Tough Enough General Discussion Thread

[Rasha]

Just finished watching the debut episode of "Tough Enough," and I must say I wasn't thrilled with it. I loved the original season and this just felt a bit more dramatized and over the top than I remember. Granted it was ten years ago, but my memory of the original season was of a more gritty, raw, and realistic environment than what I saw tonight.

After the intros, the first real impression the show gave me was negative with that totally forced, annoying "fight" between the little bald-headed guy and the two girls. I know this is a reality show, but that was just weak and came off as a lame attempt to add a "Real World" element. These guys are actually here for a competitive reason, so let them compete and the rivalries will develop naturally.

Then, another big negative with Stone Cold... riding a motorcyle into the gym. One of the coolest things about the original "Tough Enough" was that you go to see guys like DeMott, Al Snow, and Bob Holly be more like real people while also displaying the knowledge and skills that made them successful. I felt like I was watching Stone Cold play his character for an hour, and it wasn't as appealing. He can't be the star of the show if it's going to be successful, and especially if they want the winner to be successful in his/her future career.

Now it wasn't all bad. I enjoyed the training sessions and the interactions there (including Austin). Those felt like the show I remember. And while I think the gimmick of having them carry a title belt that they have to give back to Austin is a bit much, I did like the elimination segment as a whole. Letting the contestants actually talk to and about each other and try to defend themselves while attacking another person's worth is going to make for some great drama, especially when two people who went at each other end up going back to the house. That makes for real tension and not that scripted shit they opened the show with.

As for the actual contestants, they seem surprisingly green for the most part. Luke is definitely the early favorite and was the only one who actually looked like a future star to me, so if his work is solid it'd be tough to see him losing. Hopefully he gets cocky and keep things interesting.

Overall... not what I was hoping for but still enough that I'll come back. The first episode may have felt forced because there's no real substance yet, and it could easily get better with time.

 

[Heartachetonight926]

I really enjoyed it, Austin was the perfect choice as a host in my opinion. I'm not gonna argue with you though, you obviously back up your opinion well....and I do agree that it could of been better. But It got me hooked, and that's there ultimate goal.

Yeah, brutha.

 

[Nate DaMac]

I think you have a very fuzzy memory of what actually happened on the original seasons of the show. There were all kinds of stupid segments in the house that were there just to draw in the Reality TV crowds. I vividly remember a big thing about this chick on there cheating with one of the guys and getting dumped by her boyfriend over the phone. Nothing has really changed in that aspect. They had all kinds of stupid drama shit on the other episodes.

Personally, I love that Stone Cold is there. Bob Holly had no business training anybody on anything. That dude has had enough botches to have his own highlight reel. DeMott belongs as well as Booker, both of them have tons of training experience and could work wonders with these kids. Trish is good for the females, although it has become painfully obvious right off the bat that with the exception of maybe one of them, the females have no business winning this thing. They are all terrible. Stone Cold has the intensity to get under their skin and really see if they have the mental toughness to do it, something I don't think the other trainers really have.

I was actually very happy with this first episode. The right chick got eliminated as she clearly had no business even being there. We got to see who the favorites are fairly quickly. I don't know, I think this was a rousing success as I can't wait for the next episode.

 

[Just2Sweet]

I think that this first episode was great. It showed that they are pushing some people early on and that others don't even have a chance. They didn't even introduce everybody as they were getting off the bus so those that weren't introduced don't even have a chance. I hope that they lit a fire under the big guy tonight because he stood out among the other competitors. The girls on the show really don't have a chance because the women in wwe are little more than T & A anyway (so maybe Miss USA has a chance). Overall, I hope they find somebody that they can get behind and push

 

[Chicago1989]

It was a pretty good episode IMO. Of course, you have many different personalities that either have fun together or fight each other, which is something you see in most reality shows. The cast could've been a little better, especially with the women. Obviously, they'll probably be the typical talentless divas that flood and destroy women's wrestling in the WWE.

Stone Cold was great as the host. He was tough but it's life. You gotta breed 'em hard...

 

[DethMetal]

Melina v. Alicia Fox...confused: )

I liked it. For those who said it was goofy, it's a reality show. What do you expect?? It showed that being in WWE is hard. You really have to be Tough Enough. Better than NXT at least.

 

[ITALIAN NYC]

I loved it. It was completely real and it was takin more serious than i thought they would. Austin went IN on those people , and bill demont is always good. Cant wait till watch it for the rest of the season.

 

[Peoples_Champ]

i think the people they pushed in that first episode (bald guy, the talented guy from maine, miss usa, talk afroman) will find their way into the WWE somehow (like how it happens on the UFC's reality show).

