WWE Tough Enough
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WWE Tough Enough was a reality television show produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) wherein a selection of hopefuls compete for a contract with the professional wrestling company. There were two winners per season for the first three seasons but only a single winner for the fourth season. The first three seasons are broadcast on MTV, while the fourth season was integrated into the UPN program WWE SmackDown!.
The contests were eventually ended due to backstage animosity towards the winners by wrestlers in the WWE, feeling that newcomers to the business who had no previous training had no right to just enter the WWE when the veteran wrestlers felt it took them years to get their chance to work for the WWE.
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Maven Huffman and Nidia Guenard won the first series of Tough Enough. Nidia was released on November 3, 2004 and Maven on July 5, 2005.
- Al Snow
- Tazz
- Jacqueline
- Tori
- Christian Smiley
- Bobbie Jo
- Chris Ni.
- Chris Nowinski (a.k.a. Chris Harvard) (later joined the RAW brand, currently inactive)
- Darryl
- Greg
- Jason
- Josh (later joined the SmackDown! brand as an announcer)
- Maven (winner)
- Nidia (winner)
- Paulina
- Shadrick
- Taylor
- Victoria
Order of Elimination:
Episode 3: Jason left because he could not sacrifice his girlfriend for being a WWE Superstar.
Episode 4: Victoria left because she decided she did not want to be a WWE Superstar, because she had been in a lot of pain from landing on a back bump the wrong way.
Episode 4: Bobbie Jo left because she had absolutely no desire whatsoever to be a WWE Superstar. She wanted to get into Playboy Magazine instead.
Episode 5: Darryl was cut because he was obviously much bigger than the other contestants at 6'8 335lbs and he needed more like 9 months to get into WWF shape instead of the 12 weeks the show was filmed.
Episode 6: Shadrick was cut because whenever he failed in the ring, his emotions always got the better of him, and he could not keep up the pace with the rest of the group.
Episode 7: Paulina left because she tore a ligament in her knee, and she decided that she needed to let it heal before further injuring it in the ring.
Episode 9: Greg left after he suffered an injury to his spinal column. Thus, he decided to obey his doctors orders, and seek a spinal surgeon instead of continuing to compete.
Episode 10: Chris Ni. left because he felt guilty that he kept botching moves and injuring others; thus, decided Tough Enough wasn't the right place for him to be.
Episode 13: Taylor, Josh, and Chris No. were all eliminated after Maven and Nidia were declared the winners of the first Tough Enough season. (Despite not winning the competition, both Josh and Chris would eventually join WWE and are still employed.)
The second series winners were Linda Miles and Jackie Gayda. Linda was released on November 12, 2004 and Jackie was released on July 5, 2005.
Order of Elimination:
Episode 3: Aaron was cut because he could not physically catch up with the rest of the group's speed. That caused him to pass out on the beach while exercising.
Episode 3: Robert was cut because he was struggling with all the physicality in and out of the ring; thus, he tired out more easily than others.
Episode 5: Danny was cut because he lacked of charisma while trying to perform an interview for the trainers.
Episode 6: Matt left because he tore a ligament in his right knee, and his doctor told him it wouldn't be safe to continue wrestling in the ring.
Episode 7: Alicia was cut by Al Snow because she had an injury, and it hindered her from continuing to wrestle in the ring.
Episode 7: Jessie left because she was diagnosed with a heart condition.
Episode 11: Hawk left because he got worried about his performance in the ring, and how he kept screwing up.
Episode 12: Pete was cut because he wasn't keeping up in the ring as well as the others.
Episode 12: Anni was cut because she wasn't keeping up in the ring as well as the others.
Episode 13: Jake and Kenny were eliminated after Linda and Jackie were announced the winners of Tough Enough 2.
The third series was won by John Hennigan and Matt Cappotelli. John is now wrestling on RAW as Johnny Nitro. Matt was developing his talent further in the WWE development territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), and was diagnosed with a brain tumor in December 2005.
Order of Elimination:
Episode 2: Jill quit after the very first day of training. The trainers were all very pissed off, and labeled her as a "quitter", because she never put forth her best effort.
Episode 3: Lisa left because she decided wrestling wasn't the right career for her.
Episode 4: Chad was cut because of his lack of ability to keep up the pace with the rest of the group.
Episode 5: Rebecca left because she had a family emergency back at home, and could not continue to pursue this competition.
Episode 6: Nick was cut because he had a shoulder injury, and he lacked the ability to perform certain tasks in the ring.
Episode 7: Scott was cut because he didn't take the competition seriously; thus, he almost injured somebody because he kept botching moves.
Episode 8: Kelly was cut because she had a serious back injury, and she was beginning to fall behind everybody else in terms of learning new moves.
Episode 11: Justin was cut because he lacked aggression in the ring. He wasn't very competitive either.
Episode 14: Jamie was cut on the finale of Tough Enough III to lower it down to four finalists. Also, Eric and Jonah were eliminated when Matt and John were announced the winners of Tough Enough III.
Melina Perez tried out for Tough Enough and made it to the final 25, but was cut from the competition. [1] However, she met John Hennigan during the tryouts and eventually started dating him. They are still a couple to this day. She now works for the WWE as Melina on the RAW roster managing John, now known as Johnny Nitro, and became the first ever Tough Enough contestant to win the WWE Women's Championship.
The fourth Tough Enough competition was conducted as part of WWE's SmackDown! show between October and December 2004. The prize was a $1,000,000 professional wrestling contract split evenly over four years, with only the first year guaranteed. The winner of the fourth series, announced on December 14, 2004 and televised on December 16, 2004, was Daniel Puder. Puder competed in his first (and only) WWE pay-per-view event on January 30, 2005, being the third entrant in the 2005 Royal Rumble match. Soon after, he was sent to OVW before eventually being released in September 2005.
Other finalists were:
- Nick Mitchell (later became part of the Spirit Squad)
- Mike Mizanin (later hired by WWE, now wrestling for Smackdown!)
- Chris Nawrocki (later signed a developmental contract but was released in 2005)
- Justice Smith
- Ryan Reeves (later hired by WWE, but released in January 2007)
- Daniel Rodimer (on Wednesday July 12 2006, WWE.com reported that Rodimer had been signed to a development contract)
- John Meyer (selected as a finalist, but quit before the final selection stage began)
Marty Wright a.k.a. The Boogeyman, was cut before the finalists were selected for lying about his age. He was later hired by WWE, trained in OVW and before debuting on SmackDown!. He suffered an injury not long after that and was eventually released. He was however rehired in October 2006 to return as The Boogeyman.
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