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Continuing our look at another WWE Tough Enough relaunch contestant, what do you think of this guy? Is he the next Randy Orton, or the next Brooklyn Brawler? Is he… TOUGH ENOUGH?

Hey all!

If you can’t stand Jersey Shore the way I can’t stand Jersey Shore, tonight’s the night you want to tune in to WWE Raw. Jersey Shore star Snooki will be on the show. We can only hope the program includes her being Rock Bottomed, Stone Cold Stunned, or STFU’d.

Either way, sounds like a fun time for WWE fans.

One of the most electrifying men on the Mexican wrestling scene, Mistico, has signed a WWE contract and will begin training for his WWE debut under the new moniker, Sin Cara. An eventual match against Rey Mysterio would seem to be a natural and inevitable endgame of the signing.

The Sin Cara name is interesting. “Sin” means “without” and “cara” usually means “beauty,” so the translation of his new ring name is, basically, Without Beauty. Some fun could be had with that. As Sin Cara is a masked wrestler in the vein of Mysterio, there will be no need to stock up on hair loss products for him, but hopefully there will be a fresh supply of colorful masks so no one confuses him with Rey.

With three straight wins over John Cena since taking over the new Nexus, CM Punk has established himself as a credible threat to John Cena. Punk has attached a curt trailer hitch to the Nexus gimmick and taken it in a fresh direction.

Whereas Nexus under the leadership of Wade Barrett employed the traditional dictatorial head of a faction approach, which had run its course, Punk has re-established Nexus as a threat by using his leadership position to build up the credibility of the other members of the faction.

It’s a refreshing shift that makes the Nexus storyline intriguing again.

Tonight’s WWE title match all but assures champion The Miz that he’ll be headlining WrestleMania this year. His opponent for tonight’s Elimination Chamber PPV is Jerry “The King” Lawler. Unless they do something cheesy to kill off any and all heat Miz has generated the last few months and have King win to vacate the title and crown a new champ before WrestleMania, the most likely bet is that Miz’s title defense will be brief, brutal and over before you know it.

The Miz goes to WrestleMania? That’s a good thing. I’ve enjoyed his championship run so far, and it’s made me tune in each week. He’s evolved his character effectively into a heel champ from the karaoke-singing buffoon he initially was when he appeared on ECW on SciFi.

Hopefully, tonight’s match will set the table for who Miz will face for the title at WrestleMania. The participants in the number-one contenders match in the Elimination Chamber include John Cena, Randy Orton, R-Truth, CM Punk, John Morrison and Sheamus. Most folks are looking for a Cena win, but I think the most electrifying opponent for Miz would be CM Punk. However, a heel-vs.-heel match might not be the way WWE will go. So of the faces in the Chamber, Cena would be the top pick, since Morrison and R-Truth simply are not ready to headline WrestleMania against Miz.

Of course, never count out Randy Orton, who can subtlely shift his character to become an effective foil for Miz at the drop of a hat, and you know what? Orton-Miz hasn’t been overdone on free TV to the point that it would lack drawing power.

Still, Cena seems the most likely to emerge against Miz.

With two members of TNA’s Main Event Mafia making their WWE debuts at the Royal Rumble, the Internet is all a-buzz at the possibility that fellow MEM-member Sting could soon debut as well. Sting is one of the few WCW/TNA veterans who has never appeared on WWE. The main reason in the past has been WWE’s demanding schedule and less-than-family-friendly fare.

However, Vince and crew have been toning down the content in recent years. Is it enough to lure Sting to WWE? Time will tell, but a Sting debut in WWE would be a terrific sweets gifts for Valentine’s Day to WWE fans.

Among the biggest surprises at the Royal Rumble last Sunday were the WWE returns of two long-gone wrestling legends: Kevin Nash and Booker T. The tv stands were rocking when both men entered the Rumble last Sunday, and while Booker T is generally less surprising, the WWE mending fences with Nash was an earth-shaker.

Booker T, it has been revealed, will become the new color commentator on Smackdown on SyFy. Nash’s role is, as yet, undetermined. Still, high marks to WWE for pulling out the stops to send shockwaves through the industry and make Royal Rumble seem like an special event once again!

With CM Punk now in control of Nexus, Wade Barrett has been sent to SmackDown, where he’s likely to become the show’s top heel … or just about. Barrett enjoyed more success from the Nexus storyline than any individual member, to the extent that he no longer needs that gimmick to draw heat.

