WWE Tough Enough

WWE Tough Enough was a professional wrestling reality television series produced by WWE, wherein participants undergo professional wrestling training and compete for a contract with WWE. There were two winners per season for the first three seasons, all of which aired on MTV. A fourth competition was held in 2004, with only a single winner, who was integrated into (at the time) UPN's "SmackDown!". As revealed in October 2010, the USA Network, revived "Tough Enough" to air it immediately prior to "Raw", starting on April 4, 2011, a day after WrestleMania XXVII. The first three seasons were co-produced with MTV, while the revival is a co-production with Shed Media. Repeat broadcasts of the revival series are shown on Universal HD and have also aired recently on Oxygen and G4.
Past episodes of "Tough Enough" are available for streaming on the WWE Network.
Development and original series.
The idea of the show originally came from a deal the then-WWF made with MTV in spring of 2000. One part of a deal was to create a reality series where contestants compete to win a WWE contract, the winner being one male and one female.
"Tough Enough".
Maven Huffman and Nidia Guenard won the first season of "Tough Enough". Only two contestants were actually cut from the competition; the others eliminated voluntarily exited. Of the final five contestants, four would eventually join the WWE. Nidia was released from WWE on November 3, 2004, while Maven was released on July 5, 2005.
Though they both survived the initial cut from 230 contestants down to 25, eventual season two winner Jackie Gayda and future TNA Women's Knockout Champion ODB (Jessica Kresa) were not selected among the final 13 contestants who appeared in season one. Future WWE ring announcer Justin Roberts sent in an audition tape, which aired in a season one teaser on the January 25, 2001 edition of "SmackDown!".
The first season of "Tough Enough" was released on DVD in 2002, along with its soundtrack.
This season became available for viewing on the WWE Network on January 12, 2015.
Contestants.
Order of elimination:
"Tough Enough 2".
The second season winners were Linda Miles and Jackie Gayda. The result offended members of the male finalists, who claimed that when they signed forms to compete on "Tough Enough", the forms spoke of one male winner and one female winner. Eventually, Linda and Jackie were released on November 12, 2004 and July 5, 2005, respectively. Gayda later married wrestler Charlie Haas.
Shad Gaspard, who would later become a member of the WWE tag team Cryme Tyme, was chosen to be one of the final 13 contestants on the show but, according to the show, failed a physical; he was subsequently replaced by Danny. Eventual season 3 winner John Hennigan (who went on to compete for the WWE as John Morrison) auditioned and survived the first cut down to 25 contestants, but, despite displaying well-tuned athletic ability, Hennigan's arrogance irritated the judges. It would be another year before Hennigan would make the show. There were several other well known faces in the crowd who didn't make the cut, but, eventually made a name for themselves in the business, including Shelly Martinez (known as Ariel in the WWE and as Salinas in TNA), Kia Stevens (known as Awesome Kong in TNA and as Kharma in WWE), former fitness model Kim Nielsen (who was known by her real name in WWE and as Desire in TNA, and who competed on season 13 of "The Biggest Loser"), Gunner and Ken Anderson.
Contestants.
Order of Elimination:
"Tough Enough III".
The third season was won by John Hennigan and Matt Cappotelli. Hennigan, who wrestled for two years for WWE under the name Johnny Nitro before changing it to John Morrison, would go on to become ECW World Heavyweight Champion, a three-time Intercontinental Champion, and a holder of both the WWE World Tag Team Championship and the WWE Tag Team Championship. Cappotelli was developing his talent further in WWE development territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), but was diagnosed with a brain tumor in December 2005, forcing him to step away from wrestling and relinquish his OVW Championship. The tumor was removed in 2007, and it was unknown whether Cappotelli would ever return to professional wrestling. In July 2017, Cappotelli announced that he was diagnosed with grade IV glioblastoma multiforme. He died on June 29, 2018, at the age of 38.
