Tough Enough Is A Flop: What Makes It So?

[Jack-Hammer]

Given that we're about halfway through the season, I think it's fair to say that Tough Enough has been a pretty big flop this time around both in terms of the format and ratings. If the show returns for another season, I think it'll be shipped to the WWE Network since viewership for this season has been about half of what we saw for Season 5 back in 2011. I think there are several legit reasons as to why it hasn't been well accepted this time around:

Oversaturation of Reality Shows - I think a lot of people are genuinely tired of the "reality show" aspect of the show because probably three quarters of the shows on television these days have some sort of "reality show" aspect. While I think this was true 4 years ago, there was the novelty of the show having Stone Cold Steve Austin as the host and that it'd been the first season of the series since late 2004.

Format - I think the format of the show has taken away a lot of the impact this season in that it feels more like some sort of American Idol/The Voice type of show and it doesn't really work in my eyes. For one thing, we only get about half an hour or so of watching the competitors before the 2nd half is devoted to the live aspect of the show with the competitors, the hosts, judges and a crowd on a sound stage. The judges on the show don't really offer anything fresh, quite frankly, and I don't know what the real point of them being there is aside from just their names. Also, the format of sending someone home each week, along with the second half of the show being the live aspect, there's not a whole helluva lot to really see what each contestant is made of aside from all the various reality show drama of blow ups and screaming matches between them.

Fan Voting - In a nutshell, the contestant eliminated each week is eliminated by fan vote and I think we've seen a pretty decent example as to why fans, as a whole, shouldn't make decisions. The contestant ZZ has been in the bottom three a total of three times in five weeks, he's out of shape, he's highly questionable in terms of his passion and his personality just really isn't there. However, the guy fans voted to send home last night was Patrick Clark. Whereas ZZ's passion is questionable and he's easily the most out of shape competitor on the show, the fans voted to send home a guy who came in first in challenges the past three consecutive weeks, has a lot of personality, has demonstrated a lot of passion and is a great athlete. The fact that ZZ made the cut, despite being as out of shape as he is, only further bolsters the feeling that this is some sort of game show featuring people who wanna be famous.

Questionable Success - If one thing is true about Tough Enough, I think that it's shown that big, sustainable stars can't be chosen and created at will by management. There've been only two genuine success stories pertaining to Tough Enough over the course of its existence and both successes came about over a decade ago with John Morrison being a co-winner of season 3 and The Miz being the runner-up of season 4. Morrison was a 5 time Tag Team Champion, 3 time Intercontinental Champion and 1 time ECW Champion in WWE while The Miz is a 6 time Tag Team Champion, 4 time Intercontinental Champion, 2 time United States Champion and 1 time WWE Champion. The Miz is the only one to make it to the main event, though his rise to the main event picture in 2011 garnered more hate and criticism than any other main eventer I can recall in a very long time while everyone else on Tough Enough has just sort of fizzled out. I suppose an argument for a 3rd success story in Ryback could be made, but his future is still somewhat questionable at this point.

NXT - When you look at the rise of NXT and what it's become over the past few years, it really kind of renders Tough Enough a bit superfluous when you get right down to it. Tough Enough seems more like a game show where the competitors are generally ordinary, regular people with little to no experience in wrestling whatsoever, which is true in a lot of cases. Maybe if they did away with the reality game show clichés and had the format of the show be something along the lines of making the contestants of the show actual wrestlers of NXT and the prize moving to the main roster, MAYBE it'd have more appeal. To me, that would make it lose the feeling of watching a game show featuring people who primarily wanna be famous rather than men & women who've devoted their professional lives to wrestling.

 

[klunderbunker]

For me it's a combination of questionable success and how long it takes to get there. Yeah Morrison won stuff, but it took him years to get there. By the time he was around a title, it had been a long time since Tough Enough and the whole show had mostly been forgotten. The same is true of Maven, who was either in developmental or off TV for years before his brief run on the main roster and the same is true of almost any wrestler. It's really, really hard to care about someone who won't be featured for years to come. This isn't like the NBA Draft where players are chosen and then starting on the highest level a few months later.

That's the biggest area where Tough Enough loses me. I had fun watching the Austin season, but Andy never appeared in a WWE match. I had fun watching the original but Maven was nothing and Nidia was just a valet. Why should I be interested in this when I can watch the NXT roster tearing the house down and being ready right now? Have this show with people who are ready for at least NXT right now or stop doing the show, because these years long waits are major problems for people caring about the show.

