The Challenge 40 Battle of the Eras Player Preview: Nehemiah Clark
For the longest time, Nehemiah Clark was one of the most underrated players in Challenge history. Since the All-Stars franchise began, Nehemiah has been getting the spotlight and earning the respect he’s deserved from fans and production. He’s probably been the most impactful male in the All-Stars Franchise across its four seasons, which is a wild thing to say considering the level of names and legends to have come back to compete on it.
Going into Season 40, Nehemiah is a Champion, he’s coming off two straight Finals appearances, and he’s back on MTV for the first time since 2011. No matter what the outcome is, Nehemiah is not going down without a fight.
Nehemiah’s Cheat Sheet (TLDR Version)
Introducing Nehemiah:
Originally a film and media arts student, Nehemiah made his Reality TV debut on The Real World Austin. After his groupie jar days with Wes, he would later make his Challenge debut on The Duel 1. Nehemiah was one of three rookie males on the cast. Once the Key West men (Tyler & Bananas) were out, Nehemiah was the next man up. He called out Kenny Santucci for a Duel and proceeded to blow him out in an elimination, both physically and mentally. It was Nehemiah’s first-ever elimination & win, and it became semi-historic as it marked the only time Kenny ever got eliminated on The Challenge.
Nehemiah would later go into elimination against Big Easy, and this was the beginning of a string of times where Nehemiah got screwed over by production or bad luck. The elimination between Nehemiah & Big Easy was “I Can” — a game where they had to bet on who could lift more watermelon. Except production didn’t have enough watermelon for what they were wagering up to, so they let Big Easy lift the maximum amount, which he did, sending Nehemiah home. To me, that’s bullshit, don’t do a watermelon lifting if you don’t have enough watermelons. That’s like the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating contest running out of Hot Dogs!
Also, before we move on, I’d be remiss not to mention Nehemiah having to deal with being Beth’s “Tenderoni” on The Duel 1.
We then saw Nehemiah come back for The Gauntlet 3, where he was on a disastrous rookie team that got dominated in almost every daily challenge. Except it came with some benefits — even though Nehemiah got tossed into two eliminations, he didn’t face tough competition as he beat Alex Smith and Ryan Kehoe and, in the process, went to the Final. Then Nehemiah became one of the biggest winners of the Big Easy Life Insurance fund as his death resulted in Nehemiah & the rest of his team becoming Challenge Champions. To this day, Nehemiah is the most recent Black male competitor to win an MTV season, so thank you, Big Easy.
Now, maybe Nehemiah getting that win was karma paying him back for his other bullshit losses. Because on The Duel 2, Nehemiah came is an alternate, where he had beef and a rivalry with Evan (and also a comradery with Davis). Their drama came to a head when Nehemiah called out Evan for a Duel, where they faced off in Elevator, a game where players had to sit in a cage and use their upper body to pull some chains and lift themselves up. You could tell a bit from the episode itself, but based on all reports from other sources is that Evan continually cheated in the elimination and got away with it; where he kept standing in the cage to pull and use his whole body strength, which was not allowed. Nehemiah took the loss, and then, even worse, he returned for Rivals 1 and got Evan as his partner. Evan showed up out of shape; he didn’t want to be there because he had Grad School coming up, so he basically quit the season by sending himself & Nehemiah to elimination.
For a long time, it looked like those two seasons would be Nehemiah’s last Challenge appearances which would have been fucking shitty. Luckily, All Stars came around, and Nehemiah has dramatically elevated his status in this show’s history.
On All Stars 1, Nehemiah immediately shined as him, Yes, and Jisela crushed that opening diving daily challenge that seemed impossible and almost hospitalized multiple players. Nehemiah then won the trivia challenge and beat Teck in elimination. He looked like a top competitor but then lost the last elimination alongside Kendal against Big Easy & an injured Jisela. It was a terrible loss for Nehemiah; they were a much better team, but they crumbled and got outsmarted when the stakes were the highest.
The loss fueled Nehemiah as he came into All Stars 2 guns blazing. Nehemiah formed The Kings Palace alliance and was very vocal in the game. He won the season’s first elimination against Derek C. and was part of the plan to politically blindside Derrick K. Then, once the game hit the partner phase, we saw Nehemiah thrive. While Nehemiah & Melinda were not the strongest duo on paper, their team chemistry was off the charts. They consistently killed daily challenges, destroyed Laterrian & Jasmine in an elimination, and then when the stakes were the highest, they won the last daily challenge to force a Brad & Jodi vs. Darrell & Janelle elimination.
