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Tough Enough 2
Original airdate: 4-18-02The tattoo is gone, but the memories live on...
The more I think about it, the more it was worth missing last week's episode of Tough Enough for Jäger night. Especially after I saw it.
This isn't to say it was bad; rather, it spoke to a different side of the wrestling business, one that most fans have followed at least tangentially, often through sites like this one. Backstage drama occasionally has visible repercussions (Jerry Lawler quit after The Kat was let go) and very occasionally makes its way into actual bookings, but mostly it's just something to augment the enjoyment for the smarts.
When you throw a lot of people together in a physically and emotionally demanding situation, force them into close quarters and separate them from their loved ones, things are bound to happen. College dormitories are a prime example. I had a boyfriend my first year of college, but that didn't particularly stop me from drinking too much and kissing another boy.
So I empathize with Jackie, I really do, after she drinks too much and makes out with Pete in the hot tub, having already mashed her face into his crotch at the dance club. But it's obviously a decision she's not prepared to face the consequences of, judging by her behavior after the fact.
I'd also like to offer up a public service announcement: Drinking alcohol in a hot tub is a very good way to get drunk fast. Be very careful. And use the red plastic Solo cups, for goodness sake, unless you've got someone as nice as Kenny who's willing to clean up your mess the next morning.
A lot of people, both in the house and in the viewing audience, probably don't understand why Jackie needed to tell her boyfriend about it, especially considering how badly he took it. The problem is not that she told him; it's how she told him. If she hadn't acted so guilty and apologetic, and tried to downplay the kissing so transparently, then he might have been able to continue talking to her. These things happen, like missing deadlines, and neither are the end of the world.
And in fact, that's just what Ivory tells her when Jackie claims to have made the biggest mistake of her life. Because it's not. But the more Jackie convinces herself it is, the more she's going to act like it, and the worse it's going to get.
Jackie hangs out with Pete, and it's awkward. In separate interviews, she says it was a mistake and he says he's really into her and doesn't know what's going to happen. Jackie calls her boyfriend, who hangs up on her as soon as he hears her voice. Pete says he hopes he's ruined everything for her because the guy obviously doesn't deserve Jackie. Jackie calls her mom, who berates her loudly and insanely, saying things like "he shouldn't have give you so much freedom." Jackie cries. Pete looks anxious.
Rinse. Repeat. Seriously. It's an infinite loop. One can't help but wonder if Triple H and Stephanie did the same thing when they first hooked up. Who did the crying?
On the plus side, we've finally got a time frame. Jackie's boyfriend is rather indignant that she "cheated" on him after only four weeks away from him. We are a month into the training, assuming every episode until now has properly followed the timeline and not the MTV editors' sense of drama.
It's important to know that, because it makes the problem with Jake less troubling. He hasn't picked up on the wrestling as well as the trainers would like, and doesn't have his head in the place they'd like it to be. He doesn't look great in the ring, and his persona needs work, but after only four weeks, it's hardly an insurmountable issue.
Also, Edge visits, and the contestants get scanned for action figures, but mostly, Jackie cries and Pete pines. Next week, Hawk cries. Yawn. Pass the Jäger.
