The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras Episode 2 Recap: 10 Biggest Takeaways
The second episode of The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras is in the books. You probably have some thoughts, so let’s compare. Instead of giving a simple summary, I decided to focus on the 10 Biggest moments/takeaways from Episode 2.
If you prefer audio/video, my podcast recap can be found above/below:
10 Elimination Entrances
When they walked into the arena, and you could see the players with their jerseys on, clearly ready to compete in elimination, I wondered whether I misclicked or if my clock was wrong because seemingly twenty minutes of the episode was missing. Nope. Instead, they thrust us right into the action and flashed back to show what happened in the deliberations when it was necessary. It was a great editing choice by production because even though it confused me for half a second, the way this episode was formatted treated the viewers more intelligently than it typically does. They didn’t need to overexplain anything. Jumping straight into the action brought intrigue, and once we saw Hall Brawl, Balls In, Pole Wrestle, and Give Me Shelter (Knot So Fast Variant), we became excited.
Last year (or maybe earlier this year), MTV put out a poll asking fans to name/rank the most iconic eliminations, and I believe these were the Top 4, especially if you pinpoint one introduced from each era. I wish we had gotten one more non-headbanger elimination to make things a little more fair to the undersized players — even then, that’s picking nits because we got four iconic eliminations. If they’re going to feed us lobster and steak, complaining that there is a lack of salmon feels dumb.
I do want to talk about the fact that they changed the rules to Balls In. They first made the change at the end of Ride or Dies during the final match-up between Bananas & Nany and Jordan & Aneesa, which, if you didn’t watch the Ride or Dies Final, I don’t blame you. If you couldn’t tell, the new rules are that you can’t be touched/stopped once you step foot into the secondary inside ring by the goal. Once you step foot in the secondary circle, you essentially get a free point. Except they won’t stop you if you decide to sprint at the goal and attempt to force it in. For reference, Nany missed two slam dunks against Aneesa, where if she had stopped, she would’ve been able to take as much time as she wanted to put it in the basket safely. While the new rules give smaller players more of an opportunity to score by squirreling their way into that second circle, ultimately, these new rules give the larger players an even bigger advantage as they can drag themselves to the second circle and then score unimpeded.
9 America’s Favorite Hell Raiser
During the launch special, I wrote that Amanda Garcia is your favorite Reality Star’s favorite Reality Star. Watching her curse out Cory after getting voted into elimination was hysterical, and even better was seeing Tina, Jordan, and Nurys all get a kick out of it. Players across different eras were all enjoying seeing someone be authentic and messy. Additionally, voting Amanda into elimination wasn’t the smartest move for either Cory or Tori. Averey, Nia, and Jonna are all closer to one another than they are to Tori. Even though Amanda is the devil to Tori, she is very transparent. If the two of them agreed to a temporary ceasefire, Amanda has proven loyal in the past and would hold up that deal. For Cory specifically, all four of the other Era 3 women have Jordan’s back before him, so he might as well have one person who has his back.
The way Amanda can rile people up is impressive to watch. You would’ve thought Amanda was a 5x Champion based on the way Tori was trying to cheer on Nia and coach her during their elimination. Cory put more effort into cheering against Amanda in this elimination than he did during the Invasion Final. It was terrific to see Amanda get these two to put out genuine emotion and interactions for once.
Amanda would be an incredible Heel Pro Wrestler. She has the persona, the character work, a catchphrase (bitch), and can talk someone down with words to where it doesn’t matter what she does physically. Similar to a heel wrestler, in this elimination, Amanda was able to skirt the rules and actually get a point off of Nia! I’m not going to sit here and pretend that Amanda’s strategy was to get Nia to push her before she passed the line of scrimmage. Once Nia did push her, Amanda made sure to alert TJ, and Nia let her guard down to admit to it, assuming they’d have a reset. The second she did, Amanda stepped on the gas. The pure concept of Amanda scoring a point was stunning; you could tell Nia was frazzled by it.
Going into Nia’s first offensive possession, you could see the nerves take over her, which is why she initially missed her first opportunity to score. All Nia had to do in that first position was to go straight through the smaller Amanda, and yet, Nia was desperate to score and tried to dive/dunk it in as if she were the smaller player. Nia had the size, strength, and speed advantage over Amanda, yet Amanda’s mental toughness and resiliency was getting the better of her. Nia won out like she was supposed to, but man, I’d be a bit embarrassed by this performance if I was Nia. The fact this elimination wasn’t an outright blowout was insane, and Amanda should hold her head high that she was able to do anything. I don’t think any woman left in that house should be intimidated to face Nia in future eliminations.
