Challenge Dirty 30: Derrick faces his biggest enemy once again

The Derrick Kosinski Challenge comeback tour has been almost in full form. As a Challenge legend who essentially campaigned to get back on the show to compete, there’s been a decent amount of pressure to show that he can still hang with the best in the game (most of the pressure is Derrick on himself). He has shown to be a legitimate threat in this game since the first Purge, giving himself safety by finish fourth out of fifteen in his first challenge in over seven years. He then won the subsequent challenge too and took a backseat until it mattered later in the game. Derrick played smart by aligning with the other veterans in the game (Bananas, CT, LeRoy, Jordan). And when it mattered most, he won an elimination against Johnny Bananas, six time Challenge Champion.

Derrick is the only male competitor remaining in the game who has not been eliminated in any form. Tony, Hunter, CT, and Jordan all spent their share of time in the Redemption House. Now his back is up against a wall. There is only one spot left in the final for the male competitors with three guys left in the game vying for it. And if you didn’t know, there’s a million dollars on the line. The good thing and the bad thing is that Derrick is used to being in the final elimination.

Before he became one of only three Challenge competitors to ever win three consecutive seasons they appeared on, Derrick was always the guy that came up short. In nine seasons, Derrick has been in the final elimination a record amount of four times, two of those seasons didn’t even have eliminations. Here we are getting to watch his 10th season, and he will be in that same scenario once again. Let’s look back at the Diesel’s track record.

Gauntlet 2

The season that Derrick became known for was Gauntlet 2. The King of the Gauntlet walked into the Gauntlet as a still somewhat fresh face ironically on the Veteran team. As the low man on the totem pole, Derrick was thrust into the Gauntlet multiple times. He ended up winning 4 of them, beating 3 future or prior champions in the process. Unfortunately, his first last elimination was a sad one. He was forced to face the massive Timmy Beggy in Reverse Tug-o-War, a game that was highly dependent on size. Derrick couldn’t wrestle his way out or use his speed to his advantage, he lost simply because of size.

Fresh Meat 1

The very next season, Derrick found himself in the final elimination again. This team with his partner, Diem Brown. Two of the biggest fighters in Challenge history came together to be a legendary pair on this season, winning multiple missions. Their loss at the end game to Darrell/Aviv was sad because they were a legitimate threat to win. It never feels good to lose at the end, let alone twice in a row.

Side Note: The following season, Derrick lost on the Duel, finishing in 6th place out of 10. After his loss, Derrick looked into the camera and said he’d need to re-evaluate his life after this loss.

Inferno 3

Derrick wasn’t even supposed to be on the Inferno 3. Lucky for him, CT loved to party, consume some illegal substances, and punch gay kids. He was brought in as an alternate and went on to win his first Challenge. Except he had to go over the final hurdle that had been his Achilles heel, the final elimination. In an Inferno against Davis Mallory, he absolutely demolished Davis in a headbanger elimination similar to Balls In. Derrick won that elimination and won the final. He was finally a Champion.

Cutthroat

After his win on the Inferno 3, Derrick followed it up by winning the Island and the Ruins. He came back to do one more Challenge, attempting to tie Darrell’s record of four consecutive wins. It was on this season that Derrick was saddled with a team that couldn’t buy a win in daily challenges. Even with Bananas, Emily Schromm, Jenn Grijalva, and Theresa Gonzalez on his team, they couldn’t find a win. Derrick was the final male competitor on his team and had to face the much larger Tyler Duckworth in a mostly size based elimination. He fought valiantly, but he couldn’t pull it out. His last moment before returning on Dirty 30 was a bad one.

Dirty 30

Derrick’s chances at Redemption are good. He is facing Tony and Hunter (with a broken wrist). Though this trailer shows that Derrick may have a different fate. With that history of final eliminations, you have to be somewhat afraid. Regardless of what happens, Derrick’s comeback has to be one of the coolest story-lines of the season. Let’s see if he could give it a happy ending.