Talkin' Tough Enough - Week 9
Jeremiah and Luke are at the house taking shots, standing on chairs, and celebrating their love for one another and that they've made it to the end of the competition. Meanwhile, Andy walks in, still pissed off and wanting nothing to do with these two hooligans. "See ya'll boys in the end," he mutters as he walks off to bed and leave the two to continue the party. Where are those Bella Twins when you need them?
The three arrive to practice and Bill reveals that there is no theme this week! Instead, they're going to have to essentially do what they did a few weeks ago and show the trainers everything they're made of since it's cutting down to the wire! The boys start off doing cross-bodys onto each other, followed by hip tosses. Andy botches when jumping, much to the dismay of the trainers. Later, Luke also made a mistake that we are very familiar with, thanks to Christina and Ivelisse a few weeks ago. What I'm talking about is the inability to jump over your opponent is running off the ropes. Jeremiah and Luke also had miscommunication and nearly collided head-first when running off opposite sides of the ring. The trainers, not pleased with any of the final three, dismiss them and sent them home.
We arrive at Smashbox Studios, where Trish, Stone Cold, and the Miz are doing a photoshoot together. The remaining contestants show up and Stone Cold introduces them to the Miz, who thankfully didn't boast about himself like he normally does, but tells them about how they need to represent the WWE in the way of photoshoots, press conferences, etc. Trish tells them they'll be shooting for the cover of WWE magazine individually. Nice star treatment for people that completely sucked in the ring the day before! Not to mention, we know Luke will have no problem showing himself off in this challenge. Trish high-fives Luke after they got "the shot". Why is she blowing his head up even more? But on the flipside, I guess the queen of magazine covers knows what she's talking about. Andy, obviously never been to a photoshoot like this before, showed signs of awkwardness but quickly lightened up after taking some pointers from Trish and Miz. Last, Jeremiah shows up, teeth in his mouth. Once the teeth come out, Miz has a minor freak out while Trish cheers him on! I didn't know Trish liked the toothless country boys! After the photoshoot, Miz wishes them luck and leaves. Stone Cold tells them they have a training session when they get home.
Before training begins, the trainers talk to the students about the crappy day they had yesterday and to step it up. They start by throwing each other into the corners. Not showing all he's got, Trish tells Andy to channel his inner-Big Show and be the big guy in the ring that he is. All he needed were those words from Trish because he certainly stepped it up; it kind of reminded me of a young Undertaker. Smiles grace the trainers' faces when it comes to Andy and Luke, but Jeremiah still showed signs of dragging. Bill dismisses them from practice and they go with Stone Cold to a local children's hospital. Stone Cold, a good friend of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, shows the contestants another side of being a WWE Superstar and that is meeting ill children who dream to meet their favorite WWE Superstar. Luke, Jeremiah, and Andy get a taste of the daily life of John Cena, Randy Orton, and the like. Jeremiah's personality was brought out once again and performed magic tricks for the kids. And by magic tricks, I mean making your teeth disappear. When the hospital visit is over, it's time for the last training session before the next elimination!
The Skills Challenge this week is to combine all the stuff they've learned over the weeks again. Trish points out how much Andy has evolved since the beginning, from being stiff and quiet to showing how much he wanted to win this. I wish Christina would've taken some notes! Next, they all do elbow drops on the bag. Jeremiah impresses when he jumps off the top rope, does a twist in the air, and lands the elbow drop correctly. Right after though, he botches a hip toss on Luke, causing more concern from the trainers. In an unusual fashion, the trainers don't meet for deliberation because there's only three left! Stone Cold tells them to go pack their bags. Jeremiah seems confident going into elimination because of his crazy elbow drop. Luke, seemingly looking for another relationship, goes in to hug Andy, but he quickly stops him! Someone's being faithful to their wife! In Bella Twin fashion, the final three take shots before heading to meet Stone Cold.
The longest elimination ceremony known to man begins and Stone Cold gets on Jeremiah's case first! Jeremiah talks of his time in the army and that he's wanted this for a long time. Andy's mental state for the business is questioned by Stone Cold. He talks about being away from his wife and kids, but Stone Cold says that Jeremiah has a son as well and hasn't shown a sign of being emotional. Back to Jeremiah, he says that Andy's soft, to which Andy starts to channel his inner crazy like last week. Jeremiah proceeds to say that he is emotionally stronger than his buddy Luke. Stone Cold says that Luke is just a good looking guy who is playing everyone, to which Luke disagrees. Is anyone surprised? Didn't think so. After he's done BS'ing, Stone Cold tells Luke that Jeremiah's pretty impressive for someone who's never done this. Luke tells Stone Cold that he thinks Jeremiah is the most arrogant. Yeah, he just went there people. Jeremiah says he is just confident in what he does and has skills, but Luke says he had the best Skills Challenge performance this week. Stone Cold gets back on Andy about his emotional state and says that he thinks he lacks charisma. Andy says Luke's a weasel and that's not comfortable in his own skin, but I can assure Andy that Luke is indeed comfortable in his own skin. Or anyone's skin for that matter. After more charisma/emotional banter with Luke and Andy, Stone Cold goes back to Jeremiah who talks about his crazy ass elbow drop from the top rope. He tells Jeremiah that his greenness in the ring has finally caught up with him and that he's taking his belt. Taking it lightly, Jeremiah shakes Stone Cold's hand and hugs the final two before making his exit. Stone Cold tells Luke and Andy that they're going to FCW to perform in front of a live crowd and whoever performs the best will win a WWE contract. He then prompts the crew to toss him some beers. He cheers with Andy and Luke and they all chug some brews. I'm going to go one further and end this week with an "Oh hell yeah!"
