The Challenge 40 Battle of the Eras Player Preview: Brad Fiorenza
Brad Fiorenza is the most underrated Challenge Legend ever. It’s weird to say because to achieve “Legend” status, you have to be very good, respected, and beloved, which I believe are all words that apply to Brad. To achieve all that and still be overlooked somehow, feels oxymoronic. And it’s easy to understand why Brad is overlooked/underrated — it’s because he’s a 1x Champion whose sole win came in a big team season. He doesn’t have all the wins like Bananas, he’s not the “political mastermind” like Wes, he’s not a 5'6 pitbull like Derrick… and so on.
I’ll be upfront: Brad is not a perfect human by any stretch. The guy has had his issues, and he’s not a perfect competitor. Yet, when you watch Brad compete, he feels like he’s on their level. The guy puts his heart on his sleeve, and you can tell there’s a good human inside of there that’s just so too easy to root for. It’s why, even with his missteps, Brad is a guy you want to see win. Brad is an important player to this show’s history and he deserves this spot on 40. Hopefully, the Final comes down to a blinking contest because Brad will have that win locked up.
Brad’s Cheat Sheet (TLDR Version)
Introducing Brad:
Brad came from one of the most notable Real World seasons ever. Jamie Chung won The Inferno 2 and has gone on to have a prolific film & TV career. Cameron Eubanks went on to Southern Charm fame. Robin is not in a great place these days, but at one point, she dated multiple celebrities, including Steve-O. And then Frankie Abernathy, who unfortunately passed a few years after the show, made a lot of people far more aware of cystic fibrosis. There have been many highs and lows from the Real World San Diego. Among them, the biggest Challenge legend is Brad — a guy whose life and career on this show has been all over the place.
From Day 1, Brad has always been a kickass Challenge competitor. On Battle of the Sexes 2, Brad went all the way to the Final Five as a Rookie by crushing daily challenges. He was a major asset to the team. Brad also learned the hard way that the Challenge is also a social/political game as the buddy-buddy vets aligned to boot him out. His runs on Inferno 2 and Gauntlet 2 went similarly, where Brad was a solid player, but each season ended with elimination losses before the Final. Brad lost to Abram in the first-ever Balls In elimination and Derrick during his Gauntlet run in Name That Coconut — both entirely respectable losses.
Brad finally broke through and made it to his first Final on The Duel 1. On this season, he had two big elimination wins. First, Brad overcame a 100+ lb difference to upset Big Easy in a Pole Wrestle. Then he had his controversial elimination with CT. I don’t think it should be all that controversial because CT picked that specific Push Me after he had already seen Beth DQ a couple of weeks earlier — Brad went in with the strategy that he was going to wiggle the pole as much as possible to make it difficult for CT to unhook the carabiner and it worked out in his favor. If CT didn’t want to DQ, he should have picked a different fucking elimination. Now, Brad had a golden opportunity to win The Duel 1 Final against Wes. Unfortunately, the Final began with a soccer penalty shoot-out, and Wes, as a former high soccer player, blew Brad out of the water to get a time advantage. That ultimately was the difference, as Wes barely edged out Brad for the victory. It was a heart wrenching loss, and there would be more for Brad.
On The Gauntlet 3, Brad met his future wife and mother of his children in former Pageant Queen, Tori Hall. Brad cruised to the Final as part of a dominant veteran team. And then Big Easy could not complete a 1.3 mile Final, so he died and crushed Brad’s dreams of winning, yet also gifted a win to Tori. I will note, Brad was the most supportive & kind person towards Big Easy during the Final.
We’d see Brad & Tori both back and engaged for The Duel 2. Brad failed to win any daily challenges yet pulled off excellent elimination wins to make the Final. First, he beat the larger MJ in Duel Pole Dancing and then had his famous elimination upset over Landon in Back Off. Brad pulled off a controversial yet ingenious move against Landon in that elimination where he flung the ring that Landon was supposed to attach his carabiner to, giving Brad enough time to scramble and steal the win. It was a super clever move and one of my favorite moments in Challenge history, yet I will say after rewatching it for this blog… I’m kinda shocked that the production let it happen.
The Duel 2 Final looked like Brad’s to win, and he had a considerable lead over Evan. In the end, Evan beat him in a dead sprint to the finish. There are rumors that Brad, Mark, and Evan decided to split the Duel 2 winnings between them evenly and that they chose Evan to win because he would not get taxed the same way the other two did because he was Canadian, thus yielding them all more money. If that’s true, I’m a little disappointed Brad did that because he robbed himself of a shot at being a Champion. Either way, the loss hurts.
