WWE’s Tough Enough returns on USA

The NY Times reports that World Wrestling Entertainment is bringing back its reality show, “Tough Enough”, where aspiring pro wrestlers try to earn a spot on the WWE roster. The show will be coupled with the long-running wrestling show, “Monday Night Raw” on the USA channel. The news was confirmed by the WWE via press release.

Via NY Times:

The return of “Tough Enough” deepens W.W.E.’s relationship with USA channel’s parent, NBC Universal, the media company that Comcast is on the cusp of acquiring. For years, USA has been the home of “Raw,” and last year the Syfy Channel became the home of “Friday Night Smackdown.” W.W.E. executives have spoken publicly about wanting to start a cable channel, and the relationship with NBC and Comcast may prove useful.

Via the WWE press release:

“WWE TOUGH ENOUGH” will premiere at 11/10c the day after WrestleMania® XXVII and immediately following USA’s ratings juggernaut “WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW®.” It will then move to its regularly scheduled slot, Mondays at 8/7c, starting on April 11th.

For those that remember the “Tough Enough” reality show on MTV, it featured pro wrestler Al Snow and other WWE wrestlers training several wannabe wrestlers. The original show ran from 2001-2003. A 4th season was seen as part of the WWE’s Smackdown show. Former MTV Real-World star and current WWE champion Mike “The Miz” Mizanin was a part of season 4.

Payout Perspective:

I am a sucker for sports reality tv. Before The Ultimate Fighter, there was Tough Enough. I was a fan of the MTV version and the reintroduction of the show to a new audience should be interesting to see. Coupled with the popular “Monday Night Raw”, the show should receive a nice bump in ratings. The original Tough Enough was unique in that it showed fans pro wrestling’s worst secret – wrestling is choreographed. Even though wrestling was “fake”, the show gave viewers a look at the physical battering each contestant took to make it to the WWE. Despite what you thought of pro wrestling, the personal stories made the show.

Similar to the UFC’s plans of having its own channel, the WWE seems closer to this reality. As the NY Times piece states, the WWE hopes to get its own cable channel by fostering its relationship withUSA and eventually working with its parent company, NBC, and its potential buyer, Comcast.  Like the WWE, the UFC hopes that its relationship with Versus will lead to closer network ties with NBC. Perhaps, the UFC works with NBC to get a cable channel.

Is the WWE stepping up its programming to regain some of the fans that strayed to the UFC? What organization will grow more in 2011 in terms of television programming and viewership — the WWE or UFC? Although many do not want to compare the two companies, there are many similarities.