| Creator: | Vince McMahon |
| Country: | United States |
| Location: | California |
| Num Seasons: | 6 |
| Num Episodes: | 68 |
| Camera: | Multicamera setup |
| Runtime: | 60 minutes (including commercials) |
WWE Tough Enough is an American professional wrestling reality competition series that was produced by WWE, wherein participants undergo professional wrestling training and compete for a contract with WWE. There were two winners per season for the first three seasons, all of which aired on MTV. A fourth competition was held in 2004, with only a single winner, who was integrated into (at the time) UPN's SmackDown!. As revealed in October 2010, the USA Network, revived Tough Enough to air it immediately prior to Raw,[1] starting on April 4, 2011, a day after WrestleMania XXVII.[2] [3] The first three seasons were co-produced with MTV, while the revival is a co-production with Shed Media.[4] Reruns of the 2011 season were broadcast on Universal HD, Oxygen and G4.
Past episodes of Tough Enough are available for streaming on the WWE Network.
The idea of the show originally came from a deal the then-WWF made with MTV in spring of 2000. One part of a deal was to create a reality series where contestants compete to win a WWE contract, the winner being one male and one female.
Maven Huffman and Nidia Guenard won the first season of Tough Enough. Only two contestants were actually cut from the competition; the others eliminated voluntarily exited. Of the final five contestants, four would eventually join the WWE. Nidia was released from WWE on November 3, 2004, while Maven was released on July 5, 2005.
The first season of Tough Enough was released on DVD in 2002, along with its soundtrack.
This season became available for viewing on the WWE Network on January 12, 2015.
Order of elimination:
Maven Huffman would go on to become a three time WWF Hardcore Champion. He was released by WWE in July 2005 and would later work for Impact Wrestling. Also he appeared on the sixth season of The Surreal Life. Nidia Guenard would go on to manage Jamie Noble and compete in the women's division. She was released by WWE in November 2004 and retired shortly afterwards. Christopher Nowinski would eventually make the main roster, where he was a two time WWE Hardcore Champion. He would retire from wrestling in 2003, becoming an advocate for concussion awareness. Josh Lomberger would be hired as a commentator and backstage interviewer under the name "Josh Mathews". He was released in 2014 and go on to work for Impact Wrestling as a commentator and senior producer, where he is also a one time Impact Grand Champion. Greg Whitmoyer would become a wrestler as Greg Matthews working for Combat Zone Wrestling and independent circuit until retiring in 2010.
The second season winners were Linda Miles and Jackie Gayda. The result offended members of the male finalists, who claimed that when they signed forms to compete on Tough Enough, the forms spoke of one male winner and one female winner. Eventually, Linda and Jackie were released on November 12, 2004 and July 5, 2005, respectively. Gayda later married wrestler Charlie Haas, but would later divorce in 2020.
Shad Gaspard, who would later become a member of the WWE tag team Cryme Tyme, was chosen to be one of the final 13 contestants on the show but, according to the show, failed a physical; he was subsequently replaced by Danny. Eventual season 3 winner John Hennigan (who went on to compete for the WWE as John Morrison) auditioned and survived the first cut down to 25 contestants, but, despite displaying well-tuned athletic ability, Hennigan's arrogance irritated the judges. It would be another year before Hennigan would make the show. There were several other well known faces in the crowd who didn't make the cut, but, eventually made a name for themselves in the business, including Shelly Martinez (known as Ariel in the WWE and as Salinas in TNA), Kia Stevens (known as Awesome Kong in TNA and as Kharma in WWE), former fitness model Kim Nielsen (who was known by her real name in WWE and as Desire in TNA, and who competed on season 13 of The Biggest Loser), Jaxson Ryker and Ken Anderson (known as Mr. Kennedy in WWE) (both of whom later returned to WWE).
Order of Elimination:
Both winners Jackie Gayda and Linda Miles would go on to work on the main roster as managers. Gayda would manage future husband Charlie Haas and Rico under her real name, while Miles would manage the Basham Brothers as their dominatrix Shaniqua. Jessie Ward would work as a stage manager for WWE between 2002 and 2004. In September 2013, she married future NXT Superstar Tommaso Ciampa. Kenny Layne would later find success wrestling for Impact Wrestling and Ring of Honor under the ring name "Kenny King". Matt Morgan would work on the main roster in October 2003 until January 2004. He would return to OVW. In April 2005, Morgan returned to the main roster teaming with Carlito. He was released by WWE in July 2005. Later appear in the 2008 revival of American Gladiators as the gladiator "Beast". Morgan found success in Impact Wrestling, where he is a two time TNA World Tag Team Champion. Hawk Younkins would compete in one MMA match on September 18, 2004.