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

I think the problem with Tough Enough is actually quite simple. It's a reality show, not a wrestling show. Another problem is that only John Morrison, The Miz, and Ryback have had success in WWE.

They've had other (somewhat) notable competitors including Boogeyman, Daivari, Shad, Sylvain Grenier, Kenny King, Matt Cross, Matt Morgan, Chris Nowinski, Awesome Kong, Nidia, Miss Jackie, and Melina. Problem is neither one of them did much of anything in WWE.

EDIT - Out of the 14 competitors from the last season (Season 5 in 2010), only Cameron (1/2 of Funkadactyls) is still in WWE today. Ironically, she was the first to be eliminated.

 

[Messiah]

They've had other (somewhat) notable competitors including Boogeyman, Daivari, Shad, Sylvain Grenier, Kenny King, Matt Cross, Matt Morgan, Chris Nowinski, Awesome Kong, Nidia, Miss Jackie, and Melina. Problem is neither one of them did much of anything in WWE.

Actually Melina is one of the top divas in the last decade, so you're wrong about that one.

 

[AustinHartLesnarHBKTaz80]

One of the main reasons it's a flop is because the contestants just plainly suck. There is no one out of the whole bunch that stands out, nor does anyone present that 'IT' factor, or fit the mold of "the next big thing." No one. Either all the people who turned in video of themselves just aint that good, or it's the casting department's fault for choosing the wrong people to be on the show.

No one jumps out at me that says "i am a WWE superstar." The talent just sucks. And none of them, except for Patrick even watch the product, are knowledgeable about it, nor were they diehard fans as a kid. This is UNFORGIVEABLE. This should be a prerequisite before even applying for the show.

Also, the judges, Bryan, Hogan, and Paige, are judging this thing on a HEAVILY edited 30 minute video, a snapshot if you will, of their entire week of performances. You're basing your decision on a limited amount of information, a heavily-edited portion that was shortened to fit a one hour broadcast and cut to entertain the viewers----this does NOT tell the whole complete story.

The biggest flaw----the trainers are not the judges. Booker T, Billy Gunn, and Lita spend the most time with the contestants day in and day out, and they have a more well-informed judgement of each contestant, and they need to have a larger role in sharing their feedback when it comes time for the ultimate decision-making. Hell, make them the judges or give them power to make last minute saves.

The 2011 season with Austin as the head trainer and the head judge was a much more effective model than this current one. Hell, the only highight for me in this season is The Miz hosting Tough Talk. He is killing it on every episode and i hope he hosts more gigs in the future. So Miz, keep up the awesome work

 

[RenegadeDX]

I had a feeling Patrick would get eliminated when a teaser for the episode featured him mentioning being kicked off the show.

 

[Pedigree1]

I was really expecting high hopes for tough enough ratings and such,but it has flopped big time. The MC of the Show Jericho is doing a terrible job IMHO and really just isnt cutting the mustard in firing the guys up like the old school jericho would.

We all a flash of it when he got in Sara Lee's face but thats been about it. The way its ran its been terrible very little in ring action mostly it looks like military conditioning and ZZ easily is the most out of shape of anyone on the show.. That guy has got universes to go to become remotely anything.. The fan voting thing has got to go..

The mere fact that Patrick got sent home goes to show the fans have zero clue what the fans know and thats zero. Patrick is a gem and was heads and shoulders above anyone else on the show. He was won what three competitions and should have been saved by one of the clueless judges last night.

None of these guys or gals who win will even sniff NXT let alone WWE in yrs to come so i guess who cares right

 

[Mitch Henessey]

For me the main problems are the format and the fan voting. Everything feels way too gimmicky and dopey, when you consider the judges, the fans voting to send contestants home, and some of the challenges on the show.

If we're talking about ZZ sticking around and Patrick's elimination, it's a simple case of people wanting to root for the underdog. He's the guy, who's "not supposed be there," and he doesn't fit within the mold, so the fans will rally behind the unlikely choice to overcome the odds, and they want to see ZZ pull off a miracle. He's the people's choice, because everyone wants to believe the Average Joe can do it. Not saying I'm a fan of ZZ, because I'm not, but he's the feel good story everyone wants to believe in.

Meanwhile, Patrick is the unlikeable dick. He's cocky, he's a loudmouth, and he's in great shape, so for the voters, he's an easy choice to hate.

