According to PWInsider, WSU World Champion Mercedes Martinez and WSU Spirit Champion Brittney Savage were both in contention for the final crop of Tough Enough contestants, but ultimately did not make the cut.
Last month, we revealed that Savage had two callbacks for the show and was said to be in ‘deeper talks than most’ according to a source.
Meanwhile in an interview with Diva Dirt, Mercedes Martinez noted that she wasn’t going to apply at first. After being nudged a little bit and asked why she hadn’t applied by the producers, she eventually did apply.
Aside from Rima Fakih, it’s unknown who else is on the cast at this point. As with most reality competitions, the contestants are likely under strict confidentiality agreements.
WWE Tough Enough will return on April 4th.
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50 Comments
Shame that Mercedes didn’t make the cut for Tough Enough, would have loved seeing her on the show
Oh that sucks, both would’ve definatley been great for the contest. It does suck that the winner only gets a year with WWE. I highly doubt both of these girls would’ve been treaten well in that uear anyway. Hopefully there’ll be some big names in TE.
Wow. So they’ll take Miss USA, but not Mercedes Martinez. That says a lot about what they’re looking for, doesn’t it?
I agree that it would of been great to see Martinez in TE but even if she won, I don’t think she would of been happy in the WWE. I also don’t think they would of used her well. I do hope, there are some strong Indy names (male and female) in the list though. Could definitely keep things interesting.
When you think of the word Diva and the name Mercedes Martinez, they just don’t go together. Brittney on the other hand I see her getting a contract down the line.
Well they’re taping now, so everyone’s incommunicado anyway…
I suspect in Britni’s case that if they’re that high on her, WWE didn’t want to risk hurting her “cred” by putting her on the show and being eliminated early on. WWE might just sign her outright at some later date after TE ends.
Least shocking news ever in regards Martinez as she has been passed over for years and given her look too.
I thought there was an outside chance of her being on the show as a square peg.
Since its already filming we can assume Britani Knight didn’t make the cut either right? I know she submitted a tape according to her twitter. Her recent tweets don’t show any indication of being on TE…oh well. She’s still really young and hopefully WWE will pick her up eventually. As far as Brittney Savage goes…I’m not a fan of her ring work but I think she’s improving so I wouldn’t have minded seeing her on Tough Enough. She appears to have the look they want too…Mercedes would have been an EXCELLENT addition to TE and her not making it lowers my expectations of the show. We only have one confirmed female on the show and she’s Miss USA….not expecting much now.
(I’m asking the following simply as someone who is not familiar with Mercedes Martinez and Brittney Savage or their work.)
Seeing how it takes more than just in-ring skills to make it in the WWE how are the above female wrestlers in terms of their mic skills, charisma, and for a lack of a better term acting ability? Do you all they are well skilled in those particular areas to have start a greater than good chance of becoming a superstar in the WWE?
alexl467
I was kind of at a loss of words when I found out that Miss USA was on TE. Its kind of a bitter pill to swallow when I know I, along with a lot of other Indie people submitted applications and spoke to casting directors a few times who seemed to be interested.
Its going to be interesting seeing exactly who ended up getting chosen.
Although, as some other people have stated, maybe they didnt want to kill people’s credibility. In a way, I guess I’d rather keep working towards my goal then being selected for a tv show and released a few months down the line or just given a one year contract.
Looking forward to seeing who they did go with.
Martinez has a kind of an unique charisma: a tough exterior with at times softer personality that would need to be presented carefully. I doubt WWE or TNA would fully get the character she has on the Indies but Ive been wrong before.
Brittney could be in the Beautiful People or a buddy of Laycool tomorrow.
i’m probably in the minority here but i’m glad mercedes didn’t make the cut. she’s been wrestling for a decade now and i don’t want to see people with years and years of wrestling experience taking part in tough enough. that’s just not the concept of the show. it would be like if a d-list singer turned up on x factor or something.
brittney i’m surprised at not making it, though. she was already on wwe tv that one time and she is still rather young and in the training stages of her career so in my mind she was a shoe-in.