Stills from show »
Behind the scenes photos »
The three arrive to practice and Bill reveals that there is no theme this week! Instead, they're going to have to essentially do what they did a few weeks ago and show the trainers everything they're made of since it's cutting down to the wire! The boys start off doing cross-bodys onto each other, followed by hip tosses. Andy botches when jumping, much to the dismay of the trainers. Later, Luke also made a mistake that we are very familiar with, thanks to Christina and Ivelisse a few weeks ago. What I'm talking about is the inability to jump over your opponent is running off the ropes. Jeremiah and Luke also had miscommunication and nearly collided head-first when running off opposite sides of the ring. The trainers, not pleased with any of the final three, dismiss them and sent them home.
We arrive at Smashbox Studios, where Trish, Stone Cold, and the Miz are doing a photoshoot together. The remaining contestants show up and Stone Cold introduces them to the Miz, who thankfully didn't boast about himself like he normally does, but tells them about how they need to represent the WWE in the way of photoshoots, press conferences, etc. Trish tells them they'll be shooting for the cover of WWE magazine individually. Nice star treatment for people that completely sucked in the ring the day before! Not to mention, we know Luke will have no problem showing himself off in this challenge. Trish high-fives Luke after they got "the shot". Why is she blowing his head up even more? But on the flipside, I guess the queen of magazine covers knows what she's talking about. Andy, obviously never been to a photoshoot like this before, showed signs of awkwardness but quickly lightened up after taking some pointers from Trish and Miz. Last, Jeremiah shows up, teeth in his mouth. Once the teeth come out, Miz has a minor freak out while Trish cheers him on! I didn't know Trish liked the toothless country boys! After the photoshoot, Miz wishes them luck and leaves. Stone Cold tells them they have a training session when they get home.
Before training begins, the trainers talk to the students about the crappy day they had yesterday and to step it up. They start by throwing each other into the corners. Not showing all he's got, Trish tells Andy to channel his inner-Big Show and be the big guy in the ring that he is. All he needed were those words from Trish because he certainly stepped it up; it kind of reminded me of a young Undertaker. Smiles grace the trainers' faces when it comes to Andy and Luke, but Jeremiah still showed signs of dragging. Bill dismisses them from practice and they go with Stone Cold to a local children's hospital. Stone Cold, a good friend of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, shows the contestants another side of being a WWE Superstar and that is meeting ill children who dream to meet their favorite WWE Superstar. Luke, Jeremiah, and Andy get a taste of the daily life of John Cena, Randy Orton, and the like. Jeremiah's personality was brought out once again and performed magic tricks for the kids. And by magic tricks, I mean making your teeth disappear. When the hospital visit is over, it's time for the last training session before the next elimination!
The Skills Challenge this week is to combine all the stuff they've learned over the weeks again. Trish points out how much Andy has evolved since the beginning, from being stiff and quiet to showing how much he wanted to win this. I wish Christina would've taken some notes! Next, they all do elbow drops on the bag. Jeremiah impresses when he jumps off the top rope, does a twist in the air, and lands the elbow drop correctly. Right after though, he botches a hip toss on Luke, causing more concern from the trainers. In an unusual fashion, the trainers don't meet for deliberation because there's only three left! Stone Cold tells them to go pack their bags. Jeremiah seems confident going into elimination because of his crazy elbow drop. Luke, seemingly looking for another relationship, goes in to hug Andy, but he quickly stops him! Someone's being faithful to their wife! In Bella Twin fashion, the final three take shots before heading to meet Stone Cold.
The longest elimination ceremony known to man begins and Stone Cold gets on Jeremiah's case first! Jeremiah talks of his time in the army and that he's wanted this for a long time. Andy's mental state for the business is questioned by Stone Cold. He talks about being away from his wife and kids, but Stone Cold says that Jeremiah has a son as well and hasn't shown a sign of being emotional. Back to Jeremiah, he says that Andy's soft, to which Andy starts to channel his inner crazy like last week. Jeremiah proceeds to say that he is emotionally stronger than his buddy Luke. Stone Cold says that Luke is just a good looking guy who is playing everyone, to which Luke disagrees. Is anyone surprised? Didn't think so. After he's done BS'ing, Stone Cold tells Luke that Jeremiah's pretty impressive for someone who's never done this. Luke tells Stone Cold that he thinks Jeremiah is the most arrogant. Yeah, he just went there people. Jeremiah says he is just confident in what he does and has skills, but Luke says he had the best Skills Challenge performance this week. Stone Cold gets back on Andy about his emotional state and says that he thinks he lacks charisma. Andy says Luke's a weasel and that's not comfortable in his own skin, but I can assure Andy that Luke is indeed comfortable in his own skin. Or anyone's skin for that matter. After more charisma/emotional banter with Luke and Andy, Stone Cold goes back to Jeremiah who talks about his crazy ass elbow drop from the top rope. He tells Jeremiah that his greenness in the ring has finally caught up with him and that he's taking his belt. Taking it lightly, Jeremiah shakes Stone Cold's hand and hugs the final two before making his exit. Stone Cold tells Luke and Andy that they're going to FCW to perform in front of a live crowd and whoever performs the best will win a WWE contract. He then prompts the crew to toss him some beers. He cheers with Andy and Luke and they all chug some brews. I'm going to go one further and end this week with an "Oh hell yeah!"
Stills from show » Behind the scenes photos »
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