 

[Jtrivera]

It was a good show, has a good host and next week will give the viewers something to watch before raw, the only part i was shaking my head at was the Alicia fox and Melena thing, like really? The girl didnt have much talent, didn't have a clue about wrestling, I wanted to jump through my tv and escort her out the ring personally

 

[BLeonard]

It was a good show, has a good host and next week will give the viewers something to watch before raw, the only part i was shaking my head at was the Alicia fox and Melena thing, like really? The girl didnt have much talent, didn't have a clue about wrestling, I wanted to jump through my tv and escort her out the ring personally

Funny thing is, Ariane apparently has signed a development deal with WWE anyway and is starting in FCW next week: http://www.diva-dirt.com/2011/04/05/tough-enough-ariane-gets-cut-but-gets-signed-by-wwe-anyway/

I personally liked the show. it's a reality show, so of course, you're going to have some antics that a reality show has, but the fact that the regular timeslot of the show is going to be BEFORE RAW gives it a big boost, IMO. It's going to be a nice hour long "warm up" for RAW and I'm thinking it'll show in the ratings to be successful sooner than later.

The only question I have from tonight's lineup on USA is: You can show the one hour Tough Enough show THREE TIMES IN SUCCESSION, but can only show an hour of the Hall of Fame ceremony? Personally, I think they should have aired Tough Enough at 8 (which is now it's regular slot) RAW at 9, followed by the Hall of Fame in it's entirety. Better yet, they should have just shown the Hall of Fame live... it's not like they really needed to have reruns of NCIS going Saturday night. Hell, I'd be willing to bet that, if they aired the Hall of Fame on Saturday night on NBC (USA's parent company) they would have gotten similar, if not better ratings than the NCAA Final Four Semifinals that aired on CBS.

But, maybe they want to make sure the DVD sells...

-Bill

 

[Chrome]

I really liked this show, Stone Cold as host gives it a legit feel.. having Trish , Demott, and Booker make a solid coaching and respected training cast. They all bring something to the table..

I laughed my ass off a lot watching this..

Stone Cold "I shit my pants wrestling yokozuna and finished the match!"



Alcia Fox vs Melina

Butt Padding by Miss USA


Great stuff!! most of the women suck (poor Trish has her work cut out).. I hope Eric gets his stuff together.

 

[Clem]

If what an earlier poster said was true and Ariane has been signed to a deal, that's a f***ing disgrace.

She could barely run the ropes, wouldn't stop playing with her clothes...and she idolises Melina vs Alicia Fox? Really? REALLY?

I wouldn't blame her if it was a recent match, but at least pick something that was GOOD!

Even if she was determined to pick a women's match, SHE'S BEING TRAINED BY TRISH STRATUS! How could you not name her!

 

[xcoN]

It was better then what I expected. I didn't think it was going to be that good from the previews. The whole reality show theme with the wrestling is pretty cool. I'll take this over Jersey Shore anyday. I like Austin, Booker T, Trish, and Bill...and that guy got pretty big since the last time we saw him in the WWE. As for the first elimination I couldn't have agreed more with Austin; the girl was just a waste and had no idea what she was doing and why she was there.

 

[Iversen]

I really enjoyed it. The right person left, the first time she opened her mouth I just knew she was in the wrong place.

I'll be watching it. Stone Cold is the perfect host and the trainers all work great to. I didn't watch the originals so I'm intrigued by the whole thing.

 

[Game Boy]

It is worht watching the show to see how Stone Cold handles these people. His reaction to the Melina/Fox thing was priceless! lol

I watched Tough Enough back in the day, and I don't see a HUGE difference in the shows. It is a reality show, therefore you are gonna have the other dramas that go along with it to draw in viewers who normally don't watch wrestling.

There are lots of things that are going to be interesting to see. I get a kick out of the girl who has been in the business for "11 years" but can't run the ropes! lol

 

[JGlass]

Good review, though I can't say I agree with you. I'm not a fan of reality television at all, but I quite enjoyed Tough Enough. Sure, it was trashy television squared (professional wrestling and reality television?!), but it's fun to see the real personalities behind the larger than life characters.

In response to a few things you said:

I liked that Steve Austin stayed in character. I didn't watch the original season of Tough Enough so I don't have any opinions about it, but the Stone Cold character is exactly what you need to whip these young kids into shape. I LOVE how he legitimately scared the competitors. One of my favorite scenes is when he's talking to the dude with the afro who's about to be eliminated, and the afro guy is playing it cool. Then Stone Cold just scares the living crap out of him and the afro dude just starts babbling like a baby about all the reasons he should be in the competition. I loved it.

The fight did feel awkward, but I doubt it was something artificial thrown in there by the producers. Baldy wasn't the first guy to call the divas unskilled, and he certainly won't be the last. Him throwing the pillow at Miss USA was weird, but I think he did it in a playful, flirtatious way, but it totally backfired on him.

