10 Most Overrated Challenge Moments
There are many so great moments in Challenge history that they truly make your cherish them. Likewise, there are some moments that after a while, they make you facepalm and want to forget it. I will be going over 10 of the most overrated moments in Challenge history.
I will note that there a lot of formerly overrated moments which have now become properly rated over time. And many more which are overrated due to recency bias.
Nonetheless, let the list begin!
10 NoteGate from Vendettas
Johnny Bananas hiding random notes written by his sister in different rooms for camera time was a bit sad, especially so for a cast member on his 16th season of the Challenge. Had he done this on his 3rd or 4th season (or even his 9th) I think it would have been more acclaimed. Instead, it was anticlimactic and resulted in nothing consequential to the overall game.
Fun fact: If you google NoteGate Vendettas, the photos which come up first are from my article about more important note scandals in Challenge history.
9 Cory hooking up with multiple people on Invasion/Dirty 30
About two years ago, MTV tried to convince us that Cory was a Hook-Up King who was banging every single girl on the cast, he even got an award during the Dirty 30 reunion. Hooking up with Kailah, Aneesa, and Camila is notable, however, a number of other competitors are tossing up much better stats. Jodi entered the Gauntlet 2 having just ended a fling with Mark Long, proceeded to hook up with Adam Larsen the first night, and then had a showmance with Alton. Abram literally had a threeway with Rachel and Veronica! MTV propaganda I say! If he had a foursome with those three girls then there would be a legitimate claim.
8 CT ripping the Caribeener to DQ himself on the Duel
Let me clarify, the fight between CT and Wes following CT’s DQ is not underrated (it literally began the rivalry which resulted in their partnership on Rivals 2). The overrated moment the action of CT being DQ’d for not following directions in the elimination. As a Challenge savant who has scoured message boards for years, I’ve seen many complain about his DQ, claiming he would have won if the game was not rigged. I scoff at this claim. Yes, CT was a physical monster, however, he had already seen Beth DQ earlier in the season from ripping the Caribeener. He robbed himself.
7 Jemmye voting Jenna into elimination on Dirty 30
Naturally, this article is prone to some recency bias, partly because over time certain moments become underrated or properly rated. Camila walking into the pool was massively overrated for a long time. After seeing Camila throw tantrum after tantrum on the show I think it is now properly rated.
When Jemmye voted Jenna into elimination, fans were as shocked as Kailah and Jenna were when they were pitted against each other. However, it had no lasting effect. Jenna came back into the game a day later by winning the redemption challenge and made this move much more inconsequential. Jemmye’s move was also an obvious one as she is a weak player, and suddenly she had the power to pit two strong people against each other. It’s a total no-brainer.
6 Coral quitting the Gauntlet 3
One of the greatest all-time competitors is hampered by the fact that she quit a season. TJ Lavin HATES quitters and some fans now label Coral a quitter
But I’m here to defend her! Women were treated as lesser people during this dark era of the Challenge (Gauntlet 3 to the Ruins). It hasn’t necessarily gotten much better in future seasons, though the difference is massive. Coral was a veteran female who had a long history of dominating her seasons and was now being treated as deadweight by younger men who did not show her respect, especially a coked out CT.
It was rumored that the women of the cast had their prescriptions stolen, including birth control. If true, that’s more than enough reason to quit the season.
5 CT dying during the Exes 1 Final
This is less overrated than it used to be and was one of the most overrated moments back when CT still had not won a Challenge. However every now and then, people still get angry about the fact that Diem never won a season despite being an amazing competitor who meant so much to the show’s history — and in this final, CT’s performance cost them.
This is a bit unfair considering that CT carried Diem through multiple portions and led them physically for most of the season. Yes, he died, but without CT they don’t even get close to winning. People took many shots at CT physicality after he had been such a dominant athlete.
4 Kenny carrying Wes during the Rivals 1 Final
I’ll admit that when Kenny carried Wes on Rivals 1, I laughed harder than I ever had while watching the show. However, I see Facebook posts and Reddit about this moment so much that the posts themselves don’t infuriate me, but the comments. It inevitably always results in some back and forth about how Wes carried Kenny through the season. As a Wes fan, I fell into the trap too by him, but honestly, we as fans get baited so easily. In the end, who cares? It was a funny moment that is now just overrated.
3 Paula getting backstabbed on the Island
For a long time Paula’s identity on the show was always the person who came up short or got the wrong end of the stick. Nothing embodies this more than when her alliance backstabbed her before the final and let Evelyn take her spot in the boat for the Final.
Except they didn’t. Paula was likely not going to be in the boat despite being in the alliance, instead, the Kenny Santucci boat was going to be him, Johnny, Derrick, and Dunbar. Had Evelyn taken Johnny’s key, then Kenny would have put Paula in his boat, however, they cut a deal for him to take Dunbar’s in exchange for Evelyn. So in that scenario Paula did get backstabbed, it just wasn’t anywhere near as bad as Paula made it out to be. If anything, she more or less fell off the friendship fence.
2 Tina punching Beth on the Duel 1
There are not too many Challenge DQs which result from fighting, thus, Tina getting DQ’d for punching Beth is a memorable moment. Tina had always been an underrated competitor. She made the Final of Inferno 2 and followed it up with a strong 2nd place finish on Fresh Meat 1. Her decision to attack Beth during Diem’s emotional moment was such an ego fueled event that she noted it was worth losing out on 150k dollars.
EXCEPT SHE WHIFFED SO HARD.
Tina had the element of surprise when attacking Beth and still had one of the worst punches ever. What makes it an even more overrated, is that Tina didn’t come back until years later as a heavy hitter on Cutthroat alongside CT. Tina was treated like a killer, yet anyone who truly remembers the moment knows Tina’s punch sucked.
Worth 150k? WRONG.
1 Johnny Bananas stealing the money from Sarah
When this happened, it was such a huge moment that got mainstream attention. MTV doubled down on this moment and included it on so many lists and video packages to highlight the seminal play. Except they ruined the moment by allowing Ashley to steal half a million dollars only four seasons later!
MTV had one of the greatest moments in their show’s history and squashed it by having a similar moment only a couple years later for a much larger sum of money. Had they waited a longer amount of time to perform such twist, it wouldn’t have made Johnny Bananas stealing 137.5k seem like peanuts (it’s not, but compared to half a mil, I meannnnnn).
MTV overrated one of it’s great moments and then squandered its place in history.
