Sunday, March 27, 2011

Wrestling Obscurity: Linda M. Miles and Jackie Gayda

The new season of tough enough is nearly here. So it's time to look at 2 former winners of tough enough. I'll get to Jackie in awhile, but first. Linda M. Miles aka Shaniqua. Yes, Shaniqua. Miles appeared on the June 8, 2002 episode of WWE Velocity and faced her trainer, Ivory, with Jackie Gayda in her corner. Miles lost to Ivory after Jackie Gayda quickly established herself as a villain by pushing her off the top turnbuckle, costing her the match.

On the June 13 episode of SmackDown, Miles teamed with WWE Women's Champion Trish Stratus to defeat Gayda and Ivory. The two divas were then placed on the Raw brand. On the June 24 edition of Raw, Miles teamed with Trish Stratus to defeat Gayda and Molly Holly. Due to Gayda's highly botched mixed tag match on the July 8 edition of Raw, Miles and Gayda were sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling for further training and development.

Miles began a relationship with Shelton Benjamin and began to manage him. It did not last long, however, as Benjamin formed Team Angle with Kurt Angle and Charlie Haas. Miles then disappeared from WWE television. It was rumored that she didn't get along with anyone back stage, male or female and she wanted more money.

Miles returned to WWE television under the name Shaniqua in June 2003 as the dominatrix manager of the Basham Brothers. She often interfered in matches, including a match where she surprisingly had to interfere to insure the Bashams' victory over two jobbers. In the late summer of 2003, Shaniqua began to establish her dominance over the weaker divas. Shaniqua interfered in several bikini contests, attacking all of the divas except for Sable. She briefly feuded with fellow SmackDown! divas Torrie Wilson, Dawn Marie (even though she remained a heel), and Nidia. Shaniqua defeated Wilson and Nidia in a handicap match. The following week, Dawn Marie challenged Shaniqua to a singles match in which Shaniqua won by disqualification after interferences from Wilson and Nidia.

In early 2004, Shaniqua and The Basham Brothers sparked a feud with the then WWE Tag Team Champions Scotty 2 Hotty and Rikishi. Shaniqua joined her team in a handicap WWE Tag Team championship match against Rikishi and Scotty Too Hotty at No Way Out. Shaniqua's team lost when she was pinned following a Banzai Drop from Rikishi. After that she was released from her WWE contract. Possibly because of the reasons stated earlier.
As of 2007, Linda resides in Cincinnati, OH as a school teacher.

Jackie Gayda:
Some stuff was already touched on here is a look at the rest.
In early 2004, Gayda teamed up with Stacy Keibler, with the duo proclaiming themselves to be the WWE's hottest divas and thought they deserved to grace the cover of Playboy magazine. This provoked a feud with SmackDown divas and the Playboy co-cover girls Sable and Torrie Wilson. At WrestleMania XX, Gayda and Keibler were defeated by Sable and Wilson in an Playboy evening gown match.

In the second WWE Draft, Gayda and Rico were traded to SmackDown brand, where they eventually teamed up with Charlie Haas. In September 2004, Haas and Gayda were engaged, and their relationship was eventually incorporated into their on-screen characters. Dawn Marie announced the engagement of Gayda and Haas on the September 30 episode of SmackDown, implying in the process that she and Haas were "more than just friends." This led to a catfight between Gayda and Dawn, which in turn led to an intergender tag match at No Mercy pitting Gayda, Haas, and Rico against Dawn and The Dudley Boyz. Gayda's team won the bout, yet Dawn Marie predicted that the relationship would not last very long. From that moment onwards, Dawn Marie tried her hardest to split the couple up. On the October 7 episode of SmackDown, Gayda found herself on the receiving end of Billy Kidman's BK Bomb. She sold her injuries through the October tour of Europe by wearing a neckbrace, only returning to action on the October 28 episode of SmackDown in Omaha, Nebraska, which saw Gayda hit the ring during a Halloween costume contest between Dawn and Torrie Wilson, spearing Dawn and tearing the clothes from her body. A vengeful Dawn then screamed to Gayda that it was not over. Dawn gained her revenge during an arm wrestling contest on the November 4 episode of SmackDown, headbutting Gayda and catfighting with her until Haas made the save. Dawn's ally Heidenreich then decimated Haas, dismissing Gayda's attempts to protect Haas by shoving her to the mat. On November 25 Gayda tried to gain revenge in a "pilgrim versus Indian" match, but both women were disqualified for ignoring the referee's instructions. The two divas fought once again on December 2, this time while wearing Christmas outfits. General Manager Theodore Long finally announced a final encounter at Armageddon, appointing Haas as referee. Gayda lost the match, and her fianceƩ, as the relationship was broken when Haas revealed he had an affair with Dawn Marie. He then rejected Marie afterwards, saying he did not want either woman.

Gayda began wrestling as a singles performer. She appeared in numerous vignettes with the other divas until she and Haas were released from WWE on July 5, 2005.

On the November 26, 2005 edition of Impact, Gayda made her debut lashing out at Jeff Jarrett. Jarrett was shocked and frightened by Gayda's unexpected appearance and soon ordered her backstage. He was heard saying, "It's not what you think." After being pushed by Jarrett, Gayda slapped him and then went after his valet, Gail Kim. The following week, Gayda came out again to confront Jarrett. After pushing and slapping, the two had to be pulled apart by officials. At Turning Point, the same thing happened in the main event match, but Gayda was restrained by officials. On the December 31 show, Don West tracked down Gayda for an interview. She said her being there had nothing to do with a love affair, but rather that Jarrett had promised her a spot on the TNA Roster, but while she was stuck at home, she turned on the television to see Kim in her place. She said she had a big secret about Jarrett that TNA Management would love to hear, but did not reveal what it was.

Gayda won TNA's Knockout of the Year 2005 on the January 14, 2006 edition of Impact. At Final Resolution, she ran into Raven after he lost his match. She told him that they had something in common, they were both being screwed by TNA Management. On the January 28 edition of Impact, Gayda came down to ringside during a Jarrett versus Jay Lethal match, to hand an audio tape to Kim. She then left, with a confused Kim soon following.

Jarrett then hired Alex Shelley to video tape Gayda at her home, for blackmail. Shelley complied, returning a week later with a videotape. On the February 18, 2006 edition of Impact!, she told Jarrett that he had won and that she would leave. Jarrett refused to comply and used the tape Shelley compiled of Gayda as blackmail to get her to join his stable. Jackie became the manager of Planet Jarrett. She feuded with Gail Kim in mid-2006. At Sacrifice Jackie announced that she was pregnant, so Kim kayfabe fired her. She has not appeared with TNA since and her photos have been removed from the Knockouts portion of the website. Shortly before her pictures were removed from the TNA website it was confirmed that Gayda parted ways with TNA.

Gayda and Charlie Haas are married and have 3 children.

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