'WWE Tough Enough' Will Be More Entertaining with The Miz as Judge

With The Miz sitting at the judge's desk on WWE Tough Enough, the show will be more controversial, more unpredictable and ultimately more entertaining.

Don't count on there being logic behind the eliminations or for this program to be a realistic way to find the next Superstar. Tough Enough was never that. It's a sleekly produced popularity contest, more Big Brother than wrestling talent search.

In that way, The Miz is an ideal choice to replace Hulk Hogan. 

Fallout from a leaked racist rant had WWE scrambling to find someone to take Hogan's spot. The company did so with a man who is not close to The Hulkster's level when it comes to impact on the business.

Hogan knows far more about being a star than The Miz. He's a bigger name, far more known among non-wrestling fans. So one would assume that going from Hogan to The Miz would be a downgrade, but Tough Enough has made it clear that it's not a wrestling show; it's a reality show.

And The Miz was born for that kind of TV.

Credit: WWE.com

Fans have seen that already during his previous stints on Real World and when he was a contestant on Tough Enough himself. He has a big personality and a Hollywood smile, and he knows how to get folks talking about him. 

That's why he was so good as the man at the helm of the post-Tough Enough discussion show Tough Talk.

Sliding The Miz over from that role to where Hogan once sat had an immediate, resounding impact. On Tuesday's show, he chose to save Amanda, citing her attractiveness as why she shouldn't be eliminated.

That led to Mada, one of the favorites to win and one of the most genuinely promising prospects on the show, going home early.

Was that the right decision? Not in the least. Was it the shocking, entertaining one that has folks buzzing about Tough Enough the day after? Yes indeed.

Whether he's just looking to create some heel heat for himself or knows how to pull the right strings thanks to his previous experience in the reality world, The Miz has churned up interest in Tough Enough going forward.

Three Man Booth, for one, believes that his controversial move made the post-show a must-see:

More of that is to come. Fans will be tuning in to see what The Miz does next. Does he continue to push for Amanda, or does he have some other shocker in store?

And count on him and Paige going toe-to-toe from here on out. The former Divas champ was clearly outraged by The Miz's decision, looking as if she wanted to reach over and hit him with a few short-arm clotheslines. She's spent a good amount of time bickering with him in the past as well.

Those arguments are the kind of confrontations reality TV is built around. 

And so the Tough Enough producers have to be gleeful thinking about the fireworks that will go off between these two. That's the kind of thing Tough Enough—especially this season—is all about.

We've seen more conversations in hot tubs and infighting than actual wrestling training.  

For those arguing that The Miz will gut Tough Enough of its credibility, go rewatch a few episodes. The show lost its credibility a long time ago.

Patrick Clark, the most promising athlete of the bunch, was thrown into the fire seemingly because Hogan and Paige wanted to teach him a lesson. And now he's gone. Meanwhile, ZZ—an out-of-shape, kooky alligator wrestler—is still around.

He's stumbled at every step. He's been in the bottom three nearly every week. 

Yet winning the whole thing is still a possibility for ZZ, who is more of an amusing sideshow than an actual wrestling prospect.

Tough Enough isn't about an earnest search for the next great wrestler. Otherwise, WWE would have brought in a guy such as Bret Hart or Lance Storm to be Hogan's replacement. Instead, the company chose The Miz because he knows this game.

And he is excellent at doing at what Tough Enough is really all about—ratings and getting people talking.