The third season was won by John Hennigan and Matt Cappotelli.
Melina Perez tried out for Tough Enough III and made it to the final 25, but was cut from the competition.[5] During the tryouts she met John Hennigan, and they began a romantic relationship. Perez eventually received a WWE contract and worked as Melina on the Smackdown (WWE brand) and Raw (WWE brand) shows. She went on to become the first Tough Enough contestant to win the WWE Women's Championship and the WWE Divas Championship, which she held respectively three and two times, making her the most successful female Tough Enough contestant to enter WWE. Perez was eventually released from WWE on August 5, 2011. Both Shawn Daivari and Daniel Puder are seen on film during audition episode. Both made it to the final 75, but were cut before they could make it to the training facility. Daivari was later hired by WWE to team with Muhammad Hassan, while Puder was able to join and eventually win the fourth season of Tough Enough.
Hardcore Holly made a controversial guest appearance on one episode of the show, where he stiffed Cappotelli during a training match, leaving him brutalized, bleeding, crying and requesting to leave the program; the incident was discussed on February 8, 2003 episode of WWE Confidential.[6] [7]
Order of Elimination:
Hennigan, who wrestled for WWE under the names Johnny Nitro and John Morrison, would go on win various championships, including the ECW World Championship, three Intercontinental Championships, and the WWE, SmackDown, and World Tag Team Championships once each. Hennigan left WWE in November 2011 and also found success outside of WWE in other promotions such as Impact Wrestling, Lucha Underground and Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide between 2012 and 2019.
Cappotelli was developing his talent further in WWE development territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), but was diagnosed with a brain tumor in December 2005, forcing him to step away from wrestling and relinquish his OVW Heavyweight Championship. The tumor was removed in 2007, and it was unknown whether Cappotelli would ever return to professional wrestling. In July 2017, Cappotelli announced that he was diagnosed with grade IV glioblastoma multiforme.[8] He died on June 29, 2018, at the age of 38.[9]
In the cover story from the October 5, 2002 issue of the Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter,[10] it was revealed that contestant "Lisa" was removed from the show after what was referred to as a "psychotic breakdown." After being left at the house while the other contestants went out to dinner, she began throwing herself against the walls of the house, eventually breaking into the hidden MTV control room and working her way onto the roof. After being talked down by producers, she was committed to a hospital facility to receive psychiatric treatment. Her parents flew in from New Mexico to pick her up, but she physically attacked them, claiming she did not know them. She then escaped custody inside LAX, shutting down a wing of the airport until she was located. Again, she was hospitalized, but she was able to check herself out shortly after. She then contacted Tough Enough producers, claiming she was ready to return to the show. Producers informed her she had been removed from the competition due to her actions. The other contestants (and, subsequently, the audience) were initially told that Lisa simply decided wrestling "wasn't the right career for her." Lisa then reemerged in Louisville, Kentucky, at the Ohio Valley Wrestling training center, claiming that trainer Al Snow and producer John "Big" Gaburick had sent her for additional training, both in the ring and to learn further about the structure of the developmental territory system. At a series of shows in California in September 2002, she managed to talk her way backstage and was even allowed to assist with the pyrotechnics for the wrestlers' entrances at a TV taping. One source claimed that she had a face-to-face conversation with Vince McMahon, who was apparently unaware of her status with the Tough Enough program. Soon after, her photograph was circulated to security personnel, and she was barred from any backstage areas.
The fourth Tough Enough competition was conducted as part of WWE's SmackDown! brand between October and December 2004 in response to Raw holding the first annual Raw Diva Search contest. The prize was a $1 million professional wrestling contract split evenly over four years with only the first year guaranteed. The winner of the fourth series, announced on December 14, 2004, and televised on December 16, 2004, was Daniel Puder, an American professional mixed martial artist. Puder competed in his second WWE pay-per-view event on January 30, 2005 as the third entrant in the 2005 Royal Rumble match. Soon after, he was sent to OVW before eventually being released in September 2005.