Nehemiah & Melinda went into that All Stars 2 Final with essentially no modern Final experience prior, and even with Melinda spraining her ankle early into the Final, they won Part 1. Which it’s crucial to note that Part 1 of that Final was essentially 95% of the Final. Unfortunately, production made it so that Part 2 was all that mattered, so even though MJ & Jonna would’ve lost Part 1 by probably over an hour, they were still able to get the win in the end. It was a heartbreaking loss for Nehemiah & Melinda, though they definitely gained the respect of fans.
We would see Nehemiah again on All Stars 3, where he competed alongside his best friend Wes for the first time in over a decade. Nehemiah cruised through most of the season until the last elimination, where he dog-walked Derrick in a Pole Wrestle elimination. By beating Derrick, Nehemiah was given an edge by having the most Stars entering the Final, which allowed him to come in 2nd on Day 1. Sadly, Nehemiah was a clear 3rd on Day 2 behind Wes & Brad after getting massively derailed by an eating portion. At this point, Nehemiah has firmly asserted himself as a contender; the only question is whether he can build towards getting the ultimate win.
Player Vitals & Stats
Nehemiah: 38 Years Old, 5'9 4 MTV Seasons, 3 All-Star Seasons, 1x Champion, 3x Finalist, 7–4 Elimination Record, Winner of The Gauntlet 3
Skills and Physical Strength:
Nehemiah is a strong all-around competitor and a master of none. He definitely has some above-average strengths, but there is nothing he is dominant in and not much he’s bad at. On All Stars 3, Nehemiah didn’t win any daily challenges. There was nothing in the game that he really made his own. At the same time, for most of the game, people weren’t willing to call him out for elimination because he wasn’t ever the weakest guy when it came to headbangers, endurance, games of mobility, or puzzles.
The one person who did call him out (Derrick) got absolutely molly-whopped by Nehemiah in a Pole Wrestle. Nehemiah looked damn good and natural in a headbanger — and to beat Derrick so easily in a game that he’s regarded as a legend in was so impressive. I would say Nehemiah’s above strengths are his upper body and swimming skills.
There is one major weakness in Nehemiah’s game, and that’s eating challenges. His inability to eat gross food set him back in the final portions of both the All-Stars 2 and All-Stars 3 Finals.
SSMP (Social, Strategic, Mental, and Political) Game:
Ever since The Duel 1, Nehemiah has been a player who moves to the beat of his own drum. Rarely is he part of the majority alliance, but he is fiercely loyal to those he calls allies. On All Stars 2, we saw Nehemiah play an active political game, where he was the head of the King’s Palace alliance. Nehemiah does not want to be a pawn in anyone’s life, and I respect the way Nehemiah carries himself.
At the same time, Nehemiah would have an infinitely easier time playing if he just went with the flow. Besides All Stars 3, Nehemiah has gone into one of the first four male eliminations of every season he’s been on. I expect something similar for this season. However, Nehemiah does enter this game with allies like Nia, Brad, KellyAnne, and Jonna. If Wes helped set up a pregame alliance between Nehemiah & Devin, then I actually love Nehemiah’s chances in this game politically, as Devin holds so much power in the house socially. I do wonder if the rivalry between Nehemiah & Derrick will continue this season; sometimes, the feud seems fake and made for TV and other times, it gets pretty intense.
In terms of the mental game, Nehemiah is slightly above average in most puzzles, but he’s bad at anything involving math and numbers.
Eliminations & Winning Potential:
Nehemiah has crushed a diverse amount of eliminations throughout his career. Most of the wins have come in games that involve a physical element and then a puzzle or mental element, which displays his balanced skill set. With his all-around skill set, Nehemiah feels like someone who can beat anyone in an elimination and also lose to anyone. Nehemiah has blown out Champions like Derrick & Kenny in elimination and also had close contests against not-so-elite players like Teck and Ryan. You’re never sure what you’re getting with him.
Can Nehemiah win? Here’s the thing: I don’t want to say no because I think Nehemiah is a great competitor. He’s coming off back-to-back Finals, and I think he & Melinda deserved to win All-Stars 2. It’s just such an uphill battle when I don’t think he has the most allies coming into this game, so for him to get to the Final; Nehemiah has to pull off multiple elimination and daily challenges wins. From there, Nehemiah has to potentially beat people like Jordan, Bananas, CT, Theo, or Horacio in the Final. While I believe Nehemiah has solid cardio and puzzle skills needed for a Final, he just maybe doesn’t have the gas to beat some of the elite Final threats. If Nehemiah ended up in the Final with the right group of people, then I think he could win. But getting to the Final and it being the perfect group is two gigantic variables, one more unlikely than the next.
Nehemiah’s Overall Rating: 86/100
Previous Ratings I’ve Given Nehemiah:
All-Stars 3: 86/10
