Challenge Vendettas Player Preview: Cory Wharton
MTV loves Cory. People love Cory in the vanity sense of they want to have sex with him. And people hate Cory because their significant others want to have sex with Cory.
Is it weird to say that I am tired of Cory at this point? Battle of the Bloodlines premiered in December of 2015. Two years later, Cory is on his fifth season of the Challenge, add in his appearance of Champs vs Stars, and the fact that he is rumored to be filming MTV’s new series based on the UK version, Ex on the Beach. The pure amount of shows that he has done is bonkers.
So when I said earlier that MTV loves Cory, they really love him and his personality. He does everything they want of him. He plays the cool guy who hooks up with random girls and give corny confessionals. Cory acts like he wants to win, which is all MTV wants, but it’s not what the fans need. The greatest Challenge competitors are the ones who learn from their mistakes, the ones who play the game to win, and Cory doesn’t do that. Every season he says he has come to win it all, when it reality he doesn’t comprehend what winning takes. He believes doing more bicep curls will win him a Challenge, when the best players have proven you need to be a diverse player who attempt to have no weaknesses. Cory has multiple, but he tries to front like he doesn’t. He is the walking embodiment of a fully filtered Instagram post.
This may sound harsh, except after watching Cory on television non-stop for a few years, the lack of growth he has made is staggering. Let’s move on to the breakdown of his skills.
Skills & Physical Strength: For as much as I bad-mouthed Cory above, he still finds himself to be an average overall competitor who is generally strong in daily missions. You don’t make two finals in four seasons in the guys division by being a bad competitor, you don’t. Cory did technically eliminate four people last season, even though finishing in last and getting voted into elimination put him in those situations.
Cory succeeds in competitions geared towards his main strength — short anaerobic activities focusing on speed and upper body. He easily one of the most explosive athletes in the history when it comes to short burst. ]Cory when he sprints is one of the fastest guys on the show. His weakness is running for more than a mile. Even after all these shows he refuses to do more cardio in order to prepare him more for the show. He doesn’t do cardio because he cares more about how he looks than he does about winning a season. After Zach’s falling apart moment on Free Agents, he cut his weight a ton, and on this next show he’s at the smallest he has ever been. He realized that being a giant ball of muscle hurts you on this show in the long-run.
Side-note: He looks thinner in his cast photo, but his Instagram posts had him looking bigger.
Mental, Social, & Political Game: On a 1–10 scale, Cory scores about a 1 or a 2 in puzzles. He looks at them and expects someone else to solve them for him in a pair or team situation. Almost like the kid that asks you to explain how to solve a math question to them, but in reality they are hoping for you to give them answer. Where he really struggles in the mental realm is pushing himself during endurance competitions. Cory often gives up on himself, and only pushes himself when things are easy. Almost like the kid who does no work in a group project, but then shows up for presentation day and is the first to talk.
The social game of Cory the past two seasons has been awful. He ended up on the opposite side of the major alliance and was only saved due to Tony making a bigger target of himself, and Nelson getting his alliance to vote in Dario instead of him. Last season he made a gigantic target of himself. The weakness Cory has had is he generally makes friends with females who he only wants to have sex with. Cory could learn from Nelson & Hunter. Those two made friends with females who had voting and political power. The girls supported them while they acted as the muscle. If Cory could align with some girls, align with Nelson and some rookies, then he might actually be able to play politics.
Sadly, there are rumors he was dating Alicia Wright (rookie from Are You The One) before the show. Cory’s dick always comes first for him.
Eliminations & Winning Potential: Is there any reason to think Cory can win a final after the season’s he has recently posted? I’d say no, but the final might be an orgy, so you never really know till you get there. With the rumor that there will be a solo gender-less winner, I could easily imagine Cory winning the male division and losing to a female.
Cory’s career elimination record is 3–2. Not including hisrecent loss to Matt Rife from Wild N Out. If the elimination is Hall Brawl or something where it takes upper body and explosive speed, Cory should be a favorite against most people. If the elimination involves using your brain, endurance, eating, or core strength, Cory will be done for. In order for this season to be a success, Cory needs to make the final, or send Bananas home. If Cory wants a real rivalry, he needs to actually go for Bananas.
Overall Rating: 78/100
