According to a recent interview with Stone Cold Steve Austin, it appears as if WWE currently has no plans to bring back its Tough Enough TV show.

“WWE dropped the ball with Tough Enough,” Austin said. The original Tough Enough debuted in 2001 and was a reality TV show that allowed amateurs to win a contract to become a WWE Superstar. Its initial run ran for four seasons and people like The Miz and Ryback competed on the show just to name a few.

WWE decided to end the show in 2004. It wasn’t until 2011 that they decided to revive and reboot Tough Enough. To make people tune into the show, they made Austin, Booker T, Trish Stratus and Bill DeMott the judges.

WWE used Austin heavily to promote the show and it was a success. Ratings were steady throughout the season and fans loved the format of the show. At the time, it seemed like Tough Enough would have been renewed for another season.

The only problem was the winner of Tough Enough. Andy Leavine won the show even though he was one of the least experienced wrestlers of the group. Although he was relegated to the FCW to improve his skills, officials decided to release him before he even made his actual wrestling debut in the WWE.

WWE did not even sign any of the other competitors on the show to a contract either. Most of the more talented wrestlers are still just wrestling on the independent circuit. The only person they did sign was the very inexperienced Ariane Andrew. Fans will know her better as Cameron, who is now one of Brodus Clay‘s dancers.

Too bad WWE decided to end Tough Enough like this. New stars could have been created, but they chose the wrong people to sign a contract with them…