PWTorch correspondent Les Johns recently interviewed Tough Enough contestant Ryan "Skidmarks" Howe about the Tough Enough experience, the marathon Bottom Three session with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, behind-the-scenes aspects of the filming, interacting with the other contestants, and more topics in the interview below.

***

By Les Johns, PWTorch correspondent

“Skidmarks! Skidmarks! Skidmarks! Skidmarks!” That was the rhythmic chant I heard from the crowd gathered to see Ryan Howe wrestle at a United Wrestling Alliance show on Sunday night, May 22 in Georgetown, Ky. Ryan, who wrestled under the name “Diamond Steel” in the past, spent some time with me that night to share his experiences from the show “Tough Enough,” his past in the wrestling business and his goals for the future.

How did you go about getting on the show Tough Enough? What was the selection process like?

Me and Jessie Bell (Jessie Bell Smothers – Ryan’s girlfriend) printed up applications and had memberships and started filling out the stuff. About two to three days after we printed them I got an email from a casting person for Tough Enough before they even knew we were interested. Jessie Bell did, actually. It said “we think you and Ryan would be great for the show.“ We said “Well that’s funny. It’s ironic. We have the site and we have the papers.” She (the casting person) said “well send them in I’ll make sure they get to where they need to go right away.”

A lot of wrestlers on the indy circuit got the phone calls and thought they were on the show for sure. Jessie was one of them too. In fact it was mentioned to us that they would like to have a couple on the show. They thought that would have been cool. At some point it must have been decided against (having them on together). She (Jessie Bell) stopped getting calls and a couple weeks later I continued to get called and they said, “Hey, you made the finals.”
3- people flew out to L.A. They picked the top 14. We had to do interviews there with USA and WWE and I made the cut.

How long have you been in Wrestling?

February makes two years now. Before wrestling I did travel on the road 300 days a year in a band. Rock Music. A lot of '80s-influenced stuff. I play 27 instruments. I started guitar when I was five. It’s been my life up until two years ago when I started wrestling. It was everything I wanted to do. I wouldn’t take back anything I’ve done in music for the world. I realized, however, that my real addiction is entertainment. Music is definitely more of a creative passion. Wrestling is the ultimate form of entertainment.

When I was playing with the band some guys come up to me at the end of a set. I had leather pants and no shirts and they said “you have a look and the build you ought to think about wrestling.” That was the first I ever heard of independent wrestling. I had heard the term I just didn’t know what it was. For all I knew at that point, Vince McMahon cherry picked people off the street and said “you’re going to be a wrestler.” You know what ...I wasn’t too far off for the most part.

I decided to completely swap with wrestling, so now I am on the road wrestling 300 days a year. Every time I could I was training. I found a school in Hammond, Indiana.

What was your best Tough Enough experience?

I think listening to Bret Hart talk was the culmination. Aside from that, just the overall experience of that show. To put it in a nutshell, I learned exactly what the WWE is looking for and the difference between what they produce and what I do on the independent circuit. Neither one is right or wrong, but WWE needs that realism...that intensity. They are competing with UFC and football and full contact sports. Independent wrestling is there to entertain audiences. They want to be interactive. The comedy stuff is good. They like to see that you are a person and a character and kind of goofy. So, there are different aspects to it. They just don’t want a cartoon character on Monday Night Raw.

WWE is just a machine at this point. What they are doing now works for them. Vince knows his stuff. Some people want to bash and whatever, but he is a genius. All the people behind him, take nothing away from them, either. They are making that company. They are the pinnacle of wrestling and always will be.

That was your worst Tough Enough Experience?

Dealing with the contestants. I was there to compete and I wanted a fair competition. It never crossed my mind that when you are in the “bottom three” that you would want to rat somebody else out and attack them. As an optimist, I just thought it was a good chance to have a one-on-one with Stone Cold to explain to him who I am, why I am here and why he shouldn’t get rid of me.

Some of them (other contestants) would play the mind game at the house of let’s get in their head and make them quit. Everything between the contestants is completely real (not scripted). In that situation, we are each other’s entire world. That’s all there is in existence. That’s your competition. Wrestling is our passion...our business. And you have to deal with these people that are basically your family that you can’t stand. You need them, but you don’t want them there. If they weren’t there, you would win.

