CT The Most Overrated Challenger — Is Michele Right?

At the Battle of the Eras reunion, Michele was given the task of naming the most overrated Challenger. While this is entirely an opinion-based question, she gave the one wrong answer: CT.

The rest of the cast was shocked by this, but in Michele’s defense, she’d only seem him on two seasons: Spies, Lies and Allies and Battle of the Eras. Devin was quick to remind Michele that CT won Spies, Lies and Allies, but Michele confessed she stopped watching after her departure on episode 4.

It’s hard to deny that CT is one of the greatest Challengers, but that wasn’t the question. Michele was asked of CT was overrated, and that makes answering a little more complicated.

If you follow Challenge fan communities online, you’ll know that people give CT a lot of respect — but there are some fans that take this to the next level. Even when CT shows up on a season in bad shape, these fans act like he’s the GOAT. And his early departure and back pain on season 40 showed everyone that CT is far from invincible.

There’s a part of me that wants to understand Michele’s answer, and I can kind of see her perspective. CT built his reputation on early seasons, but he really became the star of The Challenge around the time of Rivals and Battle of the Exes. During those seasons, he didn’t really have alliances and he did whatever he wanted. Other competitors were deathly afraid of him and they really had to plot to get him out of the game.

After Invasion, we saw a different side of CT, and he was much more mellow. He wasn’t causing waves in the game, and it felt like his intensity had died down. He even won War of the Worlds 2, but he wasn’t much of a force in the game. He had to rely on his allies, but that low-key game worked well. This is the energy that CT brought to Spies, Lies and Allies (though he was in much better shape this time around). CT played a near-flawless game that season, but Michele didn’t see much of his intensity. CT was just working with the veterans and making easy moves to advance to the next episode.

I can try to understand Michele’s perspective, but ultimately, I don’t think CT is overrated. Even dad bod CT is highly rated for a reason. I think CT has become much more tame, even boring at times, but that’s the strategy that’s rewarded on current Challenge seasons.

Still, I understand why Michele said CT’s name. He’s pretty quiet on most of his more recent seasons, and he doesn’t brag about his victories as much as other champions. Plus she wasn’t going to say her boyfriend Devin’s name, and that’s probably the real most-overrated Challenger.