Hulk Hogan, Paige, John Saboor, Jay Noble discuss ‘WWE Tough Enough’ on USA Network
WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan, WWE Diva Paige, WWE Executive Vice President of Special Events John Saboor and Full Sail University Vice President of Alumni/Event Producer Jay Noble participated in a media event to promote the WWE Tough Enough weekly series which premiers 8/7 C on Tuesday, June 23 on USA Network and around the world.
Full Sail University, which has a solid relationship with WWE through John Saboor and the WWE team, hosted the media gathering on Friday, June 19 at its state-of-the-art facilities in Winter Park, near Orlando. Where Full Sail Live houses WWE NXT tapings and live specials for the WWE Network, “WWE Tough Enough” will emanate from Full Sail’s latest professional production facilities and sound stages located in buidling 4D on its campus.
Paige -- who will be appearing at Florida Supercon on Friday, June 26 at the Miami Beach Convention Center PaigeSupercon -- is not only part of “WWE Tough Enough,” but she is one of the stars of “Total Divas” on E!. Hogan -- who’s worn many hats in sports, entertainment and sports entertainment -- is running wild with his Hogan’s Beach HogansBeach, a restaurant, sports bar and wrestling gift shop in Tampa.
Interview with Paige and Hulk Hogan
There’s Mr. WrestleMania in front of the camera, Shawn Michaels, but there’s also a Mr. WrestleMania behind it.
WWE Executive Vice President of Special Events John Saboor is instrumental in siting where WrestleMania Week will call home, greatly involved in the process of gathering information and data as well as viewing the facilities and surroundings of a city/area applying to host WrestleMania, WWE’s Super Bowl.
Saboor served on the other side, when Orlando courted and married WrestleMania 24 in 2008. Saboor was president of the Central Florida Sports Commission, helping wholeheartedly to attract and retain more than 500 events in the Central Florida area, including WrestleMania 24. His business acumen produced an incredible economic boost to Central Florida.
WWE was so impressed with Saboor’s hard work to land WrestleMania in Orlando and his efforts leading to and throughout WrestleMania Week that the company hired him.
Interview with John Saboor
@RealPaigeWWE
@HulkHogan
@WWEToughEnough
Intro and above interviews combined
from ‘WWE Tough Enough’ press event
Lucky 13
USA Network and WWE previously announced the final 13 competitors for the high-octane reality series, WWE Tough Enough, premiering live at 8/7C on Tuesday, June 23 on USA Network and around the world.
The cast was chosen from more than 11,100 submissions from 113 countries. Forty finalists attended tryouts recently at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando with only 13 making the final cut.
The final 13 WWE Tough Enough competitors are:
Mada Abdelhamid, Los Angeles
Hank Avery Jr., Macon, Ga.
Daria Berenato, Los Angeles
Joshua Bredl, Thornton, Colo.
Gabi Castrovinci, Southington, Conn.
Patrick Clark, Jr., Washington, D.C.
Dianna Dahlgren, Spokane, Wash.
Alexander Frekey, Dallas, Texas
Sara Lee, Hope, Mich.
Zamariah “ZZ” Loupe, Bayou Boeuf, La.
Giorgia Piscina, Brisbane, Australia
Amanda Saccomanno, Yorktown Heights, N.Y.
Tanner Saraceno, Boiling Springs, S.C.
About ‘WWE Tough Enough’
WWE Tough Enough is hosted by WWE Superstar Chris Jericho, who will be joined by a panel of judges including WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan, WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan and WWE Diva Paige.
This season will combine the can’t-miss excitement of live television with reality-show drama, as WWE hopefuls vie for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to become the next WWE Superstar or Diva. Unlike anything on television today, the lightning-fast hour of entertainment and competition will include live results every week, giving fans worldwide the power to decide who stays and who goes the very same night.
Every week, the three judges will each nominate one competitor they believe should be cut, and it will be up to the WWE Universe to vote and determine who they feel is “Tough Enough,” to remain in the competition. The competitor with the least number of votes will be eliminated. Throughout the season, each judge will have the ability to save one competitor from being sent home. Ultimately, one man and one woman will be considered “Tough Enough,” with each earning a one-year, $250,000 WWE contract.
Each week, the competitors will be coached by WWE legends Booker T, Billy Gunn and Lita, and competitors will come face-to-face with WWE icons including WWE Chairman & Chief Executive Officer Vince McMahon Jr.; Executive Vice President, Talent, Live Events & Creative, Paul Triple H Levesque; and WWE Superstars John Cena, Big Show and Randy Orton, among others.
The revolutionary WWE Tough Enough App is now available for download. This app will provide an unprecedented fan experience before, during and after the show by enabling fans to vote for who stays and who goes with results calculated in real-time during the final minutes of each episode. The app will also include competitor bios and video and social updates as the competition unfolds throughout the week.
Visit http://www.wwe.com/
Full Sail Live is Tough Enough
Full Sail University is proud to announce the new season of the hard-hitting reality series, WWE Tough Enough, will emanate from Full Sail University in Winter Park, near Orlando.
Premiering Tuesday, June 23, at 8/7C on USA Network, live segments direct from Full Sail University’s professional production studios will be featured during the broadcast each week. Outside of the U.S., WWE Tough Enough airs live on OSN Sports 2 HD across the Middle East and North Africa, Ten Sports in the Indian subcontinent, Cielo in Italy and on YouTube around the rest of the world.