8 It’s Tony Time
The first season of The Challenge that I ever watched was Rivals 1, and Leroy was the first player I was ever a fan of, as he (and Mike & Adam) was the only player on the cast whose Real World season I had watched. Also, he was a “rookie” like me as a viewer. Over the years, it’s been easy to root for Leroy because he’s always been such a good guy and a kickass physical competitor. I’ve always loved Leroy, and when he announced he’d be retiring after Double Agents, I felt a bit emotional.
Watching his elimination against Tony made me wish he stayed retired. For over a decade, Leroy was one of the strongest competitors in this show’s history when it came to raw power and physicality. It hurt to watch Leroy get completely dismantled by Tony. While I think Leroy had a foot out the door during this elimination, as Kam had just given birth two weeks earlier, I don’t believe he planned on taking a proper ass-kicking from Tony even if he tried to lose.
Credit to Tony because his brute size and strength were on full display in this elimination. This was the best solo elimination win of Tony’s career and was much-needed after how he ended up on the outside of Era 3 after the opening daily challenge.
7 Pole Wresting or Pro Wrestling?
I want to open by saying that I think Derrick played the Pole Wrestle exactly how a smaller player is supposed to — his strategy, form, and style were all perfect. Except when Mark Long did that crazy somersault to try and rip the pole away, I couldn’t take this elimination seriously. Less than 24 months ago, I saw Nehemiah beat the brakes off Derrick in a Pole Wreste — which they conveniently left off in Derrick’s Pole Wrestle montage. Likewise, less than 24 months ago, I watched Mark Long compete on All-Stars 3, where he proved to still be a physical freak. If Mark wanted, he could’ve powerbombed Derrick and ended this elimination with relative ease.
Instead, these two put on a show for us, and I don’t mind it because I love Derrick and think he’ll bring more to the show at this point. Seeing Mark bow out in such a way is disappointing, especially when so many people would’ve loved to be on 40. Watching this elimination made me wish Yes Duffy got the Season 40 spot over either of these guys, in all honesty.
6 Aneesa sets a record & Katie Doyle, You Will Always Be Famous
During preseason coverage for Season 40, I tweeted out that I always thought Amanda took over the role that Katie Doyle had on The Challenge for years, and it’s crazy that they’re both doing this season together. Well, neither of them lasted very long, yet they undeniably put on a show in their eliminations.
Katie had to face Aneesa in a Pole Wrestle, and the odds were not good as one of Aneesa’s legs was basically the size of Katie. On top of that, Katie has never seen a true headbanger, whereas Aneesa has a ton of headbanger experience and has even competed in the first-ever Pole Wrestle. In that first round, Katie looked fucked from the get-go, and at one point early on hand, she only had one hand on the pole. Then, out of nowhere, Katie managed to wrap her legs around Aneesa’s and begin to choke her out. It was one of the coolest and most stunning elimination moments I’ve watched in a long time. The last time I remember being this shocked was when Amanda scored a point on Nia on Balls In. In all seriousness, I loved seeing the crowd erupt for Katie. CT was thoroughly unamused by the entire Derrick & Mark elimination, and the moment Katie got her legs around Aneesa, he was cheering his heart out. I wish Katie had not taken her foot off the gas or Aneesa’s neck because the second she did, Aneesa took advantage and never let go from there. Aneesa won 2–0 as expected.
During this episode, Aneesa said the most ludicrous thing ever, and that is she has all the components needed to win The Challenge and that she could’ve won multiple times but only hasn’t because she wasn’t selfish enough or didn’t give 100%. Fucking liar. While Aneesa lacks so much as a player, for conversation’s sake, I’m willing to buy into her bullshit and say that she does have all the components…Except the big one, which is the cardio & endurance needed to run a Final. When Aneesa was in her best shape on The Duel 2, she lost a Final by multiple hours against Rachel & Brittini. Finals have gotten much harder since then, and we’ve seen Aneesa compete in Finals on All-Stars 1 and Ride or Dies, where she was abysmal. She got hurt in one because her ankle couldn’t hold up jogging more than a couple of miles. In the other, Aneesa got completely outpaced by Jemmye and Ruthie — and that’s not even getting into players who did well in the Final like Jonna and KellyAnne. Aneesa either lacks self-awareness or believes whatever nice things people tell her so that she can sleep better at night. People need to stop mentioning Aneesa as one of the best never to win because I’ve watched all 15 seasons she’s competed on, and not a single one of them should she have won or was a realistic contender to win.
