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The W - Guest Columns - Tough Enough [#306, 11/21/02]
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thecubsfan
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Since: 10.12.01
From: Aurora, IL

Since last post: 938 days
Last activity: 318 days
#1 Posted on | Instant Rating: 10.00
TV PG L open - wow, no time for credits for the last show.

Previously: Nick has some lifeguard rubbing something (not lotion - I don't know, but it's a she) on his back - as she checks his knee, Big says "This is Tough Enough, not Cry Enough!" Context would be so helpful. Bill says people (probably him) call Nick a b[bleep]ch. Jamie flirts with anyone and hangs on them, which annoys Eric.

Jamie and John are practicing throwing punches, I guess, in the house. In the ScottCam, Jamie reveals she has a crush on John, in case you couldn't tell from the flirting last episode. Jamie's eyes are totally open here, it's scary. She's wearing different shirts in the interview and the scene (which is the pink one - from that same day?) Now they're practicing waistlocks and back elbow escapes. For his part, John says Jamie is the kind of girl who constantly has to have a love interest, and even though she knows John has girlfriend, she 'forgets' it at times. Jamie, now either outside or on the roof, tries out "I will bite you' as a catchphrase to John. That's so not subtle. Jamie's attracted to John despite the girlfriend, okay.

Morning. Some other day. Big is making money for the company by holding up a Doritos bag in good view of the camera. Anyway, today's surprise is that he's going to put all the names in a hat, he's gonna pull two out, and that's your Nitro main event. Actually (and Big's wearing that Padres jersey that he was wearing last week talking to Jamie, so you know this continuity is WAY out of order - this is also could be the beach day, for all I know), those two people can invite one person over. WWE will fly them in for whenever. Big also gives the okay to sell it or barter with it, if they want. The first name - the names are actually in the Doritos bag, so that's just there for a shameless plug - is John. Gee, do you think he'll invite the girlfriend we were just talking about a paragraph above? Name two is Jonah. I wonder he'll bring back Jill? Kelly explains that both of their girlfriends are coming. Jamie is having a slightly hard time with this of course.

Hey now, it's time for Scott's Wacky Adventure of the Week. This time, they're eating pizza (only a camera man straying into the shot is the wacky part here), but he wants John's visiting rights. Why? Because he wants to call his girl. His girl that he hasn't talked to in four years. For $2000. Jonah not an idiot, he'll take that cash. John says they'll talk later, he does seem to leave open Scott calling and finding out if that'll happen first. Scott explains to us, and it sounds like she wasn't even really girlfriend at any point in time - he liked her, but they only started hanging out at the end of the senior year in high school, and they haven't talked since. So this is a passing acquaintance and wow this is odd day for this storyline. John asks if he's got the cash to actually do this, and Scott says he does - it'll be his whole bank account. Scott to us: "All my money in my bank account is what I'd give, and I'd give more if I could, because you can't buy love." Well it's a good thing he's not trying to do that then. It's a sad sad state of affairs when the preferred option is that Scott is just doing this to look romantic to the cameras.

John and Scott are still talking about this - John is trying work out how this would work in his head. Scott: "This is the most picture perfect plan - or way for this to happen..." Justin [to us]: "This broad's not going to talk - he hasn't talked to her in the four years, and I think anyone that he talks to that anyone who he talks to gets on the other side of the planet to get away from him." That's a bit harsh. Scott says that he's going to ask her to marry him if she comes out there, but not while she's out there. Okay. "Jennifer is the most perfect person for me."

Nick and Kelly are laying in a bed in the red room (Scott's bed?) and joking about Scott. It turns to mild flirting, but not really more. Kelly says she finds herself attracted to him. Nick: "Unfortunately, I think Kelly has some feelings for me." Wonderful way to say that. Narrator Justin says no one knows how long Kelly will be out here, so if he want to hook up he might as well, and then we cut him off before he gets to his point (I hope.)