I wouldn’t giva up hope on both Mercedes or Brittany maybe someday they will be signed to the WWE I have a little faith that either one will go or not go to TNA?
@ed taking miss usa and turning her into a wrestler is more appealing of a plot line than taking mercedes martinez and telling her to water everything down. it’s tough enough, a show about taking joe average and making them a wrestler. they’re not (or rather they shouldn’t be) looking for already well established indy performers.
i think they’re doing what TE’s motus Oparendi has been which is pick a bunch of those with no experience, and teach them everything straight up as opposed to mixing and getting those who have a lot of experience like Mercedes and greenhorns like Rima.
Not to mention, I know that Mercedes is not someone who’s can be easily manipulated, sometimes the money is not worth the endgame if there is one, and it’s no secret she knows that the Divas don’t matter on TV, do you think she would want to be one of those whom on one night gets on tv in a 2 min singles match, the next week she stands on the apron during the majority of a tag cluster, the next she’s standing around with the other divas just to “look hot” for some worthless segment, the next she’s on superstars and during the ppv she’s in a backstage segment not wrestling? She would never prostitute herself for paychecks on a whim, regardless if this business if full of individuals who whore themselves male and female alike all for the paycheck particularly when they are in the moment that they feel they’re at the end of their road in this business and it’s time to move on.
Plus as you said drayme, she is a puzzle that if a company can figure it out and promote it properly, can make a difference. She’s better as the creative control, “I know how to work my character so let me have the reigns” and do it in a way that benefits both her and whoever she’s working in a way you can be emotionally invested, something that those who have that creative control never do errhm Hogan Brother.
tbh Mercedes would be better off in the indies, WWE will water her skills down like they do with a lot of skilled women that come into the WWE. But Rima Fakih being signed to Tough Enough is a good thing if you think about it, i mean she is Miss USA, that has to get mainstream involved and ratings for Tough Enough will go up, right?
That’s a shame at least my 2 favorites might have a chance .. Athena & Epiphany <3
Honestly, what i find annoying is that people underestimate the WWE way to much. Natalya & Beth still wrestle like they always have and Natalya joined WWE in 2008 so that espicially means WWE won’t always “water down” people’s skills. Natalya still performs the same moveset she did on the indies and same goes w/ beth, and gail. So stop with all this B.S about WWE making them lood bad etc.
GIve me two good examples on 2 women wrestlers that WWE have told them to “calm down” with their moves because i can’t think of none.
Also, do you know half of the times WWE give us short matches i.e 2 – 4 minutes it’s between divas that can’t work it off meaning when they rush they get sloppy or just a horrible wrestler in general. We’ve seen great 3 minutes matches between the likes of Alicia & Natalya, Beth & Michelle, etc. So just stop with all this nonsense that makes utterly no sense at all when you clearly need to THINK before you speak. My small rant is done.
Its Kinda Annoying because WWE should be using these women for Tough Enough and using the women like “Miss USA” for the Diva Searchd
i still cant wait for Tough enough, and who knows’ maybe they still will be in it, or other indy women, since this is still only a dirt sheet and its might not be true
love tough enough
It makes me laugh every time a indie girl tries out for WWE and they get rejected (unfortunately) and the fan goes around saying how WWE would of water their skills down in frustration. Take what happened to Melina, Melina never made the cut and look what happened, she still got signed.
Good luck to both ladies in the future, I’m sure their talents will continue to shine.
High hopes for the new season of Tough Enough. Great in-ring competitors have come from the show including John Morrison, The Miz and Melina!
