Most Controversial Challenge Eliminations

The Challenge is no stranger to controversies, but it’s upsetting when those scandals center around rules that aren’t clearly explained. In many cases, it frustrates viewers, but it’s even worse for the competitors who are eliminated due to unfair competition.

Here are 10 eliminations that left viewers and competitors feeling unsatisfied. Call it a hunch, but I feel this list is likely to expand by the time Season 40 is done airing.

While any elimination can qualify for this list, I am specifically looking at eliminations that have faulty equipment, require production to revisit their decision, didn’t have consistent rules, or were notably skewed to favor a specific outcome.

Asset Destruction (Double Agents)

There are many cases of Tori having luck on her side, but on Double Agents, she really struggled to release her balls when facing Aneesa. This is quite uncharacteristic of the tough competitor she’s known to be, after seeing Horacio’s questionable loss she has discussed being a victim of faulty equipment in the past. It’s pretty clear that something was amiss during this elimination, and to Tori’s credit, she used it as an opportunity to let her BFF Aneesa shine.

Smash House (The Inferno 3)

Sometimes while watching The Challenge, you know you’re being fed a bullshit narrative, and that was the case when Timmy “DQed” on The Inferno 3. TJ told him there was an unbroken pane of glass and the show even tried to convince us by putting a square over some playback footage. However, the unbroken glass can’t be seen in that clip. Most likely, this disqualification happened because this was an unsafe elimination and Timmy badly cut his knees on broken glass. So, he would’ve had to leave for medical reasons anyway. With that, production likely wanted to keep Abe around.

Milk and Cookies (Final Reckoning)

Imagine if an elimination was messed up and production actually tried to fix it. Well, that happened on Final Reckoning, and people were still crying foul. While we don’t know much about the original elimination (the structure can be seen while TJ is greeting people at Armageddon), allegedly the timing mechanism was faulty and they had to redo the game. In Milk and Cookies, the replacement elimination we actually saw, Bananas & Tony faced Paulie & Natalie for hours, but at least both teams had a chance to win.

Memory Lane (Ride of Dies)

When Turbo & Tamara were voted into the Zone, it was clear that the majority of the house wanted them to lose to rookies Olivia & Horacio. Then, they were given a game of memory with an audience of nearly 30 people — and they all got to chime in. This meant Horacio & Olivia were spoon-fed the answers by their crowd while Turbo & Tamara were left to fend for themselves. This is not the first example of audience participation, but it’s one of the most notable cases with a heavy impact on the game.

Head Banger (Vendettas)

If we want to talk about eliminations with faulty equipment, the final Ring on Vendettas was a disaster. It was clear this wasn’t constructed well due to the location change, but all of Brad’s equipment fell apart. He couldn’t punch through the walls — they just fell over, and the handles in his punching balls broke off. Leroy’s equipment was sturdier, so this isn’t to discredit his victory, but it doesn’t seem like Brad was given a fair shot.

King of the Hill (Battle for a New Champion)

On the surface, this looks like an impressive display of Jordan schooling a rookie, but eagle-eyed viewers noticed some discrepancies in the edit. Jordan was just waiting around, giving Ciarran an advantage, and his shoes were taken off. While it seems likely that Jordan still would have won in a stable environment, the fact that so much was omitted made viewers wonder what was really going on behind the scenes.

Push Me (The Duel)

This is usually regarded as the original elimination controversy because allegedly, production spent a half hour determining whether or not Beth was disqualified. While Beth didn’t unhook her flag properly, she was able to fully unclip both pieces before Svetlana could stop her. And, Svetlana left the Duel boundaries to pout, implying she was done with the game. So, many people were surprised to see Svetlana declared as the winner — but no one was more surprised than Svetlana herself.

Shake It Off (Final Reckoning)

This elimination was nothing but controversy. It started when Zach & Amanda volunteered, then, the fact that the mercenaries showed up added a layer of suspicion, even though Cory & Devin had to beat both Jozea & Da’Vonne and Zach & Amanda to enter the game. It wasn’t a huge shock to see them defeat the Big Brother duo, but when they lost to Zach & Amanda, more eyebrows were raised. Suspiciously, it seemed the exact same Medalion refused to shake off the rope for both of Cory & Devin’s opponents, even though it had Zach’s whole body trying to force it off.

Pick It Up (Battle of the Eras)

A quick watch of this episode would leave you believing the outcome was so close the refs had to review the footage, but in reality, the equipment was so faulty that multiple rules were not upheld. It seemed both competitors were hindered by the game’s poor design, but Horacio may have been impacted more heavily, especially when Derrick’s victory was declared with an empty hole on his board.

Branched Out (War of the Worlds 2)

This elimination began suspiciously when Ninja, a climbing enthusiast, was spoon-fed an elimination centered around climbing. Despite this, Laurel seemingly placed all of her pegs first, leading TJ to blow the horn and declare her the winner. Then, Laurel’s victory was taken away because she placed a branch in the wrong hole. While TJ was explaining this, Ninja climbed her tree and completed the course. It’s unclear whether Laurel was disqualified or Ninja was allowed to finish the game while her opponent was questioning the rules, but many viewers felt like a reset would have been the fairest resolution.