Are You Tough Enough? The WWE Tough Enough Report for Weeks 1-3 by Marc B

***Note from Christian*** This is a new feature on the site where Marc B will cover Tough Enough after every three episodes. I wanted Tough Enough coverage but didn’t like the idea of a weekly column since it’s not a wrestling show. I think every three weeks works great. I want to apologize for the way this column is formatted. It didn’t transfer well from Microsoft Word and I don’t have the time right now to fix the whole thing since I want it posted before Tough Enough starts.

Are You Tough Enough?

Written by Marc B

Welcome everyone to my first Tough Enough review.  Before I get started, I would like to introduce myself.  My name is Marc, and I am 33 years old.  Some may know me as Fozzie from the TJR website where I write the TNA review.  I have been a fan of wrestling for 24 years.

Now that I got that over with, let’s recap, shall we. This column is going to recap the first three weeks of Tough Enough. Instead of doing it episode by episode, I am going to categorize the Highlights and comment on them. Confused? So am I. But I swear this will all make sense

First, let’s meet the contestants. The following is copied and pasted from The USA network’s official page:

A.J. Kirsch: A.J., 27, has been wrestling on the independent circuit for five years. Among his achievements is a one and a half year undefeated All Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship in addition to a tag team victory over the infamous New Age Outlaws.

Andy Leavine: This 6’5″giant hails from Brooksville, Florida where he had four years of high school varsity wrestling experience with a record of over 90 wins. The 23-year-old former football player has a mere six months of independent wrestling experience. Starting over 40 games as an offensive lineman for Florida International University, Andy holds the school’s power clean record of 365 lbs.After FIU, he was a priority free agent with the Miami Dolphins and attendedmini-camps, before hanging up his cleats to pursue his dream to entertain in the ring.

Eric Watts: Eric, 25, hopes to become a WWE Superstar to fulfill his childhood dream. “WWE needs my afro and my tall, dark and handsome good looks,” says the  6’5″ behemoth. Eric hails from Pasadena, California where he spent two years on his High School varsity football team as left tackle, earning All-League Honors. Eric was recruited by colleges for football, but opted not to attend so he could pursue his dream.

Jeremiah Riggs: This 28-year-old truck driver from Vicksburg, Mississippi is a natural athlete who prides himself on taking on new challenges. He was a US Army Ranger with the 1st Battalion and did a tour in Afghanistan in 2004. He has six years of training as an MMA Fighter with a record of seven wins and five losses, fighting with UFC, Strikeforce and Bellator. He is trying to become the first legitimate MMA fighter to crossover into WWE.

Jeremiah Riggs: This 28-year-old truck driver from Vicksburg, Mississippi is a natural athlete who prides himself on taking on new challenges. He was a US Army Ranger with the 1st Battalion and did a tour in Afghanistan in 2004. He has six years of training as an MMA Fighter with a record of seven wins and five losses, fighting with UFC, Strikeforce and Bellator. He is trying to become the first legitimate MMA fighter to crossover into WWE

Jeremiah Riggs: This 28-year-old truck driver from Vicksburg, Mississippi is a natural athlete who prides himself on taking on new challenges. He was a US Army Ranger with the 1st Battalion and did a tour in Afghanistan in 2004. He has six years of training as an MMA Fighter with a record of seven wins and five losses, fighting with UFC, Strikeforce and Bellator. He is trying to become the first legitimate MMA fighter to crossover into WWE

Luke Robinson: Luke, 26, is a Personal Trainer from Auburn, Maine with five years of independent circuit experience. For him, WWE combines all his passions rolled into one: performing, marketing, athleticism and traveling. Luke proved his athleticism as captain of his high school’s varsity soccer, hockey and baseball teams, competing all four years, before moving on to getting his BA in Business Administration from University of Southern Maine.

Martin Casaus Martin, 26, is a stockbroker and independent wrestler hailing from

West Jordan, Utah. He gained his experience wresting for six and a half years on

the independent circuit. He is also co-owner of Ultra Championship Wrestling

Zero, a promotion and wrestling school.

