WWE Tough Enough 2015: Recap, Reaction and Elimination from June 30

It's Week 2 for the contestants of WWE Tough Enough, and they hit the ground running with the drama from the second the show started.

After Hank was sent home last week, everyone was on edge. They realized that nobody is safe, and it became an every-man-(or woman)-for-themselves situation in the barracks.

Arguments broke out over Dianna being less committed than the rest of the cast and Patrick calling out everyone else for not knowing as much as he did about the history of wrestling.

When asked who should be sent home this week in the talking-head interviews, just about everyone said Dianna should pack up her things.

The tension turned this into a stereotypical reality show very quickly, and it doesn't look like that will stop anytime soon.

For anyone who missed last week's premiere, here is a quick rundown of the rules.

• One contestant will be eliminated each week.
• Each week, the judges will nominate their bottom-three contestants.
• Viewers will vote to keep their favorite of the bottom three in a global vote.
• Each judge gets one contestant-save per season.
• At the end of the season, viewers will decide which male and female will win the $250,000 WWE contract.

Second Week's Challenges

With the competition taking place in Florida, it was only a matter of time before they had a challenge take place in a swamp. The crew was brought to the middle of nowhere on an airboat to test their courage.

The first challenge involved swimming out to a boat, grabbing an NXT Championship belt and swimming back to the starting point. Dianna blew everyone out of the water (no pun intended) by finishing first.

Patrick, Alex and Mada, three people who tout their athleticism every chance they get, couldn't even make it to the shore before they ran out of gas. It definitely put things in perspective and proved that big muscles will only get you so far.

One of the funniest moments came when Patrick was struggling to swim to a life jacket. Lita told him to just stand up, and when he did, you could see that the water was only about two feet deep. Booker and Lita could barely hold it together due to laughing so hard.

For the first time, ZZ finished in the top half of the competitors. You could see the look of elation on his face when he crossed the finish line. This was a contest you would think he wouldn't excel at, but he grew up in the Louisiana swamps, so he was right at home.

Josh accused Tanner of cheating by not following the same path to the shore and running the rest of the way, but Booker seemed to let it slide with the statement, "Sometimes in this business, you win by any means necessary."

Billy Gunn gave Daria an earful when she made it back to shore without the title belt around her waist. It must have fallen off while she was swimming, and in fairness to her, finding it in that murky water would have been nearly impossible.

The next day saw everyone return to the Performance Center for the next wrestling-based challenge. Roman Reigns was there to greet everyone, and some of the ladies were awestruck by his good looks, especially Gabi, who used some not-so-PG terms to describe her excitement.

The day's challenge was all about taking bumps. Everyone was made to take a simple back bump, and then they were given the option to take a bump off the top rope in a ring that was heavily padded.

Patrick and Giorgia were declared the winners for this challenge. Patrick has previous wrestling experience, so if he didn't win, it would have been embarrassing.

Meanwhile, Back at the Barracks

Arguments erupted back at the barracks again. Tanner and Josh got into it over Tanner's alleged cheating in the swamp challenge, with Tanner getting mad enough to throw a pool cue and walk away.

Dianna was once again at the center of a fight when she took exception to being called Princess Dianna. Daria was the instigator and outright refused to stop using the nickname.

Unlike last week, Dianna seemed to find an ally in Gabi. They had the biggest blowout in the first episode, but it looks like they are temporarily on the same page. However, Gabi made it clear in an interview that she was employing Sun Tzu's tactic of keeping her friends close and her enemies closer.

Dianna asked ZZ if he would switch rooms with her because she didn't want to be around certain people anymore, and like the southern gentleman that he is, he obliged. She made sure to tell him to fart and snore in his sleep to annoy everyone as much as he could.

Last week we got to see some of them partying and having a good time, but this week was all about the issues everyone has with each other.

