Which Tough Enough Class Was Best?

[klunderbunker]

For those of you that don't remember it, there used to be a show called Tough Enough. It was kind of like NXT, but there was far more reality to it. Basically it was a reality show about people becoming a WWF Superstar. There were four seasons, one of which aired as a segment on Smackdown every week. Each of these seasons had two winners other than the fourth one which had one only. That being said, which show had the overall best class?

Notables from each class:

Season One

Nidia (Co-Winner)
Maven (Co-Winner)
Chris Nowitski
Josh Matthews

Season Two

Jackie Gayda (Co-Winner)
Linda Miles (Co-Winner)
Kenny King (ROH Wrestler)
Matt Morgan

John Morrison was cut at tryouts due to poor attitude.
Shad Gaspar was selected to the cast but failed a physical.

Season Three

Matt Cappotelli (Co-Winner)
John Morrison (Co-Winner)

Melina made the final 25 but was cut on the casting special.

Season 4

Daniel Puder (Winner)
The Miz (Runner-Up)
Ryan Reeves (Skip Sheffield)
Nick Mitchell (Member of the Spirit Squad)

Marty Wright lied about his age at tryouts but was hired later as Boogeyman.

So which of these is the best class?

 

[Mitch Henessey]

I'm going to have to go with season 3, and I'm picking season three because of one man....John Morrison. Morrison will be a future main eventer in WWE, and he will win multiple world titles.

Season one of Tough Enough is probably the most memorable one, but nobody from that season ever went on to do anything. Nowitski played the cocky Harvard graduate role pretty good, but he never really had a good run with WWE, and his time in pro wrestling was cut short because of concussion problems. The only moment I remember from Maven is when Undertaker beat the shit out of him at the Royal Rumble,and Nidia was just another pretty face who can be easily forgotten.

I know Miz was in season 4, but I believe Morrison will be bigger than him as time goes on. That's why I'm picking season 3 as the best Tough Enough class.

 

[Joup7]

i'd say season 3 because of John Morrison and the fact that if it wasn't for a brain tumor, Matt Cappotelli would probably be a big deal as well by now.

i do have to give a shout out to season 1. Chris Nowitski is doing great things in brain trauma research. Josh Mathews is a budding announcer for the WWE. Plus Maven was a decent pioneer of the Tough Enough program. so in terms of actual wrestling talent this season was weak. but in terms of overall impact on the business, this season might have the most .

 

[Schizophrenic]

No doubt Season 3. You got Melina & John Morrison not to mention Capotelli who could have been just as big as Morrison if he didn't get a tumor and pretty much be forced into retirement. Also it was the mos interesting to watch if nothing else than for the viewing of Capotelli having the shit beaten out of him by Bob Holly and Holly having to be restrained by Snow.

 

[Spidey Revivey]

Gotta change the tide a little bit here 'cause I favor Season Four.

Honestly I wasn't much into Tough Enough until they made a segment of it on Smackdown. To me that was when the true characters in the hopefulls stood out. I liked Puder and his UFC pretty-boy background. It was different, but legit. Also liked how Mike Mizanin went from hosting an MTV reality show to actually participating in this one and...look at him now. Multiple-time WWE Tag-Team Champion and U.S. Champion. Like Morrison dearly, but he just doesn't have a catchphrase like Miz.

Also liked Ryan Reeves, but back then he referred to himself as "The Silverback". I thought it was a unique nickname to go by and so did WWE, because that's exactly what they started calling Mark Henry when it was over.

 

[Charismatic Enigma]

Im probably gonna get attacked for saying this but THE MIZ will win more World Titles then Morrison by the time its all said and done.

well from the looks of things so far, and if you gauge it on how much time they've had to prove themselves I'd agree 100%.

There's no doubt JoMo was the standout of TE3 from day 1, but if I'm remembering right he was already on the active roster by the time TE4 started, and after Miz didn't win TE4 he had at least a year stuck in no man's land where he was hosting stupid diva events with his "hoo-rah" catch phrase, so by the time Miz actually started receiving legit ring time Morrison already had close to two years under his belt in WWE.

There's no question JoMo is more talented in the ring, but Miz is improving rapidly, he's way over, and he cuts great promos given his level of experience, I'd say in 3-5 years he could already have the belt at this rate, and be a legit champ not a MitB cash in or some other crap, but a serious main eventer.