On November 4, 2004, episode of SmackDown!, taped in St. Louis, Missouri, during an unscripted segment of Tough Enough, Kurt Angle, a former American amateur wrestler and 1996 Olympic gold medalist, challenged the finalists through a squat thrust competition.[11] [12] Chris Nawrocki won the competition, and the prize Nawrocki won was a match against Angle.[13] Angle quickly took Nawrocki down, breaking his ribs, then made him tap out with a neck crank.[13] After Angle defeated Nawrocki, Angle challenged the other finalists.[13] Puder accepted Angle's challenge.[13] Angle and Puder wrestled for position, with Angle taking Puder down; however, in the process, Puder locked Angle in a kimura lock.[12] [13] [14] With Puder on his back and Angle's arm locked in the kimura, Angle attempted a pin, one of two referees in the ring, Jim Korderas, quickly counted three to end the bout, despite the fact that Puder's shoulders weren't fully down on the mat, bridging up at two.[12] [13] [14] Puder later claimed he would have snapped Angle's arm, thus making Angle tap out on national television, if Korderas had not ended the match.[13] Dave Meltzer and Dave Scherer gave these following comments:
Mike Mizanin signed a developmental contract with WWE and made his main roster debut in 2006 as The Miz and became the first and the only Tough Enough contestant to win the WWE Championship and to headline WrestleMania. Additionally, he has held multiple midcard and tag team championships in WWE, and is one of only two wrestlers in WWE history to complete the Grand Slam twice.
Ryan Reeves signed a developmental contract with WWE. He continued working for Ohio Valley Wrestling until early 2007 when he was released by WWE. He later resigned a contact with WWE in late 2008 working for Florida Championship Wrestling. He then participated in the first season of NXT in early 2010 under the ring name Skip Sheffield, and became one of the original members of the faction The Nexus. He resurfaced on the main roster in early 2012 under the ring name Ryback, and headlined five pay-per-view events, three of those for the WWE Championship. He is also a former WWE Intercontinental Champion. He would remain with WWE until August 2016.
Daniel Rodimer signed a developmental contract with WWE, and later wrestled on Heat as Dan Rodman in 2007. He retired from wrestling in late 2007.
Nick Mitchell signed a developmental contract with WWE. He made his debut on the main roster in January 2006 as Mitch, a member of the male cheerleader group The Spirit Squad. As a member of the Spirit Squad, he is a former World Tag Team Champion, which he won under the Freebird Rule. He was released by WWE in May 2007 and retired completely from wrestling.
Justice Smith would later appear in the 2008 revival of American Gladiators, using his first name as his gladiator name.
Marty Wright, who lied about his age during the auditions and was disqualified, later signed with WWE and competed as The Boogeyman.
During the tryouts, Brian Danovich suffered a torn pectoral muscle during the bench press but then went on to complete the assault course in its entirely while carrying the injury. After withdrawing from the event, then Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis offered him a developmental contract on the spot though he was eventually released after numerous injuries without appearing on the main roster. He would resurface in June 2018 with a wrestling internet radio show called Wrestling With Passion on Action VR Network on Mixlr, which lasted only five episodes before his untimely death on August 9, 2018, at the age of 38 by committing suicide.
Andrew Hankinson tried out for this season but failed to make it to the finals. However, he was signed to a WWE developmental contract and later competed in WWE as Festus and Luke Gallows until his WWE release in November 2010. He would go on to compete for Impact Wrestling as a member of the Aces & Eights and New Japan Pro-Wrestling teaming with Karl Anderson as members of the Bullet Club. In 2016, Gallows returned to WWE with Anderson as tag team champions. They were both released in April 2020, then rehired in October 2022.
A DVD of this season was released in 2005.
On October 18, 2010, the television website Deadline Hollywood reported that USA Network was considering expanding into reality programming with a revival of Tough Enough. The website also reported that the show was expected to "run in tandem with USA's WWE Raw series." On January 3, 2011, both The New York Times and WWE further confirmed the revival, revealing that the revived series would begin airing Monday nights beginning on April 4, 2011, following WWE Raw, and a day after WrestleMania XXVII. The following week, Tough Enough aired during its planned time slot before WWE Raw. The revived series is a co-production with Shed Media.
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin served as the show's season 5 host while Booker T, Trish Stratus, and Bill DeMott served as trainers.[15] [16] [17] [18] According to USA Network's episode guide, the 2011 season is referred to as "Season 1", therefore making no reference to its prior runs on other networks.[19] In addition, although the premise of this show is similar to that of WWE NXT, Tough Enough season 5 ran concurrently with NXT and did not replace it.
