Challengers Thread: From All-Stars To All-Pains

[LoLo]

What would your dream team be for the Challenge (10 players each). Pretend everyone was the same age & in their prime. Then the Challenge is every man/woman for themselves. No voting, no alliances. If you come in last or 2nd to last you go into the duel, you lose you go home. No team challenges either. All individual.

 

My cast would be:

Men-Landon, Darrell, Mark Long, Theo, Bananas, CT, Wes, Evan, Derreck Kosinski, The Miz

Women-Evelyn, Jodi, Emily Schromm, Camilla, Cooke, Cara Maria, Laurel, Sarah, Susie & Rachel

[LoLo]

I like your list Lolo, but I'd have to do 15 and and keep my personal feelings out of it. Hee

I'd also want a combination of comps that test athleticism, agility, speed, strength, endurance, and critical thinking skills.

For the men: Mark Long, MikeMiz, Jamie (underrated, three impressive wins under his belt), Theo, Darrell, Alton, CT, Landon, Wes, Johnny B, Tyler, Evan, Kenny, Frank, and Zach.

My alternates would be Derrick, Timmy, and Brad.

For the women: Emily Bailey, Susie, Ruthie (if we're talking in her prime), Hollywick, STFU Ellen, Rachel, Jodi, Evelyn, Sarah, Emily Scromm, Laurel, Cara Maria, Theresa, Camilla, and Cooke.

My alternates would be Veronica, Coral, and Tori when she's mentally prepared.

But I would still love to see NO Ashlee compete!

 

Great list, I would have added Frank, Zach, Brad, Jamie & Alton if the list was longer. I put it at 10 because if they are all individual challenges they take longer & we wouldn't get to see them all. Just like this season, the cast is larger so we get all team challenges until the #'s dwindle then it will go single person challenges. 

[Charmqn]

Males: Darrell, Landon, CT, Derrick, Timmy, Dan S, Mark, Jamie, Alton, & Abram.

 

Females: KellyAnne, Evelyn, Emily (RW), Ruthie, Emily (RR), Laurel, Cooke, Cara Maria, Elka, and Rachel.

 

Alternates: Ellen, Theo, Zach, Wes,Camilla, & Jodi.

[Nena]

I've been thinking about Mark's tweet for an Old School vs New School challenge.  Assuming the cut off for old/new is the first Fresh Meat, which is when the entire format of the show changed, could they even get 7 "Old" players of each gender back?

Realistic options for guys: Mark, CT, Derrick, Abram, Nehemiah...would Darrell or Alton even come back again?

Realistic options for girls: Aneesa, Robin, Tina, Rachel...and would Ruthie, Coral or Kina ever come back?

 

By realistic I mean ones who have been on more recently without appearing to be totally over it. 

[Lantern7]

With 25 seasons behind us, I ask you: who are your favorite Challengers? And which ones would you spit on if they were dying of thirst?

 

Off the top of my head . . . in no particular order and in brief . . . 

 

Faves: Coral (those that got abused by her usually deserved it), Sarah Greyson (Queen of the Gauntlet; deserved way better than what she got), CT (reformed thug), Roni (seldom-seen force), Melissa (lasted almost all of BOTS1; gave insanely good interview), Antoine (met him once; saw him dance on top of a bar), Danny & Kelley (gotta pair these two up; if he switched orientation, she'd dump her husband in a heartbeat), Syrus (nice guy unless he's pissed off), Timmy (cornier than a Nebraskan's poop, but good people), Jamie Murray (especially during BOTS1), and Mark Long (before Gauntlet 2)

 

Hated: *deep breath* Abram (psycho), Wes (ginger jackass), Rachel Robinson (ugly inside and out), Veronica (except for the time Julie almost killed her), Julie (starting with Extreme Challenge; thank goodness Melissa got her off first in BOTS1), Beth (so many reasons), "Johnny Bananas" (a guy who has transcended to shtick status), Evan (good guy who turned into a jackass), Kenny (unlike Johnny and Evan, he was a jagoff to start), Tina (once a scrub, always a scrub), Casey (did TJ really go horizontal with her?), Puck (do I need to explain why?), and . .  . I should stop now. I'll be up all night if I dive into my brain to pick up all the people I hate.

[luckyroll3]

I agree with your faves, but would also add Ruthie to the list.  I also, for some strange reason love Wes.  I think it's because unlike the others, he actually owns his jackassness, and doesn't try to be sneaky with it.  Abram does the same thing, but like you pointed out, he's a fucking psycho, so he can stay on the hated list!  So can every one else you named.  

[spaceytraci1208]

Favorite - CT...ever since he started participating in the challenges, I have no interest in watching unless he's on it.

Edited January 10, 2015 by spaceytraci1208

[Lantern7]

I forgot about Ruthie. My main knock against her is that she put in diminishing results the further she got in her Challenge career, especially when she got pulled by friggin' Beth in Reverse Tug-Of-War during Gauntlet 2. I still remember her endurance on Deadman's Drop in BOTS1, as well as her rappel-stopping in the penultimate mission. I wouldn't think she'd be out of place on a show like Survivor and/or The Amazing Race.

