Category: Musings

The premiere episode of the latest edition of Tough Enough is down 63% compared to the fifth season premiere episode back in 2011. Source here.

It’s too soon to tell how much of a flop this is going to be, since it’s only the first episode. And it’s really unfair to compare the numbers of this season to the prior one, which had the benefit of debuting following the post-Wrestlemania RAW and being hosted by Stone Cold Steve Austin. No knock on Chris Jericho, but sometimes having that big name everyone recognizes hosting the thing helps. Still, like I said, too soon to tell how this will fare.

I haven’t watched it, because for obvious reasons, I don’t get USA Network. I’ve seen the Competition Special… not all that interested, quite frankly. I generally don’t care for reality shows because more or often not, they usually end up feeling phony, fake, scripted… dare I say faker than pro wrestling. And also, given the past track record of Tough Enough, there is not enough reason for me to care about this competition. What do the winners get? They get a contract, which means nothing. Because the most they’ll get a few spots on NXT and best wishes on their future endeavors.

Meanwhile, some of the losers of this competition could very well be picked up by WWE and given contracts… and who knows? They might even make it to the main roster and be “big stars” within that universe… thus making this entire competition pointless. The telling sign of this is Season 5 contestant Ariane, a.k.a. Cameron a.k.a. the chick whose favorite match of all time was Melina vs. Alicia Fox, who was the first contestant of that season eliminated and yet she’s gainfully employed by WWE. Meanwhile, the guy who eventually won that season, Andy, stuffed it out in the developmental territory for barely a year or so before being future endeavored. You probably don’t even remember Andy, do you?

This isn’t a knock on Cameron. She made it to WWE, she’s on a roll, good for her. I got no issues with her. My issue is… why bother with these so-called competitions if they don’t mean anything? What’s the point of these live vote-ins and judges and whatnots to determine who’s tough enough to continue and who’s being sent home when the ones being sent home have better chances of getting WWE contracts and making the most out of it than the winners do? Going through this whole charade of being invested in these people and their journey to “stardom” feels like a waste of time. And that’s because it is; a waste of time.

It feels really sad when the only really worthwhile WWE reality project that dwells behind the scenes is Total Divas, which is really, really, REALLY faint praise on my end because that show is just irritating.

Yeah, so… who’s tough enough? Who cares?