Tough Enough 2015

The Spotlight Tough Enough Power Rankings for Week 3

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Last Night the third episode of WWE Tough Enough took place live on the USA Network and it was a noteworthy episode to say the least. First it was revealed that Dianna had finally had enough of being away from her fiance while in the midst of planning their wedding and decided to drop out of the competition.  This was something that we mentioned as a distinct possibility and was a shame as she seemed to be one of the more athletic girls in the competition.  I was prepared to get all over Dianna for giving up the opportunity of a lifetime, it was revealed in an exclusive interview on the tough enough app that Dianna also left because one of her friends that worked at a bar that Dianna owned was attacked at the bar and left paralyzed.  Thus, if Dianna also left because of that unfortunate circumstance than I can’t fault her for that and wish her nothing but the best.  Dianna’s loss is somebody else’s gain as a new contestant Chelsea was able to enter back into the competition.  Chelsea is a student from Lance Storm’s Storm Wrestling Academy and is probably remembered by die hard WWE fans as Daniel Bryan’s physical therapist who claimed that her and Bryan were having an affair (in a storyline quickly dropped, I might add).  This is an interesting choice for a new contestant as I’m sure some viewers, like me, were either hoping to skip an elimination this week or that Ashley (who had the heart condition from the casting special) would be returning.  Regardless, if she was trained by Lance Storm she is probably going to be very good in the ring, just ask Tyler Breeze.

Also last night on Tough Enough, in a bit of a surprising move, Daria, was sent home.  (A quick side bar here, did you know that Daniel Bryan is a perfect 3 for 3 in that every contestant that he has placed in the bottom three, has gone home).  I thought honestly that Daria was better than a few of the contestants and she had a ton of heart, as evidenced by her “Save Me” speech this week and how crushed she looked going home.  It is obvious at this point that if it comes down to a fan vote and you’re in the bottom three with ZZ and Sara Lee, you can pack your bags.

Thus, after a noteworthy episode, ten contestants remain so let’s get into this week’s Tough Enough Power Rankings

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1) Patrick Clark Jr. (Last week #2)

After two straight episodes in which Patrick won the skills competition, he has finally jumped up to the top spot in this week’s tough enough power rankings.  One thing that I liked about Patrick this week was that he’s the only one who woke up to watch the Beast In The East Special at 530AM and was periscoping with fans right when he woke up.  The guy obviously respects the business and looks to really be living his dream with this competition.   I also really liked that Patrick showed that he was not going to be a push over this week by standing up to Tanner and coming right at him. Patrick also had a great answer when Tanner called him out for being a trained wrestler prior to coming on the show by saying tht his past training didn’t count as he’s here to learn WWE style.  With Patrick showing his depth this week as a performer in the entrance competion, the sky is truly the limit for Patrick.

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2) Tanner Saraceno (Last Week #1)

Tanner continues to be dominant in the athletic competitions and it really looks like it’s going to come down between he and his rival, Patrick as the competition continues.  One thing I’d start to worry about with Tanner is that he doesn’t seem to be reacting well to Patrick beating him in competitions.  His constant challenging of the other male contestants to fights may start to rub fans the wrong way, who in the end have the final say on the voting.  Tanner’s lack of love of the business is also starting to really show and that’s not good.

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3) Giorgia Priscina ( Last Week #11)

After plummeting last week all the way down to the lowest ranking for female contestants at number 11, Giorgia has really come into her own in the competion.  She has won the last two athletic competitions amongst the girls and showed off some of her personality in the entrance competition this week.  Giorgia is also the one girl to avoid all of the drama that so many of the other contestants have found themselves consumed by.

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4) ZZ Loupe (Last Week #3) 

ZZ drops a spot here this week, although if this competition continues to be decided by fans voting, he’s going to win the show as he continues to dominate in all of the fans votes at the end of the episodes. ZZ was called out for acting, what Billy Gunn perceived to be, silly during the entrance competition when he came out in a red, white and blue headdress and his underwear when he was supposed to be dressed as an American hero.  I thought this was good for ZZ, however, as it allowed him to show off his more serious side.  ZZ was offended that Billy felt he wasn’t taking the competition seriously and quickly spoke up about how bad he wants to win this competition.  Lastly ZZ didn’t back down from his costume as he said that he felt he was portraying a hero because a hero could be many different things to many people.  He said he was getting the fans out of their elements and getting them to believe in what he was doing.  At the end of the day ZZ proved that his best quality is the support he has from the fans as he got the most again when in the bottom three.

