This week we saw the return of Tough Enough, and boy was it good. The last time we saw the show was in 2004 and featured current WWE Champ, The Miz. This time around, Stone Cold, Booker T and Trish Stratus are all a part of it as well as a returning Bill DeMott. The contestants for this year are Martin Casaus, Matt Capiccioni, Christina Crawford, Michelle Deighton, “Miss America†Rima Fakih, Andy Leavine, Eric Watts, Mickael Zaki, Ariane Andrew, Ryan Howe, A.J. Kirsch, Jeremiah Riggs, Luke Robinson, and Ivelisse Velez. Here is the recap of this week’s episode.
This first episode of Tough Enough opened up with Stone Cold talking about the show and its contestants. He then welcomes all the contestants inside of the venue for Smackdown that night. The fun ended here when training began by cleaning up the arena before and after the show. After this they were introduced to Trish Stratus, Booker T, and Bill DeMott.
After being introduced to the three trainers, the contestants got settled inside they’re temporary home. Things started to heat up immediately when Mickael said the women only got to where they were because of their “bootyâ€. Rima threw a water bottle at him and exchanged plenty of words in between.
Later on, the contestants go to the training center where DeMott, Stratus and Booker T were all waiting. The trainers wasted no time in getting the contestants to work. As they are all working out, Stone Cold Steve Austin shows up on a motorcycle. Shortly after, the contestants are asked one by one to take some bumps in the ring. Luke goes first and quickly impresses the trainers and shows he is in shape. Rima shows her lack of skills quickly in the ring as does Ariane. Throughout the episode, Michelle claims to have had 11 years of experience in the wrestling business but when it was time for her to step in the ring, she looked incredibly green. Eric also came across as very out of shape while doing the pushups and sit-ups. After all of this, the crew heads home and we find out Luke and Jeremiah are the party animals of the house in a “MTV Reality Show†like moment.
Next, Stone Cold puts the contestants through “Three Minutes of Hell†which consisted of running the ropes for three minutes. Most made it through it flawlessly but Ariane repeatedly pulled up her pants while running the ropes, much to the dismay of Trish Stratus. Eric was extremely exhausted at the end of the three minutes which led to Stone Cold questioning his desire to win. Rima was caught cheating after Bill DeMott noticed a pad on her right butt cheek which Trish Stratus wasn’t happy about. Although Jeremiah got through the three minutes, he ended up spitting out his false teeth which led to some humorous comments from Stone Cold, Booker T and Bill DeMott.
Afterwards, Stone Cold announced the bottom three contestants. It turned out to be Michelle, Ariane and Eric. Stone Cold liked what he heard from both Michelle and Eric who seemed determined to stay in the competition and improve. When he spoke to Ariane, she clearly showed that she didn’t know much about the WWE and was not determined to prove herself. Stone Cold asked her what favorite match of all time was. She responded with Alicia Fox vs. Melina, and could not name any other matches. This was all Stone Cold needed to hear in order for her to be eliminated. She stormed out of the ring and said we would still see her in the WWE eventually anyway.
This was a great start for the revival of Tough Enough. I personally am pushing for Eric to win this thing as long as WWE creative doesn’t turn him into the next Shad Gaspard. All of the contestants seem quite interesting this time around and this should really be something to look forward to every week.
