WWE Tough Enough October 14 Update: News on TE3 and Josh’s New Gig

Not much news again this week to lead us into the premiere of Tough Enough 3 on October 17. First off, a couple of corrections:

The editor of the Pro Wrestling Torch newsletter, Wade Keller, emailed me to correct a reference from the October 7 column. I reported that the major news story of “Lisa,” the TE3 contestant we believe to have had a psychotic breakdown, was first reported in the Lords of Pain site, but it was actually in the Torch newsletter first and cut-and-pasted by the Lords of Pain site. My apologies to Wade and the rest of the Torch staff.

I also received a note from a reader, letting me know of a mistake in the September 10 report. In that report, I noted that Chris Nowinski wrestled Russ Haas at the first OVW show at the New Davis Arena. That is impossible, as Russ unfortunately died last fall of a heart problem. Chris actually wrestled Charlie Haas, Russ’ brother, who has been making appearances in dark matches and house shows in WWE.

The latest issue of the Torch newsletter had quite a bit of information about TE3, most of which can be found in my exclusive interview with John “Big” Gaburick posted last week. Among the few bits of additional information, courtesy the Torch:

At least one indy wrestler did make the round of 25. No word on whether this person made the final 13.

One female contestant who made the final 13 appeared to simply be a publicity-seeker, having no real desire to become a wrestler. She lied simply to get her way onto television. Her admission appears to have led to a severe blow-up in the house.

Lastly, there is supposed to be a “jaw dropping shocker” to end the season.

WWE Byte This, their internet show available for viewing at www.wwe.com, ran a show focusing on TE3. A short recap follows.

We start off the show with the news that Dr. Tom, regular co-host with Kevin Kelley, is on assignment and his replacement is none other than… Josh Mathews from Tough Enough 1! Josh, who is extremely popular in Malaysia according to Kelly, is enjoying his on-air roles in WWE. Then the conversation quickly turns to the past week’s TV, and I fast-forward.

Former TE trainer Tazz joins the show (on his 22nd birthday…) and comments that Josh has a bright future as a play-by-play announcer. By being able to form intelligent sentences, we know he’s already better than Michael Cole. Tazz comments that it’s easy to see in a person’s eyes if they have what it takes to make it. Maven, Nidia, Taylor, Chris, and Josh, as well as Greg, all had it. None of the others did. He didn’t spend any time with the TE2 kids to know.

He’s been around the TE3 cast, and in fact tells us that he’ll be a part of the show. He feels that there are a couple of “ringers” on the show who have the charisma and athleticism needed. He puts over Big as “good people,” which I have to agree with, and also is pleased to see Bill DeMott do well, having both been trained by Johnny Rodz.

Phone call comes in for Josh, asking if his dreams of wrestling are on the back burner due to his announcing career. Josh answers by saying he loves what he’s doing right now. Who is his favorite TE contestant? Obviously, he says Maven. Kelly, apparently never having seen the show, asks if they got along well.

John “Big” Gaburick joins the show. Not having entrance music, Josh makes up music on the spot for him. Look for it on the next WWE the Music album.

Big discusses the house situation. You can read about it in the interview. Most of his interview covers material you can find in the interview. He notes that the publicity involved in them being banned from the beach house led to them finding the new, better house.

Kelly asks Josh how long it took before he got tired of the other people in the house. Josh says normally, two or three weeks. In the case of Darryl, it was two or three hours.

Kelly asks Big when we’ll get to see him in the ring. Big says he told Al Snow right off the bat, “Big don’t bump.” That answers a question of mine, actually.

Video highlights of Ivory from TE1. I know Dale would enjoy it.

Nidia joins the show. Kelly asks what Nidia took away from the show, aside from a big trophy (and a friendship with Josh, which is most important). She responds that she learned that hard work leads to good things.

They reference the confrontation between Nidia and Rey Misterio on Smackdown last week. They had a shouting match in Spanish, and Nidia confirms that she propositioned Rey and he did not respond very well. Kelly clarifies that Rey said that he’d rather lie down with a dog in the street. Nidia counters that his mouth was saying one thing but his eyes said another.