 

Now that I think about it, the cutoff point for Mark being cool would be BOTS1. Remember, he volunteered to leave BOTS2 so that his pal Eric could get the $60,000 grand prize.

[jsm1125]

My favorites are Landon, Katie, Darrell (minus The Ruins), Veronica (I think she was underrated as a competitor and appreciated that she was the only person who was upfront about her displeasure with Katie as a teammate on The Inferno), CT (minus some possible homophobic tendencies), Susie (she was pretty good at challenges and knew how to politic better than most), Kendall (I never saw her season of Road Rules, but I thought she came off extremely well on The Inferno), Coral, Frank (Las Vegas season, underrated as a competitor), and Jillian.

[choclatechip45]

Favorites in no order:

Ellen: Great competitor and I thought the fight between her and Puck was hilarious.

Trishelle: Always brings the drama. I think the fight she caused in the Inferno was hilarious with her threatening to beat up her team. It was nice to see her holding back Nany on Battle of the Seasons and the fact she was the cause of Dustin's dramatic rants.

Nany: Started one of the biggest fights in Challenge history. I love her friendship with Dustin.

Veronica: I think its funny that the last time she won a Challenge was 10 years ago and still shares the record with Ev for most wins by a female.

Beth: Don't care if it is an act she always says what i'm thinking.

Ruthie: Loved her comeback storyline in Battle of the Sexes

Leroy: Seems like a cool dude always supportive of his partners.

Lori/Melissa/Colin: Loves their recaps of BOTS

Cara (RR) Loved how she dealt with Kina.

Heather: Too bad her and Dustin were eliminated because Dustin was hurt. I really liked how she was able to deal with Bananas by not sucking up to him.

Least Favorites:

Kina: Took the challenge way too seriously might be my least favorite female contestant.

Evan: Never liked him always felt like he felt he was better than everyone because he went to Cornell.

Derrick: Was an annoying drunk than became a coward.

Ev: Takes these things way to seriously

Cara Maria: So sick of her victim act.

Sarah Rice: Pretends to be this nice go lucky camp counselor, but she was pretty mean to Cara and Devyn.

Edited January 11, 2015 by choclatechip45

[SnideAsides]

Favourites: Mark (I know he's a dick, but he's the fun kind of dick), Piggy, Neil, Antoine, Ryan, Isaac, Cohutta, Robb. (Hmm. Only one woman. That's odd, but maybe it's just because most of the men are so awful the good ones shine brighter by comparison, while there aren't really many truly horrendous women? Let's go with that.)

[choclatechip45]

 

My main knock against her is that she put in diminishing results the further she got in her Challenge career, especially when she got pulled by friggin' Beth in Reverse Tug-Of-War during Gauntlet 2.

Wasn't she the reason Beth went home before the pregnant lady in BOTS1?

[yogi2014L]

Love this!

Lets see:

Favorites: CT now that he has calmed down. SEXY. I loved his comraderie with Cara M and his relationship with Diem. He has the total bad boy turned sweet guy. Didn't love him in Paris or when he almost killed Adam ( the infamous footie pajama fight ) but now he is ok. Also love Leroy, Mike ( from Vegas 1) Especially Leroy and Mike together. I wish they would do a Not Rivals Challenge. Danny, Zach (its kind of love hate but hes easy on the eyes and has some good one liners- don't love his douchbagness or homophobia tho). Fav femals are Cara Maria, Eve, Melinda, Trishelle always brings the cray, I did like Katie ( anyone remember the treadmill challenge and how she beasted it even though she smoked like a pack a day), Jessica, Jasmin ( i find her HILARIOUS), Camilla ( bad ass), and I do now KIND of like Bananas. Don't kill me. And Jonny from Portland. Devyn- hilarious and has a good attitude, She owned her suckiness even tho is was kind of BS she got that far in free agents.

 

Least Favorites: There are two many to name but here are my absolute worst challengers who I would like to never see again on a challenge

Kenny and Evan- disgusting disgusting people. Glad they got a lifetime ban. Freaks. Hope their mothers are proud. Ugh

Frank- everything about him makes my blood boil. So annoying

Katelynn- totally rubs me the wrong way, doesnt bring much to the game physically

Jonna- shes just someone who I want to slap and be like get your shit together. She also coasts on these games by relying on other people

Paula - she can totally be a mean girl 

Laurel- See Paulas description. Such an asshole. Im surprised her and Jordan broke up. They are spirit animals

 

Ill stop there haha I could go on for days...

[Lantern7]

Wasn't she the reason Beth went home before the pregnant lady in BOTS1?

More or less. From what I understand, Ruthie was sick after the mission, with all sorts of nastiness coming out of her body. While she was puking, Beth came into the bathroom, asking Ruthie to play the Ion Lifesaver for her. That was enough for the Inner Circle (Ruthie, Ellen, and I want to say Anne) to kick out Beth over Gladys . . . who didn't compete in Deadman's Drop because of her pregnancy.