And I wouldn't say they seem green, they haven't really been given the chance to show off their stuff yet. A few of them looked out of shape, a few of them did look REALLY green, but I think it's a safe bet that once they start doing some real wrestling, we'll see that they aren't as green as previously thought.

All in all I'd say the show was a success. I'm definitely excited to see next week's episode, and I'm already starting to feel a little emotionally attached to some of these characters.

 

[Clem]

I couldn't believe that one woman kept talking about her eleven years experience in the business and yet she couldn't run the ropes and was tired after a minute.

I remember reading a news item about how WWE were pissed off with the network's choice of contestants...and they were right to be.

 

[MizterColemine]

I loved it and can't wait to stay tuned. A lot of people blew the 11yrs "experience" thing out of proportion. Even though she should have known how to run the ropes and be in shape, when she was asked she said she started 11 years ago, not that she had been training or wrestling for 11 years. She eventually revealed she hadn't had any training for 6 years, though I guess even if she had just those first 5 years of experience she should still have perhaps been a little better prepared.
I would give her the benefit of the doubt though, which I believe the trainers did.
As far as the typical reality show "fight" goes, I wouldn't suggest it was scrypted, but obviously the producers want to tell stories aside from the ones in the gym/ring. When a reality cast is thrust into an uncomfortable situation with others that may or may be confrontational, or feel threatened by others who they're going to be competing with, living with, sharing sexual tension toward... people, especially women, become VERY defensive, and this is what happens when you have the over-confident(or self conscious), pretentious bald guy say something to rub the women the wrong way in the first few hours of meeting them. And then you have a Miss USA who obviously feels she has something to prove and will immediately snap at anyone who insinuates she can't hack it or is un-athletic and you got yourself a first episode argument...
USA was glad to have it, and they'll be airing as many as Rima's blow-ups as they can squeeze onto the show.
As a viewer, I will be definitely keeping my eye out for the guys that are, at the moment, under the radar. There are some pretty driven competitors and I think it will make for good TV and at least one useful addition to the WWE rosters.

 

[avi01]

I enjoyed that quite a lot...actually there`s more chance of me tuning in for Tough Enough next week rather than Raw. Really good bunch of professional in Demott, Booker T, Trish and Austin for makes a great host. I could not stop laughing at Melina vs. Alicia Fox.

 

[Kenny Powers]

I really enjoyed the show. I don't know how much is real or scripted when it comes to drama in the house, but it is great to see Austin and others chew out these pretentious contestants. I don't have a favorite since its too early to tell. No one sticks out for me, but the winner of the competition could be the next WWE champion or the next jobber on Superstars. It must be nice to live in a mansion while being trained by top WWE stars.I just hope the person that wins will truely desrve it, and I hope that person knows more about wrestling besides the WWE divas.

 

[Smartie]

I've never saw any kind of reality shows before, so I really can't decide whether it was good reality TV, but it was a damn good TV show.

The most amazing part is Austin. I just tried to put myself in contestant's shoes and I just realized I'd be shitting in my pants.Stone Cold staring at you and taking care of you growing is the scariest thing in the world. Bill Demott is a beast who seems to suffer a little bit of mental disorder , Trish and Booker T didn't show anything special and I hope they do better in coming episodes.

My favorite part is exactly this :

I LOVE how he legitimately scared the competitors. One of my favorite scenes is when he's talking to the dude with the afro who's about to be eliminated, and the afro guy is playing it cool. Then Stone Cold just scares the living crap out of him and the afro dude just starts babbling like a baby about all the reasons he should be in the competition. I loved it.

With Stone Cold as host , you'll always know that the show is not gonna be a joke at all. And that's enough for me to follow the show regularly.

The contestants are not the ideal ensemble, but I see potential in them. I just hope they have more verbal clashes in the house because it can help the characters grow very well. I really liked the sexist bald guy. They should do more of that.

There's gonna be a handful of guest appearances by WWE top dogs, and I hope they show some character and try to be something different than what we see on Raw or SD.

Overally, I liked the show and I hope it can keep up the good job.100000000 times more interesting than NXT.

 

[Legendkiller64]

First off I don't know if this is the right forum for this but I couldn't find the Tough enough forum so I thought this would do. I found it ridiculous that Matt was eliminated over the other two. I found it stupid that after one 3 minute session that he blew his chance because he didn't go out and bust his neck while the other two can barely wrestle. Rima is useless heck she cheated in the first episode and skidmarks could barely pick up a girl for a body slam. Either of those two should have gone home over matt especiallly if you have ever seen Matt cross perform in ROH. all in all the show was entertaining but if luke,jerimiah or Aj dont win then the show is a total joke.

 

[Cookie]

Is this the thread for Tough Enough reviews and discussion? I'm just gonna post this here.

