The Challenge 40 Battle of the Eras Player Preview: Josh Martinez
When Josh Martinez originally debuted on The Challenge, I thought he was a terrible fit, that he was out of his depth competitively, and he’d likely be a one-and-done. Now, competitively, Josh has still never made a Final, but he’s appeared on six seasons, caused a ton of drama, made it way farther on every season than you’d expect, and, importantly, he’s carved out a spot/role on this show. When you talk about the last half-decade of the show, Josh has been a major part of it; he deserves to be on the season because he is one of the players who defined his era.
With every season Josh is on, viewers watch with enjoyment, waiting to see how he will lose. Meanwhile, Josh always gives his 110% all because the day he makes a Final and beats a top player in elimination will shock us all.
Josh’s Cheat Sheet
Introducing Josh:
At 23 years old, an emotional, slightly chubby Cuban-American named Josh Martinez made his Reality TV debut on Big Brother Season 19. On Big Brother 19, Josh was emotional and explosive, and if he hadn’t played in such a weird season — he probably would’ve been in a pre-jury boot. There was a lot of chaos and antics in Josh’s game (including hitting pots & pans) that lowered his threat level because nobody took him as a serious contender, and yet, by the end, he had a great chance to win. He got to the Final Two, where he benefited from a bitter jury and took home an unimaginable win. Now, I mentioned the chubby part earlier not to be mean, but because, on Big Brother, we saw exponential growth from Josh as a player and human. He lost a significant amount of weight throughout the season and got himself in great shape. This has been consistent about Josh through his Challenge career — every season Josh returns, he’s in much better shape. It’s something I fucking respect, regardless of any of my other thoughts on him.
Josh would then make his Challenge debut as part of the recruit crop on War of the Worlds 1. He started by losing the opening purge challenge, getting eliminated…and then brought back because Alan Valdez (no relation) broke his hand. Josh then got paired with Amanda Garcia — they were a hilarious, dysfunctional pair. It should not be forgotten that they beat Turbo & Nany in a tug-of-war daily challenge to make it into a tribunal. At the very least, Josh kept up with Turbo or beat him. After that, they fucking sucked in all the challenges. They had a decent performance against Kam & Ashley C. in their elimination loss, which was controversial behind the scenes.
He’d come back for War of the Worlds 2, where Josh felt out of his league among a completely stacked USA team, as 14 out of his 15 teammates were past Finalists. Despite his inexperience, Josh was a solid contributor towards USA’s daily challenge dominance and affected the game by blindsiding Wes early into the game. This was the first move leading to the big USA Civil War, where Josh’s game culminated in facing Jordan in the final male elimination. Jordan defeated Josh in a tug-of-war despite only having one hand and Josh having a weight advantage. Jordan completely outsmarted and outworked Josh. On WOTW 2, Josh had some notable fights with Paulie and an awkward showmance with Georgia Harrison.
After War of the Worlds 2, Josh played on Total Madness. He won multiple daily challenges and had opportunities to earn a Skull, including a golden one to face Jay Starrett in Balls In. Yet, Josh chickened out until only he and Kyle were without Red Skulls. They played a Knot So Fast variant, resulting in Josh getting sent home before the Final. On this season, Josh had his non-rivalry rivalry with Wes, a beef with Dee that went mostly unaired, and fights with Swaggy C, Kyle, and Melissa.
Following Total Madness, Josh went on Double Agents and won his first elimination to earn a Skull! Even in Josh’s moment of triumph, everyone laughed at him as he struggled to throw a weighted ball in the elimination — meanwhile, Mechie couldn’t solve his slider puzzle at all. It was a brutal look for both men. Throughout this season, we saw Josh beef with Devin, and he had a crazy amount of confidence as part of the Big Brother alliance that was controlling the game. His game was upended by a Double Elimination twist that made Josh available for elimination; CT volunteered to face him and beat him instantly.
