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Tough Enough 2
Original airdate: 4-04-02The most screentime the Brooklyn Brawler has had since the '80's...
First off, thanks to DPratt for his thoughts about Jake's comment last week. In all fairness, it probably does end up mostly accurate in the end that tough guys are tougher than tough girls; I still think it's a broad, unqualified generalization to say that "girls aren't as tough as guys," and that's the sloppiest kind of thinking. Matt takes his leave of the Tough Enough cast this week, the first one lost to injury thus far. He's been hiding a knee injury for a while, but finally comes clean to Big, who sends him to a doctor. The assessment is that he's close to tearing his ligaments completely, and it will take 6-8 weeks to fully heal.
As loath as I am to admit it, Alicia has it right when she says there's a time when you have go from "being Tough Enough to being smart enough about yourself." Al and Big agree that this isn't Matt's time, so he tearfully says goodbye and limps away.
Too bad he didn't stick around a bit longer, because Tazz shows up shortly thereafter (at least it seems shortly) to invite the remaining contestants to Raw. It's a taping in Anaheim, featuring Bob Holly's first match back since his injury, in case anyone wanted to divine the approximate time of the filming.
They get to hang out backstage with the wrestlers, all of whom are very polite and congenial. It's a bit startling to realize how very young the contestants are, or at least look, next to Stone Cold, Bradshaw, Faarooq, and Kurt Angle.
Before the show begins, Al takes them to the "promo room" to meet Coach and the Brooklyn Brawler, who will be taping them as they each cut on-the-spot promos in character.
Jake still looks great, but he takes his fair share of abuse, and doesn't handle it as well as the trainers might have hoped. The Brooklyn Brawler hates Jake's chosen name of "Chisel," and renames him "Goofy." A bit shaken by this, and by the repeated ribbing from the wrestlers about his hairstyle, Jake tanks his promo.
Earlier in the episode, Big expressed his concern that despite his stellar athleticism, Jake might not be enough of a showman, an opinion that may be well founded. None of the contestants has shown any marked improvement on the stick, but the most frustrating thing about this show is the lack of context. We have no idea how long it's been since the last episode; has it been mere days since the Dudleys (Dudleyz?) visited, or has it been weeks? Have they had any more opportunities to work on their promos, or is this only their second shot?
It's a problem inherent to reality TV, but as it's so unclear how much time they've had to work on this particular skill, it's hard to know whether or not I should cut them any slack for still sucking. There's certainly not a natural in the bunch, so far as we've seen, but at least Hawk and Kenny come close to having the right kind of energy.
The point of going to a live show is, of course, to rejuvenate the fanboy in each contestant, to remind them how much they love wrestling and how much they really, really want to be in that very ring someday. And it worked.