I kept a running commentary of the show as I watched it tonight, so here's my recap/thoughts. I don't know why I even did this but I'll chalk it up to a combination of boredom, procrastination, and caffeine.

-The surviving contestants are welcomed back by the people they just met as if they give a fuck. Cute.
-I really enjoy the fact that USA has created a reality show that is either a) a really good attempt at making a reality show that is just as formulaic and mindless as every other reality show or b) a completely convincing parody (to the point where it can’t be recognized as one) of a formulaic and mindless reality show. Either way, I’m impressed.
-Menacing music on Austin’s arrival - obviously he’s gearing up to talk about some serious shit. Special thanks goes out to the Tough Enough editing team for letting us know that shit is about to get real and giving us time to prepare.
-Gotta love self-employed amateur actress amateur wrestler Ivelisse, who does her best to convince us that she lives, breathes, eats and sleeps wrestling. She then proceeds to show us how some of her hair fell out while training, proclaiming “that happens all the time,” as if some of your hair falling out on a regular basis is anything out of the fucking ordinary. Thanks, bitch.
-Skidmarks/Ryan is having some trouble. I’m sure we’ll be seeing him in the bottom three.
-Trish tells Matt that his wrestling name Matt Cross is “exciting” and it’s like girl, no. I know you’re trying to be encouraging and shit but there is absolutely nothing exciting about the name Matt Cross. Let’s be real. Funnily enough, there is also nothing exciting about the person Matt Cross.
-Matt also tells us he's a high flyer!
-And while we’re on the topic, take a look at some of future Hall of Famer Matt Cross’ “high flying” skills in action:

-Oh look, it’s John Cena... “mad respect” indeed as he is welcomed by a rousing chorus of golf claps from the contestants. They ask him (stupid) questions and Rima takes the opportunity to make a complete idiot of herself:

-A challenge where the “kids” have to outrun some dogs that are trained to tear the everliving shit out of humans. Some make it, some don't. Austin and Bill are amused by the day’s events.
-The dog ripped out a piece of Rima’s hair! It’s okay, it happens all the time. Just ask Ivelisse.
-It’s time for a Skills Challenge. This one involves Bill’s fat ass body slamming them in the corner.
-How exactly are they judging this one anyways? Whoever takes the hits the best? They want to see “the spark, fire, interest, personality” – yes, because a challenge where you throw the guys around is an excellent showcase of those qualities. Your personality really shines as you land on your back in a breathless heap!
-Matt, Skids and Rima are the bottom three. They are advised to pack their bags and meet our pal Steve in the ring.
-A half assed fight between Skids and Mickael. By the way, Mickael sucks. If you’re going to act like a douche, then go full douche and don’t look back. You can’t half ass that stuff otherwise you end up looking like a wannabe douche, which is arguably worse than an actual douche.
-I love the fact that Austin is able to call these guys sons of bitches. It’s a nice touch. By the way, how much of these segments is he just improvising? And why does he get so angry? It doesn’t matter because whatever he’s selling, I’m buying.
-Mr. Personality himself is sent packing and gives us a heartfelt farewell:

Such passion. Gone too soon.

 

[brighamosity]

I touched on this a lot in the "NXT vs. Tough Enough" thread yesterday, so I won't bother repeating everything, but I will summarize it briefly:

Reality shows are FAKE.

They tape hours and hours of footage and with it, they can tell virtually any story they want. Someone could botch 95% of their moves, but if the producers want them to look good, they can just show the 5% that she looks good. On the same note, someone might look good 95% of the time and the producers want to bury them so they only show the worst 5%.

It's all about ratings. It's not about finding who the best wrestler is. That's what developmental contracts are for. Even the chick from last week has supposedly gotten one so Matt Cross still might get his chance to shine. I expect Rima to go really far in this competition. Not because she's good. (God no.) But because she's the "underdog" and they are going to keep her around because casual fans cheer for the underdog. Tonight this show proved that it's fake. There is no way that Matt Cross is the least "tough enough" out of all of them. Reality shows are all about drama. Tough Enough is no different.

With that said, Stone Cold did make a good point. Matt Cross has been wrestling for 9 years. Why has he not made it to the big leagues yet? If he was on Tough Enough, it's certainly not because he doesn't want to be in the WWE. So why has he been wrestling this long and not gotten so much as a tryout? (Of course, I could be wrong. I don't follow Ring of Honor so I had never heard of Matt Cross before Tough Enough.)

Regardless, as with other Tough Enoughs, the cream always manages to rise to the top. WWE knows who he is now. If WWE thinks they can make him a star, he will surely get a developmental contract. And if it's true that the girl eliminated last week got one, then the bar is set very low.

 

[ape_shit]

i agree. matt has talent. rima doesnt deserve to be there. matts been paying his dues for 9 years and 2 talentless people are better deserving than he is? doesnt make sense