Aneesa got mad at Rachel & CT for voting her into elimination. It was not a personal attack on Aneesa; Tina outperformed over 85% of players in the first daily challenge, and if it is a team game, Jodi’s pedigree, fitness, and athleticism on Era 1. Yet, Aneesa took it as a personal attack. In reality, Aneesa should’ve thanked them because she got an almost 100% guaranteed elimination win to add to her record. By beating Katie, Aneesa temporarily became the sole flagship MTV Challenge all-time women’s elimination win record holder. With 14 wins, Aneesa ties Wes for the all-time record regardless of gender! Credit to Aneesa; that’s something she should be proud of.
5 Theo Sent Paulie To The Shadowrealm
Look, I’m not the most patriotic human ever, but I will say watching Paulie get out-football tackled by a British man was an embarrassment to all Americans, and it felt like he set us as a country all the way back to 1775. Paulie got so thoroughly demolished in this elimination that he probably wished he was still banned from the show because, my God, this performance set back any legacy he’s ever had on the show. I also need to note that Paulie lied before this elimination when he said in a confessional that he began his career by going to three straight Finals.
Fact Check: Paulie did not qualify for the War of the Worlds 1 Final as he famously choked during the last daily challenge and got purged from the game. Which, they showed a highlight from that daily challenge to make Paulie look badass when in reality, he got his ass kicked in that comp. Paulie is/was a tremendous competitor on this show and was spectacular on most of WOTW 1 — it’s just the casual lying that’s unnecessary.
Back to the elimination, Theo folded Paulie easier than a tortilla. I’ve always thought Theo was a tough Hall Brawl because he’s so fast that if they stop contact in the middle of the hallway, Theo will beat them every time based on footspeed. When we saw Theo compete against Kyle in Hall Brawl on WOTW 1, Kyle got low on Theo, and their elimination ended up being a super-close 2–1 sudden-death battle. This version of Theo, though, knew how to tackle, and also, he’s put on 20–30 lbs since WOTW 1. Theo is no longer training like a sprinter, so he’s been able to put on some pounds, making him much more deadly in these headbanger eliminations. Even with Paulie being thicker and more muscular than ever, Theo throttled him. As much as this elimination hurt Paulie’s image, it put Theo back on the map, and now I’m considering him as a top contender to win it all.
4 Olivia Spares Nurys
Supposedly, they edited out Olivia basically volunteering/agreeing to Nurys’ demands to face her in elimination in last week’s deliberation, and we didn’t get to see it this week either. For anyone who didn’t think Olivia was remorseful about her boneheaded decision to betray Nurys & Horacio last season — I can’t imagine feeling the same after this week. Olivia decisively beat Nurys 2–0 in this Hall Brawl, and I believe she did so without giving 100% because she didn’t want to physically hurt her former best friend. I watched Olivia’s elimination with Ravyn, and while that version of Hall Brawl was different, the ferocity with which Olivia competed in that elimination versus this one was a stark difference.
Nurys got off pretty easy in this elimination, and Olivia even gave her a window to tie it up in Round 2 — except Nurys took too long to let go of Olivia. Once she did, Olivia dragged her back and got the easy win. Olivia’s gotten repeatedly raked through the coals for the last six months without any good moments to speak of, so seeing her win is some positive momentum for her Challenge career.
It sucks to see Nurys go out so early after the showing she had on Season 39. Nurys feels like one of the few genuine stars to come out in the last few years — so the fact she won’t be repping Era 4 for an extended period is a bummer. Does this loss tarnish what Nurys did on Season 39? No. Battle For A New Champion will always be remembered as the Nurys season — what she accomplished and did should get championed. At the same time, these last two episodes have made it abundantly clear that although Nurys is a very strong player, she is by no means a perfect competitor. As we’ve seen in multiple daily challenges in her first two seasons and the S39 Final, Nurys is not good in the water at all. That came back to bite her in this opening purge. Along with her water deficiency, Nurys’ thin frame makes her very beatable in any headbanger or size-based elimination, which was her reckoning for this season. You shouldn’t think Nurys is a bad competitor because she got wiped out in a Hall Brawl; however, if you’re going to be a diehard fan of hers, you need to be aware that you aren’t buying into a CT or Evelyn-level competitor.
Nurys does have time to improve and grow. Will she ever be a Hall Brawl threat? Most likely not. But she can hit the weights a bit harder and maybe take some Jui-Jitsu classes so that she can put up more of a fight in the future. Is Nurys ever going to be a fish in the water? Probably not — she can practice her swimming and kayaking so that she won’t come in dead last in a challenge like this again.