[jmonkey]

Favorite Males: CT, Brad, Wes, Dan Setzler, Jamie Murray, Colin, Mark Long, Yes, Leroy, Isaac, and Landon

Favorite Females:Diem, Melissa Howard, Nany, Paula, Johanna, Melinda, Kelley Limp, Devyn, Sarah, and Veronica

 

Least Favorite Males: Evan, Kenny, Darrell, Frank (San Diego), Zach,Tyler, Swift, Puck, Adam Royer, and the insufferable Johnny Bananas

Least Favorite Females: Theresa, Ev, Nia, Julie (New Orleans), Rachel (the lesbian one), Robin, Katie, Trishelle, Jemmye, and Antastasia

Edited January 26, 2015 by jmonkey

[yogi2014L]

I wasn't quite sure where to put this as its not really about this season BUT Wikipedia has a list of money totals ...I thought it was interesting to see it all laid out as to who made the most

 

Players with the most Final Challenge Prize Money[edit]
Note: This list includes players who have won a minimum of $100,000, and is updated as of Free Agents.
Place Cast member Original season Challenge wins/# of Challenges Total money made::

1  Johnny "Bananas" Devenanzio RW: Key West 5/10 $409,043
2  Wes Bergmann RW: Austin 2/8 $248,000
3  Darrell Taylor RR: Campus Crawl 4/6 $240,555
4  Kenny Santucci Fresh Meat 3/8 $236,293
5  Laurel Stucky Fresh Meat II 1/4 $201,000
6  Landon Lueck RW: Philadelphia 3/4 $184,166
7  Jodi Weatherton RR: X-Treme 2/3 $176,666
8  Derrick Kosinski RR: X-Treme 3/9 $176,293
9  Evelyn Smith Fresh Meat 3/7 $167,000
10  Evan Starkman Fresh Meat 2/6 $151,293
11  Chris "CT" Tamburello RW: Paris 1/10 $136,500
12  Rachel Robinson RR: Campus Crawl 2/7 $135,555
13  Paula Meronek RW: Key West 2/10 $126,000
14  Aviv Melmed Fresh Meat 1/1 $125,000
15  Susie Meister RR: Down Under 2/4 $106,840
16  Mike Mizanin RW: Back to New York 2/5 $104,500
17  Emily Schromm RW: DC 1/3 $104,000

 

 

 Also Wikipedia has other fun stats..link to the page ( I cant copy and paste the table??"

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Challenge_(TV_series)#Cast_Members

The challenge records are really interesting- like who has been in the elimination rounds the most lol

 

 

Johnny Has one the most money out of all of them by almost 2X the mount. Nearly half a million dollars- hope he invested it well. Im surprised to see some of the names on here, I wouldn't have guessed Darrell made so much money, but I can never remember who wins lol.

 

Any thoughts?

Edited February 6, 2015 by yogi2014L

[KerleyQ]

Landon was pretty efficient. 

[yogi2014L]

Right? and atleast CT made his only win count.

 Now Im curious to see what these people do betweeen seasons. 

[scrb]

With appearances and the nominal fees paid by the show, it might not be a bad living but some of the things they've had to do are crazy.

[OnceSane]

I.always forget that Paula has a real last name and it isn't "Walnuts".

[Watermelon]

Aviv comes out the best. One time, one win, 100+k?

 

Smart girl.

[jsm1125]

I'm a little surprised that Veronica never broke the six figure mark, as she has won multiple challenges.

[choclatechip45]

Does this include all money earned from The Challenge or just the money won if you won the final Challenge? I assume CT would of earned some money from the Team bank account at the end of the original Inferno and Inferno 2 plus he was runner-up in the original Battle of the Exes.

 

I'm a little surprised that Veronica never broke the six figure mark, as she has won multiple challenges.

Me too since she is still tied with Ev for most Challenges won by a female with 3. I think one thing that hurts her is that they use to give out prizes whenever a team won a mission when she was doing these shows. I wonder how much she racked up in prize value.

[Tatum]

I'm a little surprised that Veronica never broke the six figure mark, as she has won multiple challenges.

 

She won them though on pretty large teams, where the pie was split quite a few ways, compared to Laurel, who only won one challenge but as a "free agent" got to keep it all. But wait- unless I'm mistaken, both of Rachel R.'s wins were with Veronica, so she actually should be on there right?

 

Besides Inferno 3 and The Island- what is the third challenge that Ev won?

 

I'm actually surprised Bananas hasn't racked up more money. Between just Free Agents and The Island, that is close to $300K alone.

 

I'm surprised Jamie from the original NOLA isn't on there. He won three challenges and I would think be over the $100K mark (since one was Battle of the Sexes which was only split three ways).

[jsm1125]

She won them though on pretty large teams, where the pie was split quite a few ways, compared to Laurel, who only won one challenge but as a "free agent" got to keep it all. But wait- unless I'm mistaken, both of Rachel R.'s wins were with Veronica, so she actually should be on there right?