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5) Mada Abdelhamid (Last week #6) 

I hate to be so male contestant heavy but I’m really not impressed with too many of the female contestants yet.  I was actually most impressed with Mada this week to the point that I thought he won the character competition.  It’s taken Mada a bit to show some of his personality but now that he’s showing off some of it and getting more comfortable, I think he has a shot to do well.

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6) Amanda Sacaranato ( Last Week #4) 

Mandy continues her desecnt down the power rankings as she really hasn’t showed me too much from week to week.  I thought she did alright during the character competition but had one of the easier characters to emulate.  I give Amanda credit for trying to ignore some of the things that Gaby says about her, which are basically that Amanda couldn’t be more phony if she tried, until shecf but she has to show more during the episodes or she isn’t going to be around too much longer.

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7) Joshua Bredl (Last Week #9)

Joshua seems to have improved over the past two episodes.  I liked that he was uncomfortable with the British Brawler character but he did his best with it and ended up doing a good job.  He also seems to be getting better in the athletic competitions.  While he remains a step behind Tanner, he seems to be giving it his all to get closer to beating him.  I don’t think it’s smart of him to continue to go against the beloved ZZ (by telling ZZ that he’s just upset because the judges didn’t like his entrance when ZZ seemed really down about how he was treated) and I still cotnsider him to be the weakest amongst the five remaining men, but it’s good to see him improving nonetheless.

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8) Sara Lee (Last Week #5)

Readers of my rankings know that I support Sara but truth be told she really hasn’t impressed in any of the competitions whether it be athletic or in personality. That said she continues to show her realism factor that the other female contestants are lacking. She is honest about struggling but working hard to improve. She has also survived two straight bottom 3’s so it’s obvious that she has the fan support which is key.

9) Chelsea Green (Last Week N/A) 

It would be really easy to put the new contestant on the bottom but Chelsea is a trained wrestler and it seems that WWE is leaning more towards women’s wrestlers as opposed to the divas.  Likewise, I’m sure if she does well enough, she won’t be put into the bottom three as she’d be at a distinct disadvantage being so new.

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10) Gabi Castrovici (Last Week #10)

Gabi is gorgeous, but unfortunately that is where her good qualities start and end.  Gabi continues to cause drama with the other girls in the house and really bullied Amanda, so much so, that I expected her to be kicked out of the house.  Furthermore, I question how bad Gabi actually wants this as she continues to spend time away from the Barrocks with her husband.  The main part about Gabi though is that she really lacks likability which means that if she’s ever in the bottom three, she won’t get the votes needed to stay.

That’s going to do it for me this week but as always if you disagree with my power rankings, feel free to let me know where I was wrong.  Be sure to catch WWE Tough Enough live tonight on the USA Network at 8Pm EST.


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The Spotlight WWE Tough Enough Power Rankings For Week 2

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The first episode of Tough Enough is in the books and with it comes many changes to our last week’s power rankings.  While we were dead on to rank Hank as the final male contestant (12th overall), we damn near lost our number one ranking (Joshua) the first week. Let’s get right into it with updated rankings of all of the contestants following week 1.  Obviously, this week there are only 12 contestants, following Hank’s elimination.

1- Tanner Saraceno ( Last Wk- #7)

IMG_4056What else can be said about Tanner really?  The guy completely dominated every one of the physical competitions including almost doubling all of the other contestant’s times during the in ring competition.  The only thing to worry about with Tanner is that he has never disputed reports that he’s only in this for the money and that right after he does a year in WWE, he’ll be right back in MMA.  He seems to really have the support of his trainers, who even seem to like his confident attitude but if he doesn’t dispute those claims, he may lose it.  Tanner has also come across both friendly and humble on Periscope.  It’ll be a good idea for Tanner to show this attitude during the shows because the more likable he is, the more likely people are going to vote for him.

2- Patrick Clark Jr.- (Last Week- #3)

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Patrick remains steady this week, up a spot from last week. While Patrick remained a notch below Tanner throughout the first week of Tough Enough, he’s a notch above all of the other contestants. Patrick also continued to show his heart & motivation for how bad he wants to be a WWE Superstar. Patrick remains the most active on Periscope, even deeming it Patriscope, so he’s developing a good report with the fans.

