The Challenge 40 Battle of the Eras Player Preview: Nia Moore
We have a Hurricane warning because Nia Moore is returning to MTV for the first time in nearly a decade. After appearing on All-Stars 3 and World Championships, Nia finally gets her first chance to be back on MTV after a “ban” following her DQ on Battle of the Exes 2. The hurricane warning is nowhere near the Category 5 that she was when she debuted as Nia has seemingly matured a ton in recent years, except as you’ll see in glimpses, there’s still some bite there where the hurricane might splash the coasts.
Nia’s Cheat Sheet (TLDR Version)
Introducing Nia:
Originally a collegiate volleyball player out of Howard, Nia Moore got her chance to be on Reality TV after getting brought in as a mid-season replacement roommate on The Real World Portland. She got aptly nicknamed “Hurricane Nia” as the girl went in and was a fucking mess. Nia had her famous blow-ups with Jordan that got really problematic. She cursed out and was rude to the pizza shop owner, who employed half the cast, including her. Then Nia had her famous beef with Johnny Reilly & Averey, culminating in two physical fights.
Nia’s antics on Portland was a legitimate breaking point for many Real World viewers. Many people decided to turn off the channel watching Nia, and then there were fans like me who disagreed with what she said & did, yet were hooked and couldn’t stop watching. What was tough with Nia was that she would do chaotic and problematic stuff — yet, at times, you had no idea if the person you were watching was authentically doing this crazy stuff or doing it because she thought it was good TV. It was transparent that Nia wanted fame, attention, and money. During this time, she was “writing” a book about how to attain and maintain relationships with professional athletes. I’m not sure if that book ever got published, but I think it gives insight into Nia’s mindset at the time.
Eventually, Nia made her Challenge debut on Free Agents. It was a surprisingly short run as she got voted into the third elimination of the season and got a stroke of bad luck when Cara Maria pulled the Kill Card. The two battled in a nearly two-hour reverse tug-of-war where Nia eventually gave out because the harness attached to her was tied so tight that she got whiplash and then began to lose feeling in her body. To which production literally changed the way that elimination was played after Cara & Nia almost killed themselves for our entertainment. Considering how the eliminations on Free Agents were so tailor-made to physicality and size — I think Nia (at 6'0) likely would’ve gone far into this season had she not run into Cara Maria this early. Hell, I think Nia could’ve beaten anyone in elimination on the Free Agents except for Laurel and even could’ve beaten Cara had it been Balls In or Oppenheimer (Hall Brawl variant).
We’d see Nia back for Exes 2 with Leroy. They were a physically imposing pair. Their daily challenge performances were a bit hit or miss — they both sucked as swimmers, and Nia’s fear of heights hurt them in multiple challenges, including finishing last in the final daily challenge. However, they did win a daily challenge where they had to jump between semi-trucks, which was a great display of their size/athleticism and then finished 2nd in the Mini Final behind Wes & Thersa. Ultimately, where Nia & Leroy thrived was in the elimination arena — they beat three damn strong teams in Bananas & Nany, Reilly & Averey, and then Wes & Theresa. They were set to face off against Bananas & Nany in elimination again to earn the last spot in the Final before things got turned upside down. Actually, upside down would be putting it gently: Nia crashed out on a NASCAR level.
This season, we saw Nia & Averey reunite where they were friends these days, and it seemed like we’d be getting a more mature version of Nia for a minute. Then, a few episodes later, Nia drank Zach’s sweat for $70 because she lost her wallet at a bar. That is one of the grossing things you can do as a human, and to do it on camera for $70 is absurdly nasty. Once the game itself escalated and Nia & Leroy began getting voted in, Nia went off the handles. She had a famous deliberation outburst where she slut shamed for honestly no reason. Like legitimately, Nia jumped on the Averey & Theresa Nany-hate training and then took it to a different level. When Sarah & Jordan made their big move to throw Bananas & Nany into the last elimination to face Nia & Leroy, she went berserk.
Nia cursed out Sarah, body shamed her, and called them scared for wanting the easy path to victory, even though said easy path included Sarah winning the comp and Nia finishing dead last. And then Nia finally crossed the line with her action towards Jordan, leading to MTV kicking her off, and replacing with Theresa as Leroy’s partner before the Final. We then wouldn’t see her again for 7–8 years as she was silently banned. It was rumored that Nia was going to do Bloodlines with her sister, except after the way fans reacted to Exes 2, they decided to cut ties entirely. Had Nia stayed in the game on Exes 2, she would’ve likely beat Nany in a Pole Wrestle. However, I think she and Leroy would’ve lost Day 1 of that Final to Jordan & Sarah by probably close to two hours and then gotten blown out on Day 2. I’m actually not even sure if she would’ve finished the Final.