 

Besides Inferno 3 and The Island- what is the third challenge that Ev won?

 

I'm actually surprised Bananas hasn't racked up more money. Between just Free Agents and The Island, that is close to $300K alone.

 

I'm surprised Jamie from the original NOLA isn't on there. He won three challenges and I would think be over the $100K mark (since one was Battle of the Sexes which was only split three ways).

Rachel also won $100,000 in the Duel II.

 

Evelyn also won Rivals I with Paula.

Edited March 13, 2015 by jsm1125

[Tatum]

Rachel also won $100,000 in the Duel II.

 

Evelyn also won Rivals I with Paula.

 

Ah, thank you. I was thinking Rachel and Veronica had won Gauntlet 1 and Inferno 1 together, but only Veronica is listed as the Inferno 1 winner. So, Veronica has three wins while Rachel has two, but Rachel's duel win was probably more profitable than all other wins.

 

Guess I should not try and outwit Wikipedia.

 

ETA: Some of those stats are pretty interesting. For the love of God, Aneesa, hang it up.

Edited March 13, 2015 by Tatum

[sweetcookieface]

5  Laurel Stucky Fresh Meat II 1/4 $201,000

6  Landon Lueck RW: Philadelphia 3/4 $184,166

 

I'm confused about this because Laurel came in 2nd to Landon on Fresh Meat II. How can her overall winnings be greater than his, especially when Landon won some other challenges in addition to Fresh Meat II?

[Tatum]

I'm confused about this because Laurel came in 2nd to Landon on Fresh Meat II. How can her overall winnings be greater than his, especially when Landon won some other challenges in addition to Fresh Meat II?

 

Fresh Meat II is not the challenge she won, it's the original challenge in which she was featured. Her win came from Free Agents.

[jsm1125]

Laurel also got runner-up prize money in the other three seasons, two of which were partner-based, so she only had to split the earnings with one other person. Landon, on the other hand, had to split the pot a lot more in both The Inferno II and The Gauntlet II.

[Lantern7]

After setting up a "behind the scenes" thread, I figured we needed a place to talk about contestants in general, going as far back as Road Rules: All-Stars (aka When Sean Met Rachel . . . And Knocked Her Up Soon Afterward) to Rivals III. If anybody wants to set up a thread for an individual, like this asshole, feel free to do so.

Here's my first question for the group: Is there anybody worth rooting for this season? For the most part, I focus on the guys, because the women tend to blur into a blobby mess. It feels that everybody is either an asshole or asshole-adjacent. I mean, Corey is probably a cool guy, but I never seemed to get behind him. And now, he and Smashley are out. As for the others:

Are You The One: Rooting against them on general principle. Devin is basically the low-rent version of Wes. Dario is a moron who will be playing for third-place money with Nany.

Johnny: Has his own thread. Cannot fucking stand him.

Vince: I refer to him as "Wince" like Wes trying to pass "Vinny Pineapple" on viewers. I feel my nickname is better, because wincing is what most people do when he opens his mouth. Or touches a woman. If he and Jenna win, I could totally see him giving his share to his cousin in exchange for magic beans. Also: reminds me of Mac from It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, minus the homoerotic tenancies.

Sarah: Enabler. I want to see her as somebody who holds her breath and powers through being partnered with Johnny, occasionally crying and/or throwing up. But it looks more and more like she's okay with the "bros bein' bros" atmosphere. Also hangs with Susie in "real life," and that girl is shysty.

Wes: You might wonder why I don't like Johnny's natural enemy. I feel that he considers himself better than everybody else, and that he probably roots against the Deltas when he watches Animal House. Also, most of his schemes to take down Johnny and those in power positions usually end up blowing up in his face. It gets tiring after a while. Hence the comparison to Wile E. Coyote. You can totally see him psyching himself in the mirror. "Weston Bergman, soooooooooper genius!!!"

Conclusion: Absence makes the heart grow fonder. If Sarah had retired after BOTE2, we wouldn't be scrutinizing her that much. If Jordan doesn't pop up in the next few years, we'll forget the time he tried to challenge Johnny and lost. Cara Maria should lay off the show, so we can forget about "COUSIN!!!" and hooking up with a probable serial killer. And CT is the best example . . . he's the rare case of an asshole turning it around. Even if you don't factor in his relationship with Diem, it's still a sweet turnaround to remember. If he comes back, he risks losing his shit and looking like an asshole again.

[Tatum]

I don't like Wes either. I can appreciate that he doesn't have a cruel streak like JEK but that doesn't mean he's a nice guy. 

I really liked Sarah at BOTE2, but my goodwill is gone. Also can't forget her hysterical meltdown when Vinny got them kicked off BOTE1. 

I am not minding Vince as much this time. I actually think he would be cool if you got him away from Bananas. I think he was nice to Camila after he knocked her over and he did tell Bananas he was being an asshole. And I inexplicably love Jenna. I think she's funny and cool. I would root for them if Bananas left. 

