Last week, on Monday Night Raw, Triple H announced the return of Tough Enough, a reality-based competition between normal folk and independent wrestlers alike getting the opportunity to compete for a contract with the WWE. After a four year absence, the show is being brought back, with 10 men and 5 women all gunning for a chance to be a WWE superstar. When all is said and done, one man and one woman will be left standing, contract in hand.
When Tough Enough debuted in 2001 as a series on MTV, it featured a group of barely-trained men and women, all willing to learn the trade of professional wrestling, expecting a spot with the company by the end of it. As they learned the essentials of the art; bumping, locking up, chains, throwing a punch, and snaps, many of the contestants quickly realized the degree of difficulty it took to become a professional wrestler. Only two contestants were officially eliminated in the first season, with the remaining few dropping out, unable to deal with the bumps, bruises, and emotional battles.
While their tenures never lasted long, the first three seasons of Tough Enough provided a cast of WWE Superstars and Divas. Among the names are Maven, Nidia, Chris Nowinski, John Morrison, Linda Miles, and Jackie Gayda. Matt Morgan and Kenny Layne, whom wrestled for TNA, were both contestants on Tough Enough as well.
The contest then evolved into the $1,000,000 Tough Enough, which aired on Smackdown in 2004, as a response to Raw’s Diva Search, back when the brand split was still around. Both competitions made notable careers, as Smackdown’s competition created former WWE Champion The Miz and Ryback, along with the less notable Mitch, one of the members of Spirit Squad. The Diva Search produced several notable divas of the years. The first ever WWE Divas Champion Michelle McCool, and several other Divas Champions in Eve Torres, Layla, and Maryse, along with TNA regulars in Christy Hemme and Taryn Terrell. The Diva Search is scheduled to return in fall of 2015.
The original Tough Enough contest was revived in 2010, but the winner left the company two years later, before ever surfacing, and the only person still on the active roster today, Ariana Andrew, was cut in the first week. She now goes by the name of Cameron and also has a spot on Total Divas.
This year, the WWE put it out there that if you wanted to be involved in the next season, all you had to do was post an audition video to social media. Of the thousands that have already done so, ten men and five women would be selected to take part. When the door was opened to everybody who was interested, it wasn’t unimaginable that the best of the independent circuit would test the waters, submitting their own video.
LuFisto, an 18-year veteran of wrestling out of the province of Quebec, submitted her own video, promising to bring something different and unique to the company’s women’s division, hoping to follow Quebec-based talent in Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens. Student of Lance Storm’s wrestling school, Bryan Bowers has sent in his tape as well, and hopes to make it at the young age off 22. The competition may even get some second generation talent, as Victoria Gonzalez hopes to enter, after completing college at the age of 24.
A compelling story has come to surface during the first week of auditions. Eric Doucet, who goes by the ring name of Markus Burke, sent in his audition tape, showcasing his ability to cut an intense promo.
Trained in 2003 as a 21-year-old, Burke got his chance one year later after graduating, and has enjoyed a ten year career in the independent circuit. He’s managed to wrestle in several provinces (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Quebec), but has spent most of his time wrestling in the Maritimes, which he indicated in his audition, stating he wanted to bring the spotlight to the region.
It wasn’t all fun and games for Burke. In 2006, he moved to Quebec to indulge in the rich wrestling circuit, only to fall into hard times. Becoming involved with the wrong crowd, and partaking in activities that only hurt his progress, Burke saw his hard work and passion for wrestling fade away. It wasn’t until his move back to the Maritimes in 2011 that he saw change. Working harder than ever to get back into shape and taking on the vegan lifestyle, Burke returned to the ring, in better shape.
After submitting his audition video, a mutual friend of Burke and myself reached out to me, in hopes of getting the wrestler more exposure. After hearing his story, Last Word On Sports is happy to shed some light on a man who has scraped and clawed his way to get where he is, went through trials and tribulations, and has overcome hard times. Now, hoping to make it to the WWE after ten years of being in the business, we speak to Burke on his journey and what Tough Enough means to him.
You decided to partake in the WWE’s Tough Enough challenge, making a video about why you should be in the contest. What prompted you to join in the search, or who talked you into it?
“Being from and living in The Maritimes, opportunities aren’t given to us. Even when you earn them and work so hard to achieve them, people tend to not notice us very much. With the Tough Enough contest, we’re all in an even playing field. If my brothers and sisters from all 4 of our beautiful Maritime provinces get behind me, I will not only get on The Tough Enough show, I will WIN Tough Enough.”
