Challenge Dirty 30: What winning would mean for Jordan and CT

Two men are guaranteed spots in the final Challenge before Tuesday, Jordan Wiseley and Chris “CT” Tamburello. They are arguably two of the most skilled and talented all around competitors in Challenge history. Jordan and CT are both great swimmers, can wrestle, can fight, have no fears when it comes to heights or eating, use their looks to their advantage, and dominate these shows. There are distinct and obvious differences between the two.

Jordan is known for being a dominant competitor despite only having one solid hand. He is easily one of the most skilled competitors in Challenge history, and has overcome a lot to get to the point he is now. And he knows that. Jordan is also pretentious and a bit elitist. When Jordan stepped foot on his first Challenge he was just as good as the best competitors. Because of this he expects everyone to be on or near his level, and if they’re not, they suck in his mind. He has made an effort of talking down to people he believes are not on his level. On top if tall, Jordan does not back down from anything he says, he digs himself a bigger hole even if he knows he is wrong.

CT is a physically bruiting player who shocks people with his skill despite his meathead exterior. He is a puzzle master who doubles as a master manipulator according to other competitors. CT understands how to play the game as he makes almost all his moves with the thought of how he is going to run the final, and who he is going to run with. Yet, maybe his focus on a final is thinking too far when he has come into the season in his worst shape. The daily challenges usually only require twenty minutes of athleticism at the most. Finals are hours worth of endurance. Nelson beat him when it came to endurance on Invasion, and it was a swim that ultimately decided it all. Jordan is a better player than Nelson who has seen and won a final before.

What does winning mean for Jordan?

Jordan winning this would give him a serious argument as an all time top ten, eight, and even five competitor for males. By making it to the final three times in four seasons and winning two finals, he would be in elite territory. He has always been recognized as a top player, but with the lack of total seasons and accolades compared to people like Kenny, Derrick, Wes, and CT, he would trail behind them in most categories despite being on their talent level (maybe better).

His arrogance is annoying, though his talent is undeniable. Coming back to the Challenge after being gone for three years and beating a group stacked with four of the greatest male competitors ever (Bananas, CT, Darrell, Derrick) might put him over many. To add to the drama, a Jordan win would tie him up with as many wins as CT all time. Jordan has done nine less seasons than CT.

Currently, Jordan has stated that he is retired from the Challenges once again. The worst and the best has come out of him on these shows. In many ways he was built for this competitive and cutthroat world. At the same time, in the heat of the competition, he says some awful things and paints an image of himself as an asshole. It’s not cool to watch yourself and dislike the person you see. Jordan in the moment is fine with his choices and can easily move on. He cheated on his girlfriend during this season with a girl who has also had a boyfriend. After a time period of normalcy, he went on to make bad decisions once back on the Challenge.

A Jordan win would create a legitimate discussion for him in the top five somewhere below Landon and Darrell. His stats are incredibly similar to theirs, except he still won’t have hit the 3 win mark. Though one could argue the degree of difficulty for his wins are much higher.

What does winning mean for CT?

This more or less is a battle among legacies. For many, the argument of CT being the greatest Challenge competitor all time had a lot less weight before Invasion. Mostly because CT only had one Challenge win. Regardless of luck, for CT to be known as the greatest, he needed more than one win. He has that now. The conversation has become real, and if he can pull off a third win on another season with other multi-time Champions and go back to back even with a Dad Bod, CT would have an incredibly strong argument as the best player ever.

If he loses and Jordan wins, it all becomes more interesting. Jordan would immediately be tied with CT in all time wins. And a win for someone like Derrick would put him at four Challenge wins. In the imaginary hierarchy of competitors, a win would vault CT above many others and a loss would create more debate.

The reason why CT has the most hunger to win this season is the money value. Considering the prize is four times as much as it usually is, expect a hungry CT. He always come to win, but his appearance is already half as much as the winnings, so losing feels less severe. Winning means everything now for him.

We are going to have an exciting final, the last season that Jordan and CT have played the game they’ve won. Here they are both trying to win back to back titles.