I think Devin is okay. I've been waiting for him to piss me off, but other than informing the cameras that he's never been romantically rejected he's really not done much that's annoying. And he is funny. 

 

I dont mind corey either. He's kind of cocky and I think he was rude to Aneesa, but I still like him. Not really a huge fan of Ashley though. 

I think my old favorites are long gone. I'd love to see Derrick back but that's probably not happening. With all the challengers having kids, it's eventually going to be pretty limited to only the most recent seasons plus AYTO kids, and Bananas. 

[luckyroll3]

I root for Wes when he's on the challenge.  Is he an asshole?  Yes!  But I appreciate that he is upfront about all of his assholery and that he never seems to take any of it too seriously.  I also love his Wile E. Coyote failures, because he always acknowledges when he's completely fucked it up or his plan has backfired, and it's hilarious and further endears him to me.  I can't help but to give him the slow, "Aw, Wes..." head shake while chuckling.

I try to like Jenna, but she makes bad choices.  If she had more self-esteem, and didn't bog herself down with assholes, she could be a real powerhouse.  Like a likeable Laurel.

[KerleyQ]

So far I kind of like Devin.  I don't watch AYTO, so I don't know how much of an asshole he was there, but I like him here.  He definitely comes across as another Wes, with his perfectly understandable "why are all of you people so fucking stupid that you keep trusting John when you know he's only looking out for himself and won't hesitate to squash you" irritation with the stupid that's permeating the rest of the house.  And I like it.  

That and I liked him talking to Tony after the Tony/Camilla meltdown, telling him how you don't act like that towards a woman.  It's a breath of fresh air, especially when you contrast it with the fact that John went and woke Tony up, specifically to generate a big old mess for his own personal entertainment.  

Edited July 15, 2016 by KerleyQ

[RHJunkie]

I used to like Sarah. Felt like she was a good competitor that had potential to win but got screwed out of her opportunities more times than fair due to the people she was partnered with. I was happy that she ended up winning a challenge and even more happy that she made a move that people are often afraid to make. John wants everyone to play his game for him so that he can cake walk it to the finals and then start using all of the conserved strength and energy. I blame the people that stupidly do his bidding and always align with him despite seeing the pattern of how all of his alliances end up with him finishing at the top. If you want to align with John, you're pretty much settling for 2nd or 3rd place. This season I can't stand Sarah. She says she won't apologize or what she did to John but she's done everything but say the words in order to get back into his good graces.

I didn't like Wes on the Real World. I didn't like him for many of his past challenges but over the past two challenges, I actually enjoy him. He seems more removed from the drama and it seems he's better at taking things in jest.

I like Cory. Devin doesn't bother me. I actually find him amusing. I like Jenna. She's a great physical competitor but her social game and 'brain' game needs work. But the fact that she can poke fun at herself for her stupid moments makes her endearing to me.

Vince and John can get the stepping. I've never been a fan of either of them. I actually liked Evan and Kenny when they were doing challenges but never found myself rooting for John.

I really like CT. He still has his temper but he's getting better at controlling it. He's a great physical competitor and I love that he's never compromised himself for the sake of playing politics. He'll do what he wants and if that makes him a target then he's more than willing to fight for his life in a battle.

[SophiaPehawkins]

I was always indifferent towards CT. I thought he was a dick on his RW season and on his first challenge, which I think was Inferno I, he didn't make too much of an impression. Of course I was impressed with his game, but he was also really mean to Leah. I think he was one of the guys that started the "trim the fat" mentality with the women on their team. His story with Diem was endearing and it had a definite "beauty and the beast" quality to it. The Duel II was a completely different person. He was so obviously not in the right state of mind to be on that challenge, but that's what TPTB want. Well maybe not CT trying to kill Adam, but they live for the drama. The Diem thing (5-year plan and not showing up to his brother's funeral) was fresh and combined with the Shauvon issue, it was a recipe for disaster. If he slept with Shauvon or if he didn't (I'm 99% sure he did), Diem had no right to be angry. It appeared that he tossed him aside. She had no claim to him and it was shitty to involve everyone else in that drama. Diem was a great person, but she irked me some on these challenges. I didn't CT after Duel II, though. ETA: just watched video of that fight again and Adam appeared to instigate it by putting his hands on CT first. I'm not saying what CT did was right or justified, but don't poke a sleeping bear and all that. In this case, the bear was definitely not sleeping.

I was glad that he took some time off, even if it wasn't exactly by choice. He came back with a vengeance, though and is responsible for my favorite challenge moment. He was so different on Rivals I and I liked that whatever animosity had existed between CT and Adam, died down and a pseudo-friendship emerged. I still hate that they weren't able to win that season. They had dominated throughout and a first place finish would have been storybook. He seems to have grown up and matured, something I can't say for some of the other cast members. The poster above who mentioned that he doesn't play the social game and try to politic is totally right. He has no fear of going into elimination rounds or battling any other cast member. That's so refreshing on a show like this with people like JEK.