Night. Nick is in the green room, explaining to John and Justin, and perfecting his heel turn speech. "She's nice, she's nice girl, she's not my - she's way too corny, way too corny for me. Not like that - that's totally my type. [break] I'm just really picking - I go for supermodels, basically." Justin: "Any success?" "Yea." John and Justin crack up in disbelief. I think Nick thinks they're laughing with him there but they're totally not. John tells us that Nick is almost spoiled kid from Boston. "Once you believe your hype, nothing's good enough for you." Back to Nick: "I'm a pretty damn goodlooking guy. I can walk up to a girl and just get her number like that. So it's - maybe it's one of those stupid things where it's not a challenge, so I don't want it." Nick explains that he finds it odd that Kelly has feelings for him, seeing as he rarely looks down from his perch upon Mt. Olympus to even glance at her, much less talk to her. Nick says he would feel bad if Kelly made a move, because he's have to turn her down to her face and he's too nice of a guy to do that. In other words, it's beneath him to do something for her, but it'd be rude to say no to her, so he'd be forced to have sex with her. Life is an eternal struggle. Nick reminds us that this is a business and he doesn't know if he can keep avoiding Kelly - like, why not just tell her? I think he really likes the attention.

Trax. Al explains they're learning "transitions" today, and before you can make your joke about who needs to be in this class, he explains that he means transitions from feet to the mat, not those other ones. Basically this means more armdrags, hiptoss and snap mares. Kelly's back in action, but feels behind everyone else. Nick says they're training hard and it's getting exhausting. Nick takes good snap mare bumps - he thinks he's been doing well. Al doesn't think Nick is soft physically, but maybe a bit emotionally.

That's all the Trax, let's get back to more talking in the house. Oh no Scott's calling the girl. This is going to be too painful to watch. Kelly breaks it down like everyone but Scott sees it - "it's probably some random girl that was in his science class that he talked to once or twice." Nick - who also thinks this is nuts - is playing pool and Kelly's hanging around him, wonderful job of avoiding her there. Scott is scared he might get rejected, does she have a boyfriend, is she married, "does she still have issues with her parents?" I have no idea, but I'm guessing Jennifer's parents didn't think much of Scott. He's calling. This is so bad. Thank god for a commercial break.

I love it when they advertise no matches for Heat. You watch it for the clips of stuff you missed from RAW, I guess.

Mountainside. Oh no they're still showing the phone call. Dang it. "She was the first true love of my life." oh lord. He dials. Caption: "Jennifer, Scott's Girlfriend???" Three question marks are needed, yes. I'm not transcribing this. You can tell she barely remembers him and is surprised he's calling her out of the blue. Kelly mocks Scott but reveals that Scott got the phone number from someone else. I think Scott explained everything and - "I don't think so." She's not really letting him down soft, but then he's a guy who just called her after not talking for four years so it's fair. Justin: "Scott's just a meatball. He needs to be locked up someplace." Scott lets Nick, Justin and Kelly know the bad word. "It's just one of those things I shouldn't have done. It would have been better if I didn't call." Justin kinda tries to cheer him up by reminding him that he at least found out before he spent the money. Nick kinda feels sorry for Scott because Scott believed he could actually do it.

Matt explains that at some point, John and Jonah's girlfriend's showed up. They actually have names of their own. Well at least one does. John's girlfriend is Casey (although we never get a caption so that could be spelled KC or Kasey or Casee or Kasi or Fred for all I know) and she's from Davis - no, she doesn't appear to be from Sorority Life. Jonah says he's more "grounded" when his girlfriend around. (Read: not doing stuff that'll look bad.) Jamie expected Casey to be more athletic because John is and to her, athletic guys usually go for athletic girls. Scott tells her he's heard that she's got a Master's Degree and figures that must mean she's very intelligent. Scott compliments her - personality, and genuine kindness. John gives Casey flowers. 

Morning. Wow, I hope that's fog but I'd guess it's smog. It's dense out there, and not a good day to be someone who enjoys oxygen. Nick explains that he felt soreness in his arm that he's never felt before. He goes to see a doctor - Dr. W. Worth. Doc explains it's Grade 1 Level Tendonitis in his left bicep - he thinks there's a little partial tearing, but not a significant amount. Doc tell shim to keep his arm at his side and not to use it for a week. He's all broken up about it, but - and I don't think it's intentional - of seemingly overacting to it. Nick gets it wrapped and a sling, as he tells us that this means no in-ring training for a week.