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

Actually Melina is one of the top divas in the last decade, so you're wrong about that one.

What exactly did she do though? There's not much divas can do in WWE. They can win the Diva's Title a few times, but that's about it.

 

[Navi]

This is the first time I've actually watched the this show, somehow I managed to miss the others. I'll echo what everyone else is saying, there is too much of a reality show feel about it, an it just doesn't seem serious enough

There is a huge amount of negativity and drama surrounding the contestants, especially that Gigi girl, so she'll no doubt go a long way in the Diva's division.

The best part of the show so far has been Paige. She's the only one on the judging panel who is willing to tell it like it is. Very refreshing to see. Daniel Bryan is just your all round nice guy, and Hogan, well he's Hogan.

Miz has done a great job hosting Tough Talk, and you can see he has a natural talent and quick wit. He makes that part of the show enjoyable. Will probably watch till the bitter end to see who wins, but yea may not bother watching another season if there is one.

 

[Mac Attack]

Quite simply, nobody is interested in what they feature in an episode. Challengers like swimming to show fearless qualities is coo...but for a wrestling reality show unless you're Bray Wyatt, it makes no sense.

Also I find Jericho AWFUL as a host, however Miz in Tough Talk is AWESOME. Tough Talk is far great than the episode.

 

[MC_Live]

The problem with the show is most definitely the format. In order for the show to really matter, WWE should have people who will be successful on their roster. As stated before, the most successful guys have been one co-winner and a runner up. That means that 7 of the 8 winners so far haven't done anything in WWE (although in one case his career was unfortunately cut short before he got a shot).

In order for the show to really matter, you need to get people that can be successful, and those people have to be Indy wrestlers. Because as we've seen, you can't make a star out of someone in a year. It takes years and years of hard work to get this business and really be good at it. Which none of the remaining contestants (minus the new one, Chelsea, who's been on the indies a few years) have done that. It's basically guaranteed that whoever wins will flop. And there's a chance that Patrick may actually be on WWE TV in the future.

WWE can't use already contracted NXT Talents with the chance of getting on the main roster. That wouldn't make a lot of sense. I mean, who would you put on the show? Finn Bálor and Tyler Breeze? The guys who lose just have to wait a little longer to get called up, while the guy who won would most likely get called up and flounder cause Creative can't do anything for anyone not named John Cena. They need some young Indy wrestlers who have put in enough time to be good enough that after a few months of training they can be called up. Not to mention, you have to love this business to be successful. Cause if you don't love wrestling, it will chew you up and spit you out. Just take a look at the Miz, and Daniel Puder. Miz main evented WrestleMania and is still wrestling. Puder made a few TV appearances and disappeared. Which one of them loved wrestling, and which one of them just took advantage of being on a reality TV show?

And finally, the judging and fan voting is messed up. It's not fair for the judges to have to make their decision based on a 30 minute, heavily edited TV clip as someone before me said. Billy, Booker, and Lita are the ones that really see what the competitors are capible of. They should make the decisions on who stays. Especially since the fans obviously don't know what it takes. The fan voting system is as flawed as it gets. Plain and simple.

If they want to do Tough Enough in the future, everything has to change. Except Tough Talk. Tough Talk is better than Tough Enough. I don't know about Ziggler, but I think Miz has a future in stand up!

 

[A11oftheLights]

The problem is casting people with zero experience makes it shit. Cast people that have some experience and could string together a basic match. So at the very least we can expect something from them. Thats probably a hard ask to be fair though.

The format and the judges need to go. Paige is just a fuckwit half the time on Tough Talk. The weekly elimination is stupid, you need to give people a real chance to develop their skills if you're going to cast people with no experience. The problem with that is there is no 'drama' and so the simpletons wont watch and thats why it has to go to the Network.

What exactly did she do though? There's not much divas can do in WWE. They can win the Diva's Title a few times, but that's about it.

