The Reality TV Show You Forgot Starred Nikki A.S.H.

Professional wrestling has seen its share of reality TV shows, from the scripted drama of "Total Divas" to the competition of "Tough Enough," and while it's easy to view it as a totally WWE-dominated space, back in 2013 and 2014, Total Non-Stop Action Wrestling (now known as Impact) ran its own competition show — "TNA: British Boot Camp."

"British Boot Camp" aired for two years on the British TV network "Challenge," who described it as a "ratings hit" for the network. It had mostly the same premise as WWE's "Tough Enough," but with a cast exclusively hailing from the United Kingdom. The contestants would all compete with one another through a series of wrestling-related challenges in the hopes of winning the season and the grand prize — a contract with TNA. The show was presented mainly through a pseudo-reality lens, with a lot of the challenges coming in the form of the contestants having to apply skills they had learned throughout the show. They were mentored by TNA stars like Gail Kim and Samoa Joe.

The show may have only ran for two seasons, but in that time it housed a number of UK talents that would go on to major success within the industry. Among others, Noam Dar, Marty Scurll, Doudrop, and Drake Maverick (who would go on to win the first season) all made appearances as contestants on the show. The show also featured former "Raw" Women's Champion Nikki A.S.H. as a participant in its second season.

Nikki A.S.H. and other WWE Stars

Nikki A.S.H., known in "WWE NXT" as Nikki Cross and in "British Boot Camp" as Nikki Storm, actually went all the way to the finals of the second season, but would ultimately be eliminated before the final six. She was surpassed by her fellow Scottish WWE star, former "NXT UK" Women's Champion Alba Fyre, fka Kay Lee Ray, but the season would be won in its entirety by Mark Andrews, who would become one of the first Welsh champions in WWE history when he and Flash Morgan Webster won the "NXT UK" Tag Team Championship.

While "British Boot Camp" didn't reach the heights of WWE's "Tough Enough" or even the original iteration of "NXT," it did feature a veritable "who's who" of current British wrestlers, including multiple future world champions and current WWE talent. In fact, it's almost more difficult to find a contestant from the show that didn't go on to some kind of success, but Nikki A.S.H. was the first "British Boot Camp" cast member to win championship gold on the WWE main roster.

Comments

Recommended