 

[Phenomena1one]

Season three by far. John Morrison has the most ability and skill beyond any other winner and is up there right now as one of the greats at the present time.

 

[justinept]

Wow. It has been a long time since Tough Enough! I actually didn't watch the show much, but I knew some of these guys were on it. I'll admit, though - I didn't know a bunch of these guys came from Tough Enough.

I don't remember Matt Morgan, Josh Matthews, Shad or Skip Sheffield being on the show --- but again, I didn't watch much. Maybe I should have...

Judging by the list, though, I have to go with season four. Though I like John Morrison immensely, there's no denying that the Miz has lapped him at this point. JoMo is still just a potential star that a lot of people feel is just waiting to break out ... The Miz IS a star that broke out this past year.

Some people might not like that statement - but it's true. JoMo hasn't really done anything of note. He's just another very talented guy waiting in line. The Miz has actually shown the ability to carry the show, and his segments are often times the best part of the broadcast.

 

[Sgt Ledbetter]

Another thing to keep in mind is that actual wrestling ability is not the most important thing in the land of WWE. Ask Shelton Benjamin and RVD. Miz has the gift of Gab and that goes alot further than anything. U can teach a guy how to wrestle alot easier than teach a guy how to cut a promo and give him personality. I dont really find Morrison in the ring to be mind blowing. He was doing the same stuff as a heel that he does now its just all the MARKS didnt appreciate it til he turned babyface. FACT

 

[hunterXhunter21]

I didn't watch season 2, 3 or 4 but from the stand outs you listed from each season I'm gonna go with season 2. Just because everyone from that list, minus the winners, are still pretty active.

Also ODB was on season 1. I'm not sure how far she made it but she was giving interview time in the first few episodes. She wasn't a cast member but may have been top 25 or something.

 

[Yodude "The Rock" Barber]

Im going with Season 4, even though season 3 was close.
It built up more stars than season 3 did.
You have the AWESOME Miz, Skip Sheffield ( Who isnt the greatest, but ya know..)
Nick Mitchell, Spirit squad actually was quite good for a while.
And the bogeyman.
Sure only two of them could possibly be future main eventers, (Miz, Sheffield)
And one of them will 99% will be (Can you guess?)

 

[Turd Ferguson]

Fuck it, I'm going to say season one, but for completely different reasons than what other people would normally say.

Maven was a serviceable wrestler who was loaded with charisma that I think the WWE sort of gave up on a little too early. I think he really would have benefited from some more development time, but he was rushed along because he won Tough Enough and the WWE wanted to make him a prominent face as soon as they could. He was also the victim of a major overpush. He wasn't ready to feud with The Undertaker. It was too much too soon for him.

Nidia was very good in her role as Jamie Noble's girlfriend, but she didn't have much of a future and that was pretty apparent from the beginning.

But the real reason why the first season of Tough Enough was a success was because of Josh Matthews and Chris Nowinski.

Josh Matthews went on to be a very underrated commentator and does quite a good job as a backstage interviewer as well. He's very underutilized right now, and he deserves to be more than just the NXT commentator. He's a very valuable piece of the broadcast team.

Chris Nowinski's concussions wound up being a blessing in disguise for him and the business. He took his accidents which wound up derailing his promising wrestling career and became a very credible voice in concussion research in between his experience with concussions as a pro wrestler and the fact that he's a Harvard Graduate. What he's done for concussion research in the last few years has been groundbreaking not only for professional wrestling, but for the NFL, where concussions have been very scrutinized lately. All of what he has done may not have happened if it wasn't for Tough Enough, as he not only wouldn't have been in such a position to do something for concussions, he probably would have done something else with his life as a Harvard Graduate. He is very much considered an expert in the field of concussion research, and really, all of that was thanks to Tough Enough. His research is only going to prolong or even save the lives of a few people who have suffered multiple concussions.

 

[Ferbian]

While I didn't watch any of the seasons, just looking at the names to come off from them, I would say it's quite obviously gonna have to be season 3 due to John Morrison and Joey Mercury who both became rather successful in WWE as opposed to what any of the others achieved (with a HUGE exception that is The Miz, but he's the only one proper to come out of season 4 as of now)

And while Mercury was eventually dumped, John Morrison has made up for it by becoming incredibly popular in WWE, and has held numerous championships, something none of the others can brag about (again, with the exception of The Miz) and therefore I think that's a default "winner"

 

[hardy8778]

I would have to say season three because john Morrison came from season three and is the most successful winner from tough enough, except for the Miz, Shad,and Skip Sheffield everyone else is not even working for Vince anymore because of unknown reasons.