Former WWE Diva, Melina Perez, tried out for "Tough Enough III" and made it to the final 25, but was cut from the competition. During the tryouts, however, she met John Hennigan, and they eventually began a romantic relationship. She eventually received a WWE contract and worked for the company but was released on August 5, 2011. She worked as Melina on the "Raw" brand and became the first "Tough Enough" contestant to win the WWE Women's Championship, a title she has held three times and the WWE Divas Championship two times, an overall five-time champion, making her the most successful female "Tough Enough" contestant to enter WWE. Both Shawn Daivari and Daniel Puder are seen on film during audition episode. Both made it to the final 75, but were cut before they could make it to the training facility. Both men later went on as performers for WWE.
Hardcore Holly made a guest appearance on one episode of the show, where he stiffed Cappotelli during a training match, leaving him bleeding; the incident was discussed on February 8, 2003 episode of "WWE Confidential".
Contestants.
Order of Elimination:
Lisa incident.
In the cover story from the October 5, 2002 issue of the "Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter", it was revealed that contestant "Lisa" was removed from the show after what was referred to as a "psychotic breakdown." After being left at the house while the other contestants went out to dinner, she began throwing herself against the walls of the house, eventually breaking into the hidden MTV control room and working her way onto the roof. After being talked down by producers, she was committed to a hospital facility to receive psychiatric treatment. Her parents flew in from New Mexico to pick her up, but she physically attacked them, claiming she did not know them. She then escaped custody inside LAX, shutting down a wing of the airport until she was located. Again, she was hospitalized, but she was able to check herself out shortly after. She then contacted "Tough Enough" producers, claiming she was ready to return to the show. Producers informed her she had been removed from the competition due to her actions. The other contestants (and, subsequently, the audience) were initially told that Lisa simply decided wrestling "wasn't the right career for her." Lisa then reemerged in Louisville, Kentucky at the Ohio Valley Wrestling training center, claiming that trainer Al Snow and producer John "Big" Gaburick had sent her for additional training, both in the ring and to learn further about the structure of the developmental territory system. At a series of shows in California in September 2002, she managed to talk her way backstage and was even allowed to assist with the pyrotechnics for the wrestlers' entrances at a TV taping. One source claimed that she had a face-to-face conversation with Vince McMahon, who was apparently unaware of her status with the "Tough Enough" program. Soon after, her photograph was circulated to security personnel, and she was barred from any backstage areas.
"$1,000,000 Tough Enough" (season 4).
The fourth "Tough Enough" competition was conducted as part of WWE's "SmackDown!" brand between October and December 2004 in response to "Raw" holding the first annual "Raw" Diva Search" contest. 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, an American professional mixed martial artist. Puder competed in his second WWE pay-per-view event on January 30, 2005 as the third entrant in the 2005 Royal Rumble match. Soon after, he was sent to OVW before eventually being released in September 2005.
Daniel Puder shoot incident.
On November 4, 2004, episode of "SmackDown!", taped in St. Louis, Missouri, during an unscripted segment of "Tough Enough", Kurt Angle, a former American amateur wrestler and 1996 Olympic gold medalist, challenged the finalists through a squat thrust competition. Chris Nawrocki won the competition, and the prize Nawrocki won was a match against Angle. Angle quickly took Nawrocki down, breaking his ribs, then made him tap out with a "neck crank". After Angle defeated Nawrocki, Angle challenged the other finalists. Puder accepted Angle's challenge. Angle and Puder wrestled for position, with Angle taking Puder down, however, in the process, Puder locked Angle in a "kimura lock". With Puder on his back and Angle's arm locked in the "kimura", Angle attempted a pin, one of two referees in the ring, Jim Korderas, quickly counted three to end the bout, despite the fact that Puder's shoulders weren't fully down on the mat, bridging up at two. Puder later claimed he would have snapped Angle's arm, thus making Angle tap out on national television, if Korderas had not ended the match. Dave Meltzer and Dave Scherer gave these following comments:
Aftermath.
