Tough Enough 4: Episode 6 and Tough Enough Download

Small update for fans of TE4; or rather, fans of TE4's Mike Mizanin (a.k.a. The Miz). He had been concurrently appearing on episodes of Real World/Road Rules Challenge this season and was voted off the program on the episode seen November 22. If that isn't enough for fans, you can also check out his official site, www.mikethemiz.com, where he has been doing brief commentaries on the whole TE4 experience. Frankly, after reading the site, I'm still not getting this whole Miz character thing, but if it works for him then Godspeed.

Busy week for TE4, as there was not only a new segment on Smackdown broadcast this week, but also an hour-long recap of the series so far on UPN the following night. Most of what appeared in the documentary has already been covered, but there were a few interesting tidbits to cover there, so we'll be killing two birds with one stone by recapping them together.

First off is the piggybacked episode of TE4 from Smackdown: A replay of the "Capture the Flag" event airs before we are shown Al leading the five remaining contestants through the backstage area and towards the ring. Smith and Puder closely follow Al and have attentive looks on their faces. Meanwhile, Rodimer and Reeves lag behind, comparing and showing off their biceps, while Mizanin mugs for the camera.

Once in the ring, it is obvious that Puder is beginning to gain a fanbase, as there are a handful of signs in the crowd dedicated to him. Mizanin has one as well. Also, when Al introduces the contestants, both Justice Smith and Puder seem to get the heaviest reaction from the audience. After the intro, Al tells the audience that Reeves broke two ribs during the "Capture the Flag" competition. Al asks Reeves if he wants to quit. Reeves mentions that his nickname is the Silverback (it's even on the back of his t-shirt as "Silverback Attack") because "a silverback is the leader of the pack."

Upon hearing this, Mike Mizanin breaks away from the others and over-exaggerates a rolling of the eyes. Reeves ignores Mizanin and continues by stating, "I am the leader of the Tough Enough pack and leaders don't quit. Neither do I." Well, he should have left out that last sentence, as he essentially said that even though he's not a leader he won't quit, but it was a fair attempt at a promo and most people probably wouldn't catch that bit anyway.

Mike uses body-language to sarcastically appear to be scared of Reeves' comment. It is obvious that Mizanin is going for a heel-like character here in his actions. The problem is that nobody in that audience really knows him or cares enough about him to think of him as a "character." WWE viewers are going to look at Mizanin and not think, "Oh, he's just doing that to make himself look tough;" instead, they're going to look at Mizanin and say, "hey, Reeves broke two ribs and still wants to tough it out; don't be an ass during his moment to shine." The moment is brief, but it may be enough to hurt Mike in the voting this week.

Since Reeves is staying, Al has to announce the person voted off this week. It is, as predicted last week, Dan Rodimer. He was actually very impressive in the "Capture the Flag" competition, but he blew his 30-second promo by making himself look like an interloper who thinks he is going to be a real wrestler in just a matter of weeks. That killed him with the fans, no doubt. Rodimer shakes hands and hugs everyone, then leaves the ring with a look that shows he obviously didn't believe it would happen, but otherwise taking it very well. Nice way for him to go out, and it's a bit of a shame, as I thought he had some good potential there.

With Rodimer gone, Al tells the others that their competition tonight will be against each other in an Arm-wrestling competition. Off the beaten path here a bit: you do occasionally see arm-wrestling events in wrestling. However, they're usually done in situations where you can to continue a feud between two wrestlers where one or both are currently recovering from an injury. This is certainly the case with Reeves, so this may be the reason they went with the arm-wrestling competition. It is also done in cases where people are not ready to wrestle for a variety of other reasons, which could also be the case for the TE4 guys. After all, it's only been six weeks and they're traveling to appear at the Smackdown shows as well, so their training probably has just not progressed to the point where they could be doing anything other than an arm-wrestling competition.

Mike Mizanin and Dan Puder are the first to compete, and Al makes a point to mention that the right hands must be used. As he continues to talk, Mizanin leans over to the ref and is obviously playing up to the crowd as trying to get the ref to "do something for him" and the ref plays along and shakes his head. Puder seems to ignore it, while Al continues talking, while shooting daggers at Mizanin. Mike then mimes spitting up phlegm on his hand before getting into position for the competition. It is over within a couple of seconds, as Puder easily pushes Mizanin's hand down.