The Failure that was WWE Tough Enough

[TMC]

LANGUAGE WARNING

The WWE and pro wrestling in general has been often called a soap oprea. Wrestling is pretty amazing when they blend reality with fiction. However back in 2000 the WWE wanted to do more then just blend. They wanted to go full out and join the trend of the early 2000s and create their very own reality tv show. After teaming up with MTV, WWE Tough Enough was born. A reality TV show where 13 contestants would compete while living together to earn a WWE contract. What started off as such as a simple, fun and enjoyable show, became a display of the worst things wrestling offers. What was supposed to create the next generation of superstars, failed horribly at doing so. Lets go back and take a look back at WWE Tough Enough and the failure that it was.

WWE Tough Enough was a reality series that managed to last four seasons in its initial form: untrained rookies going through twelve weeks of training, with two winners earning a WWE contract at the end. Although the first season was popular, and its winners Maven Huffman and Nidia Guenard had a decent run with the company, cracks started to show by the second season. With the rise of the internet allowing smart marks to properly understand the business, the show's very concept would be illogical; it takes years to learn how to wrestle, and any contestants who won would be far too green to have a regular role on TV. This was demonstrated by what's known as 'That Jackie Gayda Match', featuring Season 2 winner Jackie Gayda botching nearly every move. While Season 3 did have a glimmer of hope in the form of one winner having a decorated career, the show's fourth season was largely seen as a joke and its winner got released mere weeks afterwards. There was an attempt at reviving the series in 2011 with a format that had potential, bringing in wrestlers from the indies with the necessary experience, but there was still a mixture of untrained contestants and some truly baffling eliminations. The winner was also an untrained rookie, who ended up getting released unceremoniously a few months later. A final attempt at a revival popped up in 2015, but it wasn't long before that too was seen as a joke, especially the decision to have the eliminations decided by public vote rather than skill. While Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville would still be signed and factor into the women's division, it was only after (following history) they had been repackaged completely. It's telling that the only person who was on the show that went on to be WWE Champion didn't win the contract on any of the four seasons. With three WrestleCrap inductions, Tough Enough is seen as a relic.