KY

 

[ASKane]

My Criticisms of the Show

1. Only 1 Wrestler of initial 13 with prior wrestling experience

2. Does not effectively use Guest stars, eg Reigns said about 3 lines then left

3. Voting time is too short

4. Final 3 Cut last chance promo's immediately before the voting ends

5. Jericho

6. Paige

7. Fan vote - ZZ should be gone by now, great personality and will get a role in entertainment but he is not a wrestler

8. Too focused on being Total Divas style reality show

9. Very little wrestling. They have run the ropes, learnt a shoulder block, taken a bump and done bodyslams

10. No bonus for winning challenges - Give them immunity or something

11. Everything is rushed

12. The best Man and Woman are now gone - Patrick and Daria

My Positive Thoughts

1. He's the Miz and on Tough Talk he is AWESOME

2. Billy Gunn is awesome

 

[Messiah]

I enjoy Tough Enough over Tough Talk simply because the judges aren't there yapping the whole time, more specifically Paige. She never shuts up on the show, interupting people and everything.

 

[Jtrivera]

To anyone who hates ZZ, realize that you had the opportunity to vote him off, if you think he should have been gone maybe you should have voted.

The fact that he's still on the show (along with Sara Lee) is a miracle, however it means they have a solid and strong fan base. Which is not only perfect for selling merchandise but also connecting with the WWE Universe.
You can work with someone who has bad cardio, you can also work with someone who's poor at wrestling. However you can't work with crowd connection, if you don't have it with them then you just don't have it.

I liked Patrick in the first 2 episodes, but as stated he started acting cocky and arrogant and showing his true colors. Maybe it was just for the reality aspect or it was for the hell of it; towards the end he showed his true self. Patrick has a politican type precense to him. He was playing his cards right kissing up to the fans, but then he stopped and that's where he made his mistake.

The fans may have voted Patrick off BUT at the end of the day it was Paige who put him in that position to be gone from the show. I firmly believe it should have been Amanda in the bottom 3. ZZ, just like Sara Lee will make alot of progress through the rest of the season and we'll get that whole underdog becomes a threat story.

I'm personally glad Patrick and Daria are gone, because now they won't have that "Tough Enough Winner" stigma to them when they come in the business. They will have paid their dues, and have more experience in the wrestling world. Believe it or not this loss gives Patrick a really good edge, he could pull off the heel act of "I should be the Tough Enough winner" But screw the fans type of deal.

That's why WWE wasn't worried at all with Patrick going. That's why he didn't get saved, Hogan Paige and Daniel Bryan know what he should be doing to be a superstar. So this elimination gave him what he needs EXPOSURE. Next for him is either Ring of Honor, Or Dragon Gate. But we will be seeing him soon.

The WWE wants someone who they can mold into a Star wrestling wise without having to worry about crowd support. we will be seeing all of them in the ring some day.

 

[DirtyD79]

The problem is everything about Tough Enough looks and feels like an over-gimmicked reality show. It just feels completely fake. Furthermore when you have NXT, what purpose does Tough Enough serve that NXT doesn't? In NXT you can actually see young up and comers honing their craft by working actual matches, not doing pointless crap like swimming with alligators or running through "boot camp".

 

[d_henderson1810]

Firstly, there are some misconceptions being made.

I considered Maven, the first "Tough Enough" winner had all the hallmarks to be a superstar. He had the look, had very good stickwork (Youtube the night he was Raw GM for an example) and, at one time, I read that he recieved the most fan mail (mainly from women). But the main thing was, that the Undertaker put him over for the WWE Hardcore belt, and let him eliminate him from a Royal Rumble. When Taker puts you over, he must consider you a star. It was only because Triple H buried him, and made him look bad (as he did to many back then). The idea was to have Maven join Evolution, but Triple H scuppered those plans, so WWE future-endeavoured the guy because they ran out of ideas for him.

Also, you can be a success in wrestling, and not watch wrestling. Just ask Goldberg, who hates wrestling but was a huge success in it.

Also, what is it with Billy Gunn being a trainer, when he was such a weak wrestler, and his punches were shit? Also, did I see A-Train training at the Performance Centre? No wonder no-one on this show can wrestle, if they are being trained by a talentless guy who even Kurt Angle couldn't make look good in the ring.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Another problem is that only John Morrison, The Miz, and Ryback have had success in WWE.

Excaerbated by the fact that none of them won their season.


That's number one.......The show has given no one any reason at all to invest in it, because it never has a payout.

A show that is touted as "someone getting through this to be a WWE superstar" and none of them ever end up actually becoming that.....How do you sell that, and why would anyone bother with it? Empty promises are a killer in a day and age with thousands of entertainment options.