With All-Stars, we’ve seen many names come out of the woodwork. For All-Stars 3, we got Nia AND Jordan coming in with a reunion and redemption edit. They became friends in the years after Exes 2, and on this season together, they finally hooked up on camera and had a legit showmance. It was jarring to see compared to how Nia exited this franchise originally. In terms of entertainment and competition, Nia didn’t bring much of either. She kept a low profile and stayed out of most of the drama, which I don’t blame as she didn’t want to show she matured. Competitively, though, Nia was a big-time disappointment; she didn’t finish Top 3 in a single daily challenge the entire season, including the final daily challenge when only four women were remaining! Nia won an elimination against Sylvia, but it was just a 7-year-old puzzle maze where she had Jordan directing her from above. She got to the Final and did decently in the checkpoints on Day 1, except in the actual endurance/marathon parts on Day 2, Nia was out of her depth. Nia was dead last running and basically gave up on the eating portion.
After All-Stars 3, Nia was supposed to make her MTV return as Jordan’s partner on Ride or Dies. Unfortunately, she had a medical emergency due in part to her vaping habit, so instead, Jordan became Aneesa’s partner. Nia got a surprise call for the World Championships. She was partnered with the Argentinian Rodrigo Cascon. They got thrown into the second partner elimination of the season after coming in last in a daily challenge and then promptly lost to Jodi and Benja in elimination.
It’s been almost a decade since Nia was last on MTV — a few years ago, it was unimaginable she’d ever be back, and now she’s competing in a historic season. Life comes at you fast.
Player Vitals & Stats:
Nia: 35 Years Old, 6'0, 4 Seasons*, 1x Finalist*, 4–3 Elimination
Record, * = Includes All-Stars & WC Stats, 3rd Place All-Stars 3
Skills and Physical Strength:
As a 6' former collegiate athlete, Nia is a scary person to compete against in any physical competition. She’s naturally quick and powerful and outweighs most of her competition. Theoretically, Nia has the tools to be an elite competitor.
The reality of Nia as a competitor is that she doesn’t have a knack for the daily challenges as she lacks problem-solving skills and is timid. She’s terrified of heights, which limits her in so many challenges. Nia is a terrible swimmer. Her cardio and breathing skills are poor, and even though she stopped vaping, the damage she did to herself is still there. Not being able to eat gross food guaranteed she wouldn’t win the All-Stars 3 Final and is an issue going forward. Also, as I mentioned before — Nia didn’t finish Top 3 in a single daily challenge on All-Stars 3, where she wasn’t facing the most elite competition. I can understand never winning a daily, but Nia was not even in contention to maybe win one. That’s Nelson Thomas level of bad when it comes to daily challenges.
The biggest red flag to me with Nia is that when the going gets tough, she folds. When Nia gets scared, she shuts down, wants to quit, or will throw a tantrum, like the one that got her DQ’d on Exes 2. I’m going hard on Nia here, and it’s partially because she has the physical potential to be a top player, so seeing how she’s performed is disappointing. Like, yes, she’s had success on the show; it just hasn’t been near what she’s capable of.
SSMP (Social, Strategic, Mental, and Political) Game:
Regarding the social & political game, Nia’s biggest allies are Averey and Jordan. Via Averey, I assume Nia will be on good terms with Derek, which makes sense based on social media…Nia & Olivia seem to be close, and Derek & Olivia are close. So we could see an alliance that includes Nia, Averey, Derek, and Olivia — then possibly Ryan & Theo as well (Derek’s BFF & Olivia’s showmance). Is that a powerhouse alliance? No. Still, having numbers in any fashion and having loyal allies goes a long way.
Strategically, Nia played the middle on All-Stars 3 well. She took the path of least resistance, and it got her to the Final.
In terms of mental toughness, it’s easy to get under Nia’s skin, and she quits on herself easily. When it comes to puzzles and memorization ability, Nia’s is a good competitor. She’s an intelligent and educated woman — in theory, if she could get her cardio up and be willing to eat gross food, Nia could be a Final threat.
Eliminations & Winning Potential:
If there is a portion of the game where Nia thrives, it’s eliminations. Her physicality and athleticism shine, and I think we see more of a killer instinct from her once in the arena. Nia is a significant threat in any Hall Brawl, Balls In, Pole Wrestle, or Backpack type elimination. Her size can overwhelm so many opponents. Nia has the real potential to play spoiler to so many elite contenders’ games if they have to face her in a physical elimination.
Personally, I’d love to see Nia face Laurel in elimination — we’ve never seen Laurel compete in an elimination against someone taller than her. I’d put money on Laurel in that scenario, but seeing it would be fun.
Can Nia win? No. Based on what we saw from All-Stars 3, Nia didn’t have anywhere near good enough cardio to keep up with Jonna. Meanwhile, Jonna might not even be in the Top Five when it comes to cardio this season, so it’s difficult to imagine Nia being able to keep up in the Final.
Nia’s Overall Rating: 77/100
Previous Ratings I’ve Given Nia:
All-Stars 3: 86/100
