He's a Lady Tough Enough 4: Episode 7: Crossing Over

With the end of the competition coming closer, the rumors on the internet are starting to fly about the remaining competitors and about the competition itself. The most recent concern to some fans was disclaimer about the competition on the official website, which reads:

WWE, IN ITS SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE DISCRETION, RESERVES THE RIGHT TO CHANGE THE RULES, METHOD AND MANNER OF FAN VOTING AND WINNER SELECTION AT ANY TIME, FOR ANY REASON WHATSOEVER, OR FOR NO REASON AT ALL.

On one hand, readers who are familiar with reality shows will be somewhat familiar with disclaimers on other shows where producers wish to point out that they may have to change rules or eliminate certain contestants for a variety of reasons. What is odd about WWE's disclaimer is the addition of making a change "for no reason at all." One would think that "for any reason whatsoever" would cover that, unless they felt the need to say they had no reason to eliminate someone. Most likely it is a case of redundancy, but it is still interesting to point out, nonetheless. It should be mentioned that in the first three seasons of the show producers never had to worry about such procedures, as the contestants were judges by the trainers and the WWE and not by the general public. They could make any decision they wanted to

On the other hand, many fans have heard rumors that a number of the contestants will be signed up for developmental contracts with the company, thus defeating one of the purposes of the contest - to get a developmental contract. Of course, there is also the promised $250,000 a year over four years that would keep any of the contestants going if this was true, but one could see it stopping some of the contestants from trying as hard to win. On the other hand, the number of contestants that have been "guaranteed" a contract according to the rumors have run from three to six. Fans should also keep in mind that each season had seen a number of runner-ups get contracts working with WWE, either in front of or behind the cameras, so offering development deals with some of the contestants that do not win is hardly a new process in the program.

The other rumors about the program center on the contestants themselves, and really are just situations where it could be motivated by fans who want certain individuals to win or lose. Mike Mizanin was supposedly so upset over his loss in the arm-wrestling contest last week (see our recap here) that WWE was fearful he would be voted off. The one problem with this rumor is that Mizanin's reaction after losing the contest was not perfect, but certainly not enough to probably stop his fans from voting for him. If there was anything that would have played against Mizanin last week, it was his mugging for the audience during Reeves' comments about not quitting. Between that and Mizanin's quick loss in the contest - and that he has lost all of the contests so far - would have more to do with him possibly being voted off.

There have also been rumors about Justice Smith's attitude backstage, but such rumors go around about every person backstage at WWE at one point or another, so such a statement must be taken with a grain of salt. As for Puder, he seems to be the only one riding out the show as Teflon, because he is not only looking good in the competitions, but is rapidly becoming the favorite of Smackdown viewers from what the forums and newsgroups have been saying.

Incidentally, I apologize to readers for failing to mention the contestants appearing on The Tonight Show on November 29. Since I never watch the program, I failed to keep it in mind when doing last week's reviews. Sorry about that.

Finally, whoever on the program does get a developmental contract will have to make their way to OVW at some point. The December 5th edition of the Louisville newspaper, The Courier-Journal, has a feature article with pictures about OVW and you can read more about the promotion here.

Enough about all the little points of interests connected to the competition, as we turn to the piggybacked episode of Tough Enough 4 that appeared on Smackdown, December 2.

As with the past two episodes, there is an opening match to start off Smackdown before the arrival of the Tough Enough 4 contestants in the show. As always, they are seen walking backstage with Al Snow towards the ring. Puder is very prominent in front of the group of contestants as they make their way out to the ring, slapping hands of fans who are along the railings by the ramp. That is, all but Mizanin slapping hands as they go down the ramp. Mizanin, the last in line, seems to twice go over to greet fans, only for the fans to be already working their way back to their seats after greeting the three other contestants. Bad timing and/or bad camera-angles? Probably both, as I doubt fans there really hated Mizanin. Nevertheless, it did make for humorous viewing.

In the ring, Al introduces the four contestants and then asks Reeves, as Al did the previous week, if he wanted to quit due to injuries. Reeves jokes at first that he will quit, but then says that he will not. As an aside by your writer here, it is odd how often the contestants have tried to be funny or sarcastic in their responses; such opportunities have consistently fallen flat every single time. More importantly, Al's facial reaction always seems to say, "you're an idiot," each and every time. This time, Al essentially ignores Reeves' response and tell the audience that the four contestants were given 30 seconds to film a promo on who they think should be let go next of the four and why.