3- ZZ Loupe (Last Week #8)

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” I belong on this show because I was made for this, I love making people smile and that’s what WWE is all about, making people happy!” Any other contestant would have a hard time climbing five spots following a week where he finished in the bottom 3 but ZZ is up to the third overall spot this week. Like I said last week, now that it’s been determined that the voting is going to be determined by the fans, how is ZZ ever going to be voted out? He is obviously the fan favorite and the most likable contestant on the show. Having him in the bottom three last week probably only added sympathy and more support for ZZ as well. From the outfit he wore to the live show last week to him taking off his underwear in the hot tub with the ladies, he has undeniable charm and charisma. The physical attributes will develop.

4. Amanda Sacaranato (last week #2)- 

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We didn’t see too much on the live show from Amanda, to be honest, last week which is why she drops a couple of spots this week. That said, none of the female contestants did enough for me to overtake her for the top spot. “Mandy Sacs” seems to be a bit more level headed that some of the other females & hasn’t complained about missing her boyfriend yet either. Another thing about Amanda is that she remains close to ZZ (the two do some periscope shows together) which will only help her likability factor.

5) Sara Lee (Last Week #13)- 

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Making the biggest jump of the week this week is Sara Lee. Sara has really gained a bit of a following as someone that people can relate to. She has become the average Joe that Hank was trying to pass himself off as last week. Sara has also showed a good amount of personality in getting used to Periscope and Twitter. I think Sara is going to be in this competition for quite some time.

6) Mada Abdelhamid (Last Week #4) 

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Mada didn’t do too much to impress me this week until his appearance on Tough Talk. When Mada was asked about his child, he revealed how he has a six month child at home and the child is completely the reason why he’s doing this.  While Dianna seems like she may drop out of the competition due to missing her loved ones, Mada seems ready to use his loved ones back home as motivation to win this competition.  Mada also has a good look but really would fare better staying away from the “Quadruple Towers” and developing his own personality because that clique has a bad stigma around them.

7) Dianna Dahlgren (Last Week #9)

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So Torn On Dianna because truth be told that despite her silly complaints about the twin size bed, she did do far better than any of the other female contestants during the competition, and this was with an injury, no less.  Furthermore, if you look up Dianna’s personal twitter, she is already pretty well established with over 65,000 followers.  This would lead one to assume that she has the backing to get votes if she were placed in the bottom three.  That said, I wonder how much longer Dianna is going to stay in the competition just because she seems so preoccupied with her wedding.  If she can’t last a week without her fiance, how is she going to last 10?  If there’s one contestant who will remove themselves from the competition, it’s going to be her.

8) Daria Berenato (Last week #5)

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Daria drops 3 spots this week because she really didn’t show too much last week.  I think Daria has a good personality and she shows it on social media and periscope but for whatever reason seems a bit camera shy under the bright lights of live WWE television. Even when Daniel Bryan obviously threw her a softball by asking her the riskiest thing she’s ever done, (because he, like me, is a fan) Daria became timid and couldn’t really find a real risk she’s taken.  This of course comes a week after she came out on national television.

9) Joshua Bredl (Last Week #1)

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Yeah you read that right, last week Joshua was my top pick on the tough enough power rankings but this week he takes a big time tumble to number 9, the biggest drop of the week.  Joshua was basically non existent during the first episode and was just 3% of the vote away from not even surviving week one.  Joshua needs to show some personality and needs to also realize that he won’t get by just on his look. He may look a little like Roman Reigns but Reigns has about 100 times more charisma than Joshua showed week 1.  To make matter worse, when Joshua was asked his opinion on ZZ on periscope following last week’s episode, he said ZZ was obviously only there because of the television aspect of the show.  Putting down the favorite of most viewers isn’t going to do Joshua any favors.

10) Gabi Castrovici ( Last Week #10)

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The only contestant to remain idle on the rankings this week is Gabi.  Gabi continues to show off a good amount of her attitude that got her kicked off the show in the first place.  She has to stop questioning Dianna’s injury and just find a way to improve.  I also think the fact that Gabi continues to see her husband while she’s staying at the Barrocks won’t do her any favors as it will be hard for her to fully commit to the competition.

11) Giorgia Priscina ( Last Week #6)

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Another contestant that I fell out of love with after last week is Giorgia.  While none of the female contestants seem to like Gabi, at least they have an opinion on her.  I didn’t see much of anything from Giorgia last week and haven’t seen much of her on Periscope throughout the week.  This comes off the heels on her courageously showing off her full face birthmark on one of the most worthwhile periscopes I’ve seen during the first week.  Hope to see more from Giorgia this week or she could just be the person to go home next.

