One of my favorite WWE shows is coming back to television. Tough Enough will be back for a new season and will air on the USA network. The show will take a different twist on the contest, with hopes to finally produce a true superstar.
[adinserter block=”1″]USA Network announced that the show will be coming back after WrestleMania. The show is scheduled to be an hour and will likely air after RAW. Unlike the last season, the show is expected to have a different twist on the competition. One of the rumors circulating is that the contest will feature strictly wrestlers currently under a developmental deal with the winner being evaluated to the main roster.
The biggest question I have is whether Stone Cold Steve Austin will be back. To me, Austin’s promos at the end of every Tough Enough last season were some of the best in the wrestling business. Austin was a show stealer and his promos blew away anything the WWE had on TV then or even now. Dave Meltzer reports that Austin was expected to come back, however Austin’s name has not been mentioned thus far by the USA Network.
The reboot comes after the show was canceled shortly before production last year. The show was scheduled to return as an exclusive to the WWE Network. Once the Network subscriptions didn’t meet expectations, the show was cancelled as a cost-cutter. The show was scheduled to be taped at the developmental center. Those plans appear to remain intact.
As great of a show as Tough Enough can be, the show has a horrible track record when it comes to winners. Last year’s winner Andy Levine struggled in developmental and was shortly gone after violating the WWE Wellness Policy. The biggest stars to come out of the show have ironically been cast members that didn’t win. In one of the craziest bits or irony, Cameron is without a doubt the biggest star to come out of the last season. It’s ironic because Austin made a mockery of her before eliminating her in the first week of the show. Yep, the first wrestler eliminated was wrestling on WrestleMania a few years later. The Miz and Ryback are also former Tough Enough castoffs that didn’t win their seasons.
[adinserter block=”2″]Meltzer also reported that there are ads on Craigslist.org looking for independent wrestlers to try out for the show. That would appear to be a conflict with the plan of using WWE developmental talent. Meltzer also reports that talent close to graduating to the main roster will not be on the show. I can understand the idea of the WWE skewing the odds of getting a good winner by placing all of their talent in the cast. I just hope this isn’t presented as if these are guys and girls walking in off of the streets, insulting our intelligence.
Quite frankly I don’t care how the contest is run as long as Steve Austin is back. Let’s make that happen USA and WWE!
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