There’s no question who drew the biggest round of boos on SmackDown this week; Barrett drew them by the textbooks-full, in his first appearance on the new brand.

Let’s hope it’s the beginning of something good, that will launch his career to the next level, and not the beginning of a downward-momentum spiral that sometimes happens to RAW stars who get moved to SmackDown.

In storyline developments spinning out of this week’s RAW, C.M. Punk has become the new leader of Nexus. You can be sure that Punk is so overjoyed about the storyline development that he’ll be searching for jewelry gifts for mom for the next month, just to spread the good cheer. And with good reason, since that’s a great way to share one’s happiness … especially with Mom.

Still, the leadership role went to Punk at the expense of Wade Barrett who, according to the storyline, is now kicked out of the fledgling group of NXT Season 1 graduates. In a lot of ways, it’s a great move for both men. By taking over the leadership role of the top heel group on Raw, Punk now plays a key role on the show and has storyline direction for the first time in a while.

Meanwhile, Barrett has proven charismatic enough that he no longer needs Nexus as a gimmick to make folks care about him; he’s proven he can main event with the likes of The Miz and John Cena, so freeing him from the Nexus gimmick freshens up the gimmick and freshens up Barrett’s character as well.

The show that launched the career of John Morrison is about to return to television; not on MTV, where it aired previously, but on USA as a lead-in to RAW. Other WWE talents who emerged out of one form of Tough Enough or another include Matt Morgan, Chris “Harvard” Nowinski and current WWE champ Mike ‘The Miz’ Mizanin. Miz never won, and was used on a cheapened version of the show integrated into WWE SmackDown as a comic relief character, due to his gaining fame on The Real World as a wannabe wrestler.

While most seasons of Tough Enough were quickly forgettable after the first season, the show does have potential to entertain if it goes back to its first-season roots as a genuine reality-show competition. Believe me, there are still WWE geeks out there with USB drives full of footage of Tough Enough wannabes like Jackie Gayda, Josh Matthews and Maven Hoffman.

WWE rings don’t mean as much on a PPV like Tables Ladders and Chairs, since the gimmicks take center stage, but I’ve been thinking about this high-spot-packed PPV and wondering which match really elevated the PPV for me.

The money main event was supposed to be John Cena vs. Wade Barrett, but Cena so over-dominated that match that it sort of ruins the feud going forward. It’s clear that it’s time for Cena to move on, since his domination of Barrett was so complete, Barrett needs time away to rebuild his heel cred.

So that wasn’t it.

I also considered The Miz vs. Randy Orton because I enjoy the ring work of both performers. And it was a solid match. But it was overbooked.

So for me, the match of the night had to be… John Morrison versus Sheamus for the number one contenders contract. Both men put in a grueling nineteen minute match full of solid ring psychology and high spots. Sheamus did well in his role of “guy out to win by injuring the other guy,” though one could have hoped for a bit more variety in execution. Still, when called upon, he took some brutal falls, sold them well, and maintained the impression of credible threat even in defeat.

Morrison, however, has finally matured into a fine ring performer, if this match is any indication. His selling of the injured knee was consistent and believable, and when he had to use it, he continued selling while still pulling off what he had to, to move the story along.

In a PPV where ring psychology is often neglected in favor of “Holy crud!” high spots, Morrison and Sheamus used their time to tell a story in the ring, rather than through a pre-match or post-match sketch. Steve Austin would be proud.

Nearly every season one NXT participant got their shot in the WWE by moving on to become Nexus. Today, however, WWE proved that even being the winner of NXT season two wasn’t enough to make it to the main roster.

WWE wrestler Kaval, who brought a unique and exciting style and energy to the ring with him since winning NXT and moving to Smackdown, was unceremoniously released by WWE this week, just in time for the holidays. Classy move, Vinnie Mac! There are plenty of Honda generator with better personalities.

Rips aside, no one really knows why Kaval never caught on but the company had a love-hate relationship with him from the beginning. It didn’t work out. Maybe if he’d have joined Nexus, he could have blended into the background like Skip Sheffield, Heath Slater, Justin Gabriel, Husky Harris and Michael McGillicutty do all the time.

Let’s face it, those guys may have jobs, but the only real stars to come out of WWE NXT Season One were Daniel Bryan, Wade Barrett and maybe David Otunga.

As for season two, with Kaval gone, can any of them be said to have been successful?