To add insult to injury, Brad’s Duel 2 loss led to him being on a woeful Challengers team on The Ruins. Loss after loss, Brad hit his breaking point one night. He got blackout drunk and got in Darrell’s face, which is idiotic because Darrell is a former Gold Gloves boxer. From there, Brad left with one of the gnarliest black eyes in Challenge history. It was a brutally bad look for Brad, which I know he regrets.
Brad would later return alongside Tori for Cutthroat. They ran the Red Team politically, to which fans did not enjoy Tori (& Brad), because they kept throwing Brandon into elimination. I’ll say this: Tori did not care about the fans’ feelings; all she cared about was seeing her husband win, and that’s why she contemplated getting herself eliminated, as the team might be stronger in the Final without her. Ultimately, Brad won the Cutthroat Final alongside Tori, Tyler, and Dunbar. They were also helped by Abram & Sarah DQing via dehydration and the Blue Team being a depleted mess. Cutthroat was nowhere near Brad’s best season — I wouldn’t even say it’s in his Top 5; however, he deserved the title of Champion, and he got it. Then we wouldn’t see him again for 7–8 years.
He & Tori got divorced, and the best thing to do when you get divorced is get crazy jacked, go back on The Challenge, and bang Britni Thornton, even if pizza gets dropped on you mid-pump. We had seen a bunch of Veteran returns in recent seasons prior to Vendettas, and they assimilated to the game well socially. Brad did not; he had a big target on his back from the jump, and in response, he performed at a high level. With this back against the wall, I watched Brad crush physical comps ranging from running up and down in a soap pit to speeding through a deep sea swim — I saw him destroy Victor Arroyo in the elimination arena and then obliterate the undefeated mercenary Frank Sweeney. Sadly, Brad went into the last elimination of the season and came up short against Leroy. Vendettas was a mixed season for Brad.
Brad got partnered with Kyle for Final Reckoning. I was on the record from the jump in saying that they wouldn’t be a good team because they don’t complement each other well. Both those guys needed a calming presence who could solve puzzles. They were two muscular blockheads, and their blockheadedness led to them losing three eliminations in a row (one traditional and two redemptions) to Nelson & Shane, Paulie & Natalie, and Kam & Kayleigh. It was not a great run for Brad, and then he had to deal with Britni’s stuff with her ex-boyfriend Chuck in the Redemption House. We wouldn’t see Brad again for years, and he announced a retirement from the show at some point.
With All-Stars, though, we saw him return for Season 2. Brad finished last in a trivia challenge, which resulted in him getting pitted against his friend Derrick in elimination. Brad got some payback on Derrick for Name That Coconut and was able to remain in the game. After this, when the game hit the partner phase, Brad got a great partner in Jodi, who was far and away the best female athlete in the house. At the same time, these two ran into the double-blockhead issue. Whenever there was a mental part to a challenge, neither of them kept their cool, or they just wouldn’t read/comprehend the rules. Brad broke the rules in the final daily challenge, getting them sent automatically into elimination, where they had to face Darrell & Janelle and got upset before the Final. All-Stars 2 seemed like a golden opportunity for Brad & Jodi, and they fumbled it.
Going into All-Stars 3, I didn’t like Brad’s chances as he was facing one of the most stacked casts in Challenge history. Except while going against the best, Brad shined; he won 4 out of 8 daily challenges, solved puzzles, and looked to be physically on a different level. On top of all that, Brad got to the Final without seeing elimination and got there with big threats like Jordan, Yes, or Darrell already eliminated. In the end, Wes outperformed him completely in the Final — it wasn’t like The Duel, where you could blame the penalty shoot-out; Brad was simply outmatched.
The next two times we saw Brad were jarring. So, we’re going to go in filming order rather than television order. Brad went on All-Stars 4, and that season had the weakest male cast in Challenge history. Now, there would only be one winner between men and women, but Brad was clearly the favorite on the male side. Brad came in 1st Place in the initial daily challenge to earn a Star, and after that, he fell off the rails hard. In every challenge, Brad seemed zoned out of the game completely. Brad on All-Stars 4 looked like a video game character with all the power-ups, yet when it was time to play the game, whoever was in control of him just walked away from the controller. His giant eyes were wide open, but nobody was home. His game ended as he got blown out by Adam Larson in elimination. Then he returned as a mercenary/legend on Battle For A New Champion. This season, Brad looked 20–30 lbs lighter, and not in a good way. He got torched by Kyland in elimination during his appearance.