Being in the bottom three the first time definitely helped on the second time because I knew what it was. I knew what to expect. When you are there it is kind of scary. Best thing you can do is speak from the heart. As he (SCSA) was ripping someone else apart, I was more concerned with what he had to say to me.

How lengthy was the “bottom three” process each time?

There are times, if you watch those, that I look so tired and worn out. I look at myself and say man I have never been that tired in my entire life. Those would seriously last a couple hours ...three hours. They would last a long time. A good hour-to-two hours with Stone Cold in the ring with us. It is a lot of pressure. A lot of intensity. Once again, it’s all of those little factors that make that whole thing your entire world. Nothing else exists. It’s not that I don’t care about my family or anybody else, but you don’t think about any of that because you are just there trapped in this.

What have you taken away from the experience in terms of training?

It was like re-learning everything. In a lot of ways, I wish I had never wrestled before I had gone in there. I felt like I had to forget everything.

How were your relationships with the other contestants?

I actually got along with about everybody. Even up until the day that Mike left we actually didn’t argue much we just kind of kept to ourselves. I tried to find something in common with everybody. The guys who stand out definitely are Martin, an awesome guy - a cool guy. Him and Matt, who I didn’t get to visit or spend a lot of time with earlier, but he is a cool guy and I know I am working some shows with him coming up so I am looking forward to visiting with him. Aside from that, Ivelisse was a cool girl. I worked with her in Chicago before. She was the only person on the show that I knew from the circuit prior to the show. I didn’t really have a problem with anyone really except for Mike and Luke. Mike and Luke were the only two I had any kind of a problem with.

How prevalent was the use of the nickname “Skidmarks” and how much of an effect did it have on you?

The way it was presented in the show is exactly how I felt. We walked in the first day. I was the second or third person in there. We did our workouts. Booker, Bill, Trish and Steve all get in the ring. Steve looked at Booker and said, “Hey Booker, who do you want to see get in here first?” Booker kinda took a liking to me, at first anyway. Bill stepped aside and said, “Skidmarks, you’re up.” I was as confused as anyone else. I tried not to let it bother me.

It wasn’t until about the last day I realized that it had an effect on me. No matter how hard I tried to put it off and not care it felt like it was something in my performance that got me called that. And then I was like it really wasn’t unless he was judging me on how I walked in the building. It was just one of those things. He had gone thru and given select people nicknames and all the sudden I was Skidmarks. But, you know what...I gotta thank Bill. It made me famous. It is positive. People remember who you are. When I am autographing stuff “Skidmarks” they remember who I am. If it is just a small factor that plays into the fact that all these fans remember me and there are some other people that they don’t then that’s cool.

What kind of feedback would you give in regards to your trainers?

Booker was probably, at first, the one that went out of his way to talk to me the most. He gave me the most advice. He stood out as that one trainer that took his time. The others...even Bill, has their place. Even Bill, as shitty as he was to me, pushed me. I learned a lot of stuff from Bill there. Trish added a lot there. She is very good at what she does – absolutely amazing. And "Stone Cold" Steve Austin told me that last time he saw me that he would see me down the road and that he had faith in me. That was cool. It seemed very heartfelt. I can say about all the trainers - they are there for the right reasons. They care about this business and they just want to see this next generation as strong as any other and make sure wrestling is just going up and up and up.

What immediate impact has your role on the show had for you?

As soon as I was eliminated on the show I was able to take indy bookings. I have a name now on the circuit. I worked my butt off before, but now I have a little more of a name. A lot of bookings. I don’t wrestle, by any means, for the money, but the prices have gone up - the offers – and that is awesome because I am one step closer to wrestling full-time – living the dream. I just try to be fair to everyone and get out there to new areas. All of us on the show hope we get some kind of call from WWE, but we don’t know.

We suggest these recent related articles...

WWE NEWS: Superstars SPOILERS - Results from Chicago Raw

WWE NETWORK: Monday, Oct. 12 Schedule - Raw pre-show, Sting DVD preview

WWE NEWS: Lana & Rusev reportedly engaged - follow the interesting 2015 timeline