The Judges Ask Some Hard(ish) Questions

During the portion of the show where the judges ask the competitors questions, Daniel Bryan was the first to inquire about an argument Patrick and Alex had earlier about knowing the sport's history.

Patrick agreed with Alex that knowledge wasn't as important as putting in hard work, but he also made a good point when he said knowing and being passionate about something could help if they become injured and have to look into other options to stay with the company.

Hulk Hogan jokingly accused ZZ of infringing on The Rock's gimmick when he used pie as a metaphor, but Paige took the humor out of the room when she got a little upset with Daria and Amanda for not bringing enough personality and focusing too much on the drama.

Week 2 Elimination: Alex

When it came time to name the bottom three, there was no messing around. Daniel Bryan nominated Alex, Paige picked Sara Lee and Hogan chose Dianna.

It was a little surprising to see Sara end up on the chopping block since she did well in the challenges. Alex was chosen due to his lack of wrestling knowledge, Sara was picked for not having enough personality and Dianna was nominated because she doesn't play well with others.

The weird thing about this part of the show is that every contestant is given 30 seconds to plead their case as to why they should stay after the voting has already taken place. It seems backward.

None of the judges opted to use their one save for the season on anyone, and when the votes were tallied, Alex was the one who was sent home. He looked understandably upset, but he kept it together and seemed happy to have had this experience.

Tough Talk

Once again, The Miz stole the show with his humor, his ability to ask the right questions and his ability to keep things moving at a good pace. Quite frankly, he should have been chosen to host the main show instead of Chris Jericho.

Alex was given a chance to address his elimination. He acknowledged his shortcomings and didn't seem too surprised that he was sent home. Bryan said he actually felt bad nominating Alex for elimination after finding out he didn't know how to swim.

Daria and Dianna reignited their argument about respect, and The Miz just kept pouring gas on the fire. Things got really interesting when it was revealed that the belt Daria had lost in the swamp had been retrieved. Paige took the title and said she would give it back after Daria had earned it.

The Miz did an incredible job of addressing all the controversy among the competitors while keeping the mood light and fun. Tough Talk is a great way for us to learn more about these people, and The Miz deserves all the credit in the world for making it more entertaining than the actual competition.

Interesting Tidbits

Here is a few things we learned during this week's show and aftershow:

• Hulk Hogan calls women "Brother."
• Josh somehow knows what a mythical creature sounds like.
• Patrick can't swim, and Booker T thought it was hilarious to watch him try.
• Some of the contestants think you can actually listen through a wall with a plastic cup. Nobody told them flexible materials don't pick up vibrations that well.
• Mada didn't quit the swimming challenge. He was told to head back to the boat because there was lightning in the area, and it would be unsafe for him to keep going. Regardless, he would have been last.
• Dianna's fiance kind of looks like Alex Riley.
• Gabi's husband didn't seem to mind that she is infatuated with Roman Reigns. She has also been married three times.

Final Thoughts

Alex's elimination was a little surprising given how much he has been featured on the show in the first two episodes, but his lack of knowledge and not making it through the first challenge certainly contributed to his demise.

One thing people need to remember is that this is as much a reality show as it is a competition, which means all the fighting and drama will be prominently featured every week.

Paige seems to be taking this competition very seriously, judging by how harsh she was toward some of the contestants, but given her history in the sport, it should come as no surprise that she is passionate about the business she and her mother love so much.

Sara and Giorgia need to do more to stand out, or they risk being sent home in the coming weeks. Being in the middle of a fight is not the only way to get noticed. They need to find out what it is that will help them make an impression on the judges and the viewers.

It was nice to see a challenge that actually involved taking a bump. This is a wrestling competition after all, and being able to land on your back safely is one of the most important things these people need to learn.

As the show progresses and more people are being eliminated, it will be interesting to see just how much emphasis is put on wrestling ability. We can't expect the novices to be great technicians right away, but the winner will have to show they can learn the basics quickly.

What did you think of this week's episode of WWE Tough Enough?

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