surrendered the title to OVW owner
Danny Davis during an emotional speech at a television taping in
Louisville, Kentucky. Since then he was due to have the brain tumor removed. Matt Cappotelli announced that he was planning on surgery when he started to show symptoms.
Cappotelli is a frequent guest on
The Pain Clinic pro wrestling radio talk show in his hometown of
Rochester, New York. Cappotelli also recently opened up a Christian clothing company, Faith Ink. Matt was on
R News on
September 12, 2006 to talk about his new company. He was also on
The Pain Clinic the following Saturday.
Matt Cappotelli announced to OVW wrestlers and fans on
April 4, 2007 that he will be undergoing surgery for brain cancer in Boston, MA on
May 1, 2007. WWE.com later posted an article, which included video of the announcement. WWE.com later reported that the surgery was a success and will release more information as the days go on. WWE.com has announced that Matt Cappotelli's brain tumor has been fully taken out.
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