It’s the penultimate episode of Tough Enough and The Rock is here to teach the final 5 a thing or two about charisma. But that five becomes three before the show is over.
OK everybody, I’m aware that I’ve been slacking terribly with my Tough Enough recaps, but I’ve been quietly working at making up for the slack and you can find my reviews for episode 5, episode 6, and episode 7 if you’re looking to catch up. My bad.
Christina Returns
It’s good news for Trish as she learns the last remaining woman, Christina, has only sprained her ankle and will be able to continue with the competition. AJ apologises to her for standing too close to the turnbuckle, assuming full responsibility for her injury. Good of him to do so, though I’m sure he knows his days are very much numbered given how much regard the trainers hold Christina in.
Daily Training
After a brief talk about charisma from Stone Cold, the four healthy contestants go into a lengthy sequence involving drop toe-holds. Hilariously, AJ and Luke both go for one at the same time, causing Austin to laugh and Bill to tell them off, and just as AJ was talking about taking Christina’s spot while she’s out. Jeremiah and Andy go next and Jeremiah rushes around the ring and fails to protect himself or Andy and gets told to slow down by Austin.
Andy and Luke go next and both hit the moves with precision and get not just praise from Bill DeMott… but a group hug! I’ve literally seen everything. The sequences have gotten longer and more elaborate week by week, and if anyone had reservations about the limitations of the training then just watch these work outs.
The Charisma Bus
Bill DeMott and James Roday of Psych fame arrive on an open-top bus and tell the contestants about charisma. Their task will be to conduct a 10-minute tour of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. AJ goes first and is flat as a pancake, failing to entertain the general public with his facts. Luke goes next and tries to get everyone to join in whenever he zings Bill but nobody does. Watching him die on stage so to speak was a real treat. Christina’s group look more willing to engage with her but she reverts to the definition of an airhead and fails to point anything out. Andy takes a turn and fails miserably as well.
Last but emphatically not least is Jeremiah who cracks decent jokes and uses his casual farm boy charm to win the group over. He even takes the time to hit on passers by. He of course wins the challenge because he’s the most charismatic member of the group and this questionable challenge is over.
It wasn’t so much the challenge that was questionable, it was the fact four of the five were terrible, and the involvement of James Roday did nothing more than provide a crossover between USA network shows. I preferred the 90 second visits from WWE superstars to this guy. Some evidence of his charisma would have been nice.
The Rock
Rocky steps into the ring and asks them to take turns with him just wrestling around so he can see what they’ve got. Andy goes first and you immediately notice the difference between a trainee and a bonafide superstar, as The Rock is light years faster, snapping off moves without thinking about it. Luke and Jeremiah go next and take moves reasonably well, but when AJ gets in the ring the music changes, suggesting one his trademark mistakes is coming. Besides forcing The Rock to roll around on the mat with him, he does nothing wrong however. Christina says she wants to play too and Rock just glares at her.
Rocky tells them they were all fine, but they need to loosen up or they might hurt themselves. This was 100% what I wanted and expected of each and every pro that made a visit this season. It’s what’s been missing compared to years past and I suppose it’s better late than never. I’d also like to extend my apologies to The Rock on the off chance he heard me suggest he won’t be able to go like he used to. He proved to be just as agile as he always was, and the evidence of his strength is abundant every time he appears on camera. After watching him go for even two minutes has me much more excited for his match against Cena next year.
Skills Challenge: Talk the Talk
Each contestant has a chance to get in the ring and cut a promo on Bill while the others wait outside. Not the ring, the building. Rocky elects to stay around to the surprise of Austin and the delight of the viewing audience.
Jeremiah goes first and makes a fat joke, a nice little cutesy line, and finishes up with some rhyme. Much better than I thought. Bill talks about how comfortable he is, but Rock points out how much he has to think. Luke goes next and swings for the fences, talking about wolves and lions and such and such. It was better than Jeremiah’s, but not perfect. Rock likes his intonation.
Christina takes her turn and cuts a pretty nice promo, but does it without any feeling whatsoever. Rock agrees, saying she was too timid. The eternally silent Andy goes next and starts off comedically but turns it around pretty well, but he doesn’t quite have the fire a man of his size should.
AJ goes last and comes so far out of his shell he’s unrecognisable. That’s right, the blandest guy in the competition cut the best promo. He vented his real frustrations and did it with more passion than the others, bringing facial expression and body language to the table for good measure. Bill actually asks WTF and can’t believe how good it was.
The Rock cuts a promo on each of them in turn and naturally completely owns them, but when he gets to AJ he breaks character, smiles, and congratulates him.