Trax. Everyone's shaking hands, and Nick shakes and keeps on going, like his left arm isn't in a sling. Nick explains it this way: "I couldn't extend my arm past there [90 degree bent angle - this is a spin at best and lie at worst, as he had it bent more before in the doctor's office when he was selling the sadness of the injury - we skip here] I have torn some tendons around the bicep, and I have a first grade bicep tendonitis." Nick's making this sound a lot more sad and worse than the Doc did. Al drills it down to just tendonitis, "tennis elbow." Bill has backed a ways away from this conversation at this point, although he wanders back and forth from the background. Nick says he was told not to use it for a week. Ivory (yes, she's still on this show) asks if he's going to be able to wrestle - "No." At that utterance, Bill sharply turns away from Nick (making a loud squeak), rips the cap of his own head, and tries to suppress the massive rage he's feeling. I swear, you have never seen an angrier back of the someone's head in your life - I think Bill (who suffered how many concussions?) put some distance from Nick here just so he wouldn't be tempted to choke the life out of him for sitting out because of bicep tendonitis. Ivory, Al and Big have slightly better poker faces, although Al's betrays a "did he really just say he was sitting out for a week" thought that he just can't wrap his mind around. Nick says it probably hurts his chances a little bit, but he's not aware enough and thinks he still has a pretty good shot. Bill picks up a folding chair and shapes it up, as if he's wondering how it'd feel to crack it over Nick's head at this very moment. We move on without getting a Bill confessional where he completely rips Nick to shreds, which kinda shocks me in afterthought. In a way, that was uglier than Scott's phone call. Different universes of ugly, maybe.

Big explains that to be successful in the WWE, you need to be aggressive. Nick moans (man do I feel stupid picking this guy) that he hates sitting on the sidelines, it was frustrating thing he had to do. Kelly talks about her back, and gives the "if you try to protect yourself, you'll wind up hurting yourself more" line, then points out that even when she was sitting out with a (questionable) back injury, she was at least doing the bike instead of just sitting in a chair watching everyone, like Nick. Nick isn't pulling out a copy of the Times to read, but he's just short of that.

Justin: "All the sudden the door opens, and Diamond Dallas Page comes walking in." Oh god no - it's he, it's he, it's DDP. It was not awesome to see him, Justin, shut up. They have to reach to find WWE highlights for him - quick cuts to make him look in control of everyone. DDP shakes hands. DDP opts for the "I was a really old guy who became a rookie" story. Let's cut ahead to "I can't tell you how many times I worked, ridiculously hurt. This isn't checkers - when you get hit with a chair, you get hit with a chair. [wow, deep - Bill is staring a hole through Nick throughout] Adapt to the situation - learn to adapt to the pain, the struggle, all the adversity you're gonna be hit with, you've got to learn to adapt to it." Nick tells us he wants to overcome this injury without hurting himself more in the process. 

Big says they'll be a cut tomorrow, and then manages to say the word "Tough" really stressed, in case we don't get it. Cameraman picks out Nick, Kelly and Scott as our targets. Break.

House. Among others, Eric, Matt, and Nick are resting outside, with ice (or maybe frozen vegetables in bags) on one or both knee. Obviously, the fear has sunk in quite a bit with Nick, because he's trying to explain why it'd be really if (when) they cut him tomorrow. "I don't see how I get s[bleep]t on about this. And if I get cut tomorrow because they think you guys are better than me, then that's fine. But if I get cut for walking in with this, I will be f[bleep]cking pissed off." Nick - this and the overcome bit a little bit up were seemingly shot while everyone else was running - says he thinks his injury really hurt his chances, not getting that it's how he handled it that's killing it. To us:  "I feel I have a lot more potential and talent than at least half the people that are left [shot of Nick left], and I don't feel I should be cut." Back in the house: "My back hurts, my neck hurts, I have the worst knee pain but I go every day. This was just something that I honestly feel I could not go through. I have never skipped any drill for the last four weeks." Matt's giving him such looks - Matt to us: "I've had tendonitis in both my knees for probably eight years, so I've been living in as much if not more pain than a lot of people. You need to get through certain things in order to make to the WWE." 

In the greatest camera shot ever, Nick is trying to pick up something off the ground from his reclining outdoor chair, reaching over his body to his left side with his right arm. He starts to loose a little balance, so he puts his left hand on the ground - totally straightened out. It may have been an instinctually thing, but if he's in so much pain he can not work through it and put that arm down, you would see him at least wince - he just puts it back in crooked position once he rights himself. Only the camera guy was paying attention to him, or he'd be totally busted.