12) Alex Frekey (Last Week #11)

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Last week Alex joined the “Quadruple Towers”, a clique that was called out by Paige, didn’t do well in any of the competitions and was called out by Daniel Bryan after saying that Tanner couldn’t “Pack A House”.  Not exactly a strong week for “The Freak”.  I’ll give Alex credit for appearing on periscope and trying to interact with the fans but he really needs to become more familiar with the business and the WWE product or he too could be the next to go.

That’s going to do it for me this week but be sure to check out Tough Enough tonight on the USA Network at 8 PM EST. As always, if you agree or disagree with my power rankings, I would love to hear yours!

The Spotlight On Tough Enough Episode 1 

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This past Tuesday night the first episode of this season of WWE Tough Enough debuted on the USA Network. This season there are many different aspects to the show as in years past and I’m going to get into all of them down in the closing thoughts section but before then, let’s get into some highlights from the show…

Highlights

Hank Gets The Hammer- One of the things that we found out about this year’s Tough Enough is that the final say in who gets voted out will be the WWE Universe. This didn’t bode well for Hank who, as I said in my power rankings, really didn’t endear himself to the crowd & came off either timid or rude in the few times he was featured on screen. To make matters worse for Hank his comments about ZZ being the weakest contestant there, and that included the women, really rubbed Paige the wrong way as she felt the comment was a shot at women in general. It’s a bit of a shame as I do feel Hank should have played the “I’m an average Joe” card way before the final 30 seconds as that could have given him that extra four percent of the votes needed to beat Joshua. In the end, Hank is still young enough to give it a go in the wrestling business, it just won’t be on Tough Enough this season.

Tanner Scoffs At The Competition- Last night saw Tanner Sacareno blow away the rest of the competition en route to winning every one of the physical competitions. What made this all the more interesting is that Tanner isn’t as strong as some of the other contestants like Joshua, Mada, Alex & the departed Hank. Rather than taking the humble route, Tanner also then became the cocky villain of the season by telling everyone how much better he was than them and then backing it up! This was particularly surprising to see so much personality from Tanner because you didn’t see much from him at all prior to the first episode. The thing to watch with Tanner is his interactions and continued tension with Patrick. Patrick is the only trained wrestler on the show and, you can make the argument, wants it more than any of the other contestants.  Patrick has also called Tanner to task (while the two almost came to blows) for only being in this competition for the money and after he gets the money he’s going to run right back to MMA.  Patrick also vowed that at some point he will beat Tanner, which will be interesting to see if it happens.

The Ladies Bring The Heat– From a competition standpoint the most impressive candidate was Dianna.  Unfortunately, this was the only part of Dianna that I was impressed with.  This girl has gotten the opportunity of a lifetime to become a WWE Diva and win $250,000 and she’s already struggling to live without her fiancé and has openly complained about having to sleep on a twin size bed.  I have no idea how she wasn’t in the bottom three and despite her being physically more dominant than the other female contests, I don’t see her having much longevity in this competition.  The only other one of the female contestants to make an impression during week 1, for me, was Gabi.  Gabi went from dancing on the stripper pole at the club to causing more drama on the show by questioning Dianna’s injury and then shrugging off claims that nobody likes her.  The big knock on Gabi prior to the first episode, so much so that she was cut due to it, was her attitude.  It was surprising to see Gabi continue to show that attitude off.

The Miz talks tough- Tough Enough wasn’t the only event to debut on Tuesday night for WWE.  Immediately following the Tough Enough show, on the WWE Network, Tough Talk debuted and was hosted by the Miz.  The 30 minute program really did a great job in showcasing each of the tough enough finalists as they each faced questions from the judges and the Miz.  I was particularly impressed with the Miz who came off great and is such a natural in the role.  I also found that the interplay between the judges and the Miz was a lot of fun and much more relaxed than even the Tough Enough show.  Go out of your way to check this show out.

