411’s Tough Enough Report 6.16.15: Competition Special

Tough Enough: Competition Special

-Tough Enough returns next week on USA and I get the task of covering the show for you fine folks. In preparation for the return of the show, the WWE is airing the following special on the Network to give us viewers a guide heading into next week.

-Quickly, I will state that I am huge fan of Tough Enough (especially the 3 seasons that appeared on MTV) and I am anxiously waiting for Season Three to show up on the Network.

-We start out with footage of the contestants being run through drills at WWE Performance Center. Really just a cold open to tease what is to come.

-After the show intro we meet Mike who tells us this is a moment he has been waiting for and preparing for his whole life. He feels the mental preparation will be the toughest and we learn that Mike is an amputee missing part of his leg. He wants to do what he loves doing and wants to support his family while doing it.

-A graphic lets us know that 11,154 videos were submitted worldwide for this season of Tough Enough. From that 40 men and women will compete in a 2 day try-out and that will be cut down to 7 men and 6 women to make up the roster for Tough Enough.

-We meet several of the contestants who give their thoughts, and curious if any of these ones will make the cut or just getting them out of the way for their 15 seconds of fame. We get Amanda (blonde girl) calling her boyfriend (I think) on the phone and he wants to know if people think of her as a Barbie doll who can’t handle things and she thinks that may be the case. She wants to prove she is more than just that and her boyfriend is very supportive of her. She doesn’t think you can judge people by just looking at them and nothing scares her so far.

-All 40 line up and see Booker T, Lita, and Billy Gunn get into the ring. Booker does most of the talking as he congratulates them for being the 40 out of 11,000 plus that have gotten this far. He promises physical and mental challenges that will prove if they are Tough Enough. He calls the Performance Center their Madison Square Garden. Lita talks about how they have fitness models, a gator wrestler, MMA fighters, and boxers in the crowd. Gunn says that most won’t make it through the initial training camp and people can get the axe at anytime. Everyone seems fired up for the challenge.

-Each contestant gets to face a panel and tell why they are here. Alex is first and he makes the mistake of dropping the “F” bomb. Gunn jumps all over him for that and it is kind of crazy hearing him preach to someone about vulgar language in front of women. Alex is rather cocky as he calls himself the pound for pound strongest guy here.

-Next we get a set of twins, Jerehmiah and Nehemiah who stand 6’6” and 6’7”. They are also rather cocky and my guess that’s not always the best strategy. Booker asks what makes them better than The Usos. They say they have heart and they won’t give up.

-Rapid fire time as several people get some camera time, and really no point in singling any of them out. A few cut some horrible promos including and a girl who gets yelled at for dropping the F bomb. We do meet a girl who seemingly is a product of Lance Storm’s camp. One guy is not familiar with the WWE, and the judges crush him for it. He says the judges asked him the wrong questions.

-On the other end we get a few moments with some of the contestants who genuinely have a passion for wrestling. One guy, Mada, is from the Middle East and dude has seen people beheaded. Crazy!

-Mike, who we met at the start, gets his chance next. He gets emotional as he talks about being the only survivor when his military vehicle was hit with an explosive. He carried his leg out of the wreckage and woke up three days later. Billy Gunn says Mike is probably the toughest men he has ever met, but wants to know what will make him a WWE Superstar. He says he loves the connection between wrestler and fans. You can tell the kid is a huge fan, and it would mean the world to him. Booker calls him a WWE Superstar at heart.

-Next is ZZ (as everyone calls him) and he is our Louisiana gator wrestler. Awesome! That accent would certainly be a problem, but he is hilarious as he talks about being on the plane. Booker calls him different from everyone else there and that can be an advantage. Dude certainly made an impression which is all you can really want when there are 39 other people. He says he is fit, as round is a shape, and you can make your Kevin Owens jokes below in the comments section.

-Albert shows up and puts the 40 through various drills inside and outside the ring. You can see it is taking a toll on many of them, and hell if I would ever go through what they are doing. Some are already saying they didn’t think Day 1 would be this tough and their respect for WWE Superstars is growing. No matter how many times people talk about how hard it is, it is crazy to think people still think it is easy.

-Next is Nick from Ohio, and he looks rather gassed just running in place while in the ring. Booker calls him out on his physique and Nick says he is a power lifter at home. He says he has switched his routine the past two weeks and worked in more running. He meets with a trainer following one of the drills and he says that each time he has run a mile he has felt like he has wanted to pass out. They call in the EMTs and they take Nick to a hospital. It seems to be a heart condition and he hopes he didn’t mess up his chances.

-Booker says it will be a hard decision to cut people, but they have to go. They discuss some guys and outside of just the 3 WWE judges we also have PR people and executives as well. This isn’t too much different from how things were done in Seasons 1-3. Phillip, the guy who doesn’t know anything about the WWE, gets made fun of again as you would expect. One of the suits loves the Twins while Booker and Lita aren’t the biggest fans. Booker says that if they win the contract everyone in America will laugh at them. Damn!

-Booker lets the group know that at least 10 will be cut and 2 are already gone due to not being medically cleared. Well that is it for Nick then and not sure who the other one is as we didn’t get to meet him. They bring each in the ring and Booker gets on a kid named Stephen, but says if he doesn’t change he will take joy in cutting him. A few others get cut for not being coachable, and one gets saved because he is a good sport about making fun of himself.

-Up next is Mike, our amputee, and he makes the cut. The Twins also make the cut, but Booker lets them know they made it barely. The kid who didn’t know anything about the WWE is cut and Lita says it is more a fault of the people who let him pass the initial phase. The gator wrestler is next and Booker likes him and his story so he makes the cut. Nice! I want that dude to stay around for a bit.

