It’s been over a decade since Tough Enough came on the scene. It gives a inside look into the training it takes to become a WWF superstar. The first season started in 2000. I will be taking a look at the five seasons it produced and give a detail look at it. So, here we go.
230 wannabe wrestlers are waiting outside in new York with only 25 of them getting the chance to be a semi-finalist. So, the odds are not in their favor. We get a look at several people who would end up not getting picked. One guy, named Dustin, wants the last dying wish of children to want to meet him.
Al Snow, Tazz, Jacqueline and the Coach are part of the judges along with John Gaburick and MTV producers. Chris is introduced first and he is very religious. Jacqueline hits on him and wants to see his package. We are four minutes in and Jacqueline already wants some action.
Nidia talks about her experience walking into the ring and she got exhausted doing jumping jacks after thirty seconds. Tazz flips out on her for breathing heavier and she tries to hold her own.
Greg Matthews is a former baseball player and says he is sick and tired of being second best in life.
The wannabes do side to side tests and while some are impressive others are just awful at it. A poor guy named Robert, who is overweight, had a tough time convincing the trainers that he would do well. We proceed to see several out of shape people trying to jump rope. A female has a her extensions fall out.
Paulina cuts a promo saying that the WWF needs more women beating men up. She is 6’3” and doesn’t want to play basketball.
Daniel is Asian and wants to make his race proud of his efforts. Tazz wants someone with the right attitude.
Josh Matthews is introduced and he flips into the ring, which Big John didn’t approve of. His parents aren’t confident in his chances. Josh isn’t afraid of Tazz and Al Snow in the ring because they are professionals. Tazz is pissed with Josh’s attitude, but Josh thought it was cool. Are these kids not at all intimidated by a 5’9” guy?
Victoria is the next girl to be introduced. She will do whatever she has to do to win. A girl named Tara was shocked to see the ladies showing their chest. Her promo is rather humorous because it was so forced and fake. She’s just too nice of a girl.
William is in great shape and has a nice story. He has to take care of his brother since their father passed away. He appears to be a standup guy.
People have a hard time jumping side to side over a bag. Jason is another man who is in great shape. He has a girlfriend but he is ready to be away from her for thirteen weeks. I wonder how she felt about that.
Shadrick has a lady, but doesn’t know if it’s his girlfriend. Tazz wants to know if he would hook up with any ladies in the house. “I gotta get mine and they gotta get theirs.” Another girl has notes written on her wrist but still messes up.
The judges talk about how charisma is important. We meet Maven who winks at Jacqueline before his physical challenge.
Bobby Jo says she gets whatever she wants and only entered the competition because her brother is a fan. Her major goal is to be in Playboy. She even says that to the judges.
Darryl talks about being a big guy and how he gets a lot of attention for it.
Tom cuts a promo and it’s just your typical cocky heel promo. It’s very similar to Rick Martel. Tazz wants to break Tom in the ring.
A guy named Kenneth cuts a promo like he is a evil custodian. People don’t respect the evil custodian. That would have worked in 1995 for the WWF, I think.
Some guy cut a promo about owning 20% of the WWF and was coming for Vince. It was rather humorous.
A guy named Brian cuts a promo by complaining about being in a room for ten hours and says the judges will thank him later on. So, Tazz enters the room and yells at wannabes especially one girl for sleeping during his tirade! Tazz openly admits that he is bitter how quickly they will be entering the WWF while it took him ten years to do so.
Taylor is introduced and talks about how her family thinks wrestling is for the lower class. Speaking of the lower class, we see Chris Nowinski. Oh wait, he is a graduate from Harvard University. He has no problem being deprogrammed since he was trained briefly before this audition.
The next day they find out if their names are on the list or not! The producers want Darryl on the show and he is the last addition to the show. The list is posted. The kid who cut a promo about owning 20% of the WWF made the list. As you can imagine a lot of people are pissed about missing the cut.
The auditions continue with two things. They will be drug tested and they will be interviewed by the MTV staff. Big John suggests they be themselves if they want to make the show. William got some news that his younger brother got in trouble and he feels like he should be with his brother and not trying out.
I never realized this, but current TNA Knockout ODB made the top 25 for the show. We see a few samples of the wannabes being interviewed. Maven admits that he used to be a player. Taylor has pierced nipples. Josh Matthews admits he masturbates four times a day. How Road Dogg doesn’t rip on him during their YouTube show is interesting. That’s right, it’s PG.
The judges are not high on William as they were yesterday. Daniel and Josh are considered to be the same person. Big John doesn’t know if Josh and Daniel are special. John is sure that Tom will be a big heel for the WWF.
It’s time for the thirteen people to be revealed for the house. Stephanie McMahon is the person who will be revealing the names. Josh, Jason, Victoria, Maven, Taylor, Chris Nowinski, Shadrick, Bobby Jo, Chris, Paulina, Nidia, Darryl, and Tom have made the house.
By the way, Jackie Gayda, ODB and Greg Matthews missed the cut. Those are the only notable names. William was rather positive about it and was glad to have made it that far.
A week later they are all packing and getting ready to move into the house. They all arrive but they realize there is only twelve of them there. Tom is missing. Big John arrives and says that Tom dropped out of the competition. He is replaced by Greg!
The contest lasts nine weeks. There will be one male winner and one female winner. People will get 24 hours notice for when there is a cut.
As you can probably tell, the group of people for the first season of Tough Enough is strong. Of the thirteen people four of them had some level of success in the wrestling business. The episode did a good job of introducing the people and giving some background. I think it would have been neat to have William and Tom on the show. It’s too bad that the Tom guy didn’t sign the dotted line because I’m sure he would’ve provided the show with a lot of drama. I’m sure that’s why MTV wanted him on the show in the first place.
The next episode will see the training begin and I’m sure I’ll have more of a reaction to what was going on.
Feel free to leave any comments about your memories of Tough Enough! Episode two will be coming soon!
Thanks for reading.
This is great–the first season didn’t air where I live so I missed out, and it will be awesome to look back and see how it all played out. From what I saw of later seasons there seemed to be a contest among the trainers/judges as to who can yell at the contestants the most. Seems like tat was the case in season one, too. :)
Actually the first season was in 2001.
Thanks. I know the series started to air in 2001, but I thought it was filmed in later 2000 into 2001. Oh well!