I love Brad. He’s a good dude and a legend who deserves to be on this season. After these last two showings, all I want is for him to get a little redemption and to be in a healthier place.
Skills and Physical Strength:
Historically, Brad is an all-time Challenge athlete. He’s quick on his feet, agile, crazy powerful for his size, has incredible upper body strength, and is an elite swimmer. Brad’s got a great sense of balance and moves so well. From crushing a roller derby challenge on The Duel to sprinting through a mud pit on All-Stars, Brad has always been super nimble and powerful. It’s a devastating combo to go up against.
Now, we have to talk about the red flags. The big one is when we saw Brad as a Mercenary/Legend on Season 39 — he looked to be in the worst shape I’ve ever seen him on The Challenge. In a cardio-heavy elimination, Brad didn’t just lose; he got blown out and lapped multiple times. In theory, that was an elimination Brad should kill with his quickness and typical cardio, and here, against Kyland, he looked washed.
According to social media, Brad looks much healthier today. However, I worry that he might not have enough gas for any endurance or cardio-based challenges.
The other big red flag for Brad is eating challenges. He despises them and has a weak stomach. It ended up costing him in the All-Stars 3 Final against Wes.
SSMP (Social, Strategic, Mental, and Political) Game:
Brad has many friends on this cast, including Derrick, Mark, Jodi, Rachel, Nehemiah, and Cara. He should be able to coast through the first half of this game based on his connections and respect from his fellow competitors.
The mental part of Brad’s game is always the worry. He’s not a puzzle person, and sometimes he panics under pressure, where all thought goes out the window. Brad struggled with almost all math, puzzles, and memorization patterns on All-Stars 4 to the point that he got looked at as a detriment to his teams. Also, there were so many times when Brad mentally checked out and did not follow the rules of some of the challenges and eliminations. I’ve said this with multiple players now — if you’re not strong with puzzles, the margin for error everywhere else gets small. So, if Brad wants to win, he might need to play a riskier game.
For years, I’ve thought Brad was a poor strategic player in that he was too friendly with people who could beat him in a Final. On All Stars 3, though, we saw Brad jump on the Wes bandwagon, where the goal was to get the big threats out before the Final (Jordan, Yes, and Darrell). Was Brad used by Wes? Somewhat. Although Brad was working towards Wes’s agenda, with Wes’s spotty track record in Challenge Finals, Brad had a much better chance of beating him than Jordan or Yes. If Brad gets some power and is willing to take some big shots, it’ll raise his chances of winning; it will also raise the chances that he gets targeted. It’s actually what’s necessary to win because we’ve seen Brad face top players in Finals, and he typically comes up just short.
Eliminations & Winning Potential:
At one point, Brad won 6 eliminations in a row and beat CT, Landon, MJ, and Frank Sweeney in the process. That is a murderer’s row of wins to rack up. We’ve also seen Brad lose 4 eliminations in a row at one point. Brad is a guy who can theoretically do well in any elimination. He’s obviously a physical beast, is typically quick on his feet, and is very experienced as a competitor. I will say that Brad is shorter than people realize — there have been seasons where he’s closer in size to a Derrick than he is to CT. Like Derrick, Brad is super scrappy and crazy-powerful, and his upper body strength is unbelievable. I’m mostly talking historically because the guy we saw face Kyland is not what I’m describing.
Can Brad win? I said I didn’t like Brad’s chances at all going into All-Stars 3, and he had one of his best seasons ever. I will say Brad has no chance of winning Season 40 in hopes that I’m reverse-jinxing him and we get a great Brad season because I want to see our guy thrive. Legitimately speaking, this is a strong male cast, and with Brad’s lack of puzzle skills & eating prowess, it’s hard to envision him beating the top guys on this cast. If he can get to that Final without the top guys and he gets some luck on his side, maybe. Still, it would be a steep uphill battle, and it would require Brad’s cardio to have returned to what it once was.
Brad’s Overall Rating: 84/100
Previous Ratings I’ve Given Brad:
All-Stars 3: 89/100
Final Reckoning: 88/100
Vendettas: 87/100
