The Challenge has given us a lot of opportunities for people to prove themselves. Sometimes, we see people thrive under pressure. Other times, we see people fumble and lose when the odds were in their favor.
Here are some of the elimination losses that are embarrassing for the loser involved. All factors will be considered, such as the elimination itself and the relationship between the two competitors involved. I will not factor in pair eliminations where one competitor had no impact on the loss. For example, I would not say Naomi beat Wes in X-Battle because Naomi never won and Wes never faced her in competition.
10. Dario & Raphy Medrano (Battle of the Bloodlines)
The Medrano brothers, especially Dario, had really hot heads on Battle of the Bloodlines, so it was kind of surprising they avoided the first male elimination. They did get into the second one, and Raphy appeared to be doing well in a glorified Tug-of-War against Mitch. The embarrassing part comes from Dario’s premature celebration. It literally derailed Raphy and allowed Mitch to pull his way to victory. If Dario just waited for the horn, he probably would have won.
9. Ty Ruff (Cutthroat)
The blue team expected a lot out of Ty on Cutthroat, despite generally underwhelming performances throughout the season. When he got into elimination, he started off strong. Then, he gassed out and collapsed allowing Brandon to score a come from behind victory. He was close to winning, then he just… fell.
8. Tony Raines (Dirty Thirty)
Everything about Tony’s first loss on Dirty Thirty makes me cringe. Firstly, he only got thrown into elimination for a drunken argument with Cara Maria the night before, which Nelson used as an excuse when he pulled the double cross. Tony had a climbing elimination called The Great Escape, and his height should have been a huge advantage. Tony fell down the wall near the top, allowing his opponent Ammo to get to the top and ring the bell first. No one thought Ammo would win, but Tony’s utter lack of composure and coordination cost him the game.
7. Danny Dias (The Gauntlet 2)
We all know facing Alton in an elimination, especially during the Gauntlet 2 time period, is basically a death wish. When Danny had to face him in Beach Brawl, no one really expected Danny to win. Alton didn’t even have to try though, Danny lost because he charged at Alton and Alton just moved out of the way. There was really no fight there, and Danny really did try, but it was such a quick loss it was laughable.
6. Dustin & Jessica (Battle of the Exes)
The first elimination on Battle of the Exes 2 saw an upset for a pair of up-and-coming competitors. Jessica had just made it midway through Free Agents while Dustin has recently made it to the Battle of the Seasons final. It was unsurprising to see the Are You the One? rookies go into the first elimination, but they showed up and took home a victory because Jessica and Dustin fell down the climbing wall in Pole Position. Dustin hasn’t been able to show his face on The Challenge since.
5. Wes Bergmann (Rivals 3)
Wes has always been a risky player. He’s done a lot of eliminations and taken quite a few people out. On Rivals 3, he was in one of the final eliminations against Dario & Nicole. The game was Tunnel Vision, a game requiring competitors to crawl through a course and bypass each other. Nany and Nicole faced each other first, and they were about even. This loss can be entirely attributed to Wes. Dario outperformed him and Wes and Nany went home because of Wes.
4. Johnny Bananas (Vendettas)
Bananas has had a few losses that could be considered embarrassing. His loss to Evan on The Gauntlet 3, his loss to Tyler on The Duel, or his loss to Zach on War of the Worlds. The worst had to be his loss to Devin on Vendettas. Not because he lost in a puzzle, no one really expected him to do well, but it was because Devin outsmarted him. Devin orchestrated a plan to embarrass Bananas and get Tony to turn on his ally and create a Bananas vs. Devin match-up. It all worked, and in the end, Bananas looked Not So Bright.
Bonus: Bananas vs. CT
I want to acknowledge this, because of the humiliation of being carried by CT, but if you really put things into perspective, this isn’t Banana’s worst moment. They brought in CT for no reason whatsoever, no one could prepare for this random twist, and Tyler got the benefit of going against an already tired CT. Still…. the Bananas Backpack….
3. Evelyn Smith (Fresh Meat 2)
The most memorable Exile on Fresh Meat 2 was the competition where Carley nearly died of exhaustion. Despite this, she won that elimination. Landon & Carley beat Evelyn & Luke, and while many people will attribute this loss to Luke, Evelyn is the one who should be ashamed. They lost because they skipped over a puzzle, but Landon & Carley completed it and earned a time advantage. Evelyn proceeded to throw a fit and blame everyone but herself.
2. Rachel Moyal (The Inferno 3)
Jenn was really underestimated on The Inferno 3, and Rachel thought she’d be an easy victory in The Inferno. In fact, Rachel had a lead in the beginning of the Ejection elimination, but Jenn figured out how to play the game and she secured a come-from-behind victory. The real embarrassment was Rachel storming out of The Inferno, crying, and saying she lost to a “chubby civilian girl.” Major cringe.
1. Evan Starkman (Rivals)
When Evan came onto Rivals he was more than a little out of shape. Despite this, he had won his two prior seasons so he was regarded to be a solid competitor. He found himself throwing a challenge to secure an elimination match-up against CT & Adam. Of course, Nehemiah didn’t know about this plan and was super pissed at Evan (rightfully so). Then, Evan & Nehemiah face off against CT & Adam in Rail Slide, a competition requiring coordination and upper body strength. Evan lost, and dangled from the contraption like a turd. So not only did he fail to execute his plan, Evan managed to highlight how out of shape he was in the process.
Stop Being Polite 