The Challenge 40 Battle of the Eras Player Preview: Paulie Calafiore
When Paulie Calafiore was originally on The Challenge, he had one of the most explosive and impactful three-season runs in show history. Paulie was an incredible character — controversial, villainous, egotistical, and, importantly, TALENTED. What made Paulie so infuriating to watch was the fact that he was so good at the game physically, strategically, politically, and knew when & how to draw attention to himself. The guy was a charismatic blowhard, and it would be really annoying sometimes, but also, it was great to root against.
Now, Paulie definitely needed a break from the show, and I don’t condone everything he’s ever said or done. His multi-year absence was a bit much, though. By the time Paulie returned for USA 2, he came back with his loudest outfits ever, and those outfits were all we could talk about because the version of Paulie we saw on USA 2 felt watered down and neutered.
The question is whether Paulie can find a happy medium between the version of him we saw on USA 2 and the OG Challenge Paulie. If we just get more of USA 2 Paulie, he can stay home.
CTs Cheat Sheet (TLDR Version)
Introducing Paulie:
Paulie grew up as a young Italian-American in New Jersey, and while Uncle said he never had the makings of a varsity athlete, he ended up playing soccer at Rutgers. Before Paulie made his foray onto Reality TV, his brother Cody had a successful run on Big Brother, where he finished runner-up on Season 16. Paulie then appeared on Season 18, in which he was nowhere near as successful. He looked emotionally unhinged at times, had a messy showmance, and went down in flames. What I’m saying is that on Big Brother, Paulie showed the makings of an MTV Reality TV cast member.
Now, I may be wrong about this one, but I’m pretty sure, so I’m not going to look it up — when The Challenge first cast Big Brother people on Vendettas, Paulie was supposed to be part of the initial crew, except he got injured about a week or two before filming. So, instead, MTV put him on Ex on the Beach. On this show, Paulie did nothing except bang his ex. It was such an unremarkable run that it made me wonder whether he’d bring anything to The Challenge.
Well, I was wrong because he came in swinging on Final Reckoning. Partners with Natalie, Paulie had one of the weirdest and most chaotic runs I’ve ever seen. During the season, he and Natalie lost three “eliminations,” including two redemption eliminations to a duo that included Jozea!! They fucking lost twice to Jozea. It was comical that Paulie & Natalie were allowed to remain in the game despite all the losses. Even when not in the house, Paulie was stirring shit up while in the Redemption House, getting into a serious rivarly and beef with Kyle that would go on for multiple seasons. One that began and got escalated through their relationships to Cara Maria. Once he got back into the real game, Paulie went on an epic run. He basically singlehandedly won two daily challenges, and then he & Natalie took down Bananas & Tony in the last elimination before the Final. In the Final itself, they were a competitive 3rd Place and would’ve likely won if Natalie didn’t get lost during the opening run/Paulie ran alongside her rather than running alone so he could prove to everyone that he was the fastest guy in the Final (douche move).
As crazy as Paulie’s Final Reckoning season was, the offseason drama is where shit went bonkers. On Final Reckoning, Paulie had a girlfriend named Danielle from The Bachelor franchise. Paulie cheated on her with Cara during Final Reckoning, and then after the season, was juggling between the two women. When everything finally came to light, the news splintered The Challenge world, where each woman had their own podcasts and interviews where they were emotionally devastated and heartbroken.
If you need a reference for how messy this entire situation got, Paulie, at one point, did an Instagram Live where he mentioned that he & Cara hooked up, with Cara wearing the other girl’s lingerie. Truly an absurd moment in time. After Paulie’s actions were revealed and transpired, Challengers and fans, including Johnny Bananas, showed an outpouring of support for Cara — only to get shocked once Cara & Paulie were together again, going full steam ahead.
From then on, Paulie & Cara were pretty solid, though there are rumors they might be currently having some trouble. Regardless, Cara going back to Paulie left ripples throughout the universe and divided alliances and the fandom.
Paulie went on War of the Worlds 1 & 2 after this (with Cara) and came into his own as a competitor. On WOTW 1, Paulie tied with Wes for the most daily challenge wins and seemed prime for the Final before he choked in a Purge right before the Final. On WOTW 2, Paulie controlled his and Cara’s destiny as their alliance ran the table without most of them ever even sniffing elimination. It was such a dominant political run that the next season, they came up with the skulls bullshit for Total Madness. The WOTW 2 Final was a disaster on all fronts for Paulie. The way the Final itself was formatted was completely unfair to Team USA on Day 1. Production basically punished their team for dominating all the daily challenges. That said, Paulie’s performance in the Final was so hysterically bad that he began receiving Big Easy comparisons. For all the Paulie & Cara haters out there, they reveled and cherished Paulie’s epic meltdown.
