Who among us didn’t watch, excitedly and (perhaps) with jealousy as the first group of Tough Enough participants graced our screens for the first time? At the time I was a pre-teen and insanely jealous of the participants ability to even be old enough to submit videos, let alone be chosen for the house. (Add in being trained by Jackie, Al Snow and Tazz…color me green with jealousy.)
At first glance, with the participants selected, I had the following people pegged as follows:
- Bobbie Jo Anderson – at best she’d be good for some drama in the house and, at worst, she’d weasel her way into the contract and screw over the other women who deserved it more. She left when she realized she had no heart, which I was grateful for, I would’ve hated for her to get to the end only to fizzle out.
- Chris Nifong – an adorable but somewhat asshole guy who might have been in the business to get laid (despite Christian upbringing, see hot-tub flirtations with Nidia.)
- Christopher Nowinski – one of my top picks for the guys. Had a wrestling background, just enough confidence and a good look for the company.
- Darryl Cross – I cheered for him at first but as the episodes went on and he acted more immature than I was at the age of watching this, I couldn’t wait for him to leave.
- Greg Whitmoyer – My #1 pick. He had the look, the body, the intelligence for it. I wanted him to win so much but alas…
- Jason Dayberry – a great body but I doubted him from day 1. He seemed into it but he didn’t have the same reactions as everyone else when they stepped into the ring and started learning. It was a challenge for him. Not a career.
- Josh Lomberger – be still my beating heart, I’ve always loved an underdog! I wanted Josh to win if Greg didn’t. I was wrong twice.
- Maven Huffman – originally I could see he wanted the contract, and was ready to put in the work. I liked him but wasn’t cheering him on as much as Greg and Josh. Boy was I wrong, good thing I didn’t place any bets.
- Nidia Guenard – Hilarious conversation with Jackie in the ring on day one. Definitely one of the women I wanted to win, especially as the season came to a close.
- Paulina Thomas – I felt bad for Paulina the second she hit her knee mud wrestling. As I’ve said, I love underdogs, and because of her injury I wanted Paulina to make a huge comeback but maybe, in the end, it all worked out the way it should.
- Shadrick McGee – made no impression on me. Great body and athletic ability but he was just kind of…”there.” Sorry, Shadrick, maybe your lack of presence hurt your chances.
- Taylor Matheny – she had the look and confidence of a diva and I was glad to see her make it to the end. Definitely someone I would’ve enjoyed seeing on TV more.
- Victoria Tabor – I thought she would be the toughest of the women, being a stunt double should have worked in her favor. However, I respect that she left when she knew it wasn’t right to stay, when her heart wasn’t in it.
A lot of my picks were wrong, and a few people grew on me over the season, but let’s face it, any of us who wanted to work for the WWE, even if just for a moment, wished we could have traded places with any of the above contestants.
