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The Women of Tough Enough: Where Are They Now?

Roughly ten years ago, a group of eager wannabes queued up on the bitterly cold streets of New York City to audition for a new WWF concept. Tough Enough was looking for a group of 13 men and women to learn how to wrestle from scratch over 9 weeks. Two winners would be chosen, given WWF contracts and be on their way to becoming WWF Superstars.

It had its critics – most notably Triple H, who thought it exposed the business too much, and he might have had a point, as the first season gave every viewer a rough guide on how to bump, which must have resulted in a few shocked vertebrae – but it was a big hit on MTV, where it was hosted. Three seasons were produced for the network, with a fourth featuring on SmackDown in 2004 and was a rough blueprint for the wonderful programme we know and love called NXT.

Now we have been informed that USA Network is planning to revive Tough Enough, though it is still unclear what the format will be. It could follow the format of the original three seasons by taking novices and teaching them from the bottom. It could bring in indie wrestlers and polish them, reminiscent of The Ultimate Fighter; or it could take WWE contracted wrestlers currently plying their craft in Florida Championship Wrestling and put them in a house – though that version will probably be more scripted and moulded towards who WWE want to push. However, to judge how successful any potential winner of Tough Enough: The Return would be, it would be a good idea to look into its history.

Tough Enough produced seven winners – three female, four male – with John Morrison being the most successful of the bunch. But if they have a Y chromosome, we’re not really interested in them, no matter how long and floppy their hair is. So in this two-part piece, we’ll have a look at the fates of the women of Tough Enough, what happened to their careers, and what they are up to these days.

To start with, let us examine the fortunes of the three female winners – in the second part coming next week, we can have a nose around at the other contestants who didn’t win, and the ones who didn’t even make it into the house.

So why don’t we kick off with the originator…?

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SmackDown Redux (October 22nd, 2010): A Prelude To Bragging Rights?

The road to Bragging Rights heats up for the Diva’s tonight as Michelle McCool and Layla take on their opponent for Sunday, Natalya, with her partner, Kelly Kelly, in a tag team match. Since the anti-climatic conclusion of Hell In A Cell earlier this month, the rivalry between Nattie and delicious co-Unified Divas Champions has been picking up steam. For the past few weeks, we’ve watched Nattie come ever so close to locking Layla in the Sharpshooter, only to have Michelle jump in at the last moment and save her BFF. Will the same thing happen tonight? Dun dun duuuuuuuun!

When SmackDown returns from commercial break, Lay-Cool are already in the ring. Despite the fact Halloween is only a week away, Lay-Cool have decided to wrestle in costume tonight. Michelle has donned some nice yet ill-fitting jeans, a Hart T-shirt, and leather jacket. She’s dressed as Bret Hart complete with dark hair and baseball cap. Layla has morphed into a pink and blond haired Natalya. She’s wearing the third-generation Diva’s ring gear and to cap it all off, Layla has added a Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart goatee to the mix.

Random Thoughts: At this point, all I can say is wow. These costumes are pretty hilarious and Lay-Cool are probably the only Divas who would pull off something so evil. I would love to see someone dress up and imitate them one week. Now that would be amazing.

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NXT Redux (October 19th, 2010): Cloudy Days on NXT

Previously on NXT…

Fresh off a disaster of an elimination episode, NXT put together it’s most impressive and exciting episode yet. Naomi soared to new heights as she impressed in a match against pro Diva, Alicia Fox. Kaitlyn and Vickie Guerrero reached the point in their relationship where they reluctantly agreed to tolerate one another until the next elimination. AJ proved to everyone that she is a legit wrestling fan by dominating the “Name That Tune” challenge and Maxine continued to impress everyone with her mic skills. The icing on the proverbial NXT cake at the end of the night when Aksana lost it over her immigration woes and Goldust reiterated to her that they do indeed have options to fix these problems. He got down on one knee and popped the question, and Aksana happily accepted it.

So what happens next with the second elimination a mere two weeks away? Lets take a look…

It’s redundant that NXT always begins with Matt Striker introducing the rookies and tonight was no exception. He’s standing in the ring and introducing the rookie girls. Kaitlyn, Aksana, Naomi, AJ, and Maxine make their way to the ring where the host himself is standing. He tells the girls that they’ve made it to the halfway point of the season and that in just two weeks, the second cut will take place. He congratulates Naomi and AJ on their wins last week and tells them that they are one step closer to immunity. He starts to tell the others that they have plenty of time to catch up when Vickie decides that she wants to interrupt. She starts screaming “Excuse Me” and begins to walk down towards the ring. She tells Matt that she just can’t handle the way he talks to the rookie Divas and then she turns her attention towards Kaitlyn. Vickie wants to know why Kaitlyn is dressed the way she is and basically, Vickie does not approve.

