Tough Enough 4: The Million Dollar Challenge

Welcome to another season of Tough Enough. Some of you may recall that Tough Enough III ended back in February 2003 with John Hennigan and Matt Cappotelli. They were both sent on to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) for training. As to how they have been doing, check out our column next week at this time for more details on Hennigan, Cappotelli, and all the other TE winners (and a few that maybe didn't win the show, but certainly won WWE's attention).

For now, though, our attention is really on the new season. After Tough Enough III went off the air back in February 2003, MTV and WWE held discussions about a fourth season. Unfortunately, nothing came of the talks, and the two companies went their separate ways. There was also still a stigma attached to the winners that was hard to avoid in the fan-circles and in the business - even when the winners were shown as having bright futures in the business (which was especially true with Hennigan and Cappotelli) - many people tended to view the show as a bit of a joke. Also, attempts by MTV to make the show as Real World-like as possible did more to hurt the show than help. So Tough Enough was without a home. Worse yet, although there was talk of Spike TV possibly picking it up, there was a certain lack of interest in finding a new home for it on another channel.

As the months went by, the interest in seeing a new season wane as new shows came and went. Then, roughly a year and half after the end of Season 3, it was announced that there would be a fourth season of the show.

Where? Not as a show in its own timeslot, but instead as a segment in episodes of WWE's regular Thursday night wrestling show on UPN, Smackdown. In hearing about this, I was reminded of a gag Chris Elliott did once on Late Night with David Letterman where he would do his own talk-show during a five-minute segment in the middle of Letterman's show. His excuse - it was a new experiment by the network called "Piggybacking," where they would test a show during another show. Sometimes what is meant as humor in the past becomes reality in the future, as Tough Enough III really is "piggybacking" on Smackdown's turf in order to proceed with the show.

The rules? Not quite the same as in the previous years. First off, no women are part of the contest. Instead, those women who wanted to try out for "diva" roles in the company were already featured in the similarly set up, rather disastrous "$250,000 Diva Search" segments earlier in the year on RAW that found audiences at the shows bored and home viewers changing channels. Hopefully that won't be the case with the male challenge for $1,000,000 in the Tough Enough 4 search that will be appearing on Smackdown for the next several weeks.

Also, the contest winner of Tough Enough 4 doesn't get the same type of developmental deal that the previous winners got. Instead, they are playing for a chance to win $250,000 each year as part of a four-year contract with WWE, subject to WWE's standard terms and conditions (meaning that if the winner did something stupid to make them a risk to keep as a developmental talent, or even just flat-out sucked, then WWE can void the contract. Of course, in wrestling one can never be quite sure what constitutes an action that is considered to be "really stupid.").

Even the beginning try-outs are a bit different, as it is evident that WWE is looking for men who already show they are fit both mentally and physically to be part of a vigorous training period. In other words, you'll find no Darryls (everyone's favorite overweight sad-sack from Season One) in the group. Instead, it is obvious that any one of these guys could probably do some serious damage to someone if they were in a fight.

After weeks of promotion about the contest on the WWE television programs, and with over a thousand applicants sending in videos and applications to try-out, WWE had reduced the field to 50 contestants. Do we get Al Snow or Bill DeMott walking up the driveways of homes like they were Ed McMahon to tell contestants that they've won a chance on the show as they've done in the past? No, either due to time restraints or because we're talking about guys in their early to mid-twenties here, it is taken a bit more serious than that.