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One of the big stories coming out of the WWE Q1 Earnings Call on Thursday was the return of a cult favorite program. The WWE Network will be opening up a can of whoop ass as the company confirmed that the reality show/contest Tough Enough will be returning for a sixth season.

The return of Tough Enough was probably the biggest piece of wrestling news coming out of the phone call. Not a lot of details were offered other than the program will be coming back as a new show on the WWE Network. The question now is will this be the Tough Enough we saw last season or will this be the goofy show that Tough Enough became before it took its previous hiatus?

No word also on whether Stone Cold Steve Austin will be a part of the show. In my mind you just can’t do the show without him. Austin’s weekly promos on Tough Enough were the most entertaining series of promos I have seen in years. It was vintage Austin who showed his brilliance in taking his wrestling character and transforming it into a reality show that exposed wrestling as being worked. Austin has said many times that he’d love to do it again but at the end of the day it will all come down to the budget.

I am sure he is too busy to do it but if Austin isn’t available than Triple H should be the host of the show. Let’s be honest. Triple H is the head of talent development. Who better to put in charge than the guy who is responsible for signing the new talent? Triple H can cut promos on the kids and while they won’t be as good as Austin’s, he is probably the next best guy available in that regard. Imagine the presenters he’d bring in! He could get Kevin Nash to talk about getting out of doing jobs, Sean Waltman to talk about ribbing, Scott Hall to talk about…well anything. One thing is for sure. If Triple H is in charge, the winner of the show will have the best chance of succeeding than any previous winner in contest history.

I liked the format of the show last year but the judges couldn’t be more off than they tried. There is an obvious credibility factor here in the show if they were to come back with the same jury. In what has to be one of the more ironic statements of the wrestling industry today, Arianne has been the only success out of the show. Ariane was not only cut the first week but was humiliated by Austin. Her success tells me that there is an obvious disconnect between what the jury were looking for and what the WWE is looking for. Everyone needs to get on the same page. Putting Trips in charge would close that gap.

Overall the show has been a dismal failure in its purpose of creating new stars. None of the Tough Enough winners are on the roster today. The most successful Tough Enough stars (The Miz, Arianne, Chris Nowinski to name a few) have been non-winners of the show. The previous winner was suspended for a Wellness Policy infraction and never made it out of NXT. In regards to being a vehicle for future stars, the show has been a big failure.

That said I will check out the show and if Austin is hosting it will be weekly viewing for me. Check back on the blog for more details when they become available.

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