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Maxine Comments on Last Night’s NXT Match

NXT Rookie Diva, Maxine took to her Twitter page earlier today commenting on her match with Kaitlyn last night on NXT. Maxine wrote: “Yea [sic] the match was tough it’s hard to lead someone with 2 months experience almost impossible.” Thoughts: Last night’s match was really, really bad. Hands-over-face-peek-through-your-fingers bad. I feel sorry for the … Read more

NXT Discussion: October 19th, 2010

Watch and root for your favorite as the Rookie Divas compete for dominance in the 3rd season of NXT. Remember: NXT is now airing online at 10pm ET and is only available to US viewers. Click here to watch. Be sure to tune in to the Post-NXT Show LIVE at 11:30pm ET following the show! … Read more

Raw Redux (October 18th, 2010): Natalya Gets The Last Laugh + Nice Aim Gail

Last week, WWE treated us with a very good promo from Co-Divas Champions, Lay-Cool and the #1 contender, Natalya, creating more hype for their match at Bragging Rights. This week, Natalya faces off with former Divas Champion Alicia Fox in singles action before her title match against one of the members of Lay-Cool at Bragging Rights. Check out the match below:

We start off with Natalya already in the ring, receiving cheers from the fans in her hometown of Calgary. Alicia makes her way out to the ring next, looking cocky as ever. The two Divas circle each other for a bit and the referee calls for the bell to kick things off. The Divas start off with a rough tie-up, with Alicia getting the upperhand and muscling Natalya into the ropes. Natalya reverses the hold, forcing Alicia to the ropes and the referee gets between the two to break things up. Nattie breaks clean, but Alicia seizes this opportunity and takes Natalya down with three hard slaps followed by a kick to the head.

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Raw Response: October 18th, 2010

Get your Monday night Divas fix by tuning in to Raw tonight at 9pm ET on the USA Network. Be sure to tune in to the Post-Raw Show LIVE at 11pm ET following Raw! Discuss the show in the comments!

SmackDown Diva Appears at FCW Taping

SmackDown Diva, Rosa Mendes worked Thursday’s FCW television taping. Mendes wrestled NXT Rookie Diva, Aksana. Thoughts: Rosa has been used sparingly on WWE television lately, so it’s good to see her being put to use in FCW. With WWE said to be restructuring the Divas division, there’s been speculation that WWE may cut some of … Read more

WWE Superstars Redux (October 14th, 2010): Divas Own the Night

The show may be called ‘WWE Superstars’ but it was all about the Divas last night, as we saw not one, but two good, solid matches from the Divas of Raw and SmackDown. Furthermore, it’s worth pointing out that both matches are rematches from pay per views that have occurred in recent months and in both cases, I felt the matches were much better than those PPV outings.

First up, we had Kelly Kelly vs Layla in a rematch from July’s Money in the Bank pay per view. Watch below:

We kick off the show with K2 with #1 Contender, Natalya in her corner. Can this be considered the new Blondetourage? (Come back, Skirt Tiffany!) Next out is Lay-Cool and they are referred to as ‘the strongest Diva alliance in WWE history’. That is quite possibly true.

As the bell rings, Layla begins working out in the ring, before screaming “Boo!” in Kelly’s face. If I didn’t find Layla totally adorable & hilarious, that would have been really lame. It’s a good thing you’re cute, Layla. Kelly finally has enough and slaps Layla straight across the face and it’s on! The two Divas tussle, grabbing each other’s hair and back into the ropes as the referee tries to break things up. Layla runs at Kelly going for a kick but Kelly counters into an atomic drop on the co-Unified Divas Champ. K2 then kicks Layla in the back of the knee, taking her down, and goes for a pin but no dice.

Kelly hits another kick, this time to the front and once again, goes for a cover but Layla kicks out. Layla scatters to the side of the ring seeking comfort from Michelle but Kelly is not far behind and begins stomping into Layla’s lower back. Kelly hits a forearm and attempts to whip Layla into the corner, Lay reverses and runs at K2 but gets a boot in the face. Kelly attempts a crossbody from the middle rope but Layla moves out of the way and K2 instead meets the canvas. Ouch! Layla goes for an opportunistic cover but Kelly kicks out.

