The Challenge 40 Battle of the Eras Player Preview: Jordan Wiseley

I’ve been saying it since 2019, but I genuinely believe Jordan Wiseley is the greatest competitor in Challenge history. When we talk about Jordan, one of the first things that comes up is how amazing it is that he has overcome his disability. It is amazing — I’ll watch clips of him bench pressing weight and be in awe. Throw the disability factor out the window because regardless of it, Jordan is just on another level as a competitor, and here are the numbers.

Jordan winning 4 Champions in the modern era is absurd. For reference, he competed on Dirty 30. On Dirty 30, there was only one men’s winner, which means Jordan had a 1/15 shot of winning, which equates to 0.06* expected wins. If you add up all the seasons Jordan has played on, his expected win total is 0.757. This means at this point in his career, Jordan is still not fully expected to have a Championship. Instead, he has 4, and that divided by 0.757 equates to Jordan having a winning rate of 528%. For reference of how impressive that is, 7x Champ Johnny Bananas has a winning rate of 281%, and 5x Champ CT has a rate of 210%. Even if you cherry-picked for Johnny Bananas and only included his original 6 Championship run from The Island to Rivals 3, he would be at 521%, which is still less than Jordan. Then Bananas proceeded not to make a Final for six straight seasons! Since Rivals 2, CT has had a rate of 595%, which is higher than Jordan, but it erases the first 8 seasons of his career, to which Jordan was already a 3x Champ after his first 8 seasons (and he’s only done 9 total).

Not to mention, Jordan ranks near the top in all-time eliminations wins, has won the most daily challenges on a season before, and has completely blown out legends in Finals. All while doing it with showmanship and flair. Jordan is a special competitor, and even if he’s not bringing drama, he’s fantastic to watch. The best part is that Jordan typically gets into a bunch of drama because he can be a bit of an asshole and is not afraid of confrontation. Season 40 would not be right without Jordan.

Jordan’s Cheat Sheet

Introducing Jordan:

Before Jordan made his Reality TV debut, he already achieved great success as an amateur athlete. Jordan was a national champion wakeboarder in college, had interest from Major League & College teams in high school as a pitcher, and walked on to the Central Oklahoma State football team as a quarterback. The guy had experience in amateur wrestling and won a high school national title in cheerleading. He then made his Reality TV debut on Real World Portland. This season, Jordan had a couple of notable blowups, including some massive fights with Nia, where neither came out looking good.

We would later see Jordan transition to The Challenge with his Portland roommate and former Texas Tech Football player, Marlon Williams, as his Rivals 2 partner. Although they were rookies, everyone in the house knew immediately that Jordan & Marlon were a strong team. The women had the power to vote, and they had their backs more than some of the other veteran teams because they figured they’d be more reliable allies. Jordan had two different showmances on Rivals 2 — he had a hot makeout with Sarah Rice. Their showmance ended prematurely after Sarah had to leave due to Trishelle quitting. Jordan quickly moved on to the beautiful Jonna Mannion. We got a hysterically cringeworthy scene where Jordan compared himself to the Great Gatsby while trying to flirt with Jonna.

Jordan & Marlon won one daily challenge, never finished in last, and won two eliminations to get to the Final. Their Hall Brawl elimination against Leroy & Ty is one of the best eliminations in Challenge history, and those men were literally inches away from defeat before pulling out the massive win. In the Final, Jordan & Marlon got purged after both they and Frank & Bananas failed to solve the 3D puzzle within an hour, and when it came down to the swim/kayak, Marlon held them back a bit. They still had a fantastic rookie season they could be proud of.

After Rivals 2, Jordan went into Free Agents, banging his chest like he was the new big man on campus. Jordan gathered numbers as he aligned with Zach, RW roommate Johnny Reilly, CT (kind of), and formed a power showmance with Laurel. Jordan’s goal was to gun down Bananas and take over his spot as King of The Challenge. His ego was out of control this season, and he had big flubs during some daily challenges. Yet, he still succeeded in getting Bananas voted into an early elimination on Free Agents. Bananas easily defeated Isaac Stout in Balls In, and Jordan decided he had to take out Bananas himself, which might not have been the best idea.