I go back and forth on Wes. He also seems to have matured and not take these challenges so seriously. I still remember him dumping a gallon of soda on Cara Maria's head for no reason and showing no remorse afterward. To me, you're an adult and know better. That incident still lingers and it makes it hard to fully root for Wes. He's always on these shows with Johnny so rooting for him is the lesser of two evils. I do remember too on the Ruins challenge when Tonya and Veronica were fighting, everybody was hanging around laughing and shit, but Wes was the only one seriously concerned about what was happening. Evan and Kenny tried to make Veronica seem like the bad guy and tried consoling Tonya like they gave a shit. Besides that one CM incident, I think Wes is genuinely a good person...with an inflated ego. 

Edited July 16, 2016 by SophiaPehawkins

[AngryCarrot86]

I’m embarrassed to admit that my favorite always has, and always will be, Abe.  He was so cute in his younger years, it’s a shame he ruined his good looks with his terribly placed tattoos.  Is it possible he will end up being a serial killer?  Sure.  He’s crazy – but crazy in a delicious reality T.V. way.  He’s one of the most interesting people to come into the Challenge, IMO.  Dare I say I think he exaggerates his crazy for the cameras?  Regardless, he entertains me.  He’s sort of the last link to the golden Challenge days, as well.  He’s like the veteran of the veterans at this point.  Him and Annesa, anyway.

 

I also think Abe and Cara Maria’s relationship started so sweet.  They were such an unconventional couple, and I was rooting for them until Bloodlines.  After that season, I’m rooting for them to stay as far away from each other as possible.   I really only liked CM by proxy of Abe.  After that one painful after show featuring CM, Abe, and Thomas – I thought CM and Abe would be crazy to ever do another Challenge again.  Sadly, CM seems like a reality fame whore – I’m sure she’ll be back soon, even though BMP made a mockery of her.  

 

I find myself liking Jenna the most out of the girls.  I’ve grown more fond of Wes over the years, too.  He used to be a non-entity for me, but if I can’t have Abe on a season, I’ll take Wes.  Their open and public disdain for “John” cracks my ass up.

 

Speaking of – I can’t stand Bananas.  Ugh.  I’d rather have this entire show be made up of AYTO kids before I’d like to see him again.  Why is he so popular?  This show isn’t exactly a ratings goldmine.  Does he have some sort of fan base?  Does he have dirt on TPTB?  I don’t understand the allure…

[Tatum]

I really liked Abe too up until Bloodlines. I didn't even hold the Veronica/Rachel threesome against him. Seeing his appearance and crazy, nose bleeding presence on Bloodlines was pretty shocking, and very disappointing. I would prefer he not come back. Production and the other cast members may think someone trying to or seriously threatening to kill someone is funny, but I don't. I don't think CT should have been allowed back either. Yes, I understand Duel 2 happened at a very low point in his life, but this was not an isolated incident and I find it extremely irresponsible for production to allow him back.

I can't really understand Johnny's appeal to production either. I wouldn't say he's a fan favorite and even if he was, the show doesn't have the fanbase to demand his inclusion on the show in the first place. I swear I am on the only person I know in real life who still watches this show.

I bet they could get a lot of older veterans if they could cut down the time of production- like 1-2 weeks instead of 6. But they probably don't want the older veterans who won't get drunk and hook up on camera and probably don't have twitter or snapchat accounts to promote this show.

[KerleyQ]

3 hours ago, AngryCarrot86 said:

 

I’m embarrassed to admit that my favorite always has, and always will be, Abe.  He was so cute in his younger years, it’s a shame he ruined his good looks with his terribly placed tattoos.  Is it possible he will end up being a serial killer?  Sure.  He’s crazy – but crazy in a delicious reality T.V. way.  He’s one of the most interesting people to come into the Challenge, IMO.  Dare I say I think he exaggerates his crazy for the cameras?  Regardless, he entertains me.  He’s sort of the last link to the golden Challenge days, as well.  He’s like the veteran of the veterans at this point.  Him and Annesa, anyway.

 

I'm pretty sure his crazy is legit, not exaggerated for the cameras.  The whole smearing his feces all over his jail cell thing says it all for me.  Not that I don't still appreciate him as a Challenge character, especially his disdain for John.  But, he definitely has issues.  

[Lantern7]

I would not be surprised if Abram has left a trail of bodies in shallow graves through the state of Montana. At least his brother looks normal.

Forgot to mention Jenna before. I bet she thinks tablets get heavier the more you download onto them. And the taste in men? First Jay. then Zach (a two-pump chump if there ever was one), and now rumors about Wince (half a pump, collapse) She needs an intervention.

[Oholibamah]

Most of my favorite Challengers are from yesteryear, like Hawaii Ruthie, Quest Steve, NO Melissa, Coral and MV Theo. I even loved Verantula.

I enjoyed/tolerated some of the middle-year Challengers, but they either competed once or twice and got a life/career (Jamie Chung, Kimberly, Derek, Isaac, Brittini, Aviv, etc) or kept appearing and became more and more insufferable (remember how likeable Paula and Bananas were their first challenge? Me either, but apparently it was true.) Landon was probably the only one from this era that I actually consistently liked. 

