ShareThisJenna Morasca has proven she can outwit, outplay and outlast her competition.
But can she survive her debut match in TNA Wrestling?
We'll find out on Sunday night's Victory Road pay-per-view show. Morasca - the winner of CBS reality show Survivor: Amazon in 2003 -- will battle Sharmell Sullivan-Huffman, the wife of TNA star Booker T.
"I'm really excited," Morasca said in a telephone interview. "Luckily for me, I've gotten to be on stage and do live stuff through the years, so I'm not nervous. I just want to do well and have people be entertained."
Morasca enthralled a much larger audience when winning the sixth season of Survivor. She claimed a $1-million prize by avoiding elimination in voting by her reality-show "tribe-mates."
"From the very first day on Survivor, my life has never been the same," said Morasca, who parlayed her Survivor celebrity into a ballyhooed Playboy photo shoot with fellow contestant Heidi Strobel. "Everything has changed for the better. I'm lucky to have a lot of great opportunities offered to me because of my experience on Survivor."
Morasca has tried extending her 15 minutes of Survivor fame by branching into other areas of show business. That's how she met TNA star and fellow Pittsburgh native Kurt Angle. Both have leading roles in a movie called "End Game," which was released on home video in April. Angle plays a serial killer and Morasca is his prey.
Angle suggested Morasca pursue a job with TNA, which had used fellow Survivor alumni Johnny Fairplay (real name Jon Dalton) and Joel Anderson in the past. She was hired this spring and cast as the "financial backer" of TNA's Main Event Mafia crew of Angle, Kevin Nash, Samoa Joe, Sting, Scott Steiner and Booker T.
"At first, I don't know if it would work out but I figured I would at least meet everybody," Morasca said. "Everybody was so great and welcoming. I've always loved a challenge and I get bored real easily. I like exploring different characters and storylines. This fits in perfectly."
Morasca admits she didn't grow up as a pro wrestling fan -- "I was more of a 'My Little Pony' girl," Morasca joked -- but her father did watch it occasionally on television. Morasca also is athletic, having played volleyball in high school.
She has received behind-the-scenes wrestling training with the Shimmer all-women's promotion as well as retired grappler Terry Taylor, who is now a TNA executive.
"I've got lots and lots of bumps and bruises," a laughing Morasca said. "I look at them as war wounds. Obviously, I'm not as used to this as others so it's a little jolt to my system when I get thrown to the ground. The pain never really goes away completely, but I'm getting used to that.
"I'm very comfortable with the people who will be involved in my match, so that doesn't worry me. I trust everyone in the ring. That has a lot to do with being successful."
Morasca will probably never become a full-time wrestler. But she hopes to stay in TNA while pursuing other entertainment projects and a master's degree in clinical and counseling psychology this fall at Columbia University.
"I try not to look very far into the future with anything I do," said Morasca, 28. "I don't want that to taint any decisions I make now. But I don't foresee a time where I wouldn't want to work for TNA. I trust in the company and the roles they have for me."
Angle vs. Mick Foley is the main event at Victory Road, which will emanate from Orlando. Ex-World Wrestling Entertainment star Bobby Lashley, who is now competing in mixed martial arts fighting, also will appear after recently signing with TNA. For more information, visit www.tnawrestling.com.
(Alex Marvez writes a syndicated pro wrestling column for Scripps-Howard News Service. He can be reached at alex1marv@aol.com or followed via Twitter at http://twitter.com/alexmarvez.)
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