Perhaps a talented rookie can get a contract which mixes both looks and wrestling skills to become an all round fab ‘Diva’.
their loss
mercedez and Britney are better off in the indies,unless wwe but the women wrestling to the trish and lita era they are sure better off.
i am kinda pissed that they hire miss usa and not hire mercedez and Britney ,and miss usa should go to the diva search.lets hope the rest of the indies girls better luck in tough enough
When does Tough Enough start airing because i have a feeling that Awesome Kong will be a “contestant” on it and then of course she will be “signed” and that will be how WWE brings her in.
APRIL 4th right after RAW.
Wow, so WWE just passed on the best female worker in North America.. Your loss E.
Rate Tank on “Tough Enough” would have ruled!
“GIve me two good examples on 2 women wrestlers that WWE have told them to “calm down” with their moves because i can’t think of none.”
People always say Maryse had to tone down her moveset but idk if that’s true
So i guess then Kong wouldnt be on Tough Enough, shame, hey maybe she will fill the empty spot this Sunday at Elimination Chamber
A Diva that had to tone down easy Cherry.
Maryse was injured so she wasnt able to perform like she use to. Also i have seen Maryse’s work on OVW and it isn’t that impressive. Cherry never toned down anything, she always used the same moveset which wasn’t much anyway. Also, i never heard of her being told to “tone it down”. So there still hasn’t been at least ONE good example.
@LVEF – Well all the matches Ive seen from Cherry in the indies was totally different from what she did in WWE.
and if it’s not enough how about savannah and Lena Yada and serena wwe screw them out big time those three big time savannah and lena yada had good potential they didn’t let them shin as for serena once ses storyline end they simply fires her and how about aj/naomi those two are ready to the main roster and yet wwe make them rot in fcw development so @LaceyVonErich wwe have long list of the measure disappointment.
@KELLYKELLY27 i agree with you on that one i saw her matches too it was good.
@Kellykelly27
That’s probaly because Cherry chose another moveset like Eve & Alicia always do. Cherry had the same impressive moveset she had in the indies the way she did in WWE. Nothing “less” impressive and she was going against the likes of Maryse .. um yeah.
@A.E
What does that have to do with this topic though?
Come on we can’t really fight a case for Cherry. She was put in a terrible gimmick, when her stable got released it was only a matter of time until she was released. She also did not have the diva look at all.
@Kaledrina
I agree. Mercedes I dont think would like to be “taught” how to wrestle. Thats the problem with hiring big indies names. Theyre gonna have to go through all this “training” that is mostly not necessary. Brittany Savage on the other hand would have been a great talent to hire.
But Mercedes is just one of those wrestlers to keep on the indies. Rather have jer putting on 5-star matches on WSU than to job out to Kelly on SD and hearing the internet world flip on its head.
@LaceyVonErichFan
hello you are the one who ask for example of a wwe stars gone wrong.
@A.E
Actually i never said examples of wrestlers gone wrong :\ i said examples of women wrestlers that were told to “tone it down” with their moveset.
LVEF I was also hoping that Epiphany would maybe get in on this! She is AMAZING, shes the KONG of OVW and i love her! She would be a great asset to the roster. But knowing WWE it wont happen. What a shame
@martibelle you go do whatcha gotta do it’s a long hard mountain to climb and great to see 1/2 of the WSU Tag champs here on DD.
Awww :( I really wanted Mercedes! I wonder who else got it.
Tough Enough is teaching random people how to wrestle. Why in the hell is Mercedes Martinez and Britney Savage signing up? lol
Sara Del Rey turned down and Mercedes Martinez, Austin Aries. Not much reason to watch the show now…
Tough Enough is officially a joke!!!
@vonVile Untrue
Oh well but i would have like 2 have Mercades on the show.
whooops….@VonVile thats not true at all, cause two people didn’t make it? relax, gotta give it a shot first..im sure we’ll all be impressed
@shonshu at least give it a chance, watch the first episode, dont like it then dont watch it again. You could be surprised by who is on it, i remember Tough Enough had a website where you could vote for some of the people who auditioned for Tough Enough that you want to see and an indie girl (name was Reia or something) had a load of votes so you never know