Layla hits a snapmare followed by a low kick before applying a nice body-scissors. Layla cinches the submission in tightly and even rakes Kelly’s face. K2 fights back however, pulling Layla’s hair. Layla then expertly rolls over into a pin but they roll back over before a 3 count can be made. She goes for the pin again but at two, Kelly manages to break free and goes for a roll up over her own but Layla kicks her off. Layla then hits a low dropkick on Kelly. Lay then begins pulling at Kelly’s hair but gets an overhead kick from Kelly who then begins smashing her head face-first into the canvas.

A fired up Kelly is on her feet now and riles up the crowd to get behind her as she gains momentum with some offense. Kelly whips Layla into the ropes, but Layla manages to hit that impressive cradle pin on Kelly and nearly has the match won but K2 kicks out.

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NXT Redux (October 12th, 2010): Thank You Christopher Columbus for Discovering America and Giving Us NXT

Previously on NXT…

The first elimination of the season took place and perhaps the most well known rookie girl, Jamie, was sent packing. Her send-off from the show was filled with dignity and class, and well wishes for the remaining five. Aksana‘s immigration woes took a turn for the worse when it was revealed that she had four weeks to clear up her issues or she would be deported. Maxine took a horrible bump in the ring that may or may not keep her sidelined with a neck issue. And finally, the Kaitlyn/Dolph/Vickie Guerrero love triangle came to a head when Kaitlyn defeated Vickie in a one-on-one match.

How will tonight’s episode play out? Keep watching and find out!

As per usual, the gorgeous Matt Striker is the first person we see when NXT begins. He announces the girls and out comes Maxine, Aksana, Kaitlyn, AJ, and Naomi. They get in the ring and for some reason all of them have air horns in their hands. Striker tells them that the next elimination is three weeks away and as far as challenges go, the slate has been wiped clean. Everyone starts from scratch tonight and the first competition of the evening is going to be Name That Tune. For the first round, thirty seconds of a WWE Superstar theme will play and the first girl to sound their horn will get a chance to answer. In the second round, the points will be doubled.

This competition isn’t really a competition to be honest. AJ basically gets every single theme song right but one. All the other girls stand there and look dumbfounded and AJ even seems a bit embarrassed that she knows every single answer. She scores 1900 out of a possible 2000, with Naomi getting 100 points for an earlier answer. Needless to say, AJ picks up her first challenge win. Striker announces that up next is a rookie versus pro match, with Naomi taking on former Diva’s Champion, Alicia Fox. The show fades to a promo for Chris Jericho’s new DVD.

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Next NXT Elimination Will Be On…

The next elimination from season three of NXT will be held on the November 2nd episode, which is in three weeks time. Given that Jamie was released after her elimination last week, it seems the stakes are much higher this season. It looks like WWE knows which girls they want to keep around post-NXT already … Read more

Jamie Keyes Released

In what feels like reality mirroring television, PWInsider reports that Jamie Keyes, real name Brittany Beede, has been released from her WWE contract a mere week after being the first cut from this season’s NXT. Additionally, Jamie has been removed from the FCW roster page also. It had previously been rumored that while WWE enjoyed … Read more

NXT Discussion: October 12th, 2010

Watch and root for your favorite as the Rookie Divas compete for dominance in the 3rd season of NXT. Remember: NXT is now airing online at 10pm ET and is only available to US viewers. Click here to watch. Be sure to tune in to the Post-NXT Show LIVE at 11:30pm ET following the show! … Read more

Raw Redux (October 11th, 2010): Lay-Cool and The Bearded Lady

After the frustrating mess that was the Divas action on Raw last, WWE decided to forgo a match altogether this week and have Natalya and Lay-Cool cut a promo in the ring. Will they be able to deliver on the mic or will we be just as upset as last week? Check out the segment … Read more

WWE Reportedly High on Two NXT Rookies

WWE are reportedly backing Kaitlyn and Naomi on the current season of WWE NXT, according to the latest issue of Figure Four Weekly. Kaitlyn, who has been one of WWE’s favorites since the season began, is said to have impressed management in her match with Vickie Guerrero last week. Meanwhile, Naomi, who was the early … Read more

Divas Championship Rematch Added to Bragging Rights

Third-generation Diva, Natalya will receive another championship opportunity against Lay-Cool at Bragging Rights in two weeks time, it has been announced. The bout will be a rematch from from Natalya’s initial title shot against Michelle McCool at Hell in a Cell. However, that match ended in controversy after Layla threw her shoe in the ring, … Read more

Raw Response: October 11th, 2010

Get your Monday night Divas fix by tuning in to Raw tonight at 9pm ET on the USA Network. Be sure to tune in to the Post-Raw Show LIVE at 11pm ET following Raw! Discuss the show in the comments!