It’s the Fourth of July, but on The Challenge, America has continuously lost to the UK. Perhaps the most notorious incident was War of the Worlds 2.
The season was a notorious drama-fest that you can no longer stream, but there’s no denying that Team USA was stacked. There were quite a few Challenge champions on the roster, compared to Team UK, which was full of rookies and randoms (and CT, for some reason).
By the end of the season, Team USA had seven players compared to the UK’s five, and they were a tight-knit group. Six of them had been working together all season, and Zach, the outsider, may have been in his best shape ever.
However, the UK team had significantly improved by the end of the season. Jordan and Tori had swapped sides due to the Turncoat twist, and the five remaining players were a lean group. While Team UK had only won three daily challenges throughout the season (one as a result of Team USA throwing it), the remaining players had performed noticeably better by the end of the game; they even won the last daily challenge, Mine the Cart.
On paper, this looked like a good race, and it was. Team USA had won 11 daily challenges that season, so they should have been the front-runners to win. But this is a game show, and production tried to level the playing field. Each team had to carry a gurney with one sandbag for each player, meaning Team UK had to carry five bags (100 pounds) and Team USA had to carry seven bags (140 pounds). Despite the weight being proportional to team size, only four people could touch the gurney at a time.
In theory, either team could have had an advantage. Team UK had less weight, but Team USA had more people, meaning the carriers could rotate more often. But both teams had three men, and let’s be real, they were doing most of the heavy lifting. Women like Tori, Kam, and Ninja are incredibly strong players, but they can’t compare with CT, Zach, or Leroy.
This meant the first day of the final was much harder for Team USA, and it seemed like a punishment for having a better track record and more loyalty among players.
Unsurprisingly, Team UK finished the Day 1 race long before Team USA. Paulie infamously got dehydrated and sick toward the end of Team USA’s run, but producers didn’t disqualify him, and he managed to survive the Purge on Day 2. But in the end, Team UK won, except that Tori was purged right before the last leg of the final.
Did Team USA Get Screwed?
Based on viewer perception, Team UK was the preferred team. Objectively, the twists and format of the final hit this Team USA harder. They lost fewer people throughout the season, which is generally the goal of The Challenge, but that made their path in the final race more difficult.
Not to mention, the Day 2 purge meant both teams would be reduced to four players. So, Team USA had to lose three teammates in that puzzle, while Team UK only lost one.
If the final screwed either side, Team USA got the raw end of the deal while Team UK seemed to benefit from the format.
Could Team USA Have Won?
Let’s assume both teams had to carry the same weight on their gurney, and there was no purge, just a regular puzzle checkpoint. Does Team USA win?
Most likely, Team UK still takes home the prize. Really, Jordan was the pacesetter, and CT seemed to be the source of mental stability that held the team together. Team USA seemed stressed, and competitors panicked during early checkpoints, such as the math problem and eating competition.
However, this would have been a closer race, which probably would have made better television. But if I had to guess, producers wanted Team UK to win, and they got what they wanted.
Stop Being Polite 