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I haven’t watched the new season of Tough Enough, simply because I know what it is. I watched a preview teaser that WWE posted and just from that 1 minute and 22 seconds, not only did I know exactly what this show was all about, but also I knew exactly what to expect from it.
The show screams “Simon Cowell - Reality Trash TV” and as a wrestling fan, that isn’t what I want, so I’m not going to bother. If I wanted crappy reality TV then I’d watch crappy reality TV. I understand WWE are trying to expand their horizons and appeal to a larger audience, but it doesn’t change the fact that its trash TV.
Firstly, and no disrespect to her but, why exactly is Paige on the judges panel? What exactly can she offer to these contestants? This doesn’t make any sense to me, especially when you consider the fact that really, she should still be down in NXT developing her skills. Surely by this method, that makes Blue Pants fully qualified to be a judge on the panel..?
(Authors Note: No, that is not me saying Paige isn’t good enough for the main roster. What I am saying is, NXT is there to develop talent. NXT is designed for people like Paige, who have potential, so that when they eventually are put up to the main roster, they can excel to the best of their ability. I guarantee you the longer these people stay in NXT the better they will be for it. The better their promo’s will be, the better their in ring work will be, rushing them to the main roster, especially then shoving them on all this reality TV junk should not be their main objective, Paige should be focusing on wrestling and nothing more right now--IN MY OPINION – what is going on with the booking? Who’s decided that THIS is the right direction to go with Paige?)
It makes me laugh to see Hulk Hogan on this show, for one reason. Triple H said on the Steve Austin podcast that the reason Chyna wont be inducted into the WWE ‘Hall of Fame’ is because he doesn’t want children googling her and coming across her other ‘endeavours’ – If that is true, what makes him think that when people google Hulk Hogan they aren’t going to come across HIS sex tape?
We’ve had the ‘Attitude Era’ – everyone’s always wondering “what is THIS era called?” – well I will tell you, it’s the ‘Era of Entitlement’.
Wrestlers are brought in these days with HUGE chips on their shoulders and these guys expect to be handed everything, I feel a huge part of this is because they really do buy into what the IWC are telling them—this in turn inflates their ego, its like the mentality there is “You need me, more than I need you”.
Respect for the business is a rarity this day and age.
Even with wrestling fans. It honestly baffles me as to why Vince Russo gets so much abuse, and I’m not putting him over JUST because this is his site, I’m saying this because is genuinely confuses me.
Vince Russo WROTE ALL OF YOUR FAVOURITE ANGLES and yet all these people that say “Vince Russo Killed WCW” are the first to say “The Attitude Era is the best period in wrestling by far” and then completely disrespect him due to the propaganda that they buy into from the Dirtsheets.
Or they do it simply just because its “cool to hate Vince Russo”.
Are you serious? Do you honestly believe that a WRITER killed a multi million-dollar company??
As an aspiring pro wrestling writer, I have learnt more about how to develop and create compelling television and three-dimensional characters that a mainstream audience can relate to in the past three months of having known Vince, than in my 17 years of being a wrestling fan, and that is simply by listening to him and being respectful—not just waiting for my turn to speak, or waiting to “call him out on his BS” so I can outsmart the guy.
There is nothing more insulting to a wrestling fan than being called a mark, but if you DO really believe Vince Russo killed WCW, then that is what you are. The most important thing about a wrestling show has been, and always will be – the TV Ratings.
TNA and WWEs rating have never been higher since Vince worked there.
You can say I’m marking out for him, or I’m kissing his ass, but the fact of the matter is this-- I want to be a professional wrestling writer, and not only am I learning from someone who has been at the top of the business as a HEAD writer, but I’m learning from the guy who wrote arguably the best wrestling television that’s ever been produced.
I can understand why guys like Eric Young are getting so frustrated that they tell their followers to “F**k off!” – its so disrespectful, these guys put their bodies on the line and they just get abused for it.
Its not JUST about respect from the fans, its about respect from the talent.
I feel like development doesn’t teach these guys the respect that they should be teaching them.
Bill DeMott was a hard ass on his trainee’s – there is no doubt about that. From what I have read there were racial remark made towards trainees and NO I am NOT justifying that – If he did in fact make those kind of remarks then he should of “parted ways” with WWE.
But you can’t argue that he taught his trainee’s respect.
Yes it may have been out of fear, but its respect nonetheless. It’s the same principal as if you’re a parent and you want your children to be raised in a respectful manor, then you discipline them because it’s the only way they will learn.
Then you get the little jabronis go on the Internet crying wolf because ‘Big Nasty Bill’ bullied them. If you cant handle it, then you are simply NOT cut out for this business, because there are a million more sharks in that sea that are by far worse than Bill DeMott.
These trainers are there to teach you to be PROFESSIONAL wrestlers, whom work in a PROFESSIONAL environment; they are NOT your Mothers.
Bill DeMott, like Tazz was trained by Johnny Rodz, and for those who don’t know, Rodz was as hard as they come, his training methods were up there with Stu Hart’s, and like Stu Hart, the training methods were VERY hard – they pushed a person to their very maximum to see if they had what it took to make it in the business, its survival of the fittest, its separating the weak from the strong. But what comes with that territory is that no one ever left those training facilities without respect for their trainer and for the business, and if a person did, that person did not get very far in the business.
So when it comes to Tough Enough, is handing these ‘nobodys’ their “childhood dream” on a silver platter really what’s best for business? Because if all it takes is for someone to send in a 30 second video declaring how “Being a WWE Superstar has been my dream since I was in the womb and I have what it takes because I am Tough Enough” – is that really teaching them respect for the business?
In my opinion, I don’t think so.
I think it teaches them to have a sense of entitlement that these guys are going to expect to have everything handed to them because they have simply not paid their dues. They haven’t earned the right to call themselves ‘WWE Superstars’.
Does Tough Enough teach them that when you go into a locker room you shake everybody’s hand and introduce yourself – politely?
Does it teach them that when you work with your peers, you keep your mouth shut and your ears open?
Does it teach them to “Know your role, and shut your mouth” because then maybe you might learn something?
You can take ANY high profilic talent in wrestling who’s really revolutionised the business and see that these people have busted their Asses and paid their dues in order to get to that level of stardom.
As always – whether you agree or disagree, Thank you for reading.
I’ve been Jake Jesus, and Tough enough is NOT what’s best for business
Follow Jake on Twitter @IAmJakeJesus