Mike Mizanin signed a developmental contract with WWE and later worked as The Miz in WWE and became the first and the only "Tough Enough" contestant to win the WWE Championship and to headline WrestleMania.
Ryan Reeves signed a developmental contract with WWE. He later participated in the first season of "NXT" in early 2010 under the ring name Skip Sheffield, and became one of the original members of the faction The Nexus. He resurfaced on the main roster in early 2012 under the ring name Ryback, and headlined five pay-per-view events, three of those for the WWE Championship. He is also a former WWE Intercontinental Champion.
Daniel Rodimer signed a developmental contract with WWE, and later wrestled on "Heat" as Dan Rodman.
Nick Mitchell signed a developmental contract with WWE. He made his debut on the main roster in 2006 as Mitch, a member of the male cheerleader group The Spirit Squad. As a member of the Spirit Squad, he is a former World Tag Team Champion, which he won under the Freebird Rule.
Marty Wright, who lied about his age during the auditions and was disqualified, later signed with WWE and competed as The Boogeyman.
During the tryouts, Brian Danovich suffered a torn pectoral muscle during the bench press but then went on to complete the assault course in its entirely while carrying the injury. After withdrawing from the event, then Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis offered him a developmental contract on the spot though he was eventually released after numerous injuries without appearing on the main roster. He would resurface in June 2018 with a wrestling radio show called "Wrestling With Passion" on Action VR Network on Mixlr (before his passing). He died on August 9, 2018, at the age of 38.
Andrew Hankinson tried out for this season but failed to make it to the finals. However, he was signed to a WWE developmental contract and later competed in WWE as Festus and Luke Gallows
A DVD of this season was released in 2005.
Revival.
Season 5.
On October 18, 2010, the television website Deadline Hollywood reported that USA Network was considering expanding into reality programming with a revival of "Tough Enough". The website also reported that the show was expected to "run in tandem with USA's "WWE Raw" series." On January 3, 2011, both "The New York Times" and WWE further confirmed the revival, revealing that the revived series would begin airing Monday nights beginning on April 4, 2011, following "WWE Raw", and a day after WrestleMania XXVII. The following week, "Tough Enough" aired during its planned time slot before "WWE Raw". The revived series is a co-production with Shed Media.
Stone Cold Steve Austin served as the show's season 5 host while Booker T, Trish Stratus, and Bill DeMott served as trainers. According to USA Network's episode guide, the 2011 season is referred to as "Season 1", therefore making no reference to its prior runs on other networks. In addition, although the premise of this show is similar to that of "WWE NXT", "Tough Enough" season 5 ran concurrently with "NXT" and did not replace it.
Similar to the reality series "Hell's Kitchen", several episodes concluded with a voiceover of Austin's thoughts on the eliminated contestant as he goes to his office and hangs their belt on the wall.
Ariane Andrew was the first person cut from the competition but ultimately wound up being the sole contestant to wind up on the main roster of performers for the company. She has appeared on WWE programming as Cameron, one half of The Funkadactyls, as well as "Total Divas" as herself.
Season 6.
On January 15, 2015, season 6 of "Tough Enough" was announced at the Critics Association Winter Press. Daniel Bryan, Hulk Hogan, and Paige served as judges, while Billy Gunn, Booker T, and Lita served as trainers/coaches. The show aired live from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida - home base of WWE's NXT developmental territory. The winners, Josh and Sara, each received a $250,000 contract with WWE. On October 28, it was confirmed that Amanda, ZZ, Mada, Patrick, and Daria signed to a WWE contract. Amanda also appeared on the fifth season of WWE's reality television show "Total Divas". A year later, Chelsea and Gabi signed with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Chelsea would later go onto sign a contract with WWE in 2018.
Episodes.
Tough Enough will return in 23 May 2028
However the two winners of Josh Bredl and Sara Lee had not been in WWE televison