By Rick Gardner, PWTorch specialist

WWE announced this week that Tough Enough would return after WrestleMania 27 in April. The reality TV format was introduced during the height of the last wrestling boom in 2001. It was a revolutionary program that offered an authorized look behind the scenes at then-WWF. However, wrestling has changed since the first series was introduced a decade ago. Is there still a place for the show in 2011?

The Tough Enough format was unlike anything that WWE had produced before. Contestants were trained as professional wrestlers, shown how to take bumps, and critiqued on their performance. Wrestlers were shown out of character, which was a rarity at the time. But, the most unique aspect of the series was that it offered and entirely new way of recruiting talent.

There was an open application process, whereby fans were asked to send in tapes and, if they impressed, were invited to an audition at WWF New York. 13 contestants were then offered a place on the show.

This process meant that the WWE looked beyond their traditional methods of recruiting talent from other wrestling promotions, college sports, etc. Instead, people who may not have had a chance of being discovered by WWE talent scouts were given the opportunity to be trained as professional wrestlers with the possibility of a contract at the end.

The series was a ratings success, but was eventually canceled by WWE amid claims that a show that so obviously broke kayfabe was having a detrimental effect on the rest of WWE programming. Those fears must have subsided as Tough Enough is set to return on the day after WrestleMania 27.

But, ten years after Tough Enough was introduced, is the format still relevant? WWE already has a means of introducing new wrestlers to their fanbase in the form of NXT. Tough Enough is different in that the audience can view the progress of regular people in training to become pro wrestlers. Nevertheless, having two shows where new personalities are introduced to the WWE audience may be a bridge too far, and this week’s announcement may have indirectly sealed the fate of NXT.

Tough Enough helped WWE discover current talents such as John Morrison, The Miz, and Josh Matthews, as well as former talent Matt Morgan, Chris Nowinski, Maven, and Nidia. While NXT served as a platform for launching Wade Barrett and giving him valuable experience of working in front of a WWE audience, Tough Enough could uncover stars that would never get a look in WWE’s developmental territory in the first place.

I believe the return of Tough Enough is a positive announcement. As long as WWE does not over-expose the concept, Tough Enough has the potential to become a regular fixture on the WWE calendar.

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