Tough Enough Review and Reactions

Hello everyone and welcome back to Talk Wrestling World, I hope you are all well and good! Today is the first of a brand new series here on Talk Wrestling World, as I bring you my first Tough Enough Review and Reactions post. I will be honest, I wasn't sure if I was actually going to be doing these on my blog and I'm still not sure how regular they will be. Some may be up on Wednesdays some might not be up until the Thursday or the Friday or maybe even the weekend but I was getting no sleep last night and so I watched the show and I managed to convince myself to start writing up a review at two am. So here I am today with the first ever Tough Enough Review and Reactions post. In these blog posts I will be recapping the action from the night. I will be telling you what I thought of the show, what I thought of the contestants, who I liked, who I didn't like and who are my early favourites. I am really looking forward to the next ten weeks. I'm going to be super busy but I cannot wait to really get stuck into things and start the journey of finding our next big WWE superstar and diva. Today is a seriously busy blog post so I don't want to waste too much time so I'm going to give you my reminders and updates and then we can get right into things. I'm going to start with NXT month. I have already mentioned that there has been a set back for NXT month and instead of it returning in July it's now going to be coming back in August, my birthday month. I really do wish that I didn't have to push it back again but I have been so busy recently with all the live shows and prediction posts that I have no time to pre post for NXT month. I would love to know what posts you would like to see in the season to let me know by leaving a comment bellow. I will also soon be brining you my updates and news surrounding my podcast and a couple of other new projects I'm working on. As usual I will link bellow any recent blog posts including last weeks RAW Review and Reactions my Money in the bank review and reactions blog post. Finally, you can let me know what you thought of last nights episode of Tough Enough by leaving a comment bellow or by tweeting me at @TezangiVictoria.

Now, In all honesty, I have no idea where to begin. Like I said in my intro, I haven't thought the Tough Enough series out that much on my blog so I'm not sure what order we are going in or anything like that so I'm going to go with the flow. I'm going to kick things off with the challenges that we saw last night, then the drama we got focusing more on the reality side and then I'm going to talk about who stood out for all the right and wrong reasons and finally I will be talking about the bottom three and the elimination!

Last night we saw two challenges kick start the new series of WWE Tough Enough both very cardio based and really tested the competitors to the limit. Now, as a girl who hates cardio I really did feel for these guys when I was watching this last night, it literally looked like torture but at the same time really fun! The first challenge saw the guys and girls step inside the arena that held Wrestlemania twenty four back in two thousand and eight  as they competed in a tough cardio and strength based challenge. The contestants had to were a training shoot for the first circuit, the second round they had to carry a sack that weighed their own body and weight, and lastly too finish the first challenge they had to run/clime to the top of the arena were Billy Gunn awaited them. I thought this as a great way to kick start the season! It was bound to set apart the good from the great and was really tested their cardio mare than anything. The one guy that really stood out for me in this challenge as of course Tanner. I personally am not the biggest fan of Tanner, witch I go into more detail about later on but he owned this challenge. One thing we learnt about Tanner throughout this episode is that he's cardio is insane. He went through this course faster than all the guys there despite being the smallest one their. He defiantly surprised me and he sure did surprise the rest of the male contestants. He really did go into he's own little zone and made the challenge look almost easy. I think it was a big wake up call to the bigger guys who underestimated him. They knew after that challenge he was not someone to take lightly and he was going to be a huge threat. Someone else that stood out but for the complete wrong reasons was ZZ. Now, I'm a huge ZZ fan, come on, who isn't? But we really did see him struggle throughout this entire episode in the physical challenges not just the first one.  I do think that he is going to get better and better as the series goes on and he will be around for a long time because the people love him, but he's really going to need to start pushing himself even more and work even harder. It was great seeing him not give up last night and fight through the pain but it was also great seeing him get cheered on and a lot of support from he's fellow contestants. Amanda had a great performance also as the first girl to complete the course. Who disappointed me? I have to say Joshua. I was really expecting a lot more from him. He's not shy about the fact the is the biggest guy there but he needs to start putting he's money where he's mouth is. He didn't stand out at all last night and I honestly thought he was either going to win this challenge or come a close second or third but being one of the last was just not good enough at all. He really needs start doing more and doing better to stand out and keep people voting for him. Hank really pissed me off throughout last night's show. He's attitude in the challenge sucked and the little sexiest comment he made latter on in the night (witch I'm so glad Paige called him out about) made me dislike him even more. The second challenge saw the competitors get in the ring were they learnt how to run the ropes and lift an opponent. Once again, I liked this challenge a lot. It really allowed us to see just how they moved in the ring and how comfortable they are in the ring. It was once again a great cardio based challenge with a little bit of strength that was really going to test everyone there. Before they actually got in the ring they were all asked how many rounds they thought they could witch was interesting. There was some nice friendly competition between Hank and Josh but it was once again it was Tanner that we were all talking about who once again got under the skin of everyone else when he said that he could do twice as much as everyone else. Bold words and ones that did not go down well with the guys in particular but he did, unlike Josh, put he's money where he's mouth is when he got in the ring he once again was the stand out when he almost did twice as much as everyone there including the girls and actually beat the average for what the men did. He's cardio really did surprise me again. He stood out like crazy in this challenge and I don't know about you but he really did stand out for me too. Dianna was another one who stood out last night but not for the best of reasons. She spent most of the episode moaning about her little injury and her personal life and then when she got in the ring she did better than all of the girls and most of the guys. I don't know if she's just a cry baby and wasn't as injured as she made out to be or she is a tough chick who can turn off the pain and kick butt. At the moment I'm personally not a fan of hers. Once again, Josh let me down. I'm a huge fan of this guy and I'm really behind him but he just didn't live up to the hype and he didn't do as good as I expected him too.