The hatred for Paulie & Cara hit a tipping point where fans were clamoring for MTV to get rid of them. Then wouldn’t we see them on The Challenge for years and during this time…Fans began clamoring for their return, especially as we got some really dogshit seasons.
Paulie finally returned on Challenge USA 2, where it felt like he was on a redemption/apology tour. He opened up about his sexuality, going to therapy, etc. While I respect Paulie for working on himself, it all felt artificial because we were coming off Jordan and Nia’s apology tour seasons. As a competitor, Paulie didn’t impress much on USA 2 and then got taken out anticlimacticly early in elimination by Johnny Bananas, where it wasn’t even a rivalry-type situation; it just kinda happened, and then Paulie was gone. I’m hoping now that we have Paulie back in the fold, this is the season where he goes back to being both a top competitor and an entertaining menace.
Skills and Physical Strength:
Statistically, Paulie is one of the best daily challenge competitors the show has ever seen. Paulie has elite hand-eye coordination, footwork, and balance. He has natural cardio from over a decade of playing soccer, is a great swimmer, and is nimble in all heights-related challenges. Also, from meeting him in person, the dude has some of the strongest and most defined legs I’ve ever seen, and I work out at a powerlifting gym made for insane people. The guy has an iron stomach for eating challenges.
Importantly, Paulie has the same gene that players like CT, Bananas, Wes, and Jordan do, where they see a carnival game daily challenge and immediately begin to problem-solve.
SSMP (Social, Strategic, Mental, and Political) Game:
The Paulie & Cara power couple dominated both War of the Worlds 1 & 2. On War of the Worlds 1, much of their success came from them winning a majority of daily challenges, where they were able to leverage their power into other side deals and alliances. Whereas on War of the Worlds 2, Paulie (alongside Kam) was running a major alliance that some biased bloggers, like Allan Aguirre, would refer to as a cult.
On USA 2 and All Stars 4, Paulie and Cara each felt like they were on their own islands. Yes, they had allies here or there (loyal ones, too), but as a whole, there definitely was a stigma with each. Now that they’re back on this season together, I worry they’ll be the instant targets, especially after we saw everyone going for Cara on All Stars 4.
Strategically, the best thing for Paulie would be to lay low, which goes against what I want to see from him entertainment-wise. I just know that if he tries to make waves on a cast like this, the house will turn against him quickly.
When it comes to the mental side of the game, Paulie is an elite puzzle player. Even as he was a walking corpse during Day 1 of the War of the Worlds 2 Final, he accomplished a high-level difficulty puzzle that the entire UK team was unable to — a team that included multiple strong puzzle players (CT, Dee, Rogan). In terms of the mental toughness aspect of the game, Paulie lacks a clutch gene. When the lights are the brightest, Paulie has crumbled. From shitting the bed in the Purge before the WOTW 1 Final to dying in the WOTW 2 Final to missing the final throw in his elimination against Bananas on USA 2, he just hasn’t shown up.
Eliminations & Winning Potential:
We’ve never seen Paulie in a Pole Wrestle, Balls In, or Hall Brawl. I genuinely am not sure how he would do. He’s quick on his feet and strong for his size, but he’s not the biggest guy. I want to see Paulie go against someone of equal size in a headbanger to get a sense of what he can do. What I do know is Paulie does have the natural knack for figuring out strategies when competing in the wackiest carnival game challenges & eliminations. He’s smart and a problem-solver; for that reason, he can potentially beat anyone on this cast.
Can Paulie win? Paulie is a theoretical Final beast. I say theoretically because he should have the cardio to run miles on miles; he’s a great swimmer, eater, and puzzle person… Except the last time we saw Paulie in a Final, he shit the bed in embarassing fashion. So is he a Final threat? Personally, I think his WOTW 2 performance was more of a one-time thing; if you want to hold it against him and make fun of him — I don’t blame you because I’ve done it multiple times. If Paulie gets to the Final, I like his chances. Unfortunately, him getting there doesn’t seem likely to me.
It’s going to be an uphill battle for Paulie to do well in this game that consists of so many legends and where he might have a giant target on him. If Paulie can get far into this game, I’ll be impressed.
Paulie’s Overall Rating: 89/100
Previous Ratings I’ve Given Paulie
Final Reckoning: 80/100
