The Challenge has given us many great competitors, but sometimes, the mighty fall.
As we enter a new season, we have a crop of great competitors on the roster. This means they could secure another win, but they could also take an early flight home, leaving a blemish on their legacy.
On this list I’m going to look at poor performances by Challengers based on their reputations upon entering the season. If the competitor hadn’t established their greatness yet (think, Bananas on The Duel), I won’t mention them. Similarly, I won’t look at competitors who are past their prime and had a series of poor performances.
The Miz (Battle of the Sexes 2)
Perhaps the earliest example of a team leader coming into a season with a heavily disappointing performance. Mike won his first Challenge season and was a finalist and team captain on his next two appearances. He seemed poised to resume that position on Battle of the Sexes 2, but a series of disqualifications and losses caused his team to send him packing about a third of the way through the season. They weren’t trying to get rid of a threat; rather, they could no longer keep Mike around just because he was a veteran.
Rachel Robinson (The Island)
The Island marked a long-awaited return for Rachel who had established herself as one of the toughest OGs to play the game. Then, to the surprise of many viewers, Kellyanne defeated her in an endurance-based competition and she was the third person voted off. While leaving the Island wasn’t really a punishment, Rachel was clearly expecting the opportunity to prove her strength. After all, she returned to the next season, The Duel 2, and won.
Evelyn Smith (The Ruins)
Evelyn may have fallen victim to the social game this season, but make no mistake, she was outplayed. She came into the Ruins with her friends Kellyanne and Wes, and the couple was very quickly targeted by the rest of the Champions. This resulted in a Kellyanne vs. Evelyn elimination, and Ev took herself out of the game to keep her friend safe.
Darrell Taylor (Fresh Meat 2)
Before this season, Darrell had never lost an elimination. He won his first four Challenge season, and he likely would have made the final on the Ruins if he hadn’t been eliminated for fighting — after all, he’d already won two Ruins. However, his prior successes hadn’t left him without vendettas and Wes took the opportunity to send Darrell into an early Exile on Fresh Meat 2. Turns out, Cara Maria couldn’t make up for the fact that Darrell wasn’t a puzzle whiz and the team took the first flight home.
Wes Bergmann (Battle of the Seasons)
Early into Wes’ Challenge career he accumulated a lot of impressive feats. He won five eliminations in his rookie season then he became the sole winner of the Duel, but by the time he was on Battle of the Seasons that momentum had died. Wes was outnumbered by rookies and sent into the first Arena. There, he competed in the first-ever Hall Brawl where he lost to Big Easy, but at least that’s a moment in Challenge history.
Johnny Bananas (War of the Worlds)
After securing six Challenge wins, people had come to expect Bananas to make it far into the game each season. He accomplished this on all three “trilogy” seasons (even after he stole Sarah’s money on Rivals 3), but his luck ran out on War of the Worlds. He was seemingly betrayed by Zach in a plan that may have been concocted by Wes, but Bananas became the second veteran to get sent home this season, one of the worst performances in his career.
CT Tamburello (Total Madness)
CT may have shown up to Total Madness in poor shape, but after winning War of the Worlds 2, there was no reason to believe that’d be his downfall. He started the season with good momentum, but when he self-nominated into elimination, he likely expected an easy victory against Jay. After all, Jay is significantly smaller and the elimination, Take Shelter, seemed to benefit CT because he works in construction. Instead, Jay outsmarted CT and sent the champion home early — but that meant less time in the bunker, so did CT really lose?
Tori Deal (Total Madness)
Tori has become a mainstay in Challenge finals since Spies, Lies and Allies, but she was a bit of an ingénue early into her career. She established herself as a tough competitor on Dirty Thirty and War of the Worlds 2, so it was disappointing to see her lose so early on Total Madness. It wasn’t just that she lost this season. Instead, she appeared desperate to get an easy elimination match up and was upset she couldn’t just skate to the end.
Laurel Stucky (Ride or Dies)
If there’s one thing we’ve come to expect from Laurel, it’s a tough competitor. Even when she went home early on War of the Worlds 2 she was putting up a tough fight and only lost on a technicality. That wasn’t the competitor we saw on Ride or Dies. Instead, Laurel was struggling in daily challenges. Michele & Jay nominated her into the Zone twice, and Laurel tried to keep herself safe by saying she hadn’t been winning much. Ultimately, that claim wasn’t a lie. Laurel & Jakk lost to Jordan & Aneesa early into the season, though she did manage to win one Zone before her departure.
Mark Long (Battle of the Eras)
As a two-time champ, Mark has an established legacy on the Challenge. When he shows up, he’s usually in the competition for the long haul, so it was very unexpected to see him in the first elimination on Battle of the Eras. A bigger surprise was seeing him lose to Derrick, a much smaller competitor, in Pole Wrestle, but Mark took the loss in stride, giving Derrick credit for his success.
Stop Being Polite 