NEW YORK and STAMFORD, CONN – May 7, 2015 – USA Network and WWE announced today that WWE Superstar Chris Jericho will be the host of the highly-anticipated series, WWE TOUGH ENOUGH, and will be joined by a panel of experts comprised of WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan®, WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan® and WWE Diva Paige™. The high-octane reality series premieres LIVE Tuesday, June 23 at 8pm ET/5pm PT on USA Network and around the world.*
This season of WWE TOUGH ENOUGH will combine the can’t-miss excitement of live television with reality-show drama, as WWE hopefuls vie for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to become the next WWE Superstar or Diva. Unlike anything on television today, the lightning-fast hour of entertainment and competition will include live results every week, giving fans worldwide the power to decide who stays and who goes the very same night. Each week, one cast member will be eliminated until one man and one woman are considered “Tough Enough,” with each earning a one-year, $250,000 WWE contract.
Throughout the competition, the contestants will be trained by WWE Legends Booker T™, Billy Gunn™ and Lita™. Contestants will also come face-to-face with WWE icons including WWE Chairman & Chief Executive Officer Vince McMahon; Executive Vice President, Talent, Live Events & Creative, Paul “Triple H®” Levesque; Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon; and WWE Superstar John Cena®, among others.
“These athletes, each with varying skill sets, will be put through a grueling boot camp that will test their physical, mental and emotional limits in a way that the series hasn’t done before,” said Jessica Sebastian, Vice President of Unscripted Series, USA Network. “Each week, their training and experience culminates in a spectacular live event where they will be put in front of their WWE heroes and an audience of fans. In this reimagined version of WWE TOUGH ENOUGH only the best will survive.”
“This season of WWE TOUGH ENOUGH will be the most innovative, unique and engaging series on television,” said Kevin Dunn, WWE Executive Producer. “A live global telecast, real-time voting with immediate results, and unprecedented use of digital and social media during and between telecasts will all lead to a groundbreaking viewing experience.”
http://www.f4wonline.com/more/more-top-stories/96-wwe-news/42428-wwe-tabs-chris-jericho-hulk-hogan-daniel-bryan-and-paige-for-tough-enough-reboot
What a random assortment of WWE employees...
ReplyDeleteHey now, Hulk Hogan's got an eye for talent. I mean, he had the foresight to give his old robe to Matt Morgan and his HOF ring to Abyss and those guys became Superstars!
ReplyDelete**cough**
This presser actually made a mistake, Hulk wont be appearing, it will be Horace Hogan...
ReplyDeleteI think it's pretty damn cool. Hogan, Bryan and Paige are all huge successes in different areas. Jericho's a pretty gifted all-around performer, and all three of the trainers have experience doing just that.
ReplyDeleteWill it be a good show? Dunno, but the lineup doesn't have DeMott, so there's that.
Unrelated, but does anyone know if tough enough is coming back or who the host might be? This feels like something they should announce
ReplyDelete....or we could concentrate on making our other shows better.
ReplyDelete.................
......................nah.
Hosted by Salvatore Bellomo, the show features guest trainers Duane Gill, David Arquette, and Heidenreich as they are judged by Dave Hebner, Abraham Washington, and Lou Pinella.
ReplyDeleteHard to believe this show is still a thing. I remember watching the fist season eons ago and it was new a different, but just feels really unnecessary now.
ReplyDeleteStop being silly
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure Jericho is a good fit as the host
ReplyDeleteYou act like there have been thousands of seasons of this. This is only the sixth time they have done this and haven't done it in like five years.
ReplyDeleteJericho is the new Stone Cold.
ReplyDeleteFirst the podcast, now this.
I actually greatly prefer his podcast to Stone Cold's. It's gonna be hard to like anything more than I liked Stone Cold's hosting, though.
ReplyDeleteYeah it just feels like a dated concept at this point. Who knows, guess there is a market for it. Speaking personally, I have zero desire to watch this though.
