WWE Tough Enough 3, Episode 7: A Bag, A Rib, and A Cut

For those of you expecting Mike, I apologize. The Thanksgiving holiday has taken Mike off to places unknown, while I sit here in my cold, dark office, reviewing TE3, lighting a coffin-nail, pounding down whiskey from the bottle in my desk, and longing for the days of my youth when I was a bright young man on the move. I was thinking of calling it a day, or even a week, when I heard a knock on the door. Before I could tell whoever was on the other side to go away, the door opened and a gorgeous dame about 20 entered the room. She was brunette, tall and built in all the right ways. Her dress clung close to her body – just as it should – and in combination with the cool confident of her glide across the room and her jutting jaw, she looked like a cobra happily ready to strike –

Er . . . but you’re not here to read all this. Let us get to the review of Tough Enough 3 this week.

Before that, I want to make mention to everyone again that if you want a chance to keep up with the TE winners of the past, you really should give OVW a chance. In the past three months, OVW’s weekly television series has featured the debut of Linda, Jackie, and Matt Morgan from TE2, while even Chris Harvard has made an appearance back in September. As a fan who has seen all three in action, both at the weekly filmings and at house-shows, I have been watching them develop and can give readers my opinion of how the three members from TE2 are shaping up so far.

Of the three, Matt – ironically enough – has had the most ring-time, but he has been down here in Louisville, Kentucky (where OVW is located), since mid-summer, so he has had the longest time of the group to work on his in-ring performance. His early matches showed a lot of promise, but it seemed at times that he would blow-up easily (blow-up is a wrestling term meaning that the wrestler would use so much energy early on in a match that he would have a hard time finishing the match due to lack of strength). That’s been changing in the past couple of months, and I think he’ll do fine as he continues his way through his training.

As for Linda and Jackie: Jackie has had the most in-ring and on-air time of the two, but never in anything more than as a valet for the heel team of the Revolution. Jackie has now taken over the role in the group that Victoria had before her (with Victoria now Women’s Champion in the WWE), but she still has a long way to go before she is good in even the subordinate role of the valet. Audiences seem to get riled up when she appears, with signs and shouts about the “Hot Tub Ho” popping up every time she faces the crowd. In her favor, I must say that she’s taking it well and behaving in a traditional “heel” manner when these chants begin; still, she really hasn’t done anything other than look frustrated at ring-side so far. Perhaps things will change as she progresses.

Linda looks very strong, but she hasn’t had a chance to do anything yet, having only started to make appearance on-camera within the past month as well. She is strictly in a valet role as well on the television program, and her in-ring work with Jackie on-camera has been standard “girl fight” material. (Push opponent down. Jump on her and shake her head back and forth, as you pull on her hair and she kicks her legs up in the air. Get pulled off. When opponent stands up, knock her down. Repeat.) Again, over time that will probably change, but there is really nothing to write home about happening with the two TE2 winners currently on-camera. I hope that that will change.

For curious fans who do not live in the Louisville, Kentucky, area (where OVW is located), OVW does have a weekly television series and each month’s worth of hour-long episodes can be purchased through their website. I guarantee that any wrestling fan who buys one will find themselves wanting to get more, not only for the chance to see former TE cast members in action, but also to see up-and-coming stars of tomorrow and even the occasional guest appearance by major current WWE stars. Check out www.ovwrestling.com for more details.

Okay, enough with the plug and the past, now we’ll turn to this week’s episode of TE3:

The episode starts with a look at “previously on Tough Enough 3.” This centers around Nick being cut, which is a surprise to Scott, as he felt Kelly should have been cut instead. Big, meanwhile, states that Kelly had to get over her back injury quickly or else she would be left behind. Ominous music should be heard here, but instead the show cuts to the House on the Haunted Hill. No, wait. I mean the house on the hill. Sorry.

It is morning and in an on-camera interview, Jonah admits that for the past week and a half he had been getting dizzy spells. He doesn’t want to tell anyone as he is worried that it may get him cut. One would think the constant vomiting he has been doing might be a telltale physical sign to everyone that something is wrong, but that’s just my guess.

The cast goes to Trax West and begin the day’s training. It is hard-hitting, grueling work, and Matt mentions on-camera that with eight people left, the training was getting more intense and faster. The “intense” part is seen in the next shot when Al grabs Jamie by the face and tells her in a menacing manner, “Quit holding back. Do you have any aggression in you?”

In another on-camera interview, Scott admits that he is on “the hot seat now.” He knows he doesn’t do things as well as the rest, but he figures he may be able to get by with “the personality and charisma that everyone lacks.” That’s his statement from the show. This is not backed up with the next shot that shows him manically laughing in the ring as he puts someone into a very, very, extremely poor variation of “the Wall of Jericho.” The move means standing over a person who is face-down on the mat and then bringing their legs up into the air, thus putting tremendous pressure on their back and neck. Scott’s variation however, looks like he got the legs about half an inch off the mat, which doesn’t look very painful at all. Except to the trainers that is. Well, mainly Bill, actually. Al just laughs, as does the cast.