Wes Bergmann: Every Season Ranked

War of the Worlds 2 has been a hard season for Wes. In three short episodes he went from having a slew of “secret” alliances to securing safety in the Tribunal to having his alliances questioned to an overnight stay in the hospital to getting blindsided in elimination to getting eliminated by Bear. That’s a lot for one person, but it’s not surprising it happened to Wes. Over the years he has had varying levels of success and tried almost every strategy in the books. His history if full of ups and downs, and here all of them are in list form.

I’ll be honest, ranking Wes is going to be fun. His success isn’t necessarily defined by the money or the victory. He’s someone who plays a strategic game and varies the strategy each time he competes.

I’m only ranking him on a scale of 1-12, but I’ll insert the spinoff seasons where I think they belong.

12. Battle of the Seasons

The only thing worse than a failed strategy is no strategy. Wes didn’t care about this season and it showed. He lost to Big Easy, Team Austin tanked here, and it was easily his most forgettable season. Wes may never forget how Bananas left The Duel first, but Wes left first on his seventh season. What was Banananas doing on his seventh season? Winning.

11. War of the Worlds 2

After a highly successful run on War of the Worlds 1, Wes returned with a lot of eyes on him this time around. As a result, his alliances were exposed early and he has just as many enemies as he did allies. The worst thing? His enemies got power, and used it to send Wes against Bear in elimination. Wes went home as the second male in a speed/physical elimination, against a rival. A bad dream for Wes, a dream come true for many.

10. Battle of the Exes

The good thing about Wes? He varies his strategy. While many veterans will wait to make a move, he placed a target on Bananas day one. This was a bold move, and one that didn’t pay off. Wes went into the first two eliminations and was the second male to go. I respected his approach this season, but cringe thinking of the outcome this season.

9. Fresh Meat 2

Wes had the odds stacked in his favor this time around. With Danny and Evelyn as his allies, he came into the season prepared to take out Kenny’s alliance. He started strong but fizzled out. His elimination was quite embarrassing, as Mandi had to yell at Wes to move faster. Wes failed to make new allies and his influence on the house started to decrease with each episode until he was eliminated in the second half of the season.

This is where Champs vs. Stars would go. He pulled a shady move on Bananas by getting him thrown into elimination, but he also got eliminated thanks to Bananas and performed poorly in a swimming mission.

8. Rivals 3

This season saw Wes as the only real competition against Bananas, and he wasn’t really the star of the show. He tried to rally the rookies, but they weren’t super competent and no one could defeat Bananas and Sarah. He won a couple of eliminations, but then lost to Dario in the end. At the end of the day, Wes saw a bored Wes and a “over-it” Nany paired together.

7. The Ruins

Despite only making it half way, Wes had the whole house shook this season. He came onto the show to wreak havoc and he did just that. His threats of throwing challenges resulted in fear on the Champion team and he was an absolute disaster to work with. Fans may have loved it, but Evan, Kenny, and Johnny knew he was a problem. In Wes’s eyes, I think this was a bigger victory than getting to the finish line.

This is where Champs vs. Stars 2 would go. A decent showing for Wes, but he was overshadowed by the aggressive game play of the Stars. He almost won though, so that’s an accomplishment.

6. Rivals

Despite making it to the end, Wes wasn’t is typical Wes-self this season. This time he worked with Kenny, therefore working with Bananas and Evan in the process. While Wes carried his team in the early episodes, all of this is forgotten. What is remembered is Kenny carrying Wes in the final and Wes crying over his cramps. Hardcore fans will know that Wes & Kenny probably should have won this season, but due to overnight twist their 40 minute lead day one turned into a one minute head start the next day, allowing Bananas & Tyler to get the win.

5. Fresh Meat

His rookie season, Wes outperformed his Austin roommates by miles. He made it to the final and took Casey with him. He spent most of this season as a lone wolf and won more than half of the Exiles. This seems good, but Wes really didn’t perform well elsewhere. Casey quit a challenge, Wes was a super difficult to work with, and they came in third in the final. Plus, Wes & Casey had the lowest Exile baggage weight. I can’t help but think this helped him significantly when it comes to those Exile wins.

This is where Champs vs. Pros would go. Mostly for his victories in elimination, namely against Bananas. Getting to the final is nice too.

4. Battle of the Exes 2

The first half of this season showed political Wes at his absolute best. Plotting to get rid of Bananas, convincing people to back-stab friends, and ruining alliances in the process. If there were no twists, he could have made this his best season. But, Bananas returned from the Battle of the Ex-ile and he threw a wrench in Wes’s game. This meant Wes would quickly go into elimination and lose to Leroy… again.

3. Rivals 2

Wes won this season. It was with CT, but it’s still a victory. It’s also one of his quietest seasons. He didn’t have to do much to win. Most people are scared of CT and he was able to leverage that fear to his advantage. He saw no eliminations and did well in challenges, but the best elements of Wes’s character were missing from the show. Of course, he did get the trophy and he did get to brag about his monster trucks. That still makes the season a success.

2. War of the Worlds

After a four season hiatus, Wes returned and he was in full political mode. He made alliances, painted targets, and executed a lot of plans. This is the political mastermind people hope to see when Wes is cast on the show. He took this all the way to the final and he came in third, earning $50,000. He outperformed every other Challenge alumni and really took control of this game. If there’s ever a season where Wes got to flex his political savvy, this is it.

1. The Duel

The Duel is where Wes really earned his reputation and it’s where he proved he’s a beast in the game. He beat Derrick in a physical elimination, rallied an alliance out of the misfits, and outperformed Brad in the final. For a decade, he has the highest cash prize for a single Challenge appearance. Wes has improved in many ways since The Duel, but this is where he proved the hype is real and he is a beast in the game.