The following week, Jordan ended up in elimination via the kill card and took out Brandon Swift in a reverse tug of war, where Jordan’s speed made it a quick and easy victory. We then got the big Bananas & Jordan face-off the following week. Jordan threw the daily challenge to put himself in the draw. Johnny Reilly won the daily challenge and nominated Bananas, leading to the big moment when Jordan famously pulled all three kill cards to send himself in. All the men in the house were behind Jordan’s plan because it meant Bananas or Jordan would be eliminated, and they would all be safe for a week. Now, where things got interesting is production set up Wrecking Wall as the elimination. In Wrecking Wall, you use your fists to punch holes in a wall to climb up it to ring a bell at the top. With only one hand with five fingers, Jordan was at a severe disadvantage in this elimination against anyone, let alone while facing Bananas.

It felt like production was testing Jordan and seeing if he would chicken out once he saw the elimination. If he did, it would’ve pissed a lot of people off and made Jordan look like a liar and coward. Knowing he would almost certainly lose, Jordan still pulled all the Kill Cards because that’s who he is as a man and competitor. Taking risks and sticking to his guns is why Jordan has been as successful as he has been during his career. However, it backfired massively in this moment, and he ate some humble pie. Losing to Bananas led Jordan to have respect for him from every season from then on.

Other notes about Jordan’s Free Agent include that he got into fights & arguments with CT, LaToya, and Jessica McCain, among others. He & Laurel’s also drew the ire of Aneesa.

Jordan would return the following season for Exes 2 where he was partners with Sarah Rice. They were a fantastic pair as they almost always placed near the top in most daily challenges, and Sarah was masterfully running the game for them politically. That said, they consistently came up just short of Wes & Theresa in the daily challenges. We also saw Jordan get into some arguments and begin his rivalry with Wes this season, which looked like the beginning of their season falling apart. Jordan & Sarah finished last in a daily challenge, then had to take on Zach & Jonna in elimination, where Jordan proved to be a maestro with a sledgehammer.

Following their elimination, Bananas & Nany coming back into the game via Redemption was a godsend for Jordan & Sarah. They were able to flip the numbers and team up against Wes & Theresa in the next daily challenge. They got rid of them by pitting them against Leroy & Nia in elimination. Jordan & Sarah then won the final daily challenge; Sarah made the executive choice to throw Bananas in against Leroy & Nia (later replaced by Theresa). Bananas & Nany got taken out, and Jordan & Sarah ran away with the win in the Final. It was never close at any point.

If the Redemption twist that brought Nany and Bananas back to the game had not existed, it’s interesting to think about how Exes 2 would’ve played out.

If they had done the final five daily challenge that they originally did after Redemption at final four, Wes/Theresa, Leroy/Nia, and Jay/Jenna likely would’ve teamed up on Jordan/Sarah where Jordan & Sarah would’ve come in last and gone directly into elimination. Assuming Wes & Theresa win that daily, they’d cut Leroy & Nia’s throats and toss them in to face Sarah & Jordan, Leroy & Nia would’ve Sarah & Jordan in a Pole Wrestle or Hall Brawl, and then Wes & Theresa would’ve run away it. If they had done the original skyscraper final four challenge, Jordan & Sarah would’ve likely won, and Sarah would’ve thrown Wes & Theresa (the same way she did to Bananas) in to face Leroy & Nia — and then Leroy & Nia would’ve beat Wes & Theresa, which would’ve resulted in a Jordan & Sarah win. In this world, Nia doesn’t get kicked off the show on Exes 2 and would’ve gone on to do multiple seasons after…Or until she got DQ’d/blacklisted on a later season.

These are just hypotheticals. In reality, Jordan won Exes 2 and then “retired.” During his time away from the show, he pursued acting and fashion. Jordan would soft-launch his return with Champs vs. Pros, where he lost to Wes in a puzzle elimination, during which Wes got a lot of help from CT in the crowd. After that, Jordan made his real return on Dirty 30.

