Why Fans Should Not Be in Control of 'WWE Tough Enough' Eliminations

The newest season of WWE Tough Enough is a big departure from previous years. In some ways, the show has improved, but one big problem with the newest iteration is the fans being in charge of eliminations.

WWE is a very social media-heavy company these days. It uses Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and just about every other platform to connect with people watching at home, so it makes sense on paper to use these tools to give viewers the power to influence the outcome of the show.

However, the fans don't use the same criteria to judge a contestant that the people in charge would. This has led to some people going home that shouldn't have, and some people being saved who should already be gone.

There are a lot of reasons that putting viewers in charge of the eliminations is a bad idea. Let's look at some of the bigger problems with this format.

Fans Vote For Personality, Not Talent

Sara Lee and ZZ have been in the bottom three more than anyone else, but because fans like their personalities, they keep getting saved over more deserving candidates.

Sara is a cute, down-to-earth girl from Michigan who has good muscle tone. People are voting for her because she reminds them of a combination of AJ Lee and the girl next door.

She has a look that is marketable, but she has shown a severe lack of aggression and has performed poorly in every wrestling-based challenge, and Paige has called her out for these things many times.

ZZ is funny and has a certain charm to him, but his cardio is horrible, and he has failed to show any signs of having that "it" factor someone needs to be successful in this business.

Meanwhile, Daria Berenato was eliminated despite having an MMA background that would help her adapt to wrestling, and a unique look that WWE could use to prove to everyone that Divas don't all have to look the same.

If a panel of WWE Superstars and legends were in charge of eliminations, you could bet that Sara and ZZ would be long gone, while Daria would still be learning the ropes.

Social Media is Not a Reliable Voting Method

Voting takes place in three different ways. We can either use the Tough Enough app, send in a text message or use a hashtag on Twitter.

The first two are fine because it limits how many times a person can vote for the same contestant. But Twitter makes it very easy for viewers to influence the outcome.

Why should someone be able to vote hundreds of times using social media, while the trainers who actually know what it takes to be a successful pro wrestler have no say?

Sure, there's a panel of judges who nominate three people for elimination, but that doesn't mean the right person is going home at the end of the night. Using social media makes it way too easy for someone who knows the ins and outs of the Internet to affect the outcome.

There Isn't Enough Time to Vote

Tough Enough is filmed over the course of seven days, but the voting takes place during a live portion of the show taped at the WWE Performance Center.

The bottom three are chosen with roughly 15 minutes left in the show. Then, the voting takes place over a period of 10 minutes, with the person receiving the least amount of votes being eliminated.

People don't have nearly enough time to consider the important factors they should be thinking about when making a decision that will affect the future of someone trying to break into the business.

WWE is giving people a short window to make their decision, and because viewers have already picked their favorites, they are voting without taking the time to think about who actually deserves to go home.

There's a Way to Make Everyone Happy

WWE wants fans to have a say in the outcome of the show so they are more invested, but giving them the final say is not working out.

There are a few simple changes management could make to the format that would keep fans in the loop, but leave the actual eliminations in the hands of people who know best.

Instead of giving viewers the amount of time it takes to make a frozen pizza to make their decision, there should be a 24-hour voting period. WWE could move Tough Talk to Wednesday, and that is when the results would be revealed.

This would allow anyone who is forced to watch the show on DVR after it has aired to have a say in the voting, and it would give everyone more time to make an informed decision.

The last step is to flip how the judges and fans vote. People watching at home should be in charge of picking the bottom three, and then the panel of judges should make the call on whom to send home.

This way, the fans still have a reason to be invested, but the actual elimination is decided by a group of people who have experience and know what it takes to be successful.

It's too late in the season for officials to switch up how the show works, but if the show comes back next year, they have to make some changes so the right people are making the decisions.

What do you think? Is it best to have viewers voting on eliminations? Or should it be left up to a group of experts?

Thanks for reading, and follow me on Twitter @BR_Doctor.