Matt Cappotelli Posts Shocking Post-Surgery Pics!
By Matthew Cooper

Former OVW Heavyweight Champion Matt Cappotelli has updated his MySpace page with photos of his scar from his recent surgery to remove a brain tumor. Cappotelli shot to prominence by being the co-winner of WWE Tough Enough III along with John Hennigan, who later became known as Johnny Nitro. Cappotelli was sent to the WWE developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), where booker Jim Cornette teamed him up with Johnny Jeter, and called them The Thrillseekers (the same name Cornette gave Chris Jericho and Lance Storm in Smokey Mountain Wrestling several years earlier). The Thrillseekers became the most popular team in OVW history, and were given a run as OVW Southern Tag Team Champions. They dropped the titles to Tank and Chad Toland (who were later destroyed by the WWE creative team by being brought to Smackdown as The Dicks), and were scheduled to win the titles back at Six Flags in Louisville.

When Cornette was fired by WWE in 2005, he was replaced by ECW creative guru Paul Heyman, who brought a progressive philosophy to the old school Memphis-style OVW television show. Heyman's first big move was to set up the breakup of The Thrillseekers. Seeing that Cappotelli's popularity was far eclipsing Jeter;'s, Heyman decided to build OVW around Cappotelli as a babyface, and give Jeter the chance to break out on his own, and use his real life frsutrations as a main event heel. So Heyman booked a tag team match with The Thrillseekers against MNM, who had already been called up to the main WWE roster, but who were all still living in Louisville. The person who scored the pinfall would be the number one contender to OVW Heavyweight Champion Brent Albright (now a star in Ring Of Honor).

In a tremendous finish, a big brawl broke out between the two teams, and The Thrillseekers hit simultaneous superkicks, and pinned both Mercury and Nitro. OVW went off the air with announcer Dean Hill confused as to which man would be the number one contender. But fate stepped in before we found out which way the angle would be going, as Cappotelli suffered a broken leg that weekend during an OVW house show in Elizabethtown, Kentucky.

At the very next OVW TV Taping, Cappotelli came out on crutches and told the story of breaking his leg. Johnny Jeter took the title shot, and defeated Albright for the championship. In the post-match celebration, Jeter stated, "I don't need you anymore," and attacked Cappotelli with the title belt. This was a shocking turn, as even though Heyman had planted the seeds, no one thought it would happen this way.

In the ensuing weeks, Cappotelli became the biggest babyface in OVW, even though he was on crutches and could not enter the ring. Heyman booked a series of incidents, like long time OVW announcer Dean Hill flipping out and screaming at Jeter, cursing at him, and walking off the show. Cappotelli started attacking Jeter's associates backstage with his crutches, and they even did a memorable parking lot brawl involving the entire OVW locker room.

Cappotelli returned to action in October, and challenged Jeter for the title in his first match back. A capacity crowd at the Davis Arena witnessed Mr. Kennedy return to help Jeter keep the title. The rematch was scheduled for November 5th, where Cappotelli finally defeated Jeter for the OVW Heavyweight Championship.
The WWE creative team took notice of Cappotelli's popularity, and he was in the process of being called up to the Smackdown roster when he was accidentally knocked out by an elbow from Chris Cage.

When Cappotelli was taken to the hospital to be treated for a concussion, they noticed something was wrong. He was soon diagnosed with a grade 2 astrocytoma. Astrocytomas are primary intracranial tumors derived from astrocytes cells of the brain. They may arise in the cerebral hemispheres, in the posterior fossa, in the optic nerves, and rarely, the spinal cord.

Six weeks later, on February 8, 2006, Cappotelli came to the Davis Arena, and relinquished the OVW Title to OVW Owner Danny Davis while the entire OVW locker room surrounded the ring. There was a lot of discussion as to how this should happen. Several OVW wrestlers were aware of the fact that Davis was leery of having the babyfaces and heels together surrounding the ring, but Heyman and Cappotelli persuaded Davis to allow the fans to experience the reality of the situation.

In an emotional speech, Cappotelli announced that he had a brain tumor, and could no longer continue as OVW Heavyweight Champion. It was a speech so profound, WWE.com aired it online the next day, a full two days before it would air on OVW's own television show!

Cappotelli returned to the Davis Arena on April 4, 2007, and announced that the tumor had grown, and needed to be removed. He said he would be going to Boston, Massachusetts, and getting brain surgery on May 1st. The surgery appears to have been a major success, as the entire brain tumor apparently has been removed.

Cappotelli has updated his MySpace page with photos of his graphic scar. You can check it our for yourself by clicking here : www.myspace.com/faith_warrior_

All of us here at MMA/WrestlingNewsDesk wish Matt Cappotelli the very best as he recovers from his surgery, and hope to see him back in the ring one day.