Oh, hell yeah: “Stone Cold” Steve Austin named host of WWE’s “Tough Enough”
Austin had no comment at the Hollywood press conference announcing his new hosting gig.
USA Network and Vince McMahon must have backed up a Brinks Truck-and most likely a beer truck-to his Malibu home, but somehow “Stone Cold” Steve Austin has agreed to host the newest incarnation of “Tough Enough,” the reality (and I use that term loosely) show about unknown wrestlers/would-be sports entertainers trying to secure a WWE contract.
Reports Entertainment Weekly: “EW has learned exclusively that “Tough Enough,” the back-from-the-dead WWE reality contest series, has its new host: Stone Cold Steve Austin. The show will premiere April 4, after Monday Night Raw. Sigh. I was so hoping there’d be some way to get Al Snow back, but I guess I will just have to, er, toughen up. Steve Austin is one of the WWE’s crossover stars — even non-wrestling fans like me are pretty familiar with him, and he obviously has plenty of on-screen experience. What I liked so much about Snow as the mentor, though, was his ability to turn off that in-ring persona and be a strict teacher, a focused father figure, and occasional goofball. I’m hoping Austin has that same knack, and isn’t just Stone Cold Steve AustinTM with his mentees; I hope sometimes he’s just a regular dude.”
Not me. I personally hope Austin stuns all their sorry asses in the first episode, fills their cars with cement before crushing their vehicles with a Monster Truck, and then hoses all those losers down with beer. Seriously, though, this is intriguing. As someone who has never watched a single episode of “Tough Enough,” I’ll definitely tune in for at least the premiere with Austin as host. And as for the writer’s comments about Al Snow…yeah, that’s a bummer. I’m sure he would have been a far better ratings draw.
Digg
Say what you will about Snow’s drawing power as a host, but he was awesome during the original series. He really was the perfect coach on that show, displaying a genuine desire to see the wrestlers succeed while being a hardass and a goofball when called for.
That being said, I’m pumped to see Austin on tv again in any capacity and having him host the show will definitely bring a lot of viewers in.
I’d LOVE to see both Stone Cold and Al Snow run the ship, sadly that won’t happen…but Stone Cold as the MAIN guy—possible GOLD there…
In fairness to Snow, I’ve never seen the show previously, so he could very well be great. I will say that Austin is still a much better ratings draw as host, but perhaps Al will still be involved with the training aspect of it.
I don’t think snow will be o, they’ll probably use people already under contract.
On the plus side, just from people I know have been contacted, the students will likely be indie guys now. It always annoyed me on the original show that having indie experience actually hurt your chances of making the cut..
Either way, I’ll check out this show and see how it goes.