ReplyDeleteI mean its stale and boring or the last one was and it was pretty lame all things considered but the product in general is that. I'm sure it'll draw a million or two viewers. Its money in their pocket and really minimal expense to them.
ReplyDeleteHogan and Bryan, huge successes, I get it.
ReplyDeletePaige?
Biscuit™ is probably going to be busy whenever that show is on.
ReplyDeleteJust remember, you could be a bumble fuck in the ring, know jack shit about the business, finish dead last, and get a nice weekly gig on RAW for years.
ReplyDeleteLast time they did this they completely buried the winner right after he won and then sent him packing. Such a waste of time.
ReplyDeleteYou forgot the part about attempting a pin on an opponent laid out on her stomach. That's where the money's at.
ReplyDeleteI agree but thats because the winner was devoid of any talent of any kind that and didn't he have some personal issues that caused his release? I mean he had a wellness violation before he ever even debuted.
ReplyDeleteIf you look like she looks then yes you certainly can. Its a television show she fit a certain demographic that they were looking for. When you say "know jack shit about the business" I assume you're talking about not having a deep knowledge of previous history because what she knew about the real part of the business none of us know.
ReplyDeleteJericho's easily the best interviewer out of all of them, and he rarely pads his podcasts with about 45 minutes of chit-chat before getting to his guest.
ReplyDeleteI think most people on here are going to say they won't watch it or they'll be busy but I suspect most everyone on here will be full of opinions with how horrible the show is and what they should be doing with it when it debuts.
ReplyDeleteI actually enjoy the chit chat though. About 90 percent of their guests and lets face it all these guys interview the same people but yeah I prefer the chit chat over the guests most of the time. I do agree though Jericho is very polished at this but he's been doing media shit outside of the WWE for what ten years now going back to VH1 stuff and maybe before that?
ReplyDelete"Melina vs Alicia Fox"
ReplyDelete".............Who?"
"Melina vs Alicia Fox"
"Out of ALL the matches in this business's history, THATS your favorite?"
"Um...."
"...."
"....."
I thought that was all after he won and debuted, but maybe I was wrong.
ReplyDeleteWait I thought we all hive mind agreed that last weeks show was better? So how many shows in a row need to be "better" before they can move onto another show? Just need to get your expert opinion on the matter.
ReplyDeleteCOUNT IT!
ReplyDeleteThat is the nature of wrestling fans, much like WWE has to put trademark symbols next to everything.
ReplyDeleteWhat a constructive comment.
ReplyDeleteYour opinion on my opinion really brought something to the conversation.
Nothing was as bad as that Jackie gayda match from years ago with the botched bulldog.
ReplyDelete108 comments. Talking about "the hive mind". Interesting.
ReplyDeleteOh it wasn't meant to bring something to the conversation I'm sorry you weren't able to understand. I was trying to gain a better understanding of why they shouldn't make themselves more money with another property being aired on the biggest cable channel on television? And furthermore how many shows needed to be deemed "good" in a row before they were allowed to make this show. I suppose my third question would be will you be the decider of "good" and who will measure the shows quality?
ReplyDeleteJericho to return at WM32 for dream match against CM Punk?!?!?!
ReplyDeleteIt was after he won and "debuted" but he went RIGHT back down to FCW which is weird since he already had a contract with the WWE before the show. The whole thing was very weird.
ReplyDeleteI mean I agree she didn't know any wrestling matches but having a knowledge of "this business" is not a prerequisite for being in it or getting a job in it. Much like tons of actors gets comic book parts without actually having read the comics. Some then go out and read the comics and others don't but either way its not required.
ReplyDeleteSure. I'm totally the decider. "They" voted me into office last year. It was a landslide.
