Tough Enough returns for it’s July 7th episode this week without the company of Alex Frekey and just as soon as the episode starts, so does the drama inside the barracks!

Our First Competitor Quits

It’s become increasingly obvious over the past two weeks that The Miz’s job as the host of Tough Talk is to stir the pot among the competitors. As the cast reentered the barracks after last week’s episode, tempers quickly flared over some of the comments made on stage.

While most of the group brushed the comments off, Princess Dianna really took it all to heart.  After complaining how nobody in the barracks seemed to want her there and didn’t appreciate what she’d given up, she made the decision to quit the competition altogether.  In the ultimate sign of disrespect, she doesn’t tell a single person in the house and had a car (presumably her fiance) pick her up in the middle of the night.

Hilariously, nobody even notices she’s even gone until after their morning workout when Billy Gunn makes mention of it.  Shows how much the rest of the group really cared about her!

Rollins asks, “Who’s Got Personality?”

Seth Rollins makes the superstar cameo of the week and introduces the remaining competitors to our next challenge: the character challenge.  In the challenge, each competitor blindly chooses a character description out of a hat and has to put together an outfit and an entrance according to the description.

While Rollins’ time with the group still felt short, it did seem like he had a lot more to offer the group in terms of feedback.  He made it a point to talk to each competitor and guide them to what he thought they should be aiming for with their character.

While some of the competitors seemed to thrive with Seth’s suggestions, others still fell horribly flat on their face.

And On Their Way to the Ring… Wait, what?!

If there was ever a moment when you’d question how much wrestling some of this cast actually watched before applying for the show – this was it.  Sara Lee, Daria, and ZZ looked like a complete joke in their entrance, botching arguably the easiest of the gimmick cards (mean bitch, fallen angel, and American hero).  And Gabi decided that her ‘farmer’s daughter’ character would come out in fishnet stockings and act like a hooker.

The competition wasn’t a total loss, though, as Patrick, Josh and Mada made you seriously believe they have what it takes to become a real superstar – walking with purpose and confidence.  And while Giorgia and Amanda lacked poise, they made up for it with just the right amount of sexiness in their routines.  It was substantially classier that Gabi’s borderline striptease.

Ultimately, the judges awarded the competition to Patrick and Giorgia, making it the second challenge win in a row for the both of them.

But of course, a competition win can’t go without a bit of drama!  Back in the barracks, Tanner and Patrick got into another argument over Patrick’s 2nd win and the two came to blows. The scuffle didn’t last long and was mostly a series of takedown-type moves, but the rivalry between the two is definitely becoming the best part of the show.

The Judges’ Ruling

To nobody’s surprise, the bottom three competitors were Sara Lee, Daria, and ZZ, based solely on their pitiful performance during the character challenge.  In a final plea to save themselves, the judges gave each of them an opportunity to redo their entrances.  While they all improved slightly, they all were still pretty terrible.

Once the vote was turned over to the fans, it was “The Jersey Devil” Daria who was sent packing.  Daria immediately broke down in tears and promised she’d be back, something the judges seemed to agree with.

Assorted Musings

• I was a bit disappointed to see Dianna quit. She was definitely a standout physically and dominated the other girls in any athletic challenge. However, if she couldn’t last 3 weeks away from her normal life – how could she expect to survive a career on the road?
• Paige had the quote of the night (again) when she called Gabi to the stage to discuss her entrance, telling her that her ring name should’ve been ‘Hooker T’.
• I really don’t think ZZ has what it takes to be a superstar.  While he is definitely a genuinely nice guy, he really seems like he’s eons behind everyone else in grasping the business.  Jericho said it best in the tryout special, that “he’s perfect for a TV show, just not this one.”  I just fear that fans are keeping ZZ around because he’s silly and naive… not because they think he’ll eventually be headlining WrestleMania.
• Speaking of ZZ, there was a lot of talk about the size of his ‘package,’ if you know what I mean.  Perhaps a better character gimmick for him would’ve been a chubby Val Venis?
• Tough Talk nearly brought us our second fight of the week, as Amanda and Daria got into it pretty heavily with Gabi, completely shitting on her as she tried to bad mouth the two. There was a moment Amanda got in Gabi’s face, but it was ultimately stopped. The more Gabi talks, the worse she looks.
• The highlight of Tough Talk, though, was Paige going absolutely nuts on the cast after only Patrick raised his hand to say he watched the Tokyo event live.  She went on a rant about how she traveled from Tokyo to Chicago to Orlando to be there in front of them and they couldn’t wake up to watch her match. Both Hogan and Paige said that if they could, they would end the competition today and award it to Patrick because he very clearly has the most passion about the business.
• The only other notable moment from Tough Talk came when Tanner called out Patrick for having indy experience and downplaying it through the show.  And while Patrick gave a very good argument as to why, I do think Tanner has a point.  It really hasn’t been mentioned at all that Patrick has experience, but does make sense why he can bump so well and has nailed a lot of the wrestling-related challenges so well.  Will it matter in the long run?  No, I don’t think so.  But I do think he has a bit of an upper hand on the rest of the group right now.  But hey — whose fault is that?

So what do you think?  Did the right people go home this week?  Are you Team Tanner or Team Patrick?  Do you disagree with me about ZZ’s drawing potential?  Share your feedback in the comments or tweet them to @suggafnshane with the hashtag #WrestlingOnline!