Closing Thoughts

In the end I really enjoyed the first episode of tough enough.  It is a good amount different than the previous seasons of tough enough in that the material isn’t recorded ahead, but rather, takes place live.  The show is set up in such a way that the live aspects of the show are intertwined with highlights that took place throughout the week which is cool because the viewers still get all of the drama and the major happenings from the throughout the week.  From there, each one of the judges choose one contestant to go into the bottom three for the week.  Each one of the judges also has one save that they can utilize at any point in the season.  From there, the fans have roughly 5 minutes to vote for the contestant that they want to see stay in the competition, and they can do this on wwe.com, twitter or via text message.  This means that the contestant who receives the smallest percentage of the vote is voted out of the competition.  I like the inclusion of the fan voting, and I’m actually a little surprised by it.  If it’s up the fans, I’d be really surprised if someone like ZZ were to ever get voted out by the fans based off his character and charming personality.  The one change I would make is that I would give the fans a full week to vote out one of the contestants because having only five minutes really doesn’t give those fans not watching live the opportunity to vote.

Well that’s going to for me this week but be sure to check back tomorrow where I’ll be updating the power rankings for this week and I can guarantee you that there will be a lot of changes to the list this week.  Until then what are your thoughts on the new season of Tough Enough?

The Spotlight WWE Tough Enough Power Rankings for Week 1

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Hello everyone and welcome to the first edition of my Tough Enough Power Rankings where each week I will update my list of where each one of the final contestants on the new season of Tough Enough stands. My rankings will be based on progress, likability, fan interaction, trainer feedback & intangibles. Of course with tonight being the premiere episode of this season of Tough Enough, my rankings will be based mostly off background, what we saw on the competition special as well as some of the social media aspects surrounding each individual. Remember, at the end of the day, these rankings are my opinion (they’re no reflection of WWE) so if you agree or disagree I’d love to hear your opinion. Hopefully we’ll have a little bit of fun with these power rankings each week for WWE Tough Enough. With that bit of a disclaimer out of the way, let’s get into this week’s Tough Enough Power Rankings.


1- Joshua Bredl-
 This may come as a bit of a surprise but Joshua Bredl, The Yeti is my top ranking going into the first episode of the show tonight. Joshua is 6-8, 275 pounds and just turned 24 years old, he simply has all of the intangibles and actually bears a striking resemblance to Roman Reigns. Joshua also comes from a good athletic background having played as a defensive end for the Green Bay Packers. While I don’t personally think that “The Yeti” is a character that has legs in WWE, it’s getting pretty over with some of the fans as evidenced by some of his interactions with the fans on Periscope. This bit of likability will only help Joshua if eliminations are really determined by a fan vote.


2- Amanda Saccomanno-

If there was a girl who stands above the rest heading into the show, for me, it’s Mandy Sacs. Amanda was the winner of that WBBF pro world bikini championship that they continued to reference during the competition special as WWE did some scouting for Tough Enough at that show. Amanda also seemed to be really passionate about wanting this opportunity and seems to have a good support system at home as evidenced by her phone call with her supportive, presumable, boyfriend and his support of Amanda’s father. Let’s also not discount that Amanda is a beautiful blonde, which WWE is actually lacking for the first time in recent memory.


3- Patrick Clark Jr-

Patrick is admittedly a little young, at only 19 years old, but I like the kid a lot. Not only is he a lifelong wrestling fan, who has even ran trivia contests with fans on Periscope to prove what a true fan he is but he’s been able to show a bit of his personality during these episodes. Patrick also has a bit of a leg up on the competition being that he’s already been through six months of training to become a wrestler and is the only member of the finalists who is a trained wrestler. He also seems to be determined to make this happen and I don’t see any reason he can’t.


4- Mada AbdelHamid-

I gave Mada the bump here over the others because he has a completely different look than everyone else with his bleached blonde mohawk. He’s also Egyptian so you figure he can be a great embassador for WWE in that regard as he’s made it clear he wants to be an Egyptian representative for WWE. He’s also a 6’6 245 pound former professional basketball player. I would like to see Mada show a bit more personality but I’m sure over time, it will come.

5- Daria Berenato-

Perhaps a little high for Daria but she made an impression on me both with her character of the Jersey Devil and also showed a lot of trust in WWE by coming out on national television during the competition special.  Daria is also a professional MMA fighter and the host of UFC Afterbuzz TV so you figure she has a good amount of fan support from that.


6. Giorgia Priscina- Giorgia is someone who really made an impression on me since the competition special when she revealed that she has a full face birthmark that she has been a bit self-conscious about. Giorgia revealed the birthmark on Periscope and has since gained a ton of support across social media platforms. Aside from that she’s also a 21 year old bikini competitor from Austrailia so, like Mada, I believe this can only help her cause.