When you saw/heard of the Triple H promo, where he announced the details of the next Tough Enough season, did you feel like this was your chance to get noticed by the WWE and possibly get the chance to show them what you got?
“Yes, once I get my foot in the door there is no getting rid of me. I’m a hard-headed Maritimer, this is what we do, we are the hardest working people in Canada.”
As a wrestler yourself, what does an opportunity like this mean to you?
“It’s everything. It’s an opportunity for not only myself to succeed but it’s an opportunity to bring the spotlight back to Maritime Wrestling.”
Why do you think that is and what can be done to help the Maritimes out, besides you getting a chance in Tough Enough?
“The Maritimes is a wonderful place, I’m not sure what it would take to put more eyes on The Maritimes. I know that I will make it my mission to help put it on the map. Too many talented artists here not making any money, it’s a shame.”
When you put up your video, what was going through your mind? Was it a “let’s see what happens” or did you get the feeling like this has a good chance of earning you a spot. Tell us more about your night, when you created the video and posted it to social media.
“Brother, I don’t really know how to explain it. When I heard about it, I instantly made a video, no hesitation. I knew what I was going to say without thinking twice about it. I’ve been waiting to say these things for a decade now. All of a sudden I had 1200 views in a few hours, my brothers and sisters from the Maritimes are coming through for me and I’m humbled by them.”
Are you worried at all about your age being a factor in the decision to cast you, or do you see guys like Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens and Finn Balor, guys who have the same amount of indy experience and around the same age before making it, and feel confident you have as good a chance as anyone?
“A pro wrestler is different than any other athlete. A wrestler competes, yes, but he also tells a story and telling a good story comes with experience. At 32 years old, I feel like I can compete with anyone, at any age. I’ve stayed away from steroids and any other hard drug. My body feels better now than it did 10 years ago.”
Given the lack of tenure in the WWE when it comes to past Tough Enough winners, like Maven, Nidia, Jackie Gayda, to the winner of the very last season, who never wrestled a match or did more outside of a small backstage sighting, are you at all worried that should you make it and win, the WWE won’t have much for you?
“No, I’m a very confident person. I believe I’m the best in Canada at the moment, and with the right trainers, I’ll be the best in the world. I have passion and the motivation to go all the way. The support I’ve received from my Maritime family proves that they believe in me as well.”
What made you go Vegan? Was it a health decision?
“I was never the biggest meat eater. I grew up in a small town in northern New Brunswick in a very meat and potatoes type of family. With no internet, and in a very small community, it was hard to know how to eat and when to eat without eating meat. At the age of 20 I was 6’2 and 140 pounds. I made the lifestyle change at around age 27, and I would never go back.”
Unfortunately, not everyone is on board with independent wrestlers using the Tough Enough route as a way to make it into the WWE. The Twitter account @AngryWrestleVet, run by someone who participated in Tough Enough season one and made it to the top-200, tweeted this after hearing about the return of the competition.
I gotta tell you, as someone who made it to the final 200 on #ToughEnough season 1… That’s not the way to make… http://t.co/kHkHfUXy0r
— Angry Wrestling Vet (@AngryWrestleVet) April 21, 2015
Joey Ryan, co-founder of PWG and current TNA wrestler, also joined the helm and tweeted out the advertisement for WWE’s reality show, which also reveals the pay that contestants will receive, and what they are looking for in the people who apply.
Heads up #ToughEnough hopefuls. You better be 25 and under and non-union, so they only have to pay you $100/day. pic.twitter.com/pup6YfpOdZ — Joey Ryan (@JoeyRyanOnline) April 22, 2015
However, when asked about the chance and if independent wrestlers should leap towards it, Burke responded:
“Of course, opportunities like this aren’t handed to people like us everyday. Working men have to work to prove themselves and sometimes a lifetime of hard work amounts to personal gain but not success. Take a shot, what do you have to lose? Haters will always hate, no matter what, TAKE THE SHOT!”
If you want to help out, feel free to look at Markus Burke’s Tough Enough video https://youtu.be/vA_3ZKeSSrY Tweet @tripleh with the hashtags #veganistoughenough #toughenough and make sure you include the youtube video in the tweet. You can also follow Markus on Twitter @VeganWrestler
