Challenge Vendettas Player Preview: Victor Arroyo
Big Brother has found its way onto the Challenge in a big way. Victor Arroyo gained fame on Big Brother 18 for his tenacious and competitive spirit. He won multiple competitions for house control and immunity, and won the battle back into the game after being evicted. Victor is the only person to be evicted three times in one Big Brother season and was known for dominating competitions, specifically those of the physical variety.
Victor prides himself on fitness (his Twitter handle is ElFitVic) and because of the way he was able to dominate the physical competitions on Big Brother, the Challenge seems like an easy transition for Victor. Or it should in theory.
Here is an example of a HOH competition which Victor won (essentially the daily challenge of Big Brother):
Big Brother competitions focus on endurance, short term memorization, and on the fly thinking. The Challenge involves a ton of on the fly thinking and the best players use their ingenuity when athleticism becomes a non-factor among the best athletes. We know that Victor will be able to adjust to the goofiness of the Challenge as Big Brother is in itself a much more lighthearted game based around social relationships. His biggest struggle will be that every guy on the Challenge is as good (if not better) an athlete as he is. Victor was an Adonis on his Big Brother season, but stack him up against Nelson, whose abs look like they cut diamonds, and Victor becomes a lot less impressive. He is not as strong as Zach, not as fast as Bananas, and does not have Brad’s arms.
Victor needs to figure out the social part of the game to succeed and the physical part of the game will go along with him.
Skills & Physical Strength: As previously mentioned, Victor winning competitions in Big Brother was largely based on the fact he was a far better physical specimen than any of his opponents. His biggest strength is his core. Victor weighs around 175–185 lbs and is fully able to lift his entire body weight. Big Brother’s endurance competitions are famously won by females as they are much lighter and able to lift their own body weight in comparison to the bigger males. Victor is one the few males of his size to win endurance competitions and he did it consistently.
Skills that will characterize whether Victor succeeds on this show are his speed, explosiveness, and grip strength. Being fast and agile matters on these shows when it comes to timed events — he is used to this from Big Brother. Explosiveness is the most important factor when you have competitions with two people running at each other, or climbing, etc. Hunter Barfield dominates daily missions because of his explosive athleticism. Hopefully, Victor has some explosiveness in him (an example of someone who doesn’t have it is Tony). Grip strength continues to find its way into the Challenge as being one of the most important skills. Whether it’s climbing, wrestling a pole from an opponent, or holding on for dear life, grip strength is a major part of the game.
Social, Mental, & Political Game: Big Brother is a super social game. The best Big Brother players are often social masterminds who think through all their moves, make the right choices in who to align with, and often use the social relationships to gain any type of power or safety in the game. Victor is one of the worst social players in Big Brother history. Let me reiterate this: HE GOT ELIMINATED THREE TIMES IN ONE SEASON. It did make it easy for his fellow players to have no remorse when voting him out over and over again as once you vote for a player, you might as well not have two players gunning after you. Victor does not want to get caught in this trap on the Challenge. He could be seeing every elimination if he did not wise up. Mr. Arroyo might even take it as a “challenge” to him.
Watch this:
Based on these interviews, Victor seems a bit scared by the Challenge environment. On Big Brother you get dropped into a house with fifteen other random people and are told develop relationships. Victor is coming on this show with people who have years of shows and relationships prior.
Another thing that does not help Victor in this game is that he has never been in an environment like this, with alcohol and personalities who enjoy confrontation. On Big Brother he was known for a nominations speech that left another cast member in tears. While on the Challenge, he will have people in his face for pulling a stunt like that. Being in a relationship, also hurts his game a ton. Being that rookies are hot new meat, inserting themselves into the incestuous Challenge dating pool is their best way to find success. Victor needs to become the guy everyone likes for him to get far in the game.
Eliminations & Winning Potential: For Victor to make the final, he actually needs to win challenges, a grandiose task for any rookie, which makes his chances for getting to the final very slim, but still possible. If he can find his way near the top of all the early missions, the other rookies/bad players will find their way into elimination first. Victor would need to see at least one elimination, maybe up to four to make the final.
Does he have the skills to succeed in the elimination arena? Maybe. He has the on the fly thinking skills from Big Brother. Being able to move fast in eliminations is half the battle, the other is the physical side. If Victor can wrestle or get dirty with the guys on this show, he has a place on the Challenge. If not, he should stick to a safer game.
Overall Rating: 74/100