In the future, if they do this again, this show needs to be comprised of Indy talents or guys the WWE thinks has a legit shot on the roster (IE the types they bring in for the tryout camps)....You keep those guys contact info, and tell them although we don't have a spot NOW, we ARE gonna film tough enough this year, and may be able to use you then.


You take the cream of the crop of the tryout camps (that didn't get signed at the time) and comprise the show of them. The show being comprised of legitimate prospects has a lot more chance of restoring value to this brand.

 

[shafe_41]

Everyone has pretty much already hit it. It's a reality show with a forced finish. And reality shows are terrible from the start anyway.

The "Lets see how much undiscovered talent we can discover" model works once or maybe twice in a lifetime. It worked for American Idol like twice. Now the show is being canned. It's the same reason why no great rock bands (or music in general) has ever come out of a reality competition. The WWE is no different. I don't believe you can win your way into a dream. You have a work at it and climb the ladder the old fashioned way and show you deserve it. Not by winning a competition. Plus, reality shows are just awful anyway. We don't need another one.

 

[stingray11214]

In the future, if they do this again, this show needs to be comprised of Indy talents or guys the WWE thinks has a legit shot on the roster (IE the types they bring in for the tryout camps)....You keep those guys contact info, and tell them although we don't have a spot NOW, we ARE gonna film tough enough this year, and may be able to use you then.


You take the cream of the crop of the tryout camps (that didn't get signed at the time) and comprise the show of them. The show being comprised of legitimate prospects has a lot more chance of restoring value to this brand.

WWE will not be able to hold those people to a promise without some sort of compensation. When Mark Burnett cast "The Contender" on NBC, he paid those who were on the show $800 a week not to take bouts once they were signed to do the show. Once they were eliminated, they continued to receive $800 a week until the series ended. If Trips tells me that though I would not be signed right now, he wants me in TE that starts in 3 months. Now, what if I am offered matches in the Indies? The WWE could say I have an agreement to do TE, and that I was contracted to them without compensation. Can you say BS? VKM will not pay people to not take bookings before TE.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

WWE will not be able to hold those people to a promise without some sort of compensation. When Mark Burnett cast "The Contender" on NBC, he paid those who were on the show $800 a week not to take bouts once they were signed to do the show. Once they were eliminated, they continued to receive $800 a week until the series ended. If Trips tells me that though I would not be signed right now, he wants me in TE that starts in 3 months. Now, what if I am offered matches in the Indies? The WWE could say I have an agreement to do TE, and that I was contracted to them without compensation. Can you say BS? VKM will not pay people to not take bookings before TE.

I didn't say he needed to, or any actual agreement needed to be reached. Simply a "hey we cant sign you now, but we film TE in 6 months, and we may give you call for it. Don't forget our number"



Nothing about that says someone cant take bookings.

 

[Savior of Silence]

Well, it's official. I'm not watching this bullshit any more. Miz just came in and fucked everything up with his save. Fuck this guy and fuck this show.

 

[Navi]

Well, it's official. I'm not watching this bullshit any more. Miz just came in and fucked everything up with his save. Fuck this guy and fuck this show.

Yea I'm not getting that either. Him saving Amanda meant for sure that either one good contender Mada, and the crowd favourite ZZ were being sent home.

Didn't like Mada's attitude afterwards though, what he might have said was true, but he just came off like a total prick. It's not ZZ's fault that he was kept, the public did that. He should have been made at the Miz for putting him up there. As for Amanda, she'd better hope she doesn't piss anyone else off, cause with only 13 percent of the votes, its pretty obvious she's not liked.

What these contestants aren't getting, is the fact that, the people voting to keep them there aren't voting on the amount of challenges they win. They are voting on the personality of the person, cause let's face it none of them know shit about wrestling. Some of their personalities could do with a complete change.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Casting The Miz as Hulk Hogan's replacement won't help things, especially when you consider the fact that Miz "saved" the bottom three contestant that, if I'm not mistaken, got fewer votes than anyone else on the chopping block during the entire season. Miz's primary reason for doing so is because she's hot and feels Divas are supposed to have a certain look, which is exactly the sort of mind set that's resulted in some women in WWE only being hired because of their appearance and the Divas as a whole, until very recently, being used as filler and momentary tits & ass value. Again, another contestant with some actual ability and passion got sent home because there are too many people interested in the fish out of water situation with ZZ; he's in pitiful shape, he's lousy inside the ring and I've yet to see any heart or passion from this guy that's been in the bottom three almost every time.