Similar to the reality series Hell's Kitchen, several episodes concluded with a voiceover of Austin's thoughts on the eliminated contestant as he goes to his office and hangs their belt on the wall.
| Contestants | Episodes | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |||||
| 1 | Andy Leavine | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | risk style="background:pink;" | RISK | safe style="background:#cfecec;" | SAFE | out style="background:lightgreen;" | WINNER |
| 2 | Luke Robinson | HIGH | HIGH | SAFE | SAFE | RISK | HIGH | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | RUNNER UP | |||
| 3 | Jeremiah Riggs | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | OUT | ||||
| 4 | Christina Crawford | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | RISK | SAFE | SAFE | OUT | |||||
| 5 | A.J. Kirsch | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | RISK | SAFE | OUT | |||||
| 6 | Martin Casaus | SAFE | SAFE | HIGH | HIGH | HIGH | SAFE | INJ | ||||||
| 7 | Ivelisse Vélez | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | INJ | |||||||
| 8 | Eric Watts | RISK | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | OUT | |||||||
| 9 | Ryan Howe | SAFE | RISK | RISK | SAFE | OUT | ||||||||
| 10 | Rima Fakih | SAFE | RISK | RISK | OUT | |||||||||
| 11 | Mickael Zaki | SAFE | SAFE | OUT | ||||||||||
| 12 | Michelle Deighton | RISK | SAFE | QUIT | ||||||||||
| 13 | Matt Capiccioni | SAFE | OUT | |||||||||||
| 14 | Ariane Andrew | OUT | ||||||||||||
The contestant won the Tough Enough competition
The contestant performed best in the skills challenge.
The contestant was safe from elimination.
The contestant was at risk of elimination.
The contestant was selected to go into the finale.
The contestant was eliminated.
The contestant left the competition.
The contestant was forced by injury to withdraw from the competition.
The contestant won the skills challenge but was eliminated.
The contestant was the runner up.
Episode 1: Ariane was eliminated as Steve Austin and the trainers felt she did not have passion for wrestling. She later signed to WWE and competed as Cameron.
Episode 2: Matt was eliminated for not breaking free of the pack even though he has 9 years of experience.
Episode 3: Michelle quit so she could be with her daughter. Mickael was eliminated when Ryan performed a better promo.
Episode 4: Rima was eliminated after showing no improvement during the past month.
Episode 5: Ryan was eliminated because of his performance and for being in the bottom 3 three times in a row.
Episode 6: Ivelisse was eliminated due to an injury. Eric was eliminated for not improving.
Episode 7: Martin was forced out as he fractured his ankle and was not allowed to continue.
Episode 8: A.J. was eliminated because of his performance prior to charisma week, even after winning the skills challenge. Christina was eliminated for not showing any charisma.
Episode 9: Jeremiah was eliminated when his inexperience caught up to him.
Episode 10: Andy was chosen as the winner of Tough Enough with Luke being the runner-up.
Ariane Andrew, Christina Crawford, and Ivelisse Vélez received developmental contracts after the show was over along with winner Andy Leavine. Despite being the first person cut from the competition, Ariane Andrew ultimately wound up being the sole contestant to be called up to the main roster. She has appeared on WWE programming as Cameron, one half of The Funkadactyls, as well as Total Divas as herself. Leavine was released in 2012 after a lackluster run in developmental. He would later find success while wrestling in World Wrestling Council, where he is a one time WWC Universal Heavyweight Champion and one time WWC World Tag Team Champion. He would retire from wrestling in 2014. Vélez only stayed in the developmental territory FCW and left WWE in August 2012 after frustrations with the company.
Matt Capiccioni, Ivelisse Vélez, and Martin Casaus would later wrestle for Lucha Underground as Son of Havoc, Ivelisse, and Marty "The Moth" Martinez, respectively. Capiccioni and Velez both won the Lucha Underground Trios Championship on multiple occasions, whereas Casaus won both Lucha Underground Championship and Lucha Underground Gift of the Gods Championship.
Jeremiah Riggs would return to Bellator MMA in 2012, going on to lose three fights in the promotion before completely retiring from MMA. He would later compete on a 2015 episode of Steve Austin's Broken Skull Challenge.
