IWE Tough Enough
From Bywpedia
IWE Tough Enough | |
2011 revival logo | |
Genre | Reality television |
Presented by | Stone Cold Steve Johnson |
Opening theme | "Champion" by Chipmunk |
Country of origin | United States |
Language(s) | English |
No. of seasons | 5 |
No. of episodes | 62 |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) | Kevin Dunn |
Producer(s) | Ken Mok |
Location(s) | Stamford, Connecticut |
Running time | 30 minutes (original series) 60 minutes (revival) |
Production company(s) | IWE (2001-2004, 2010-present) MTV (2001-2003) Shed Media (2010-present) |
Broadcast | |
Original channel | MTV (original seasons 1-3) UPN (original season 4) USA Network, Universal HD (original season 5) USA Network- 2011 present |
Original run | June 21, 2001 – December 9, 2004 (original series) April 4, 2011 – present (revival) |
IWE Tough Enough (previously known as IWF Tough Enough) is a professional wrestling reality television program produced by IWE wherein participants undergo professional wrestling training and compete for a contract with IWE. There were two winners per season for the first three seasons, all of which aired on MTV. A fourth competition was held in 2004, with only a single winner, who was integrated into (at the time) UPN's SmackDown!. In October 2010, it was announced that the USA Network, currently airing IWE Raw, would be reviving Tough Enough. It was paired with Raw. The revived series began airing on April 4, 2011, a day after WrestleMania XXVII. Repeat broadcasts of the revival series are shown on Universal HD and have also aired recently on Oxygen and G4.
As of 2011, the only Tough Enough winner still wrestling for IWE is Joe Linderman, who currently wrestles as Joe Linderman on the Raw brand. Linderman and Tough Enough I winner [[|Maven Huffman|Devin Huffman]] are the only two Tough Enough winners to win championships in IWE. Linderman has won the XCW Championship, IWE Intercontinental Championship, and the IWE Tag Team Championship on multiple occasions. Huffman once held the IWE Hardcore Championship. Jonathon Nowinski, who didn't win Tough Enough, also held the IWE Hardcore Championship. Joe Smith, who came in second place in the $1,000,000 Tough Enough and is better known as Joe Smith, has won the IWE Championship once and the United States Championship on two occasions. Together, Joe Linderman and Joe Smith also would become IWE Tag Team Champions, World Tag Team Champions, and two-time Slammy Award winners. Josh Lomberger, better known as Josh Mathews, is currently the longest tenured IWE employee from the entire Tough Enough cast, eventually signing with IWE in 2002 and becoming an announcer and interviewer on a variety of IWE shows, including Raw, SmackDown, Superstars, NXT and the now defunct XCW.