3 Battle of the Least
The last time either Brandon or Ryan won an elimination was in 2010, and these two men were on an 8-elimination losing streak entering their match-up. One of them was going to break a dry spell, and it ended up being Ryan.
Brandon threw a bit of a hissy fit that he didn’t get any of the other three eliminations. I agree with Brandon that he would’ve beat Ryan in Balls In, Pole Wrestle, or Hall Brawl. That said, just because you can beat Ryan in a headbanger, it does not make you a good player. You play the elimination you’re given; Ryan killed it, and Brandon didn’t.
Historically, I’ve been a Ryan hater. In the last three episodes, I’ve turned a corner because Ryan has been spitting facts most weeks in his confessionals lately, and his elimination performance was phenomenal. Ryan got those tiny chains and focused on making the tightest and most narrow knots that would be the most difficult to untie, especially for a player like Brandon, who operates so much on brute force rather than finesse. Meanwhile, Brandon’s ropes looked so loose and clumsily tied. He also fell into the trap of trying to put up a physical barricade because even though they look like obstacles, it’s much easier to tear them down compared to the work it takes to put them up. Ryan easily won the elimination, and with the tension between him and Laurel, he could bring more to the table this season.
After his three initial elimination wins on Cutthroat, Brandon has now lost six straight eliminations. He’s a nice guy — I just think at this point, Brandon’s gotten enough second chances to prove himself.
2 Cara vs. KellyAnne (aka Cara vs. Laurel & Bananas)
I’m a board member of the KellyAnne Judd fan club — I think she’s one of the greatest players without a win, and she’s an absolute electric cast member who makes this show better. For the first time in my life, I was cheering against KellyAnne in an elimination because Cara Maria is the juicier character and personality right now.
There’s something about Cara Maria’s presence that brings a different energy out of people. Bananas was so boring and generic on Ride or Dies, and now we’re seeing the petty & vindictive version of him as his & Cara’s rivalry is back in full force. The two of them have the best male/female rivalry in Challenge history, and it’s because they get so emotional about how they play the game with one another that logic gets thrown out the window at time. Bananas probably shouldn’t throw Cara into the first elimination, especially if this does become a team game — except the last time they were on a season together, they were on the same team, and Cara threw him in to face Theo on WOTW 2. So, I don’t blame him for trying to get his lick back.
Then you had Chapter 157 of the Laurel & Cara story, where you have Laurel cutting confessionals saying she’s tired of carrying Cara as a deadweight and then having confessionals where she’s saying she’s afraid to face Cara in the Final. During the elimination, it felt like Laurel & Bananas were going to burst their vocal cords trying to direct KellyAnne.
All the while, KellyAnne did not want their fucking help. It was a fascinating elimination to watch because both women were giving their 110% all, both killed it, and the crowd felt like such a big part of the elimination as Era 1 was pulling for Cara, Bananas & Laurel were praying she’d lose, and then everyone else was just in awe of seeing these two elite women compete. In the end, Cara narrowly won and re-tied with Aneesa for the flagship record for all-time elimination wins. Although, Cara is 14–6, while Aneesa is 14–13. I’m no mathematician — but I’d say Cara’s record is a bit more impressive. Notably, including spin-offs like All-Stars & USA, Cara Maria has tied Wes Bergmann for the all-time elimination wins record with 16 total, and for reference, she’s 16–6 while he’s 16–10.
KellyAnne was a victim of the strength of the Era 2 women. She’s a great competitor and was within reach of victory against a beast like Cara. Unfortunately, she comes up short, which results in the earliest exit of her Challenge career. At least before KellyAnne left, we found out that she pays for not one but two psychics, with one specifically being for her dog. I don’t know what’s funnier, the fact KellyAnne’s psychic is out of a job because Bananas & Laurel voted in Cara or that psychic only gave KellyAnne five weeks on the show, which, in filming time, is about the halfway point. That means KellyAnne was mentally readying herself to get fucked over at the halfway point. All I know is we need her back for 41.
1 Karma Karma Chameleon
Fans will be upset if these Karma Points affect the season, specifically the Final, as much as the Stars did on All-Stars 4. If you get to the Final, you deserve to be there, and you deserve a fair shot to win. The salty feelings of someone who got eliminated in Episode 2 shouldn’t end your chances of winning. Hopefully, the Karma Points don’t play a big factor in the result of this season.
I think the Karma Points are a bit fun in that we got to see those exit confessionals where you had Amanda giving Cara 5 points, which it’s crazy to see those two have come so full circle. Even then, I worry that production might get shady and screwy with Karma Points. They better post every player’s Karma Point distribution after each elimination, because otherwise, it will draw suspicion.