7- Tanner Saraceno-
I don’t recall too much about Tanner from the competition special but he seems to be the only Tough Enough finalist with an amateur wrestling backround. Aside from Brock Lesnar and Dolph Ziggler, I’m unsure if anyone else on the WWE roster currently has an amateur wrestling background but using those two superstars, Shelton Benjamin and Kurt Angle as role models, amateur wrestlers tend to pick up the WWE style fairly quickly. I do question with Tanner though, just how bad he wants this based on the fact that he’s chosen MMA as a career over pro wrestling. He’s another one that I’d look to see him develop his personality a bit more.
8- Zamariah Loupe-  I’m sure many of you aren’t too happy to see ZZ way down at number 8 on the list and if its turns out that fan voting is the determining factor here, he will jump up to number one as he’s far and above the most popular contestant amongst fans.  Hoever, if it goes to a judge’s vote, I can see ZZ voted out tonight.  I’m a ZZ fan as well but there are three things to consider with him: he’s already been cut so there’s something WWE already questioned about him, he’s the youngest contestant on the show at 18 years old and he’s never been away from home so it’ll be interesting to see how he holds up. One other thing, and I know we’re in a new era where Bray Wyatt, Kevin Owens and Samoa Joe are all focal points of WWE television, but ZZ is the one contestant who isn’t in the greatest of physical shape.
9- Diana Dahlgren-
Another contestant that I really don’t remember from the first competition special but based on her past success she may move up the power rankings as early as the next edition. Diana is a very accomplished bikini model who has won several IFBB competitions. I had also heard from f4wonline that she was already down training in the performance center prior to the show which would indicate that she’s already on WWE’s radar. She could end up doing very well in the competition.
10- Gabi Castrovici-  I’ll go back to what I said about Mada and Giorgia, Gabi is Brazlian with a ton of Brazilian pride. This is something that WWE will only like as they used to headline South Africa with Justin Gabriel. Likewise, if you follow the tough enough trends on twitter, you can definitely sense a big Brazlian contingency really coming out to support Gabi. With that said, Gabi has already been cut and was cut because of her attitude and her making fun of the other contestants. That’s obviously a pretty big red flag on her but the saving grace for her could be that her biggest supporter, at least from the competition special, was Triple H, who’s the guy who brought her back.
11- Alex Frekey-
By the looks of it, Alex Frekey looks like he could have just what it takes to be the next WWE Superstar as he’s got a bodybuilder’s physique and an athletic background. My issues with Alex are that he seemed to really struggle through the drills during the competition special and I haven’t seen much from Alex in terms of personality. Furthermore, from some of the videos I saw of Alex on Periscope, it doesn’t seem like he’s too familiar with WWE. If you remember the winner of tough enough 3, John Hennigan (Morrison) didn’t make it on to the Tough Enough Season 2 cast based off not knowing what a spinarooni was because he didn’t follow the product.  For example, when asked what his favorite WWE moment was of all time on Periscope, Alex said Goldberg’s streak, which obviously took place in WCW.
12-Hank Avery Jr.-
From the fist look, Hank looks like a good ole boy who’s probably a lot of fun to hang out with as most of his appearances on Periscope have been him singing country music. Hank’s also responsible beyond his years (23) as he has a wife and kids. However, Hank was only on screen during the Tough Enough Competition Special when he was being criticized by the trainers and Triple H. He was even one of the names being considered during the first round of cuts, so I was very surprised he even made the final 13 and that’s why he finds himself towards the bottom of the list.

13-Sara Lee-

I like Sara, as a matter of fact for my personal taste, she’s the most attractive of the female contestants. I just didn’t really get anything from her during the competition special and she hasn’t established herself amongst the different forms of social media available to the contestants. She also seems to be the only female contestant who doesn’t have a bikini modeling or mma background. While I appreciate that she comes across as down to earth and a girl next door type, I do believe she starts as a notch below the other female contestants due to all their respective backgrounds.
In the end, it’ll be interesting to see how close I was with my pre show power rankings or if perhaps Joshua or Amanda will be the first cut tonight. Regardless, it’s bound to be a fun show when WWE Tough Enough debuts on the USA Network at 8PM EST tonight!