Back in the house - wait, did Scott just ask Casey if she was in a sorority because he was thinking about that show too? She's not, though John kiddingly says she wants to be. Scott says he's sad and invidious of John, because he's never gotten girls his life. He wishes he could feel how it's like, and it seems he's acting on this wish by flirting with Casey while she's playing pool with John. That's the Scott way to do it. John says he feel sorry for Scott, because he doesn't know how to deal with "it", where it could be any number of things. Scott: "Hey John [picks up cards], I want to make an indecent proposal..." "No." I can't decide if Scott is bizarrely funny or bizarrely creepy. 

Night. Sunset room. Everyone parties to forget about the cut. Scott jumps on stage with a dancer (who's bottom is blurred out) and at first makes weird faces but then starts dancing with her. See what I said before. The girl is not weird about it, and everyone cracks up about it. Jamie and Kelly dance together as Jamie explains that it's a nice idea not to go after a guy when his girlfriend is in town - she probably should've told her old roommate that a scene ago.

Casey and whoever Jonah's girl was leave. Casey was blown away by the mansion and all, and we don't really care about Jonah's girl in the slightest. Jamie says it was weird to meet Casey - she thought she'd hate the girl who's stealing her man away from her, but Casey turned out to be really cool and someone she'd hang out with (if she wasn't in Jamie's way.) Shot of plane indicates them leaving.

Meanwhile, in the evil TRAX HQ (that's the music), they're deciding on who gets to go home next. Big says they've narrowed it down to four possible cuts right now. Bill is wearing a "Get the F Out" shirt, which may betray his mood. Let's run 'em down":

  • Eric - Bill says it's supposed to go "the harder you work, the better you get", but in Eric's case, it's just "the harder you work, the harder you work", which only makes a little sense. It sounds like he's a less cocky Pete, who's peaked and leveled out at a lower level than they want.
  • Scott - Ivory says there's almost no words. "ARRGH" Al questions his maturity and ability to follow direction
  • Nick - Wow, he looks so evil in the shot they picked. Ivory says he showed his "true colors" coming in with a sling for a little tendonitis - Ivory compares that to Jackie last year, who found a way to work through "an actual injury." Bill looks like he wants to shout many obscenities here about Nick but is trying to hold back. I hope all this "pointing out Bill's anger" stuff doesn't obscure the fact that Bill is very much right here. Ivory finishes by wondering if Nick would no-show Raw if he showed up with a stiff neck from a bad pillow. Al says he has athletic ability, size, charisma, personality and a look - he's marketable.
  • Kelly - Al says he's got an advantage outside the ring, because she's got a theatrical background (she does?). But Bill says you can't take one good bump in seven hours and say that's a good day.

Kids are here. Justin says that you can go in hoping that you're way in the clear, but when you're waiting to sit down, you're thinking about the mistakes you've made so far and if that's enough to get you cut. No one is perfect, after all. 

Stand up. John says that be people have been thinking maybe Scott's gonna get cut, Kelly's gonna get cut, two people are gonna be cut, three people are gonna be cut. Nick isn't wearing his sling.

Justin, sit down. Walk past Scott. Glance at John. Sit down Matt. Clip. Sit down Jamie (who was next in line anyway.) Walk past Eric. Sit down Jonah. Turn around before Nick and Kelly. Walk past Eric. Look at Eric after you've walked by. Sit down John - he's in a little trouble here, I guess, to be purposely left by on the first pass. We're down to the four maybes. Back to Eric. Sit down Eric. Clip - now he's standing in front of Kelly. "You need to pick up your game, you need to become more physical, you need to be more aggressive. NOW. Sit down." Past Nick, with a glance at him, and all the way down to Scott on the other side. Staring at him. Back to Nick. "This business demands a tremendous amount of heart, passion and drive, and physical and mental toughness. You have clearly demonstrated that you are not Tough Enough. You're cut." Nick to us: "I think the cut sucks, I don't think I deserve to be cut at all." Back to Scott. "You need to demonstrate more maturity, and ability to follow direction, or you will be cut. Sit down." 

Goodbyes for Nick. We don't get a big shot of Kelly looking sad. Nick: "I thought that I would be there for at least another three weeks, that Scott, Kelly and Jamie would all be cut before me, so I'm very disappointed." Kelly says her crush on Nick disappeared as soon as he did. Big gives him the "you can still do it if you want it enough" speech - Nick is back to holding his arm in sling position without the sling. Nick buys it. Goodbye Nick.