On January 15, 2015, season 6 of Tough Enough was announced at the Critics Association Winter Press. Daniel Bryan, Hulk Hogan, and Paige served as judges, while Billy Gunn, Booker T, and Lita served as trainers/coaches. The show aired live from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida - home base of WWE's NXT developmental territory.[20] The winners, Josh and Sara, each received a $250,000 contract with WWE.[21] On October 28, it was confirmed that Amanda, ZZ, Mada, Patrick, and Daria signed to a WWE contract.[22] Amanda also appeared on the fifth season of WWE's reality television show Total Divas.[23] A year later, Chelsea and Gabi signed with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Chelsea would later go onto sign a contract with WWE in 2018.
| Contestants | Episodes | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | ||||
| 1 | Joshua "Josh" Bredl | RISK | SAFE | SAFE | HIGH | RISK | HIGH | HIGH | HIGH | RISK | WINNER | ||
| 1 | Sara Lee | SAFE | RISK | RISK | RISK | SAFE | SAFE | RISK | RISK | SAFE | WINNER | ||
| 3 | Amanda Saccomanno | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAVED | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | RUNNER-UP | ||
| 3 | Zamariah "ZZ" Loupe | RISK | SAFE | RISK | SAFE | RISK | RISK | SAFE | SAFE | RISK | RUNNER-UP | ||
| 5 | Tanner Saraceno | HIGH | HIGH | SAFE | RISK | HIGH | HIGH | HIGH | RISK | OUT | |||
| 6 | Giorgia "GiGi" Piscina | SAFE | HIGH | HIGH | HIGH | HIGH | HIGH | SAVED | OUT | ||||
| 7 | Chelsea Green | HIGH | SAFE | HIGH | OUT | ||||||||
| 8 | Mada Abdelhamid | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | HIGH | OUT | ||||||
| 9 | Patrick Clark | SAFE | HIGH | HIGH | HIGH | OUT | |||||||
| 10 | Gabi Castrovinci | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | OUT | ||||||||
| 11 | Daria Berenato | SAFE | SAFE | OUT | |||||||||
| 12 | Dianna Dahlgren | HIGH | |||||||||||
| 13 | Alex Frekey | SAFE | OUT | ||||||||||
| 14 | Hank Avery | OUT | |||||||||||
The contestant was one of the winners of the Tough Enough competition.
The contestant performed best in a skills challenge.
The contestant was safe from elimination.
The contestant was at risk of elimination.
The contestant was saved from elimination by a judge.
The contestant performed best in a skills challenge, but was at risk of elimination.
The contestant was selected to go into the finale.
The contestant was eliminated.
The contestant left the competition.
The contestant was not in the competition during this time.
The contestant was one of the runners-up.
Along with the two winners, the following finalists received developmental contracts right after the show ended: Amanda Saccomanno (later known as Mandy Rose), ZZ Loupe, Mada Abdelhamid, Patrick Clark, and Daria Berenato. Chelsea Green would eventually be signed in 2018 after a successful run in Impact Wrestling under the ring name "Laurel Van Ness".
Saccomanno, Berenato, and Green would eventually get called up to the main roster. Saccomanno wrestled under the ring name "Mandy Rose" and Berenato under the ring name "Sonya Deville". Green elected to wrestle under her real name. Clark would go on to win the NXT North American Championship under the ring name "Velveteen Dream". Sara Lee and ZZ Loupe were released in 2016. Josh Bredl was released in 2017 along with Mada Abdelhamid, who had requested for his own release. In April 2021, Chelsea Green was released from her WWE contract, with Patrick Clark being released the following month. Green returned to WWE at the 2023 Royal Rumble and, on July 17, 2023, Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville became the first pair of former Tough Enough contestants to win the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship. Green and Scottish wrestler Piper Niven would later lose the belts, as Niven replaced Deville after the latter suffered an injury.
Gabi Castrovinci would go on to wrestle for Impact Wrestling from 2016 to 2017 under the ring name "Raquel". She has also go on to be a one time Shine Tag Team Champion.
Sara Lee worked with WWE NXT brand for a year. Afterwards she retired from wrestling and married Wesley Blake in 2017. They had 3 children. Lee died from alcohol poisoning on October 6, 2022.[24] [25] [26] [27] [28]
| 2001 | Maven Huffman | |
| 2001 | Nidia Guenard | |
| 2002 | Jackie Gayda | |
| 2002 | Linda Miles | |
| 2003 | John Hennigan | |
| 2003 | Matt Cappotelli † | |
| 2004 | Daniel Puder | |
| 2011 | Andy Leavine | |
| 2015 | Joshua "Josh" Bredl | |
| 2015 | Sara Lee † |