“Through our continued collaboration with WWE, Full Sail University is proud to have been selected as the professional production facilities to host live, weekly segments of the WWE Tough Enough series,” Ken Goldstone, Chief Operating Officer of Full Sail University, said in a press release. “We greatly look forward to our students learning from WWE’s commitment to the innovative use of social media and fan engagement in tandem with WWE’s broadcast delivery of exceptional entertainment to their global fan base.”
In 2012, WWE and Full Sail University began a multi-faceted partnership in the pursuit of educational, real-world production, research, innovation, and scholarship initiatives. One of the key components of the collaboration between WWE and Full Sail allows students of the university’s entertainment-focused degree programs to gain real-world experience alongside WWE’s professional production staff during tapings of WWE NXT, and will now expand to include the production of WWE Tough Enough.
Additionally, the educational component of the relationship has included the development of a student scholarship fund, which to date has provided select Full Sail students with $140,000 toward their education.
Full Sail University Vice President of Alumni/Event Producer Jay Noble works in the career development division developing the Full Sail graduates, students working with WWE.
“We’re very fortunate WWE offered an opportunity for our students and graduates,” Noble said. “It’s a perfect marriage for us.”
The state-of-the-art Full Sail Live at Full Sail University houses WWE NXT live and taped shows for WWE Network. Full Sail students shadow alongside the WWE production team, attaining real hands-on experience.
“To get the experience in the thick of it on our campus, the cream rises to the top,” Noble proudly said. “WWE hired some of our graduates to work WrestleMania [30] in Louisiana as well as other WWE productions.”
And there’s more.
Noble continued: “Graduates the last three years work NXT events. Some of our graduates hired by WWE are touring with WWE, and some are working in Stamford [WWE’s headquarters] in sports marketing and production.”
Full Sail, like WWE, is so broad in its production scope including web and multi-media technology.
“The announcement that the new season of the USA Network television series WWE Tough Enough will be produced and broadcast live from Full Sail University is an incredibly important milestone for Central Florida’s entertainment and film sector, and another wonderful point of collaboration between WWE and Full Sail University,” Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs said in a press release. “We’re so proud to join in saluting this latest success, which speaks to the growing magnitude of Central Florida’s reputation as a center for entertainment, TV broadcast, and digital media.”
Periscope eying ‘WWE Tough Enough’
WWE turns to Periscope, a new live streaming app, to give fans a look through the eyes of the competitors as the drama unfolds.
The @WWEToughEnough account on Periscope will also include guest appearances from the show’s host WWE Superstar Chris Jericho, Tough Enough judges WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan, WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan and WWE Diva Paige, as well as various other WWE Superstars and Divas.
Starting June 23, WWE Tough Enough will air weekly on Tuesdays at 8/7C on USA Network. Outside of the United States, WWE Tough Enough airs live on OSN Sports 2 HD across the Middle East and North Africa, Ten Sports in the Indian subcontinent, Cielo in Italy and on YouTube around the rest of the world.
“WWE is already best in class when it comes to utilizing Twitter to engage with their massive global fan base,” said Danny Keens, Head of North American Sports Partnerships at Twitter. “Periscope allows anyone in the world to share and experience live video and now fans of WWE's Tough Enough can further engage with talent from the show live in real-time. WWE is removing another barrier and allowing fans to have a deeper connection with their favorite WWE stars.”
Lisa Fox, WWE Executive Vice President, Content, said: “This new innovative partnership with Periscope will ensure that WWE Tough Enough never goes off the air. This daily all-access content will bring our fans closer to the competitors, the action and the drama than in any other reality show.”
About WWE
WWE, a publicly traded company (NYSE: WWE), is an integrated media organization and recognized leader in global entertainment. The company consists of a portfolio of businesses that create and deliver original content 52 weeks a year to a global audience. WWE is committed to family friendly entertainment on its television programming, pay-per-view, digital media and publishing platforms.
WWE programming reaches more than 650 million homes worldwide in 35 languages. WWE Network, the first-ever 24/7 over-the-top premium network that includes all 12 live pay-per-views, scheduled programming and a massive video-on-demand library, is currently available in more than 175 countries.
The company is headquartered in Stamford, Conn., with offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Mexico City, Mumbai, Shanghai, Singapore, Dubai, Munich and Tokyo.
Additional information on WWE (NYSE: WWE) can be found at
wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com.
For information on its global activities, go to
About USA Network
USA Network, the leader in cable entertainment, offers a powerful stable of dramatic, comedic and unscripted originals in more than 102 million U.S. homes. The network also features spectacular live television, a dynamic portfolio of acquired series and the best in blockbuster theatrical films and entertainment events.
A trailblazer in digital innovation and storytelling, USA is defining, driving and setting the industry standard for Social TV. USA is a program service of NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment, a division of NBCUniversal. USA’s award-winning website is at
About Full Sail University
Led by President Garry Jones, Full Sail University is nationally accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges to award associate’s, bachelor's degrees and master’s degrees in audio, film, design, computer animation, business, and other fields.
In Winter Park, near Orlando, Full Sail University features 78 degree programs. It has a student population of around 16,000.
Full Sail graduate credits include work on OSCAR, Emmy, GRAMMY, ADDY, MTV Video Music Award, and Video Game Award nominated and winning projects.
Pro Wrestling On The Web
http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/fighting/
This story was originally published June 22, 2015 at 6:15 PM with the headline "Hulk Hogan, Paige, John Saboor, Jay Noble discuss ‘WWE Tough Enough’ on USA Network."