ReplyDeleteThat would be fine if she had the potential work or talk or....something -- and judging by her one and done or her body of work in the company, she didn't -- but apparently she knew the requisite for that job is to blow Kevin Dunn
ReplyDeleteI mean I guess if you pay the money to trademark these things then shouldn't you put a trademark next to them? They've been doing that since the 80's wrestling cards I collected. I agree its the nature of SOME wrestling fans. If I don't watch the show I most likely won't have an opinion on it and I won't say "I'm not watching this" or "this is stupid and worthless" only to turn around and start chatting about it the very thing I claim is worthless, lacking in quality and stupid. But I agree that is the nature of some fans.
ReplyDeleteRight because she wanted to get into this business THAT badly that she's going to blow somebody. Why not just do porn then when she would get paid a LOT more. Or even modeling for that matter. But sure yeah we'll go with Dunn getting blown that seems VERY logical.
ReplyDeleteSee the reason you didn't give me an answer to any of my questions was because the rest of the hive mind didn't TELL YOU what the right answer was. Its tough being right all the time.
ReplyDeleteI question the wisdom of putting on a show for wrestling fans that features what many wrestling fans would consider a dream opportunity with people who very obviously are in it for fame rather than love of the sport. Whatever a person's real motivation is is his own prerogative, but to expose it in front of the marks is silly.
ReplyDeleteYeah...nothing bad between WWE and Austin at all......
ReplyDeleteI hope there's a montage at some point of Billy Gunn teaching the prospects the proper way to moon a crowd
ReplyDeleteStone Cold Chris Jericho
ReplyDeleteYou're really troll-picking on the wrong guy. Nothing I say is meant to be taken seriously, but keep it coming if it makes you feel good, VJ.
ReplyDeleteWhy would you question the wisdom of it though? LIke that to me is saying that its not a good idea. When the entire purpose of the show....like the entire purpose of the company is to make money. They are an entertainment company. Everyone is in the entertainment business for fame and money. You say "expose it in front of the marks" that to me reads "to make it so obvious that anyone can see it". Which isn't really the case since I've not read a single report outside of a hardcore website like this saying how horrible these people are and how obvious it is that they aren't wrestling fans. I think sometimes when we as fans gets o invested in something like this its hard to see the forest for the trees. We get so inovlved in it that we can't turn our brains off and realize that "marks" and mainstream america don't even remotely look at the WWE and wrestlers even closely the same way that we do.
ReplyDeleteTHAT'S THE BOTTOM LINE, BECAUSE VINCE MCMAHON TOLD STONE COLD CHRIS JERICHO TO SAID SO!
ReplyDeleteI'm really not troll picking on you. I mean I was picking on you but I wasn't trolling. You just made it easy to pick on you but I'll stop I didn't mean to hurt your feelings :)
ReplyDeleteSure, John.
ReplyDelete"TO SAID SO" cracked me up.
ReplyDeleteWell, they did just give her exact gimmick to the other black chick on the roster, but hey, she had a good run.
ReplyDeleteI stopped reading this after "highly-anticipated".
ReplyDeleteIt's highly-anticipated to the McMahons! That means something...............right?
ReplyDeleteGotta love the unlucky timing of the WWE launching a show for novices to join their company the same day this story comes out about some doofus that kills a kid using a wrestling move.
ReplyDeletehttp://news.yahoo.com/police-toddler-slammed-death-mimicked-wrestling-move-134259496.html
What's on Vince's DVR, I wonder? I'm guessing: Hee Haw, Beverly Hillbillies (loves those hillbillies), Family Feud, a bunch of bodybuilding shows, Bill O'Reilly, A-Team, Duck Dynasty, Moonshiners, Gator Boys, Dukes of Hazzard, and 3 years worth of NXT (one of these days he'll get around to watching it - the next day it will be cancelled).
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you agree it's logical
ReplyDeleteAustin already said he couldn't be involved in this because his other show is filming. I'm confused on why people are looking for something that isn't there when Austin himself says there isn't an issue. He's busy, the company is busy...seems logical to me.
ReplyDeleteNext time can I get Dear John, as well as Sure, John? Never had a Dear John letter before.