Critique & Feedback
Austin, Bill and Trish talk about how good AJ was in the skills challenge but don’t forget how bad he was in the ring before then, with Austin claiming he was directly responsible for Christina’s injury. Trish says Christina’s promo was like her early work on the show, lacking passion, and Bill says she was absolutely horrendous on the bus. They talk about Luke’s swagger and say he has the most potential. Bill praises Jeremiah’s work on the bus but is quick to point out how dangerous he is in the ring. Finally they talk about how quiet he is, and how given all that he has on the line he should be better.
Andy, Christina and AJ are selected as the bottom three. Andy is angry, throwing his bags down the stairs and claiming he and Christina would be the only ones who could make a contribution in the WWE. Bold.
The Bottom Three
Austin mocks Andy’s decision to not dress up for the occasion and asks him about himself. He talks about digging ditches and hard work. Austin comes down on him hard for saying he’s given everything he has and pokes at him about his family. He asks if he’s pissed off with him and he asks if he can be honest. You can imagine Stone Cold’s response. It’s like Matt Cross has returned to talk his way off the show all over again.
He moves on to Christina and asks her about her ankle. He says after she was last in the bottom three she dramatically improved, but her injury hampered her and was partially her fault. He says that because it’s Charisma week she should have had a lucky break but she failed to take advantage. She fails to offer an explanation as to why and we have a new contender for worst answer to a Stone Cold question. He says she doesn’t want it badly enough.
AJ’s turn on the carousel of fun. He fires back at every one of Austin’s questions and holds his own pretty well until Andy interrupts him, drawing the Rattlesnake’s venom. He returns to AJ and says he cut the best promo but he isn’t sure if one day can save him.
Austin and Andy get into it again as Andy tries to tell him he chose the wrong bottom three, repeating his sentiments that Christina and himself will be a success one day. Austin pokes at him over and over, before saying he has good news and bad. The bad news is two of them are going home, the good is that the survivor will make the final three.
He takes Christina’s belt from her and she puts up almost no struggle, sealing her fate. He prods at Andy more and more and seems to have him trapped in a paradox by going back on his word that he’s given everything he has, causing him to yell at the top of his lungs. Stunningly, Austin sends AJ home and tells Andy to bring his best to the final.
Next week: Makeovers!
Overall Thoughts
The theme of charisma is a very important one for the WWE hopefuls, and though the challenge to test it was a poor one, the promo time with The Rock more than made up for it. My complaint is that this is something that can’t be taught, they either have it or they don’t. All the other skills can be taught and trained and honed, so why was this left until the penultimate week? Shouldn’t it have been mandatory upon acceptance to the show that they were charismatic?
That issue aside, I enjoyed The Rock’s appearance immensely, both for the good of the show and the contestants, and for his involvement with the WWE going forward. They all cut promos better than the NXT rookies (Wade Barrett not withstanding) and it was nice to watch them. They’re getting to do more in the ring as well, and that can only be a good thing.
Contestant Evaluation
It’s still Luke‘s competition to lose, though it wasn’t a good sign that he slipped up a little in the week he should have been best in: charisma. He cut a pretty good promo, but AJ’s was better. He’s got the look, he’s fundamentally sound, and his cocky attitude will take him to winning the competition in my opinion.
Jeremiah‘s energy and eagerness are his greatest strengths, and they served him well when it came to interacting with the public in the bus challenge. Luke isn’t shy, but Jeremiah has a vibe about him that suggests he’d sit down with anyone and talk to them for an hour. He’s got a unique look and wants to be a star, but he’s just got no grasp of the basics that are needed to keep himself and his opponent safe. It’ll take a LOT of training in FCW for him to be ready for the big time.
Andy is a big bad giant. But he’s so timid for a man of that size that it’ll take a miracle for him to win. He’s good in the ring and all, as his exhibition with Luke proved, but he doesn’t bring the attitude required of a monster, and that’s got to be his character. I was shocked his smart-ass remarks in the elimination process didn’t get him tossed from the show, but he’s still around. For now.
Plugs
The MK Fun Hour. Beastie Boys, Mortal Kombat, Chikara, PWG and general hilarity. What more do you need from a wrestling podcast?
Again, I don’t see how AJ can be blamed for the Christina injury. That was 100% her fuck up. Obivously, they’ll do whatever they can to get this woman in, just because her sister, who is equally incompetent is already in the company. Get ready to see her sucking it up on the big stage really soon.
When I saw it for the first time I felt the same, but if you watch again he was standing pretty close to the turnbuckle and it didn’t leave here a lot of room to spread her weight out.
And yeah, she’s not great, but she’s not much worse than the currently employed divas, and this is winning a contract with the WWE, not being named the world’s greatest wrestler, so we have to accept what they’re looking for and what we like are not the same.