Challenges over and time to look at the "reality" side to the show. I think one of the biggest shocks of the night for me was learning that ZZ is only eighteen. I honestly had no idea he was so young, I thought he was at least twenty three/twenty four, but the fact he is so young is just going to be another thing that really allows the fans to get behind him even more but it could be something that also holds him back. I'm sure a lot of the judges and coaches will believe that because he is so young there is time for him to grow and come back while that's not the case for some of the older contestants. Last night's show saw all the contestants head to a bar, leaving behind Patrick and ZZ because their both too young to drink and go into a club but it was nice seeing them bond together in the hot tub. At the club we had Gabi the centre of attention, Dianna moaning and talking about herself as usual and Sara being someone who I loved straight away. Later on in the show when Dianna went out with her fiancée and then started moaning about not being able to plan her wedding and her injury witch really pissed me off. I just got the vibe off her that she didn't want to be there half was much as everyone else and she was just wasting everyone's time. I loved that Gabi called her out. She was the only one that was going to do and I'm so glad she did. She's becoming an early favourite of mine and I cannot wait to see what more she brings. When it comes to the guys it was basically a "lets hare Tanner" party, but to be fair I understand where some of the guys were coming from. I would personally really struggle to be around and live with someone like Tanner. The man is a ready born heel. He really did get under the skin of pretty much everyone and the comments he made left me wanting to throw stuff at my laptop. I didn't really like how Daniel Bryan later almost painted him out as a victim and everyone else a bully. Tanner knew exactly what he was doing when he was pissing everyone off but like him or not, we're all talking about him so he's doing something right. One of the biggest moments of the reality part of the night was the argument between Tanner and Alex. I like Alex, I really like Alex, but he's such a hot head and there came a time in the show when I thought he was actually going to hit Tanner or something. That temper could either hold him back or push him forward. He just needs to learn to control it. Patrick makes great TV also. He stood out for all the right reasons. He knows how to argue he's point and how he feels about things by not coming across aggressive.

Let's take a look at the contestants and see what I thought all round of everyone.
Patrick and ZZ.
Let's start out with Patrick. Honestly guys, he is one of my favourites to win and he has been from day one. He really is someone who stands out for all the right reasons and last night was no different. In the physical challenges he didn't stand out too much but he did a good job and as an average performer. The more we see of him in these physical challenges the better he will get the and the more faith people will have in him. What I loved the most about him was that he speaks up and says the things everyone was thinking. He's not afraid to voice he's opinions and we saw him do that throughout the show last night. What makes him stand out more than anyone is he's passion. He really does love this business and he's so protective and passionate about the WWE. He know's he's history and he wants to be surrounded by people who are just as passionate as he is and if your not he will call you out on it. Patrick is young, hungry, he knows what he wants and he knows what he needs to do to get what he wants. I'm really really backing this guy and I know a lot of you are too. We then have ZZ. Who doesn't love ZZ? There's no doubt that he really is struggling with the physical challenges but he's fighter and it's he's heart and passion that is going to get him through this show. He has the fans right behind him because he's just a genuine guy. He's funny, he's real, and he passionate and that is what the WWE wants to see. He might not be in the best of shape in comparison to everyone else but he has got this far for a reason. ZZ is someone we really are going to see grow and with the fans behind him so much, we're not going to see him going anywhere any time soon.

