This week, a new Champion will be crowned — but in the Challenge world, will that title matter?
It’s been a long 18 weeks to get to this point, but the culmination of this season is a final with seven (now six) contenders who had never been to a final before. But this scenario shouldn’t be a shock, because the cast is devoid of any Champions.
As we know, 10 champs did compete, but there’s something odd about the six remaining finalists on Battle for a New Champion: Despite being told they need to beat champions to become a champion, none of them ever did.
With this format, it makes the championship title questionable. It’s kind of like winning an international Challenge spinoff, or Challenge USA 1. Sure, some people are known to be strong competitors, but the format deliberately omits the best-of-the-best.
Winning this season will feel like you’re the best player in the minor leagues. There are a lot of eyes on you, and you’ll be recognized for your potential, but it’s not the same as winning in the big leagues.
The good thing about winning this season: It will likely get the winner cast on future seasons. But it’s one of those victories that will always have an astricks next to it, and it certainly won’t make you one of the best on The Challenge.
There are other winners who only competed against a small number of other Champions. For example, Kaycee only really outperformed Amber on Spies, Lies and Allies (Ashley was disqualified and she won with CT). On Battle of the Seasons, the only winners were Wes, Alton, and Camila, and since this season, no one from Team San Diego has gotten another win.
Despite this, winning Battle for a New Champion feels like the least significant of the less-signficant seasons, which kind of sucks because only 1 out of 24 people will win. But, these finalists didn’t invent this format, and winning Season 39 is better than winning nothing at all.
Stop Being Polite 