ReplyDeleteLeft out Soul Train.. How else can he get his daily dose of dancing negros?
ReplyDeleteWait until they find out that most of Lita's finishing moves involve getting on her knees.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing on Vince's DVR is his VCR.
ReplyDeleteLIta as a trainer... teach them how to suck dick to get a job, and then how to botch everything and fall off the top rope.
ReplyDeletePlease, for the love of God, let Hogan be the one to deliver the Bottom 3 rant.
ReplyDelete"You think you have what it takes? Well let me tell you something, Mean Gene..."
"Sir, my name is..."
"When I slammed the 2-ton Andre the Giant at the Cow Palace at WM14, I knew my legend was cemented, brother. But I had a choice. I could have given up there, could have rested on my laurels, dude. I could have joined Metallica, or invented the George Foreman Grill. But I didn't! I kept at it! And that's why I was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 1999, jack!"
I have an MST3K-level of interest in this.
ReplyDeleteShe's easily top 3 in the best divas of the past decade
ReplyDeleteSo Jericho will host, BookerT, Billy Gunn and Lita will train them and Daniel Bryan, Paige and Hogan will do what exactly?
ReplyDeleteShe is featured regularly as a woman wrestler on a major television show in a male-dominated industry. That's a success, I'd say.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree. He's just better at making guests feel relaxed and open up about things. Steve's often uncomfortable during his interviews, and J.R. often makes it too much about himself/his views.
ReplyDelete1 Upvote for the COW PALACE, the other 3 are in the mail.
ReplyDeleteThey forgot to mention "Winning Diva must sleep with Kevin Dunn" portion
ReplyDeleteMaybe they decide who stays and who goes? Or they atleast give their input. Isn't that how American Idol and shit works? You have a host and a panel that decides who stays and goes?
ReplyDeleteSorry, but Austin berating the bottom 3 was a high bar to reach. Not to mention I cant even take it seriously anymore knowing the winner has nearly zero chance.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely! Also Jeffersons and Diffrent Strokes.
ReplyDeleteDid you expect the winner in previous renditions of this to have a chance?
ReplyDeleteYea Cow Palace warranted it alone
ReplyDeleteI really bought into the last one. Hell, even Maven got a cup of coffee in the Rumble before getting thrown through every popcorn machine in the concourse.
ReplyDeleteWho the hell won the last season? I don't even remember
ReplyDeleteWouldn't it make sense for the people who actually train them to decide that though? I mean, I'm sure the whole thing will be a work anyway, but getting Hulk Hogan to decide who stays and who goes based on what will probably be 10 minutes of ring time seems a little unfair. Especially when Hogan is notorious for judging talent based on their look anyway.
ReplyDeleteSilent Rage.
ReplyDeleteYeah see I think whoever wins will atleast make it to the main roster for as long as Maven did. Maven, Jackie, Linda, Morrison, Matt , and Puder. So yeah Morrison had a decent run but man if that isn't the most embarrassing list of people. I really enjoyed the first one and got really into it the rest of them did nothing for me.
ReplyDeleteGive Jericho access to Grey Goose and he might clear it.
ReplyDeleteSomeone so lacking in notability his wiki page has no picture
ReplyDeletehttp://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Leavine
Where do I audition for this "Kevin Dunn" position?
ReplyDeleteWell first of all its a TV show. I'm sure its not a work but its a TV show. Second of all the WWE is an entertainment company you should judge someone off of their look most of all. Everyone in that company should be judged most of all on their look. This is not the UFC its an entertainment based company.
ReplyDeleteAnd after all the love to the "guy does moves to his girlfriend" video...
ReplyDeleteWWE Icons like Stephanie!
ReplyDeleteWow. Didn't they have legit talent in the pool like Austin Aeries and Mdogg 20?
ReplyDeleteNo kidding
ReplyDeleteWould he watch Fresh Prince too? I can see Vince busting out the Carlton.