Dianna, Gabi, and Amanda
Up next, three girls who stood out greatly last night. First up Amanda. We didn't see that much of her but from what we did see I was really impressed. I do think she is the favourite amongst the coaches to win this season. She has a pretty face, she's blonde, has a great body and has that all round typical diva image. But this is no Barbie. She can really move and is doing great in the physical challenges. If she carries on doing what she is doing in the challenges she is going to go really far and I think the more we see of her the more she is going to win us as the fans/viewers over and it will be that that keeps her around even longer. We then have Dianna who just frustrated me throughout the entire episode. I really really don't like her personally. She makes good reality TV because she makes us so angry and she's the centre piece of confrontation. In my opinion and from what I read last night on twitter she really isn't a likeable character and to get through this competition you have to have the WWE universe on your side. I think her un likeable real life character however, is something that could make her a great WWE diva heel character in the future. She is doing great in the challenges and just like Tanner, we're all talking about her. Finally, Gabi. I'm loving Gabi. I wasn't all that struck on her at first but she has something really really special. As the weeks go on she is going to really to shine in the challenges but she is also making and going to continue to make great TV. She has a fun, feisty personality and I think slowly she is going to win over the WWE universe.

Sara, Mada, Georgia, Daria
I have put these four contestants all in the same category because they all need to do the same thing. Stand out. These guys were the quieter ones of the group last night and the ones we saw least of. There are some huge characters in the competition, I understand that but in order to stick around they all need to start speaking up more.Sara is actually my favourite girl in the competition right now and she's a huge fan favourite. She different from the typical diva, she has a great body, amazing passion and heart and she has a great personality but we need to see more of her. She could very easily fade into the background with girls like Gabi and Dianna who have such loud voices and I really don't want that to happen. She has been a favourite of mine from the beginning and I really am backing her. Another girl I actually surprised myself with last night was Georgia. We didn't see that much of her but I really do like her. I honestly thought I wasn't going to like her at all but she has managed to grow on me and she could be someone to watch out for. I think she's the little dark horse of the competition. Daria, we didn't see that much of at all. She's another favourite of mine. She's a great speaker and has a great story to tell but we need to see more of her if she is to stick around. Same goes for Mada. To be honest I didn't even realise he was there last night. He needs to stand out more in the physical challenges and he needs to start letting he's voice be heard. Not great first impressions of him but I do think he has potential.

Tanner and Josh
I've already spoken a lot about Tanner so I won't go into too much but like him or not he is owning it right now. He's not my personal favourite at all but he is just doing so so well right now. He's character is making him someone we cannot stop talking about. He's making great reality TV but he is also surprising me and standing out for all the right reasons physically. He was the stand out of both  challenges last night and this is by far the biggest threat to everyone. Josh on the other hand let me down massively last night. I've been very vocal on twitter about really being behind Josh but we need to see more of him and we need to see better. He needs to stop talking so highly of himself and bigging himself up and actually standing out. He needs better performances in the physical challenges because they just aint good enough and he needs to speak up and let's he's voice be heard. He very nearly left the competition last night so he needs to seriously improve over the next week.

Alex and Hank
Finally, our two meat heads. The thing I have with these two is that I had two very separate opinions. I made it clear from that start I was not a fan of Hank what so ever. I thought he was boring, lacked personality and was a complete idiot. The comments he made angered me to the point where I wanted to turn my lap top off and go to bed and just like Josh he didn't live up to the hype what so ever. I'm so glad Paige called him out about the comments he made and I'm so glad he left last night. Alex on

the other hand I'm a big fan of. I think he has loads and loads of potential. He was an average performer and to keep in the competition he is going to have to show a little more and work a little harder but he's a likeable character with a side to him that could really be brought out in a heel character. He's hot head and one to pay close attention too in the coming weeks. I'm really getting behind Ale.

All round I thought it was a great first show. I was delighted to see Hank go. I felt he was the right person to leave. He made some horrible comments, he came across really bad and he was an average performer with little character. ZZ and Josh were the right two to also be put in the bottom three. Hopefully this is a huge wake up call for Josh. The judges and coaches proved to be great choices and Jericho did a great job hosting the show as did Renee Young. The only complaint I had was that the show did feel rushed so hopefully that is something that changes. Favourites of the week had to be Patrick and Amanda with Gabi and Tanner coming a close second. Let me know what you thought of the show and who you are backing by leaving a comment bellow or by tweeting me at @TezangiVictoria.