Josh Mathews [real name Josh Matthew Lomberger] was primarily noted by WWE fans on the first Tough Enough, when he made it to the last 3 [in the male category] before eventually losing out to Maven. In the end both he and Chris Nowinski were signed by the WWE anyway. While Nowinski was signed to be a wrestler, the WWE had other ideas for Josh. In 2002 he started appearing in the company as a backstage interview, and the host of a number of shows including Byte This and After Burn. His first taste of announcing was on Velocity, but he has since commentated on Heat, Raw and Smackdown, where he currently sits alongside JBL as the Smackdown commentary team.
What am I getting at? The way I started this makes it sound like another one of my 'where are they now' posts, where I go through the career of a given wrestler. What I'm getting at is that Josh Matthews, indirectly, is one of the most fortunate people in the WWE. Let's face it, as much as he might have desired to be a wrestler, his current job is actually a lot safer and better for his health. Not only that, but he rose to being a WWE announcer in double quick time. If you look at some of the other announcers in the business, they all either had an extensive background in announcing or were former well known wrestlers. Michael Cole had a career in journalism and radio while people like Jerry Lawler, JBL, Booker T and Tazz were former wrestler. Josh was neither of those. He was a young guy who's dream was to be in the WWE. He went from failing to win Tough Enough to commentating on Velocity within a year. It's amazing. This career he has been handed also means he will not have to have any surgery due to a wrestling injury or have any pains thanks to the years of being battered in the ring [even if he has had the occasional match here and there].
That's why I stand by my statement that Josh Mathews, who has had his middle name converted in to his surname and the T taken off it, is one of the luckiest and most fortunate guys in the WWE today.
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