Jordan’s Dirty 30 run was unimpressive for most of the early game. He won Part 1 of the purge daily challenge and then didn’t win any more dailies until after the second Redemption challenge. Throughout most of the early game, only drama surrounded Jordan. Kailah got accused of cheating on her boyfriend with him. Then there was an infamous rap battle on a bus ride home from the club where Jordan made an offensive remark about Jemmye’s appearance that pissed off her and a lot of people in the house. This led to Jordan getting sent into elimination, where he’d defeat Ammo. We wouldn’t see Jordan’s game take off until the giant 3D puzzle purge, where Jordan & Kailah led the charge to send CT & Cara to the Redemption House. Then, the next week, they had another Purge; Hunter won and sent Jordan to Redemption with them.

In the Redemption House, Jordan got into it with Cara as they began/escalated their rivalry. Jordan stated that he wanted to run the Final with basically any other woman because he thought Cara crumbled under pressure and her inabilites (swimming & certain puzzles) could hurt him in a Final. Both of them and CT made it back into the house via Redemption. Once back in the house, we began to see more of the Jordan & Tori dynamic. She entered the house with a boyfriend in Derrick Henry, and they made a pact to have a baby if they won the season together — well, that didn’t work out, and by the end of the season, she and Jordan were essentially an item. Jordan won the final daily challenge/purge to earn his way into the Final.

Jordan’s Dirty 30 Final began disastrously, as he fractured his leg during the opening skydive. Not only did Jordan continue on the bad leg, but he blew Derrick and CT out. I know Derrick hadn’t been on a season in seven years, and CT had the Dad Bod, but they were two multi-time champs who looked out of their league competing against Jordan. After his Dirty 30 win, Jordan “retired” again. Jordan would appear on Vendettas as a mercenary, where he eliminated Shane.

He would return a couple of years later for War of the Worlds 2 alongside Tori. Team USA dominated the daily challenges on WOTW 2, but in a house divided, Jordan was part of the minority alliance after Laurel & Bananas had been taken out. Jordan loathed Cara, Paulie, Ninja, and Turbo, so the fact that their alliance controlled the numbers drove him crazy. We would see Jordan have his big blowup with Turbo this season that resulted in Turbo getting removed from the game. Still dealing with feelings of unrest and fearing how much deadweight his team could be carrying in the Final, Tori (first) and then Jordan each won eliminations against elite UK competitors in Georgia and Theo and then truncated to the other side. After his win against Theo, Jordan proposed to Tori, and she said yes.

To guarantee his spot in the Final, Jordan defeated Josh Martinez in a tug-of-war elimination. A tug-of-war with one hand against a guy with 30 lbs on you is not easy. Jordan outsmarted Josh and wore him down for a 3–0 sweep. It was one of the most impressive elimination performances I’ve ever seen. In the Final, Team UK had a significant advantage as they ran with fewer people and significantly less weight. Unfortunately, they had a puzzle purge that resulted in Tori getting left off the winning squad for Team UK. Jordan still won, though, and in doing so, he pulled off the first 3-peat in over a decade. A 3-peat in the modern era is unheard of.

For reference, Statistically, the chance of Jordan winning the three seasons he did in a row (Exes 2, Dirty 30, WOT2) was 1/1560, which is 0.00064%. To put that in perspective, Darrell Taylor’s 4-peat, based on the seasons he played, was 0.00187%, meaning Jordan’s 3-peat mathematically is almost 3x harder than Darrell’s 4-peat.

Jordan did back-to-back seasons for the first time since his debut run by competing on Total Madness alongside Tori. I interviewed them during this time, and they both seemed on the same page that they were ready to do 10 seasons in a row and make The Challenge theirs. On TM, Tori lost an elimination in embarrassing fashion to Jenna, who had her foot in the game already halfway out the door. Wes then plotted against Jordan and savagely threw him into a Pole Wrestle with Fessy. Jordan got injured in the elimination and looked rough with his dumbass haircut.

Right after this season, many cast members’ past questionable behavior came to light, including Jordan’s actions on The Real World Portland. MTV and Jordan mutually decided it would be best for him to take a pause from the show. During this time, Jordan and Tori broke off their engagement and separated, their split also played a factor in Jordan taking a break. In his time off the show, Jordan made news by working to transport supplies from Poland to the Ukraine during its conflict.

