Tough Enough #9: Now We Face The Rattlesnake

Tough Enough #9: Now We Face The Rattlesnake
Intro
We start out this week with a recap of the cringe-worthy charisma challenge from last week. Of course, AJ and Christina went home, and after watching this week’s episode, it’s clear that the right two went home. I sincerely believed that Luke, Andy, or Jeremiah could’ve won this competition, but having people with no real shot like Christina and AJ would’ve really taken away from what turned out to be a great episode. Jeremiah and Luke remind us of their bromance while Andy seethes about just making it out of the bottom three. In one way, Andy’s acting very off-putting whereas Jeremiah and Luke are being as jolly as ever, but in another sense, Andy’s determination is sort of endearing. I don’t really know which it is to me.
Fine Tuning
There’s no theme this week; it’s all wrapping up what the contestants have learned so far and doing some fine tuning. They start with cross-bodies from the second rope. I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: when is Andy ever going to have to do a cross-body? It would make for a nice spot, I suppose, but big guys in the WWE don’t seem to have much room for deviation from the norm. Andy botches a high corner dodge, which, again, when will he ever do that? Andy’s really changed, as we see from a confessional segment. He knows he messed up, but he knows that everyone does it, so it’s no big deal. He’s a lot more confident, which may have been his biggest issue. Luke botches while trying to jump over Jeremiah, and then they both botch by ducking and running into one another. These crazy botches aren’t doing anything serious, but Martin got eliminated by getting up awkwardly. Such is the business, I guess. Both Andy and Jeremiah have taken heat from the trainers, but Luke appears to be at the head of the pack as usual.
The Miz Stops By At A Photoshoot
Awesome! One of the only remaining remnants of the original Tough Enough, The Miz, is here to watch the rookies as they pose for a cover shoot for WWE Magazine. The Miz could’ve been here for Charisma week, since the guy is the definition of charisma. As for the challenge itself, you can probably imagine what happened. There were cameras, so vain Luke did the best. Andy was shy and awkward, but eventually came out of his shell. Jeremiah, lack of teeth and all, was somewhere in the middle: More awkward than Luke, but he still had more charisma than Andy. Miz wishes the contestants luck and says “Remember, I’m awesome.” I don’t know exactly why, but that line was great to me. If I were The Miz, I would end every conversation with that.
More Training
Andy’s having a hard time looking big in the ring. After some coaching from Trish, he finally gets it and starts looking pretty big. Austin said it best a few weeks ago: We’ve seen a lot of Silent, but not a lot of Rage. It’s finally coming out and staying, and it’s making me more of a fan of the guy. Luke hits a picture-perfect dropkick, and when he’s not talking, it’s really hard to not like the guy. He talks a big game, but he actually backs it up, which I hate, but have to point out. Jeremiah’s going way too fast, which is probably the absolute worst thing you can do in the ring. He slows down a bit, even taking the time to do a somersault when he hits the ropes, and starts looking good as well. The three of them have all needed to change something, and they all have.
Visit To The Children’s Hospital
I really like this. Although a lot of the lower-card talent (which the winner is in danger of falling into) won’t be doing a lot of visits and other public appearances, this is a really important part of the industry and I’m glad they gave it the spotlight. This kind of thing is why I can’t bring myself to dislike a guy like John Cena. Sure, he’s formulaic in the ring, but he loves doing it, and he’s a hero to kids, including these kids. Even Luke seemed genuinely impacted by the visit. Fortunately, everyone seemed to do well and make the kids happy, which is way more important than doing the “best.”
Skills Challenge
Going back and looking at the first episodes, you can really see how far these contestants have come. They build from the original “3 Minutes of Hell” rope-running exercise to what they’re learning now, this is the last chance for the contestants to show their stuff. The contestants then go back to some bag work, dropping elbows on the bag. Luke hits a picture-perfect elbow drop. Luke’s on the top of his game this week. Jeremiah slams the bag the wrong way and climbs up to the top rope. He hits an insane aerial flip elbow drop and alllllmost gets it perfectly. If there was a person in the bag’s place, their face would’ve probably been crushed, but it was close. The trainers are less impressed than me. Jeremiah then botches an arm drag, and things aren’t looking good for him.
Pre-Elimination
The contestants are sent to pack their bags in preparation for the bottom three. Everyone’s passive-aggressively angry toward each other. Andy said that Jeremiah’s move was too dangerous, for example. The three of them have a toast, Luke and Jeremiah toasting with adult beverages and Luke with what looks like water. Party hard, Andy.
Elimination
This is more of a Top 3 than Bottom 3. We learn a bit about Jeremiah, mostly that he fought in Afghanistan. Austin implies that this isn’t Jeremiah’s passion, which is silly. Jeremiah obviously wants to do this, but I think it was just drama for drama’s sake. Austin calls Andy out for being soft and Andy fires right back. Andy cites his pregnant wife and baby at home as what’s mentally challenging, but Jeremiah has a little boy at home and he hasn’t let it bother him. That leads Jeremiah to call Andy soft, and Andy gets sassy immediately. Jeremiah says he’s tougher than Luke, and just like that, there are cracks in the bromance. Luke is really nervous, which is weird since it’s seemed like he’s the safest one tonight. He does this awkward “Ha Ha.” laugh, and Austin calls him out on it. Luke calls Jeremiah the arrogant one in the group, which is laughable. Austin then puts over how hard they’ve worked during this competition, but eventually Jeremiah is the one to go. Andy and Luke remain, and the finale will be an exhibition in front of an FCW audience. It is really, really weird to see FCW on a TV screen. The fact that they mentioned it alone was surprising, but to be broadcasting from FCW, a facility that doesn’t exist in the kayfabe world of WWE, was very strange.
Conclusion
I liked Jeremiah. In terms of charisma, I think he had the most. I feel like he would get over as a face the easiest, and by extension, get Tough Enough over. There was no elimination that I would’ve been perfectly fine with, though. They all three bring something unique to the table, and I’m sure if they truly want it, they’ll all be in WWE someday. I correctly predicted the relatively easy prediction of Jeremiah getting eliminated, with Luke being most likely to stay and win, and I’m sure most of you thought that as well. I really don’t know how the finale’s going to go, however. I just have a hard time seeing Andy get over as a face, even though I like him. Luke’s a natural heel that could get over quickly, but a face victory in the first season may bring in more interest in a second season. In any case, I’m excited to tune in.
That’s all for this week. Please let me know of any comments, questions, or feedback you have in the comments section. As always, thanks for reading.