ReplyDeleteNone of this buzzword bullshit is groundbreaking.
ReplyDeleteWhat part of it did you expect to be groundbreaking? Its a press release for a television show thats going to draw a couple of million people. What do you want them to do? Its a publicly traded company doing a press release for a new television show. I'm starting to think people here don't completely grasp what the end goal of this television show is.
ReplyDeleteShe would in fact be one of the more literal interpretations of icon here. She's at the very top of the company, she's on television every week, she's one of the few select people that interact with the mainstream press on behalf of the company so yeah I'd say she's an icon within the company.
ReplyDeleteThe woman who wins this competition will get a last name!
ReplyDelete...jk we think women are batshit crazy and treat the women on our shows like strippers
I mean the guy was a nobody but him not having a picture on his wiki page has more to do with whoever threw it together. Plenty of things and people don't have pictures on their wiki page. The guy was useless but on the level of things that point to that his wiki page not having a picture is WAY down on the list.
ReplyDeleteBooking yourself to be the top figure doth not an icon make.
ReplyDeleteEven leaving out the television stuff, given her public profile I'd agree with TripleS. She runs the company, she is the face of WWE's mainstream press nowadays. She's the public face of a multi billion dollar company. That's pretty iconic by itself, let alone if you *do* start including her TV presence.
ReplyDeleteYeah but they've always done that outside of Elizabeth. Hell even Sherri back in the day would literally get stripped down to her garter belt and high heels or whatever else. There are a ton of television shows that treat women as strippers or worse. Hell this blog treats women like shit with the way they talk about them so I don't really get too outraged about that. I think they're hot and the less clothes they wear the happier I am.
ReplyDeleteActually I think this is brilliant if these are the judges. You have a dude who mostly cares about look (Hogan) balanced out with a dude who would be pre-disposed to be biased towards the smaller guys (Jericho) and a workrate monster like Bryan and...well, whatever Paige is doing there.
ReplyDeleteRic Flair says it does, Hogan says it does, Dusty Rhodes says it does, Triple H says it does. I always follow this rule with the word "Icon". Go up to someone on the street and ask them to name a woman in the WWE. Most wouldn't be able to name a woman in the WWE but of those that could I promise you Stephanie would come up a lot. Beyond that though I just meant icon means a person or thing regarded as a representative symbol of something. And she is EXACTLY that she's a top representative of the company both on screen, in character and in reality.
ReplyDelete"unprecedented use of digital and social media during and between telecasts will all
ReplyDeletelead to a groundbreaking viewing experience.”
Live tweeting! Vote for the winner!! Stuff that American Idol hasn't been doing for 10 years!!!
I didn't expect it to be groundbreaking--the press release itself CALLED it groundbreaking.
ReplyDeleteI'm poking fun because, like most press releases, it's really really stupid.
Jokes, do you know what those are?
ReplyDeleteCan't say I like this idea of Tough Enough. None of the winners go on to have HOF careers anyway. It works better in a kayfabe sense where you bring in NXT guys with their ready made characters and pretend they're still going through the process before their debut match.
ReplyDeleteWell I mean it wasn't funny and I wasn't railing on you I was just saying dude doesn't have a wiki page. Make fun of his name being silent rage, or was he the guy with the nickname skid marks? Or how he got beaten up on live television by the host and the boss of the company. Or how he failed a wellness test or how he was fired without ever being seen again. There are a TON of jokes to be made just make sure they're a bit funnier.
ReplyDeleteThe 250 racks is a worked number somehow, isn't it? Can't imagine they are actually going to pay some schmoe more than they pay a good number of full-timers
ReplyDeleteStop posting too much. It's annoying.
ReplyDeleteI think Pat Patterson covers that.
ReplyDelete"Quite frankly Raw needs a guest host like Ray Combs."
ReplyDeleteI give it 2 episodes before we hear rumors of a liquored up Jericho trying to bang Paige.
ReplyDelete