All Stars: Rivals is finally coming to Paramount+. You’ll be able to stream the whole thing starting Wednesday, July 16.
Many Challenge fans have already watched the season, but ratings weren’t too hot. So let’s face it, a lot of viewers skipped this season. Now, three months after the finals (and with the outcome likely spoiled), is this season worth watching or revisiting?
Of course, there isn’t a clear-cut answer because everyone has different tastes. As an avid Challenge fan, I watch every seasons. While it might seem this would make me recommend every season, it also puts me in the position to tell you which seasons aren’t the best.
All Stars: Rivals feels like a season that won’t have a massive impact on the long-term landscape of the Challenge. Its winners, Adam & Steve, seem unlikely to return to the flagship series; they’re the type of people who will likely exclusively appear on All Stars.
This season is also plagued with formatting flaws. As such, it’s not super competitive. There are a lot of teams that you’d expect to flop, and they do. But, because there are a lot of equalizers baked into the format, a lot of the strongest teams aren’t able to excel like you’d expect.
The casting is also lackluster in some areas. A lot of people from more recent main series seasons have jumped to All Stars, which is off-putting to viewers who tune into the spinoff for legacy competitors. We do see returners like Frank, Sam, and Dario, but there really aren’t a lot of people who used All Stars: Rivals to reenter the Challenge scene.
I would recommend All Stars: Rivals to people who enjoy messier games. There’s a lot of political strategizing this season, and there are some entertaining fights. This season does have the feel of an older Challenge season (but not super old). It feels like it’d fit in with the tone of a season in late Era 3.
Ultimately, All Stars: Rivals feels like a straight-to-video movie sequel (I hope people are old enough to understand this reference). Coming off of Battle of the Eras, most of the big names in the Challenge world weren’t doing All Stars. Instead, we got people who can’t commit to a full main series season and some B-list players who have nothing else going on.
That’s not to say All Stars: Rivals is bad — I actually enjoyed it a lot. But it’s campier than the main series and way less serious. If you didn’t watch this season, you wouldn’t be missing out on pivotal plot lines in the Challenge world. But if you do watch it, you might walk away with an appreciation for a competitor you didn’t love before.
Stop Being Polite 