Josh went back for his 5th straight MTV season with Spies, Lies & Allies. On this season, a drunk Josh got into a “fight” with Fessy that was primarily escalated by Josh, except because Fessy mushed Josh, Fessy got DQ’d. The fight cost Josh his #1 ally on the season, and looking back at things, I’d go as far as to say they cost Fessy a 2nd Place Finish and possibly a win as he was going to make that Final. As one of the Vets, Josh was able to coast through the majority of the game. Once it got to an individual phase where players could call out their elimination opponent, Kyle called out Josh, thinking he’d be the easiest victory, and well, Kyle won.
We wouldn’t see Josh on either Ride or Dies or Battle For A New Champion, but we did get him on USA 2. During this season, Josh had one of his most impressive moments ever as a competitor, where he took over a winner’s deliberation and was able to completely sway the house into voting Desi into elimination. The move didn’t pay off much, but it was still cool to see Josh make moves live in the moment.
From there, Josh played an underwhelming game. Josh got to the final five with four men he was not beating a Final and then lost to Fessy in the last elimination — a weird Hall Brawl with pads and a puzzle. For the 6th time, Josh was on the outside looking in for the Final. Now, he’s back for his 7th time. I admire that Josh genuinely believes he can win even when nobody else does.
Skills and Physical Strength:
Josh is a big dude, and his cardio is spectacular. The guy can carry a ton of weight and run miles on miles. He’s also a stellar swimmer. In terms of fitness, Josh ranks highly among male competitors.
His sense of balance, footwork, and hand-eye coordination rank near the bottom of male competitors. Josh is simply not a natural athlete, and he does not have the knack for the more carnival game-like daily challenges. He’s actively terrible in heights over water challenges. There have been so many times when Josh doesn’t know how to use his height, size, and reach to his advantage.
I think Josh might need glasses or better contact lenses for when he competes because his depth perception always seems out of wack. If this season has a Purges, which seems likely based on there being 40 people on the cast — Josh DQing on a daily challenge could cost him.
SSMP (Social, Strategic, Mental, and Political) Game:
Socially, Josh has a ton of allies entering this game, including Kaycee, Tori, Devin, Aneesa, and Laurel. He should be able to coast through the first few eliminations of the season. Josh has a real issue when it comes to making deep declarations of loyalty, only to lie and break his promises. On USA 2, Josh did it twice with Wes & Bananas, where he promised that he’d have their back, only to vote for them to go into elimination.
I support Josh making big moves against strong players; it’s just the lying that’s unnecessary and will hurt Josh for future seasons. If people can’t trust Josh, they’ll vote him into elimination, and his elimination history isn’t great.
The mental game is a big blindspot for Josh. He solved a slider puzzle during his elimination with Mechie, and then… there’s no track record for success anywhere else. There have been so many puzzles and mental comps where Josh’s anxiety takes over, and he blanks. Unless Josh can learn to improve his puzzle skills and keep his cool or get banked out by a partner, then his already slim chances of winning become zero.
Eliminations & Winning Potential:
Josh is 1–6 in elimination, and I feel like he’s lost every type of elimination. He lost a Hall Brawl, Knot So Fast, an upper body elimination, a couple of puzzle eliminations, a tug-of-war, etc. I will note that I don’t think Josh has ever lost an elimination to a bad competitor. Still, we’ve seen Josh lose enough eliminations to know he doesn’t thrive in many. If Josh is likely to win an elimination, it’s most likely a size-based game like the backpack elimination against a smaller player. Again, size would have to be the significant factor because I think players like Derrick, Bananas, and Paulie would beat Josh in a Pole Wrestle even with the weight difference.
Can Josh win? No. He’s never been to a Final before, so he doesn’t know the pacing it requires, and his puzzle skills aren’t good enough for me to believe he’d beat some of the top players in this game.
Josh’s Overall Rating: 76/100
Previous Ratings I’ve Given CT:
Spies, Lies & Allies: 76/100
Double Agents: 78/100
Total Madness: 76/100
War of the Worlds 1: 63/100