 

[WhyTravisFelt]

Alright, quick shout-out to GuyCompton for the Nowinski bit; he really has done alot for all of sports for the research and for being basically to go-to spokesman for anything related to concussions and brain damage affects on athletes (particularly the long Chris Benoit debates). He was a heel from day one, even on the show, and would have gone on to great things, maybe even main eventing, if it weren't for the concussions.

It's really a rough question and depends on how we qualify "class". I suppose P.O.E. is the best way to go. Season two was the biggest bust in my opinion, especially in terms of talent going nowhere. There were a lot of cool guys (Hawk, the weird guy who was one of the best in-ring and mic-wise, but went crazy, Jake, and Kenny King) who've all basically gone nowhere so far besides King in ROH. Matt Morgan was the biggest star to come out of the class, but he was out of shape back then and left early in the season due to an injury. I remember the ending annoyed the crap out of me because I assumed they would stick to one man-one woman and I thought Jake and Kenny both deserved to win, and then they picked the two girls instead. Neither did anything but be predominantly unsuccessful valets. Since Morgan was the only star, but was one of the first eliminated, I don't really consider him much as being in the class since he was so far removed from the final four, and even if I did, he doesn't match up to Morrison or Miz.

Season four is out as The Miz is the only thing good to come out of that show and, unlike some people, I thought short ten minute long segments for a couple of weeks on Smackdown made it a lot harder to enjoy it or pay any particular attention to anybody... but the Miz. The Miz essentially WAS the class and none of the rest have much of a future in wrestling in my opinion (not even Sheffield) Puder winning was a joke and a disgrace to wrestling; he should've been fired outright for legitimately trying to injure the top star at the time, Angle. Nick Mitchell went on to be one of five, basically faceless guys in Spirit Squad and Reeves has already been eliminated from NXT which means he'll probably go back to FCW . So ONE important guy in the class isn't enough for me.

I struggle with picking between the last two. Hennigan/Morrison and Cappoteli were the two best wrestlers to come out of any season, but with the exception of Jonah, everybody else was useless in this season and since Cappoteli had to retire early, that means this also is the case of only one success in the class; albeit a big one in Morrison.

As far as actual class, I'd say you have to go with the first one. Nidia was probably the most successful of any female winner as I would argue that the Nidia-Noble storylines were far more notable than the Jackie-Haas-Rico storylines or the Shaniqua-Bashams storylines. Maven had a brief but relatively successful career if only just for being the first male winner. He was a great face (both definitions) for tough enough from day one, like Nowinski was a great heel from day one. He's also gone on to do alot of different things outside of wrestling. I already talked about Nowinski earlier, so I won't rehash that. And arguably the most successful, current announcer and interviewer Josh Mathews. Four of the final five went on to at least moderate success, and you really can't look past that.

That all being said, I think I like the idea of using actual wrestlers in NXT as opposed to training wrestlers is a much-better idea, even though it isn't technically 'reality' anymore.

 

[MCMGfoLife]

I'm going with Season 2. There was more talent, most of which still going strong for what, like 8 years now? even though morrison and gaspard were cut, clearly they were discovered through that Tough Enough season.

This season brought us, in one shape or form, Matt Morgan (big name in TNA), Kenny King (decent success), and also shined the light on future star John Morrison and Shad Gaspard. That is a hell of a class.

 

[GameOver]

3 for Morrison and 4 for the Miz lol, the only 2 decent successes out of the show.
Other than that, much like NXt i call the show a failure and a waste of air time.

But to note, non of these guys were "new undiscovered talent" they were all already in OVW or some other WWE development at the time they were brought into the shows.

Same goes for the "successfull" Diva search participants, they were already competing in OVW b4 they were brought up as newly discovered talent

 

[TimAH]

Gotta go with the John Morrison season since hes the biggest star by far. Season 1 should have been a better success. I never liked Maven but he could have at least been a fair midcarder. I thought Nowinski had the most talent by far. I suspect if his career hadnt become derailed he'd be at least on some upper cards and probably winning some titles.