After this, we saw Jordan return on All-Stars 3 alongside Nia. The two had become friends since Exes 2, and it was an image rehabilitation season for both of them. They also banged on the top bunk of a bunk bed. Jordan had a giant target on his back throughout this game as he was the youngest guy in a group of OG’s and the biggest Final threat.

When Darrell finished last place in a daily challenge, the house used it as an opportunity to pit them against each other to get one Final threat out. Jordan & Darrell competed in an elimination where they were put on opposite sides of a cylindrical steel barrel and had to roll the barrel to the end of one side to win. It was an elimination that heavily favored the player with a weight advantage. Darrell had about 20 lbs on Jordan, and we all know Darrell’s got a ton of muscle, so it was a dense 20 lbs.

While what Jordan did against Josh on WOTW 2 was super impressive…at the end of the day, he was outsmarting the Goof. What Jordan did against Darrell was on another level. Jordan continually shifted his body, used his legs to stop Darrell’s momentum, and played defense for nearly an hour. In the end, Darrell’s body gave out, and Jordan won. Darrell is a cardio beast — the concept of him gassing is unheard of. It was another feather in Jordan’s cap. Jordan later got thrown into an elimination at the final six by Derrick, and in response, Jordan called out Mark as his opponent. The elimination between Jordan & Mark came down to a puzzle, and the old man beat him.

Jordan was then supposed to do Ride or Dies with Nia as his partner. She had a medical emergency due to her vaping addiction, and so, in continuation of Jordan’s rehab tour, they paired him with Aneesa. Jordan & Aneesa had a more testy relationship than 90% of all Rivals pairs, and suddenly, they were partners on a best friends season. The point of their team on Ride or Dies was to be allies for Tori, who had no chance of beating her in a Final because of Aneesa. Ride or Dies became the Tori & Jordan as their relationship drama took over the show. They had some cuddles and hooked up. Things got super messy when Jordan began hooking up with Nurys. Ultimately, Jordan was there to help Tori win.

We saw impressive gameplay from Jordan this season as he continually figured out strategies to make him and Aneesa a competitive pair despite her lack of fitness/endurance. In the first portion of the game, they won a daily challenge and beat Laurel & Jakk in elimination. When they got separated into different teams, Jordan actually lost a Balls In elimination to Horacio. They had an incredible battle, where, for the first time, Jordan got beat by someone quicker and more agile than him. Aneesa remaining in the game allowed them to compete in Redemption; they lost the initial 3-team Redemption to Fessy & Moriah but then sent Kaycee & Kenny home in a battle of Knot So Fast. After reuniting as partners, they defeated Chauncey & Amber in a reverse tug-of-war elimination where even though Chauncey had a lot of weight on him, Jordan turned him into the Goof 2.0. The two would make it to the Final — marking Aneesa’s first MTV Final in over a decade.

Aneesa’s performance in the Final is what you’d expect. She was gassing out quickly, and Jordan tried to figure out a way to make up for her lack of cardio by trying to take an alternate path during their run. Aneesa’s weak ankles and lack of running form crumbled immediately. She sprained her ankle, and they tried their best from there. Again, Jordan kept figuring out new ways to cut corners. He got incredibly frustrated by Aneesa in some moments, but compared to Jordan from the past, he didn’t go full asshole. Had Olivia’s injury not happened, Jordan & Aneesa likely would’ve been purged, or those two teams would’ve competed in elimination after Day 2/3 of the Final. Their Final run ended with a Balls In elimination against Bananas & Nany. While Aneesa’s ankle made her a liability, Jordan technically lost the elimination more for them as Bananas beat him 2–1, while Aneesa & Nany went 1–1 against each other. At the end of the day, though, 3rd Place with Aneesa is a feat in itself.

