Why Did Wes Choose to Compete Against Bananas

On Total Madness, we saw two titans work together. Wes seemed to be Banana’s biggest ally this season, but he ultimately faced Bananas in a elimination. Wes chose to go in, and it could have been totally avoided.

The edit of the show tries to make you believe Wes was frustrated with Bananas. Wes won his way into the Tribunal, and Bananas wanted to take all of the power out of his hands by making the elimination his own. The truth is, Bananas let everyone know he was going into elimination. He deliberately answered his trivia question incorrectly so he wouldn’t win the challenge. Clearly Bananas had some trick up his sleeve, but Wes chose to win anyway.

Any narrative trying to convince the viewer that Wes felt betrayed by Bananas incorrect. Wes obtained power knowing Bananas intentions, though Wes may have held some resentment toward Bananas because Bananas took control of the week before Wes could construct a plan. Still, this was not a deliberate act of sabotage. If both of them were going to the final, they’d both need to win a Red Skull.

Since Wes had power, there were plenty of options. He could have given Bananas an opponent like Cory or Kyle, not the best, but also not the easiest win. He also could have given Swaggy the elimination against Bananas. If Swaggy won, he’d likely come back and continue to work with Wes (based on his discussion with the Tribunal). If Bananas won, the alliance would remain in tact and Bananas gave him a rookie in elimination, a pretty justifiable move.

The fact of the matter, Wes had the power to set Bananas up against a stronger competitor and keep the easier competitors for himself. He didn’t. He faced Bananas and there’s only one real reason: he wanted a show.

I truly believe Wes wanted to create a moment to be remembered in Challenge history. Wes isn’t a stranger to doing such a thing, and this was certainly an elimination people wanted to see.

There are a couple other possible reasons. Maybe Wes saw the climbing wall and though the game favored him? It is true that time is winding down, and there were only a few male eliminations left (presumably). Or Wes may have just been sick of the bunker.

Other theories can’t be outright dismissed, but I will continue to believe this was an act of showmanship. Wes has the cards in his favor, and he’s smart enough to realize this. He’s also smart enough to know the moment he was giving production and he seized the opportunity.