Challenge War of the Worlds: Episode 8 Power Rankings & Player Reaps

Episode 8 is in the books. You likely watched the episode, so I am here break down the specifics of what every player did in this episode. If you want to know about only your favorite players, just jump around.

Here is how I rank the current teams through eight episodes:

Tier 1:

1 Wes & Dee
2 Paulie & Ninja

Wes and Dee have usurped Paulie and Ninja from the #1 spot. If they can win a swimming challenge without knowing how to swim, then this team can accomplish anything.

Tier 2:

3 Turbo & Nany
4 Cara & Theo
5 Hunter & Georgia

All three of these teams are balanced and good at the challenges. They simply trail the two top teams.

Tier 3:

6 Kyle & Mattie
7 Ash & Kam

Kyle/Mattie and Ash/Kam are not as good at the daily challenges as the teams above them. However, they are to be feared in eliminations.

Tier 4:

8 DaVonne & Bear

Worst team left in the game, luckily they have the relic.

Wes: Wes Bergmann’s rebirth is sensational entertainment television. Yes, Wes has killed it on the Champs vs Stars spin-offs, but this is a real season in which people are playing to put money in their own pockets, to be recast in future seasons, and to be messy as hell. He adds another swimming daily challenge win to his career total (now six). Though, he was a bit extra when interrogating Bear in the tribunal and when lecturing Hunter.

In all honesty, Wes is not playing a great game considering the entire UK alliance is still around (sorry Zahida). However, Wes and Dee are winning out when it matters most.

Dee: She has the exact same swagger and confidence as Wes. She is the perfect partner because she simply does what he says and is able to compete at a high level. Historically, Wes has had suboptimal female partners aside from Theresa, now he gets someone on his level and they are winning challenges.

Dee won a swimming challenge without knowing how to swim, the other females in this game should be terrified of this diminutive giant.

Turbo: He is great with puzzles, heights, cardio, and putting a smile on mothers and daughters across the globe.

Nany: Even though she won, she lost her best friend forever, Jenna. However, her beau Hunter was able to provide a warm body to comfort her and he is not going anywhere right now. After watching Nany lose for years, it feels good to watch her win.

Theo: He is a good villain. I know he might not be getting a villain edit, but he has an evil grin when talking. He and Cara killed it and guaranteed their safety.

Cara: Is anyone else annoyed by the fact Cara is using moral platforms as the reasons she is gunning for people? You don’t like Zach, you don’t like Kyle, that’s why you’re throwing them in, don’t make it into something bigger just because.

I think fans might be shocked to see Cara win this challenge. She’s generally an average swimmer, she’s just a bad underwater swimming (huge difference). She and Theo are both solid puzzle-solvers.

Bear: Each time Bear has been in elimination, he’s been carried by DaVonne and then proceeded to pump his chest for beating the worst remaining teams. After antagonizing Hunter, he was too afraid to wrestle with him in a physical elimination. While it would have been a dumb move, it would have been respectable from a narrative perspective.

He needs to win a daily challenge. I desperately want to see a tribunal in which Wes is on the floor looking up at Bear.

DaVonne: It it awesome to watch DaVonne prove herself as a competitor after being saddled with Jozea last season. I do not think she is a strong competitor quite yet, but she’s much better than any of the bad competitors and is probably a bit above average. She needs to improve her swimming in the future. I wish we saw her establishing more social connections rather than getting annoyed by Bear’s interactions.

Gus: He had the least amount of confessionals out of everybody remaining in the game and did not even get an elimination edit this episode. In the previous episode, Gus had a confessional about how the remaining teams need to gun for the UK alliance, and the same confessional was in this episode as well. Gus, you had the power to nominate a UK team last week and instead, you went for Josh and Amanda…

He was one of the worst males this season (though the cast is stacked). Gus thought the point of Pole Wrestle was to inflict pain, but the point is to keep your hand on the pole.

Jenna: She performed awfully in this elimination. Wes incensed DaVonne by yelling at Jenna to kick Day in the head and truly go all out. He was completely right though. Compare this elimination to Cara vs Aneesa, or Susie vs Kim, or Nany vs Theresa and Jenna showed she isn’t willing to do what it takes to win a Challenge. Jenna is a C+ player who was able to keep up during the weakest era of the Challenge. She simply cannot keep up with the current crop of females.

Hunter: He needs to make sure that his girlfriend does not nominate him as a burn vote in the future. Secondly, Hunter got absolutely torched by Bear this episode. In an episode where he should have been able to make it clear to Georgia that Bear is a fake asshole, he instead drove her back into his arms and severely hurt their relationship as a team.

Georgia: It hurts to see such a badass woman get played. Georgia, we love you, we want better for you.

Kyle: I found him hilarious in this episode. He has a cute relationship with Mattie and they did well in the physical part of the daily challenge. Kyle needs to win another daily challenge soon or his ass will be on the chopping block again.

Mattie: She looked like a beautiful beast during the daily challenge. Mattie killed the swimming and served up looks while doing so. We have not gotten to see enough of her yet, but I am buying Mattie Lynn Breaux stock for the future.

Ash: He is too bulky. He was completely gassed immediately in the daily challenge. I am a bit disappointed as I expected him to dominate after winning two of the first three challenges.

Kam: People need to realize, just because Kam is Killa Kam in eliminations, does not make her an all-around great player. She has not done well in daily challenges throughout her career and has been purged twice. Kam needs to step it up during daily challenges. Once she does then she’ll elevate into elite status.

Paulie: It has been three episodes since Paulie has won a daily challenge and I am distraught. Paulie is only interesting when he wins, when he doesn’t, he is just boring. We’re down to eight teams and he and Kyle are both still around. I need them to fight, go into elimination or make love.

Ninja: She is not a good swimmer! It turns out she is human and she does have flaws. Yet, they remain one of the top teams.