Jordan would then compete in The Challenge World Championships, where he was drafted 2nd Overall by Challenge UK winner Kaz Crossley. Together, they were a dynamite duo. While they only won one daily challenge, they finished 2nd in four additional challenges and were the strongest team cardio-wise. They saw one elimination after a last-place finish when it turned out Kaz couldn’t do math — the two proceeded to beat Bananas & Justine. From there, they cruised to the Final. Jordan & Kaz kicked butt in the Final. Physically, they were on another level and beat strong teams in Tori & Danny and Troy & Kaycee. With the win, Jordan became the fourth player in Challenge history to win 4x and take home a Championship against such a stacked cast, which really added to his already impressive resume. He’d also appear on S39, where he put on a show during a somewhat “controversial” elimination against Challenge Australia’s Ciarran.

Skills and Physical Strength:

There’s a real argument that Jordan is the best athlete in Challenge history. He’s an elite swimmer, has marathon runner cardio, is crazy fast, has tremendous core strength, is incredibly coordinated, and has a stellar sense of balance. Jordan is the terminator; he is a non-stop machine with endless energy. Additionally, he has the mind of a Challenge genius where he finds the best strategy or shortcut for every daily challenge or elimination. I think Jordan’s disability has given him a supersense on this show, where, throughout his entire life, he’s always had to find ways to adapt in order to do everyday things. So when you put him on a show like this where you always have to problem-solve, Jordan has an edge.

The one weakness for Jordan is anything that requires two hands. No Pole Wrestles for him. Even Balls In was a bit of a trouble as he only had one hand to grip/protect the ball.

SSMP (Social, Strategic, Mental, and Political) Game:

Along with Tori being his #1, Jordan’s friends in this game include Laurel, Bananas, Horacio, Jonna, Josh, Theo, Nia, and Emily. He’s got enough friends to avoid being an easy target and not too many to where he’s stretched too thin/will be put in tough positions. The question mark for Jordan’s social and political game is Cara & Paulie. Historically, Jordan & Cara have a pretty massive rivalry, with Jordan always coming out on top. Still, Cara is a power player, and if these two are at odds, it could throw a wrench in his game. If you’ve seen social media lately, it seems like the two are maybe friends now. That’s an excellent sign for Jordan because she’s his only major enemy on this cast.

Strategically, Jordan needs to not make any waves, and do his best to protect those who want to protect him. Jordan’s chances of winning are high as long as he gets to the Final. Mentally, puzzles are a weak spot for Jordan. He’s solved a decent amount of them throughout his career, but a puzzle ended his game on Rivals 2 and All-Stars 3 — likewise, it was between him and Tori in that purge on War of the Worlds 2. For an intelligent guy, Jordan’s puzzle skills are a little lacking.

Eliminations & Winning Potential:

If you include All-Stars and World’s Championships, Jordan’s career elimination record is 12–6. I will note that he hilariously went 3–3 in ONE season on Ride or Dies. So if you remove that season, he’s 9–3. Both numbers are impressive, and it’s kinda crazy because Jordan is such a massive Final threat people don’t even talk about him being an elimination beast. Legitimately, Jordan has become within striking distance of All-Time elimination wins. When you look at most of Jordan’s elimination losses, they’ve mostly come down to games where not having 10 fingers put him at a severe disadvantage. His elimination against Mark, where Mark beat him in a puzzle, was the only time I felt Jordan’s lost straight up, with his disability not playing a significant factor.

It is a factor, though. If Jordan goes into a Pole Wrestle or anything like that, his game can end instantly. As a whole, we’ve seen Jordan win a diverse set of eliminations, ranging from Hall Brawls to tug-of-war’s to carnival games. Jordan is a tough opponent to face in anything speed or endurance-related. He also has a supreme confidence and swagger that intimidates his foes.

Can Jordan win? Yes. Jordan has established himself as the greatest Final runner of the modern era. He can run 10–20 miles at an average pace faster than most people can run 1 mile at their best. Not even a fractured leg can stop this man in a Final. The question is…will the other 19 men on the cast let him get there? If I’m among the other 19 men in that house, Jordan has to be public enemy #1. I don’t think it will be the case, and if it’s not, Jordan’s chances of winning are the best of anyone on this cast.

Jordan’s Overall Rating: 98/100

Past Ratings I’ve Given Jordan:

Ride or Dies: 98/100
All-Stars 3: 97/100
Total Madness: 98/100
Dirty 30: 95/100