-A graphic lets us know that the Kingdom Twins decided to withdraw from the competition. Wonder if that is the true story as in Season II of Tough Enough Shad (from Cryme Tyme) was one of the finalists, but was replaced due to a failed medical test supposedly. There were leaks though it was from a failed drug test however.

-The Twins show up and they said they felt they gave it their all. They said they came and hoped they were coming to be trained as wrestlers, and instead did nothing but cardio. They tell Booker that they just don’t feel they want to be wrestlers and they apologize. They also said the judges didn’t encourage them and were hard on them. Wow! Booker thanks them and you can tell he is rather annoyed, but just laughs it off. So yep, they just quit even though they don’t think they quit.

-Day 2 and more people struggling with the drills. Triple H walks through the door and he walks in on a guy puking in a sink. Awesome! Triple H says that is what he likes to see.

-A graphic tells us that Mike Hayes (our wounded soldier) is at a crossroads. He says his body didn’t agree with some of the drills and when he took his liner off last night there was blood. He doesn’t know if he can handle this physically due to his limitations.

-Next we get a dude who says he was a RB in the NFL and he talks about being a lady’s man. Next is Ashley and she has the same hair as Eva Marie which could be an issue and I’m not kidding when I say that. She is kind of a cross between Eva Marie’s hair and Lita’s tattoos.

-We meet Joshua and he is all about positive vibes. He says he is also known as The Yeti which will produce WCW jokes and flashbacks for many. He says his most positive trait is being a leader and he aspires to take the next step. He is all in and wants the trainers to take him to places he doesn’t know he can go.

-Dara is next and she is a MMA fighter and we even get some of her fighting footage. She comes out as a lesbian in front of the panel, and she says they can put it on the air.

-HHH talks to a girl named Gabi, and she is from Brazil. She knows she can do this, and she has experience doing cardio and lifting weights. One of the suits thinks she is a huge bitch which can actually be a positive trait. Gaby says she is who she is and she will get in trouble with things she says.

-Patrick Clark from Washington DC next and he was changed when he saw The Undertaker on TV. He comes from a single mother family as he dad was killed when he was two years old. He seems like a good kid and I can see myself rooting for him. He got pissed off as he was trying to have a pro-wrestling conversation with people and they didn’t know nearly enough.

-Stephen next and he cuts a promo on Billy which ends up getting him crushed in training. Booker calls him a pretty boy body builder that wants to play wrestling. He tells Booker he is 6 feet tall and to pull out a tape measure.

-Mike Hayes has decided to rejoin the group and the rest of the contestants seem to rally around him in a nice moment. Great on Mike for sticking things out!

-Booker introduces those left to the host of Tough Enough: Chris Jericho. He brings everyone in the ring and he will announce the 13 finalists. He brings Mike Hayes into the ring and gives him a chance to speak to the group. He lets everyone know his body didn’t keep up with his mind and heart, so right now it is not his time to be here. He removes himself from the competition, and you can see it is breaking his heart. He thanks everyone for letting him have this chance and he thanks the other contestants for getting him through the day. He gets a standing ovation from the judges (including HHH), and sadly that is it for Mike.

-Back to Jericho in the ring and we get quick cuts of him talking to each of the guys. He makes a few jokes about his height and then he tells the girl from Jersey that she has made it. Gaby from Brazil doesn’t make the cut, but Amanda does. The 19 year old kid Patrick makes the cut and then my world is crushed as ZZ, our gator wrestler, doesn’t make the cut. They call Stephen on being 6 feet and Jericho brings out a tape measure and turns out he is only 5’11”. The lady’s man RB and Stephen are the final two left for the man and the RB makes it.

-The final two for the ladies are Samantha and Ashley (Eva Marie hair). Lita calls Samantha the more sure thing and Ashley more of a wild card. Jericho says he likes Samantha more and isn’t as sold on Ashley. Ashley sensing she is in trouble basically begs, and says she just needs more time. Jericho rightly calls out she has as much time as everyone else. Out of the two she is not Jericho’s choice, but it is not up to him totally so she makes it while Samantha is gone. Damn that sucks for her! Sam says she won’t stop now and is honored to work with these people.

-Ashley calls her dad and lets him know she made the show and it’s a sweet moment. He is very proud of her as you would imagine, and she says she is a bad ass because of him.

-We jump to Day 3 and a suit brings Ashley into a doctor’s room. Uh oh! It seems she failed a cardiac test, and it could be a dangerous condition. They can’t let her continue with Tough Enough due to her medical condition. They are sending her to a cardiologist to figure out what the next step will be. Damn, that is crushing! She is in tears as she says she doesn’t care about the show and she just wants to wrestle. Lita steps in to console her, and tells her that they will give her another shot when she is healthy, but the main thing is to get healthy. Ashley promises to be back. They bring back Gabi to take her place.

-Four hours later Khalil (the RB) didn’t pass all of his medical tests and he is gone as well. That brings back the Gator Wrestler! Hell Yeah! He gets brought back by HHH and promises that his heart will explode before he gives up.

-HHH congratulates them all on being the cast for Tough Enough. The final 13 give their thoughts about making it to the show. The trainers and the final 13 all talk about Mike and how it was an eye opener for all of them. We wrap up with everyone looking forward to achieving their dream to be a WWE Superstar. We do hear from HHH that there will be 1 male and 1 female winner (much like Season 1 had).

-Here are your 13 finalists: Alexander, Hank, Joshua, Mada, Patrick, Tanner, and ZZ for the guys, and Amanda, Daria, Dianna, Gabi, Giorgia, and Sara for the women.

-See you all next week for Episode 1 of Tough Enough: Season 6.