The Spotlight On The WWE Tough Enough Competition Special 

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  Tonight WWE Tough Enough will debut live on the USA Network, returning after four years. I’ve already broken down all of the changes to this year’s show and so for this piece I’m going to be breaking down the, what was in essence, first episode of Tough Enough, the Competition Special which aired last week on the WWE Network. I was really happy to hear WWE was going to be airing the special as not only did this add new content on the network, I’m always happy about that, but it also got you familiarized with the contestants, the trainers & the new Tough Enough season overall, prior to the debut episode on the USA Network. Let’s get into some highlights of the show. 

 Mike Hayes Steals The Show– Right from the first scene of MIke exiting his hotel room, you couldn’t help but root for the guy. He’s the first person we’re introduced to and someone who’s story we follow along with throughout the show. It’s revealed that Mike is a war veteran who was involved in accident while overseas which left everyone else in the accident dead and left Mike without one of his legs.  Despite Mike having a prosthetic leg, he has still become a wrestler and was chosen to be one of the 40 finalists on Tough Enough.  In the end, unfortunately, Mike’s body gave out on him and he took himself out of the competition.  When he did leave the competition, however, he received a standing ovation from not only the rest of the contestants, but also from the trainers and Triple H which was a really nice sign of the respect Mike earned.  The good news is that following the show WWE released a video showing that Mike was offered another chance to come back to the performance center, when he felt that his body was up for it. 

 This Isn’t For Everybody–  What I always appreciate about these casting specials is that they show the hard work that the contestants are forced to endure in order to prove that they are, for lack of a better term, tough enough.  Whether it be the contestant that puked as Triple H entered the facility or the individuals literally falling over, it was clear that this wasn’t for everybody.  With that said, it was also nice to see that most of the contestants were wearing protective headgear so that if they weren’t trained prior, they would be able to protect themselves while learning how to take bumps.  The trainers really seem to be a good fit this year as Booker T is back and does a fantastic job as the leader of the trio.  Billy Gunn and Lita also seem up for the task and don’t look like they’re going to be messing around at all.  In particular Billy Gunn’s criticism of Lorenzo not being coachable and of Alex (The Big Oh!) being too much of a “wrestler” as opposed to just being himself and letting the trainers get to know him as a person. 

 The Good, The Bad & The Ugly- With every casting special of every reality show ever, half of the fun is seeing not only the good contestants, but also the really bad contestants.  Tough Enough had it’s share of both.  Whether it be the cocky guy who claimed he was 6’0 only to have a tape measurer prove he was but 2 inches away from that height or the former exotic dancer who had zero WWE knowledge whatsoever or the infamous Kingdom twins who pulled out of the competition claiming that they felt the trainers could have been nicer in the way that they spoke to them (which lead to a great Booker T response by the way) there were some historically bad contestants in the final 40.  I think Lita said it best when she said that she’d like to have a word with some of the producers who even wasted their time with some of the contestants.  That said, there were also some really great contestants.  Aside from Mike Hayes the contestant that everybody has been talking about is 18 year old Alligator Wrestler ZZ who’s small town charm (and Bray Wyatt demeanor?) captured the hearts of wrestling fans and viewers alike.  There was probably no greater moment in the entire competition special than when ZZ returned to join the final  13 after being cut earlier in the show.  On the contrary, it broke my heart to see Ashley (In all of her Eva Marie glory) not make the show because of a heart ailment as she seemed to want it more than any of the other girls there.

Closing Thoughts  Overall, I’m a big tough enough fan and I’m enjoying the fact that everything is going on live as opposed to the entire thing already being recorded.  I really hope they take a Big Brother approach with the live shows and show live footage intertwined with the major happening highlights from the week.  Since this special launched, the tough enough contestants have taken to Periscope as a way for the audience following along interact with the contestants and get to know them better.  They’ve also announced that immediately following the live shows, there will be a post show entitled “Tough Talk” hosted by the Miz that will air live on the WWE Network.  Periscope and Tough Talk are both really great ways for WWE to tie in both social media as well as the WWE Network into the Tough Enough experience.  Lastly, I also like that the tough enough house this year isn’t the mansion that it has been in past editions of the show.  It’s fine for the contestants to have opportunities for rewards and fun but living in a mansion just isn’t realistic.

That’s going to do it for me today but be sure to check back later today prior to the Tough Enough premier to see my first edition of the Tough Enough Power Rankings where I’ll be ranking the chances of each one of the remaining 13 finalists.  Until then, what are you most excited about this year’s Tough Enough?