Daniel Puder ( ; born October 9, 1981) is an American retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist.
As a mixed martial artist, Puder trained at the American Kickboxing Academy, in San Jose, California. He is undefeated in MMA competition, holding a record of eight wins and zero losses. As a professional wrestler, he trained at Ohio Valley Wrestling. He is best known for having won the WWE's $1,000,000 Tough Enough, the fourth Tough Enough competition. while wrestling with a broken hand. At the age of 16, he began training in mixed martial arts and professional wrestling.
Professional wrestling career
World Wrestling Entertainment (2004–2005)
Tough Enough (2004–2005)
Puder entered the fourth Tough Enough competition that was conducted as part of WWE SmackDown between October and December 2004. The prize was announced as a $1,000,000 professional wrestling contract, however, it was in reality a four-year contract at $250,000 a year, with the option to terminate the contract after the first year.
On November 4, 2004, episode of SmackDown!, taped in St. Louis, Missouri, during an unscripted segment of Tough Enough, Kurt Angle, a former American amateur wrestler and 1996 Olympic gold medalist, challenged the finalists through a squat thrust competition. Chris Nawrocki won the competition and the prize of a shoot match against Angle. Angle quickly took Nawrocki down with a guillotine choke, but Nawrocki managed to make it to the ropes, forcing Angle to break the hold.