Matt Capiccioni: Matt, 30, is an independent wrestler with nine years of

independent circuit experience from Brecksville, Ohio. He has wrestled in

sixteen countries and hopes to win “WWE Tough Enough” and a WWE contract so he

“can have a fun job.” “You can see the world in spandex and smash things,” he

explains.

Mickael Zaki: Mickael, 26, is an unemployed WWE hopeful hailing from Jersey

City, NJ. He has lived the 9 to 5 lifestyle and hated every second of it. For

him, being a WWE Superstar would allow him to escape this fate.

Ryan Howe: This 23-year-old aspiring musician and independent wrestler hails

from Hebron, Indiana. He has two years of wrestling experience and hopes to win

“WWE Tough Enough” and a WWE contract to make everyone who ever believed in him

proud, especially his family, his trainer, Tracy Smothers, and his girlfriend,

Tiffany.

Ariane Andrew: The 23-year-old Ariane is the quintessential Valley Girl. What

Ariane lacks in wrestling experience she makes up for with bubbly charm. Ariane

hopes to become a WWE diva so she can display her alter-ego, a hard-edged girl

that doesn’t give a crap.

Christina Crawford: Christina, 22, is a senior at the University of Central

Florida studying Interpersonal Communications. She is a member of her college

dance team.

Ivelisse Velez: An assistant pet groomer in Chicago, Illinois, the 22-year-old

has spent the last six years on the independent circuit and is well known in her

native Puerto Rico.

Michelle Deighton: This 25-year-old day care teacher from Terre Haute, Indiana,

hopes to become a WWE Diva to fulfill a dream she has had since the age of 14.

She loves the road lifestyle, living out of a suitcase and traveling. She has

trained on and off in independent wrestling over the past 11 years.

Rima Fakih: Rima is Miss USA 2010. The 25-year-old hails from Dearborn, Michigan

where she received a BA in Economics and BA in Business Management from

University of Michigan. Rima hopes to win “WWE Tough Enough” to prove that it is

possible to be both beautiful and tough.

Impressive bunch, right? I like that Eric said WWE needs his afro. I guess he’s

right. Ever since they released Carlito, Raw has been folically challenged.

Next up, we are going to review the challenges for the contestants. First, the

out of ring challenges:

Week One:

The contestants had to learn what it is like to clean up after an event, such as

Raw or Smackdown. There were a lot of unhappy campers, Such as Ariane, who

claimed that she was too “Divalicious” for that work. Oh man. That’s a great

attitude to have. She will win many friends that way. Or not. Probably not. This

was part of the “paying your dues” fun of pro wrestling. It was good that they

showed that. A lot of people don’t get to see that side.

Week Two:

This was the Attack Dog challenge. The contestants had to run from attack dogs.

The point of the entire episode was facing your fear, so this was a nice

tie-in.  Stone Cold: “Sometimes taking the hit is easier than worrying about the

hit.” Awesome Line. Eric was the first to pull the dog across the finish line,

which was big for him, but I’ll get into that later.

Week Three:

This episode had two different challenges: An outdoor run, and a cheerleading

exhibition. Luke was the first one finished. Eric was last. Rima finished first

among the ladies. For Eric, he has had conditioning problems, so finishing last

was not the best possible outcome. He actually walked. The cheerleading exhibition was a tie-in to the episode theme, which was technique. The contestants all looked like they had fun, even Mickael, who seemed more worried about how he looked in the uniform, than how he performed. Rima was nervous throughout, and it showed. Her group dropped her twice because

of that.

Next up is the in-ring Challenges:

Week One:

The first activity was running the ropes. I swear, it looks so easy, but it also looks like it takes a lot out of you. There were humorous parts to this, such as Ariane pulling up her pants and Rima using a butt guard. Mickael got some scratches from the ropes, which looked like it hurt a lot.