The modern challenge era is definitely hit or miss. The likeable ones tend to never return because they're "boring" (I loved Brandon Nelson and JD Ortitz, but they will likely never return). Otherwise I tend to only like the women: Cara Maria, Laurel and Devyn are my easy three favs, and I tend to enjoy Nany (preferably with her lips firmly detached from Johnny's backside), so needless to say I loved Free Agents. 

I also don't tend to find the people they cast lately up my alley physically, either.  They used to be much better looking (and diverse) in the older challenges. Maybe they're too sorority/frat type? My "list" would include:

1. Steve (The Quest) 2. Landon (Philly) 3. Dario (AYTO, don't judge me) 4. Brandon (Fresh Meat) 5. Vinny (Fresh Meat) 6. Dustin (OG season?) 7. Theo (Max Velocity) 8. Randy (San Diego) 9. Noor (Fresh Meat) 10. JD (Brooklyn)

1. Jamie (San Diego) 2. Ibis (X-Treme) 3. Cara Maria (Fresh Meat) 4. Ellen (The Quest) 5.  Lori (B2NY) 6. Nany (OG season?) 7. Devyn (OG season?) 8. KellyAnne (Sydney) 9. Veronica (SAS) 10. Brittini (Vegas 2)

Probaby missing people, but there ya have it. 

Edited July 19, 2016 by Oholibamah

[Lantern7]

Oh, Steve. Probably the funniest guy on RR10. Remember when he was on his blind date, and she revealed that her last boyfriend died? Cut to Steve in interview, sputtering. "Wine? More wine, Amy?!?" So funny . . . even moreso than a drunken Ellen almost getting run over. Steve was way too normal for BMP. Once again: I'm still pissed he didn't get a "pack up and go" montage after getting beat by Trishelle in the Gauntlet.

Funniest departure from that season? I'm thinking the first one . . . David trying to talk to ex-roommate Matt about dealing with people. This is the same David that had sex nineteen times in NOLA, often with Matt in the nearby bed.

[Princess Sparkle]

11 hours ago, Oholibamah said:

Most of my favorite Challengers are from yesteryear, like Hawaii Ruthie, Quest Steve, NO Melissa, Coral and MV Theo. I even loved Verantula.

I enjoyed/tolerated some of the middle-year Challengers, but they either competed once or twice and got a life/career (Jamie Chung, Kimberly, Derek, Isaac, Brittini, Aviv, etc) or kept appearing and became more and more insufferable (remember how likeable Paula and Bananas were their first challenge? Me either, but apparently it was true.) Landon was probably the only one from this era that I actually consistently liked. 

 

Yeah, I tend to like the "previous era" (if you will) challengers over the more recent ones. And through the anonymity of the Internet, I will admit this - up until The Island, I actually liked Johnny.  I felt bad that he got screwed over by Tyler on their first challenge (which - fuck Tyler, I could never figure out why he challenged Johnny when he literally had the option to challenge anyone).  And then on The Gauntlet 3, he was the only one to astutely point out that the vet guys were scared of challenging Eric, and if they didn't get rid of Eric, they'd lose because he'd drag them down. So what did they do? They threw Johnny in and got rid of him.  So up until that point, I was alright with him. But then The Island happened, and asshole Johnny showed up and never left. Because no matter how screwed over you feel, screaming homophobic remarks at anyone (as he reportedly did to Ev) is completely unacceptable behavior. 

Derrick was another person I loved up until The Island, and that was mainly because I hated that he hitched his wagon to Johnny. Because Derrick was someone I always felt bad for - he was never really popular until later (I still feel like the way he was treated during the Gauntlet 2 was terrible), but he always fought his heart out and could back up his talk. And I remember him sticking up for whowas best for the team, regardless of if that person is popular or not; I distinctly remember him being the only person on one of the challenges to stick up for Tonya, because the team was trying to kick her off because they didn't like her, and he was loudly arguing for her to stay because she was a stronger physical athlete than some others left.  I also ended up HATING Timmy because of how he did Derrick dirty on the Gauntlet 2 - Derrick volunteered to be the captain week after week, went into the Gauntlet when the team lost time after time, and then in the final round, Timmy "volunteers" to face him, even though Derrick told his team he'd prefer to go against David. Timmy eventually ends up in the Gauntlet because the team can't make a decision.  Timmy then tells everyone who will listen that he isn't going to try against Derrick, because he doesn't even want to win. But what does he does do when he goes against Derrick? Battle as hard as he can to beat Derrick.  I loved Timmy when he was making fun of Anessa, but I hated him by the end of that season  

This is also where I admit I used to have an enormous crush on Dan from RR: Northern Trail. Loved him on both his challenges, and was bummed he didn't do more.  But unfortunately, low-key competitors like him don't make it on challenges anymore. 