Next on: Jonah takes a backdrop bad. He's down for a while. "Tell me you won't pull me for this." "I won't make a promise I can't keep." Jonah gets an MRI. Everyone's scared.

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tomvejada
Andouille








Since: 2.1.02

Since last post: 7508 days
Last activity: 7508 days
#2 Posted on
Good recap, Cubs.

I noticed that you dissed DDP. Why?



"I just got pinned by a friggin twelve-year-old."

Kurt Angle
Llakor
Landjager








Since: 2.1.02
From: Montreal, Quebec, CANADA

Since last post: 3996 days
Last activity: 3988 days
#3 Posted on
This does make you wonder about how a non-wrestling fan would view this. Would they understand why Bill was so pissed off, or would they think that the trainers were just being mean?

Nick should thank his lucky stars that it wasn't Hardcore Holly training this time around. I'm thinking that he would have been a little less patient and generous than Bill.

Good recap as always, cubs.



"Don't Blame CANADA, Blame Yourselves!"
ges7184
Lap cheong








Since: 7.1.02
From: Birmingham, AL

Since last post: 2169 days
Last activity: 2157 days
#4 Posted on
I think with the cameraman's help, with the shot of Nick picking up something off the ground, putting his weight on his 'hurt' arm, they showed perfectly that the injury wasn't that bad. A non-wrestling fan could understand that.
deadbeater3
Chipolata








Since: 17.11.02

Since last post: 7400 days
Last activity: 7308 days
#5 Posted on
Yeah, after Scott went to the hospital three times already and didn't miss a beat, Nick's tennis elbow does make him look like a crybaby.
Smackfiend
Mettwurst








Since: 11.11.02

Since last post: 7097 days
Last activity: 6899 days
#6 Posted on
I was only half watching the last half of the show (playing Metroid Fusion) so I missed him putting weight on the arm and stuff like that... it was alot of fun watching Bill's reactions though...
thecubsfan
Scrapple
Moderator








Since: 10.12.01
From: Aurora, IL

Since last post: 938 days
Last activity: 318 days
#7 Posted on | Instant Rating: 10.00

    Originally posted by tomvejada
    Good recap, Cubs.

    I noticed that you dissed DDP. Why?



I hate DDP, that's all.

Actually I liked him at some point, but then in year between his first title win and Ready To Rumble, he got really annoying to me - he wasn't as good any more, but he believed his hype and wouldn't shut up about it. I mean, guys like Lex Luger equally got their spots because of maybe one hot run and a lot of knowing the right people, but I didn't ever stumble across Luger talking about how great he was and how he worked so hard to be where he was (and how it absolutely had nothing to do with being good friends with Eric) and he was so full of himself.

Or at least that's how it came across to me. And then the Bob Patterson gimmick, aaaaaaargh. And that Bash at the Beach match with Karl Malone. I'm gonna go pass out now.
OlFuzzyBastard
Knackwurst








Since: 28.4.02
From: Pittsburgh, PA

Since last post: 1810 days
Last activity: 986 days
#8 Posted on
Whenever I see DDP, I think of those RAW and Nitro recaps they used to have on The Shooters. Who was that? GH and Joe, or something like that?

So, as soon as he walked in, I got this mental picture of all the kids and trainers sitting around him, watching him tell his story, and the camera slowly zooms in on his leathery flaking face and, as soon as he finishes, the camera pulls back and reveals that all of Trax is now empty.

"So I'm standing there, and all of a sudden, DDP walks in! No one really seems to notice or care, though."

"Dammit, Al! I told you to lock that fucking door!!"



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mountinman44
Sujuk








Since: 8.5.02
From: San Diego, CA

Since last post: 4686 days
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#9 Posted on
I loved Bill's reaction to Nick's "injury". That's exactly what I did when he said he couldn't go. At that moment, I knew he was gone. It made me wonder what would happen if he tore his meniscus or slightly turned his ankle.



"Ensign Kodos, set coordinates for the obscure, T-shirt producing planet of Earth. We are going to visit... MY DAUGHTER!" -- Kang
tomvejada
Andouille








Since: 2.1.02

Since last post: 7508 days
Last activity: 7508 days
#10 Posted on
LOL, that was pretty funny, OlFuzzyBastard.



"I just got pinned by a friggin twelve-year-old."

Kurt Angle
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