Week Two:

The contestants worked on taking bumps. Austin mentioned how he has seen people

injured in the ring, and how he has seen people die in the ring. He stresses

that proper bumping is important to ensure that everyone goes home safe. That

was important to show to the viewers, especially those who are not fans of

wrestling, or are just casual observers.  A lot of people have that whole

“wrestling is fake” mentality, so by showing them how important it is to take a

bump may go a long way to a more respectable opinion. During this competition,

it should be noted, Matt, who has the most experience out of everybody, was

asked to show what he could do. He wrestled Luke, who also has some experience.

Let’s just say that Trish was not that impressed by Matt’s work.  They also had

to take a bump in the corner by Bill DeMott. Yeah, I’m glad I was at home for

that one as well.

Week Three:

This was a cool one. It showcased chain wrestling, which is a missed art in my

view. Austin had the contestants perform a series of moves in a row, until he

thought that they messed up. Luke was eliminated early from this, which was a

shock, because up until then, he was the golden boy of the competition.  He even

got a chance to wrestle against Austin, in the coolest moment of the show so

far. The final two were Martin and Eric, which lead to Martin winning after Eric

wore out. Impressive showing though by Eric, especially since his conditioning

is a big problem.

Eliminations:

Here is where I will put the bottom three of each week, and include who got eliminated.

Week One:

Bottom Three: Ariane, Eric, Michelle

Eliminated: Ariane

My Thoughts: I think the right person went home. Ariane spent most of the first

episode talking about how she was too good for things, when she should have been

focused more on what she was doing wrong. As I mentioned before, Eric stepped up

big time the following two weeks aftyer being in the bottom three. He seemed to

have used this as a wake-up call. Good for him.

Week Two:

Bottom Three:  Matt, Ryan, Rima

Eliminated: Matt

I am not sure about this elimination. I thought Rima was far worse than matt,

but I guess I can see Austin’s point about how Matt should have stepped up

bigger than he had. Ryan was another one who got lucky, but I am glad he stayed,

especially after what happened the following week.

Week Three:

Bottom Three: Ryan, Mickael, Rima

Eliminated: Mickeal, Michelle

Now, for those of you who haven’t watched, Michelle quit halfway through this

episode to focus on her daughter.  I think she quit more due to not being able

to handle the tasks, but what do I know? Rima was again bottom three, and I

think she got spared the axe due to the real tension between Mickael and Ryan.

Mickael has been outspoken in his hatred of Ryan, including believing Ryan was

never coming back after the second week, being shocked that he returned, and

finally before this weeks’ elimination, tossing Ryans bed on to the floor.

Austin asked them each to cut a promo on the other. Mickael cut one about how he

needed this because he was unemployed, and wanted to see his name in lights.

Then Ryan, much to everyone’s surprise, and to Austins amusement, cut a vicious promo on Mickeal, saying, amongst other things, that he didn’t need to be there,  he wanted to be. I recommend looking that clip up on youtube. It was that good.

I’m glad Ryan beat out Mickael. Mickael was a tool for no reason, and he got

what he deserved.

Overall Thoughts:

I really like the show. I never really watched the show the first time around,

so I can’t compare the two, but this version is awesome. I love the interactions

between the coaches when they decide who is going to be eliminated. I also dig

the fact that the trainers are hard asses, but at the same time try to teach the

contestants on how to get better. Except for DeMott. He’s a prick.

I also like the guest stars. So far, John Cena and The Big Show have been on,

and just their presence has turned this into a legit show. I wish they had more

time to talk to the kids, but this works. Especially cool was Big Show’s talk

with Eric about conditioning. If there is one guy that can relate, it’s him.

Plus it seemed to motivate Eric. I also hope to see some of the real life conflict and friendships get tested. We already had our first taste with the Mickael/Ryan incident. Let’s see what

happens when Jeramiah and Luke have to interact in the ring. They have become

good friends, so that should be interesting. Oh, and a note to the trainers:

Please stop making excuses for Rima. We get it. She’s hot, and she’s Miss USA.

She sucks and should have been eliminated already.

That is all for this week. I will see you in three weeks with another recap.