The "NEW" Tough Enough

[Ace]

Wait Lita? Surely they must be joking? Its 2015, is there ANYONE on this board who can still admit (while keeping a straight face) that her in-ring work was good. She had a good character. Okay fine. She was a good heel and face. Fine. Good promo (at times). Okay fine, I get it. But surely aside from a FEW crisp spots at the start of her WWE run can we all admit that she shouldn't training ANYONE in ring? promos, how to get over, etc. fine. I disagree, but fine. The in-ring stuff? No way.

 

Good wrestlers don't always make good trainers.

[NikoBaltimore]

I'm pleased with the selection.  Booker T has his school and Billy Gunn trains at the Performance Center.  I could see Lita being a questionable choice, but feel she can do a great job.  She's wrestled men as well as women so like Trish last season she can train both men and women alike.  My only concern is Lita AFAIK doesn't watch much if any wrestling anymore, so hopefully she's up to speed before it starts.

[Josh Mann]

I'm kind of stunned Hogan agreed to a second-banana spot. Typically that's not his style.

Also, this keeps Bryan above the radar without having to have him wrestle.

[Cristobal]

I'm kind of stunned Hogan agreed to a second-banana spot. Typically that's not his style.

Yeah but Vince has always been the one promoter he couldn't screw around with.

Besides, "getting paid for easy work" is definitely his style, especially these days.

[Casey]

And he gets to decide on the fate of everybody since he's a judge. Seems right up Hogan's alley.

[JonnyLaw]

I think the Hogan-Bryan dynamic will be the best part.

[Skelemania]

My interest when from "hey, that's pretty cool they're bringing it back, I liked the last one with Austin, I'll check it out." to "yeah, not watching that" with the announcement of host Chris "Mid-Life Crisis" Jericho.

 

Chris Jericho is the new Mick Foley, isn't he? The legend that just never goes away, keeps coming back & will do anything for a paycheck? Where each time he comes back, less & less people care...but he still thinks he's a big megastar.

 

How long until Chris Jericho does stand-up? Has he already done it? Time to get outshined by a daughter on Twitter!

[Vincey Greene]

Real question.

Why is Jericho so disliked? He busts his ass when he comes back, he readily puts people over, he probably has rad NJPW4 stories, and he's the best interviewer of all the wrestlers with podcasts. And he can still somewhat go! I don't get it.

[Brian Fowler]

His last few returns have been full of bad matches, worse promos, and 50/50 booking with Bray.

And he comes across outside the ring as a delusional asshole.

And he thinks Benoit was literally possessed by a demon.

[Vincey Greene]

His last few returns have been full of bad matches, worse promos, and 50/50 booking with Bray.

And he comes across outside the ring as a delusional asshole.

And he thinks Benoit was literally possessed by a demon.

Eh. If we hated everyone who was a delusional asshole or had bad matches with Rotunda's kid....

Also Fozzy kind of sucks. I think I'm just more willing to give the guy a pass because his WCW stuff was so good and because he's a damn good interviewer. That's really my primary exposure to him at this point.

[Big Fresh]

Because we all fucking knew that RKO was coming, Chris!

[Kevin Wilson]

That is a weird judging panel.  We have Hogan, who hasn't broken kayfabe in 41 years, judging people on how good they are at taking bumps and ring psychology, etc. Then there is Paige, who is 22 and whom undoubtedly has seen less wrestling then 95% of the people on this board and really isn't qualified to judge anything.  And finally Bryan who I guess is going to do 90% of the talking.  I'll watch but I dunno how that is all going to work.

[Bustronaut]

Paige is a 2nd generation wrestler, and has been active in the ring since 2005, I think she knows what's what.

[AxB]

Paige's parents are both Wrestlers and Wrestling promoters (and trainers, for that matter) and she literally* grew up at Wrestling shows. She's also been a pro-Wrestler herself for nearly ten years.

 

* Literally literally. Not figuratively literally.

[Cristobal]

That is a weird judging panel.  We have Hogan, who hasn't broken kayfabe in 41 years, judging people on how good they are at taking bumps and ring psychology, etc. Then there is Paige, who is 22 and whom undoubtedly has seen less wrestling then 95% of the people on this board and really isn't qualified to judge anything.  And finally Bryan who I guess is going to do 90% of the talking.  I'll watch but I dunno how that is all going to work.

Also, how you figure Bryan is going to be doing 90% of the talking on a panel with Hogan and Jericho is beyond me.

[Big Fresh]

Because Bryan is gonna be the only one watching the fucking guys at all.

[Cristobal]

90% of stuff worth saying =/= 90% of the talking.

[Don]

Hogan hasn't broken kayfabe? What about Celebrity Championship Wrestling? Letting his buddy Rodman win it?

[offspring515]

Plus I assume the panel is going to be WWE's attempt to ape American Idol or whatever. At best Hogan will have one sentence per contestant that boils down to the wrestling equivalent of "It was kinda pitchy dawg."

[w. josh]

Plus I assume the panel is going to be WWE's attempt to ape American Idol or whatever. At best Hogan will have one sentence per contestant that boils down to the wrestling equivalent of "It was kinda pitchy dawg."

"That was pretty good, brother, but it wasn't military-press-slamming-Andre-the-Giant-in-an-electrified-cage-surrounded-by-those-smart-monkeys-from-Dawn-of-the-Planet-of-the-Apes-in-front-of-300,000-people good."

[SirSmUgly]

Hulk Hogan as Simon Cowell = I'll watch it, even with fucking Jericho hosting it.

 

I tried watching the last one with Stone Cold, but he was the one redeeming thing about what was essentially a shitty reality show and I stopped after a couple of episodes. Well, actually, I liked Booker T too, but I'm a big Booker fan so YMMV.

 

This one has Booker, Hogan, Bryan, and Paige, all of whom I really enjoy, so I should probably be able to get through this one more easily.

[RIPPA]

UK folks - Kris Travis submitted a video

 

[Playa Shunna Ver 3.0]

One of the tough enough challenges will be to take Brooke Hogan out on a date.  "Better have her home by 9 brother!!!!"

[Sky Blue Sam]

I'd love to see Trav get a shot. He was one of the best wrestlers in the country before the cancer hit, and it'd be great for him to come out of the other side and get a real chance. I know he's close to both Paige and X-Pac, so hopefully someone will put a word in

[NikoBaltimore]

After reading his story in FSM I'm really hoping he gets a shot.  Never heard of Kris or saw his matches, but damn is that one helluva story.  Sounds like he really deserves it.