Champs vs Stars Episode 2 Recap: Shuffling the board
Picking up from last week’s dramatic ending, Brooke Hogan is busy consoling Selita Banks. The Stars realize the Champs are playing a game against them despite their inherent “Blue” and “Red” teams. The following day, Wes, Kam, and Booby Gibson have a meal together. Kam and Booby flirt a little and promise to have each others’ back. The interaction is fascinating, considering it is not only Champs and Stars interacting, but also Wes and Kam’s first ever real interaction.
The Daily Challenge
In their respective teams, players will participate in a giant version of human shuffleboard, pushing their teammates on human sized pucks. They can score 2, 3, or a hanging puck worth 5 points. However, their scores are only tallied up at the end of the each round (five rounds each) or until a team scores 21 points.
This challenge is a fun one, with players knocking off one another or simply failing. It soon becomes way too long and drawn out, so I did not feel like tracking down every single puck.
- The Blue Team fares better the first round as the teams are still trying to figure out the technique and strategy of it all.
- The Red Team takes over in the second round and continues to dominate while the Blue Team falls behind after Tony cheats by using his hands to stop his puck.
- Hennessy is a bit of a team menace; she does not take things very seriously and also stops her puck with her hands, losing her team points.
- Best puck tossers: CT, Wes, Drake Bell (maybe the best), and Ashley.
- Red Team wins.
Post Challenge
With Selita and Lil Mama out of the room taking a shower, the Champs decide to make Ashley the “MVP”, flexing their numbers and using the argument that Ashley scored 10 points. The Red Team plan to throw in Brooke Hogan, while the Blue Team is plan to vote in Hennessy.
Louise Hazel fears the strategy to pluck off the stars will backfire on her despite her friendship with Wes. She rallies up the Stars and gets a 5–5 tie vote of Kam and Hennessy; Kam specifically because she is worried Kam could sway Booby later in the game. This is a great move to further Louise’s own game, while she may have had an easy path with Wes, instead she is holding her faith in her own hands, which is what you want.
During the vote, Tony and Tori are donning Hulk Hogan mustaches which Brooke does not seem too pleased with.
Kam is a bit shocked when Booby votes her in to make a 5–5 tie. The tie-breaker is decided by the previous elimination winner, Casper, who votes Kam into elimination to face Brooke Hogan. Kam has always had the size advantage in eliminations, and now she’ll be going against the massive Brooke Hogan, who is a Laurel sized person with a more muscular build.
The Elimination
Kam faces off with Brooke before elimination, talking about loyalty. Their flirtmance seems to be over. The elimination game is a good old two out of three “Box Push”. Players play within a square, with diagonal sides in Blue or Red to represent “scoring markers”. Players will have to push their box passed these side. It’s is difficult to explain for such a simple elimination, so here is a fucking gif:
In the first round, Kam pulls a fast one on Brooke and immediately drags the box to her scoring side, except she does not get all of the box passed the line and lets go of the box. Brooke realizes what is going on in the elimination, puts in work and get the first round win.
In the second round, Brooke’s massive size advantage and strength comes into play. Kam is strong, just not Hulkamania strong, and she loses.
They are given the opportunity to save Kam after elimination (the Champs hope Booby will save her) and she even offers to go into the next female elimination, unfortunately, Booby shuts that shit down and a 5–4 vote has Kam out.
After the elimination, we get a Wes/Louise interaction where he appreciates her game move while he appreciates a glass of wine. She tells him she learned the game from watching him. This is getting good.
Also, if you want hear the exclusive Joss Mooney interview Challenge Podcast, listen to the Saniac Podcast, the Libysn player will be right below, and I-Tunes right under that.
