|
|
Tough Enough 2
Original airdate: 5-30-02I'm afraid you can't watch me pee...
The WWE pitched a very interesting curveball in the finale last night, selecting both Linda and Jackie as the winners of Tough Enough 2.
In the first season, the producers promised one male and one female winner from the cast would get wrestling contracts, but that backfired when all but three of the female contestants left voluntarily, and another was injured too badly to continue.
This season, however, they promised only that two contestants would walk away winners, with no restriction on gender. Most people, including me, assumed that there would be a male and a female winner regardless, but that's the time to remember what they say about assuming.
Before the live announcement at The World, there was the last taped episode from the nine weeks of training. Without question, the highlight of the evening belonged to Bob Holly, who lost a football bet to Big. To pay up, he has to match Big's eating and drinking all night; may I point out the futility of entering into such a contest with a man called BIG? Though he's quite disgusted by the "poison" (fried onions, fettuccine alfredo and massive amounts of alcohol) he's consumed, Bob gets resolutely trashed, to the point where he invites the camera into the men's room with him.
Also in the wacky hijinks category, after the final trek through the beach obstacle course, the contestants pick up their trainer, Rafael, and drop him into the ocean. Clearly Optimum Fitness was not anyone's favorite training procedure.
On the final day of training, it's time to step up and impress Kevin Dunn by way of personal interviews, promos and a match against one of the trainers. Linda matches up with Ivory, and Jackie continues to work with Al, for the sake of her knee. Kenny will work with Chavo, naturally leaving Jake vs. Bob.
What the contestants don't know, however, is that the trainers are going to storm in during the middle of the promo, to see how well they react to the unexpected. All of them do pretty well, but it's clear that none of them will ever be a natural on the stick.
Linda's match against Ivory is good, nothing special, as is Kenny's versus Chavo. Kenny gets some impressive air and has a lot of fluidity, but needs a lot of work selling hits. I have a hard time believing that Linda will be more than a solid worker, but the women's division needs a JOB Squad of its own, so best of luck to her.
Jackie was one of the original applicants for the first season of Tough Enough, but didn't make the cut, and in fact, nearly didn't make the cut this year. But her dedication and talent have been very clearly demonstrated, and even working injured against Al she looks great. She should be ready for prime-time just about when Lita is back at 100%, and I think they could potentially have great matches.
Jake has a lot of raw power and good hops for a big guy, and I'll admit I was very surprised that he didn't win. The match against Hardcore Holly, even edited for MTV brevity, was easily as entertaining as anything on Raw or Smackdown lately. His "chisel" forelock also gets very frizzy and floppy after major exertion, which is actually pretty cool.
The trainers give goodbye speeches ranging from simple (Bob's "it don't get no easier") to eloquent (Al's tearful and proud "you'll always be a reflection on me") and give the contestants a congratulatory gift: their action figures.
Coach and Stacy Keibler hosted the live segment, because Jim Ross is under the weather (get well soon, JR!) and Maven broke his leg in his match on Smackdown! How far he's come, indeed. Especially compared to Nidia, who hasn't done much of anything. Well, she did a Divas shoot. That's something, I guess.
We also got to see the rest of the original Tough Enough cast members, including "Chris Harvard," one of last year's final five, now rumored to be in a developmental wrestling league. (So-called because he went to college at Harvard, and needed to be distinguished from another competitor named Christian; I'm very amused to see him using that as his future superstar name, and wonder how the school might feel about it.)
WWE doesn't seem to be against signing contestants who didn't win, so I can't help but hope that they offer Jake some kind of contract as well. He's got the look, he can take his time learning moves and developing a character, and could be part of an infusion of younger 'big guys' into the stultifying heavyweight division. Part of me also hopes Hawk can get his act together, too.
It's possible that the two female winners make up somehow for Nidia's underwhelming performance so far, or indicates that WWE is really planning a push for a meaningful female championship, but either way, it was a hell of a swerve. And that's good entertainment.