Edited July 19, 2016 by Princess Sparkle

[luckyroll3]

2 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Funniest departure from that season? I'm thinking the first one . . . David trying to talk to ex-roommate Matt about dealing with people. This is the same David that had sex nineteen times in NOLA, often with Matt in the nearby bed.

Ugh, I hate NOLA David.  He's the one with the awful, "C'mon be my baby tonight", original piece of crap song, right?  Such a royal dick.

[Tatum]

10 hours ago, Princess Sparkle said:

 

Derrick was another person I loved up until The Island, and that was mainly because I hated that he hitched his wagon to Johnny. Because Derrick was someone I always felt bad for - he was never really popular until later (I still feel like the way he was treated during the Gauntlet 2 was terrible), but he always fought his heart out and could back up his talk. And I remember him sticking up for whowas best for the team, regardless of if that person is popular or not; I distinctly remember him being the only person on one of the challenges to stick up for Tonya...

I agree! Derrick was kind of a joke on the early seasons due to his drinking and talking to frogs, but he was always a scrappy competitor. I still remember when he (teamed up with Crazy Abe) beat Mike Miz and Landon in a challenge. Now, granted, I think the actual challenge was more endurance/agility than brute strength so Landon and Mike's crazy muscles may have impeded more than helped, but still, Derrick and Abe are two athletic guys with absolutely no quit in them.

Derrick was pretty supportive of Tonya, while also admitting he did not care for a lot of her antics and that she brought a lot of it on herself. But he still stuck up for her because he did not like to see anyone treated as poorly as she was, first by Veronica/Rachel/Tina in Inferno 2, then by Susie and Cara in Inferno 3.

 

Also, interesting fact- on The Island, Tonya is sent home by an almost unanimous vote after the first challenge. Only Jenn, Ryan, and Derrick voted for Kenny to leave instead. This was less of a sacrifice for Jenn and Ryan who were not considered part of the JEK clique, but for Derrick to, on the first day, pick Tonya over Kenny (to stay) was quite a line in the sand. Luckily for him Kenny does not seem as vindictive as Bananas.

 

I was happy to see him win, even if he had the join the douchebag alliance to make it happen. By the Ruins though, I was more disappointed in him for not sticking up for people being bullied. His basic lecture to Kenny and Evan was basically, fuck with everyone else, just not me. Considering he was the only decent person in that alliance (other than maybe Ibis, who was literally and then figuratively screwed over by Bananas), I thought the responsibility fell to him to defend the bullied. But he was just there for his paycheck and nothing more.

[Lantern7]

David was alright in his two stints. Sucks that he didn't last longer, particularly in BOTS, when he was flirting with Ayanna. They seemed cute together.

I liked Derrick, but I hated him by the time of The Ruins. I refer to him as "Wee Dee" these days.

[AngryCarrot86]

21 hours ago, KerleyQ said:

I'm pretty sure his crazy is legit, not exaggerated for the cameras.  The whole smearing his feces all over his jail cell thing says it all for me.  Not that I don't still appreciate him as a Challenge character, especially his disdain for John.  But, he definitely has issues.  

Oh there’s absolutely no arguing that poo-flingin’ Abe has some screws loose.  But his antics have considerably increased over the years.  In his first few challenges, I wouldn’t even have described him as crazy - more like uninhibited with a wild streak.  After as many challenges as he’s been on, he has to know how to get camera time by now.  That particular scene of him screaming and carrying on like a wild banshee during bloodlines, bloody nose and all, is what made me think “some of this HAS to be him exaggerating”.  He even made a few comments in his talking heads saying things like “as long as everyone thinks I’m crazy”…etc.  Sort of like how “John” has the role of being house douche canoe, maybe Abe’s role is house crazy cray.  Either way, he’s basically an entirely different person now.  I wonder what happened between his early RR/Challenge days, and now.  Either he is on drugs, or he is venturing toward complete insanity.  He’s still my favorite :p

[Tatum]

7 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

 

I liked Derrick, but I hated him by the time of The Ruins. I refer to him as "Wee Dee" these days.

Hee, reminds me of that "Men of Reality TV" calendar or photo shoot, where a shirtless Derrick and Mark Long are standing side by side, seemingly the same height. Someone on TWoP awesomely comments, so is that photoshop or is Derrick standing on a stack of phone books?

[Craphole Island]

I haven't read the whole thread but it feels like a good place to say that I think I'm the only person who unabashedly love Kina. I don't want her to come back because she seems very happy in her real life but I don't care that the viewers turned on her for the most part after Gauntlet 2. I still loved her!

[Tatum]

Yeah I was...not a fan of of Kina. I thought she was an asshole. I still remember when she lost to svetlana on the duel, and she was crying about how frustrating it is to be the better athlete and still have to go home. I was like, you're the better athlete based on WHAT? To quote the hetero boy cheerleader in Bring It On, dude, you just LOST!

[Craphole Island]

Oh she was a drama queen for sure but I hated Cara, Susie, and Svetlana (never understood the hype) so I didn't mind since they were on her bad side.