The Top 10 Eliminations The Challenge Should’ve Brought Back For Season 40
I want to start this blog by saying I’ve enjoyed The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras through the first seven episodes. That said, since the Night of Eliminations on Episode 2, the show has ended on either underwhelming or controversial notes with its elimination for five straight weeks. While I love drama & strategic gameplay, the eliminations are typically my favorite part of every episode, as they act as a punctuation mark. A bad or underwhelming elimination deflates an episode and overall excitement for the show.
Unfortunately, with MTV blowing their load by giving us all the “fan-favorite” eliminations in Episode 2, production has been fumbling the bag on so many dream match-ups by giving us some terribly ill-designed eliminations. Last week’s elimination was a battle of who is worse at basic math, and while that was bad, at least it didn’t lead to the controversial debacle that was the Horacio & Derrick elimination.
Trying to come up with new eliminations is probably difficult for Challenge producers when they’ve already done so many. Which is why I think they should stop trying to…because it’s Season 40. The night of eliminations on Episode 2 was excellent as it showed that the producers paid respect to the show’s history and the fans. So…why not just keep it going? There are 30+ seasons of eliminations to bring back, so I decided to make a list and highlight some Challenge eliminations that I’ll be holding my breath in hopes of seeing on Season 40 or just on another season again. Also, if you’re reading this and don’t see an elimination you’d want to see, comment with an elimination you’d love to see return. Truly, there are so many great possibilities that could be better than what we’ve gotten so far.
10 Die Hard — Cutthroat
If you don’t remember Die Hard from Cutthroat, it was an elimination where players had to stand on a giant dice and race to roll it into a designated square with a specific number facing right side up in order to win. There was also the added factor that you had to do so without touching the ground.
It was an elimination that included strategy, skill, stamina, and balance. We had a couple of really good Die Hard eliminations on Cutthroat, with Big Easy taking down Vinny, Dunbar defeating Dan, and Laurel beating Camila. The only drawback for this type of elimination on Season 40 is that we’d likely get too much crowd involvement. Still, there’s a decent degree of difficulty in this elimination while also giving both players a fair shot to win.
9 Oh Ring — The Ruins
With production using Hall Brawl, Balls In, and Pole Wrestle in the first two episodes, we need good physical eliminations. Oh Ring from The Ruins is a physical elimination where you don’t have to worry about players getting injured and there’s a strategic aspect to this elimination. The player with better grip strength and upper body strength will have an advantage, but there’s also a muscular endurance aspect to the elimination that is key.
Sarah and Katie had a super entertaining battle in this elimination on The Ruins, and Danny Jamieson even had a competitive match-up with Darrell in Oh Ring!
8 Hog Tie/Strung Out/Fire Escape — The Ruins, Exes 2, Double Agents
This elimination has been called multiple names over the years, and we’ve seen different variations of it on seasons like The Ruins, Exes 2, and Double Agents. It’s an elimination where players get suspended by their arms and feet under a pole and have to shimmy their way from one end to another as fast as they can. I love this elimination because it’s a battle of core strength, raw athleticism, and endurance. Leroy has put on some jaw-dropping performances in this elimination. Likewise, Cohutta & Syrus, Kelly & Veronica, and Ashley & Natalie Anderson have had underrated battles in this game. Big T also blew out Aneesa in this game! Almost every time this elimination has been played, I’ve walked away more or less impressed by competitors.
I’d rank this elimination higher if I didn’t have to see it three times on Double Agents.
7 Swat — Cutthroat
Swat from Cutthroat is a silly elimination, yet is undeniably entertaining and can become serious fast. If you don’t remember, this elimination involves players hitting each other in the face with fly swatters. The elimination is fun & games until it hits the sudden death portion, where players have to hold up a bucket with their other hand as they take turns swatting their opponent. Once it hits that phase, the game becomes a weirdly intense battle of upper body and strategy, where a single slip-up could lead to a player losing.
It’s possible that I enjoyed this elimination because Katie Doyle makes eliminations more entertaining. That said, imagine Tina & Michele playing Swat on Season 40 rather than the dumb math elimination? At least we could’ve gotten some laughs watching them hit each other with fly swatters, especially with their confessionals in between.
6 Back Off — Duel 2
From The Duel 2, in this elimination, players had hooks attached to their backs and would try their best to take them off so they could attach them to a ring at the end of the arena for the win. When people think of Back Off, the Brad & Landon elimination comes to mind — Brad famously pulled off an ingenious move in order to sneak out the win and send Landon packing.
However, Kim & Ruthie also had an entertaining battle in this elimination; Aneesa had a good, serious win over Paula and beat Shauvon in a match where Shauvon had a hilariously bad effort.
Back Off is a good elimination because it’s a fun mix of physicality and strategy. A clever player can pull off a win if played right.
5 Spinner — Inferno 2
Back in the early days of The Challenge, there were so many eliminations that tested players’ mental toughness and willpower and had an aspect of physicality. On the Inferno 2, Tonya & Shavonda faced off in Spinner. In this elimination, players were strapped to a giant wheel and were spun at varying speeds until they dropped a flag they were holding onto (basically until they gave up). Not every elimination needs to be complicated, and an elimination like this would be very telling in showing who has heart and will do anything to win.
4 Homewrecker — Bloodlines
Well-known Challenge competitors Mike Boise and Stephen Buell faced off in Homewrecker on Battle of the Bloodlines. In this elimination, players were given a sledgehammer and had to deconstruct a fully furnished room until they could put all the items through a tiny hole. This elimination was a battle of endurance, strategy, and included people breaking shit. Breaking stuff is fun!
We saw a similar variation of this elimination on All-Stars 2 between Darrell & Janelle and Jodi & Brad, except I think the original Bloodlines version was the best.
3 Back Up Off Me (Backpack Elimination) — Cutthroat
Look, the heavier player will always have a massive advantage in the backpack elimination. Back-Up Off Me is not the fairest elimination ever. It’s Season 40, though, and the CT Backpack elimination is the most iconic moment in Challenge history. Bring it back.
2 Beach Brawl — Gauntlet 2
While Derrick Kosinski’s name is synonymous with Pole Wrestle, he became a legend in the sand by putting the much bigger Syrus on his ass in Beach Brawl on The Gauntlet 2. Beach Brawl is a fantastic headbanger because the name of the game is to get your opponent out of the ring, and you can get creative with how you do it. Even though Derrick was the smaller player, he was able to get low on Syrus. Meanwhile, when Alton played against Danny Dias, Alton was able to play like a Spanish matador and use Danny’s momentum against him as Alton let Danny run himself out of the ring.
An elimination like this with two different eras of players competing would be fun because we’d get to see experience versus youth.
1 Dead Man’s Drop — Gauntlet 1
Season 40 should be celebrating the history of The Challenge, and in the first season this show had eliminations (The Gauntlet 1); Sarah Greyson became a legend by setting a record with five elimination wins! Among her wins, Sarah Greyson’s most dominant performances were in the game Dead Man’s Drop, an elimination where players were suspended 10 feet in the air over a pool and had to hold on to a pole while hanging upside down by their legs — the player to hold on the longest wins. Sarah won Dead Man’s Drop three times, including a 48-minute battle of endurance against Irulan at the end of the season. It wasn’t just Sarah either; Coral performed well against Tina in this same elimination on The Gauntlet.
Dead Man’s Drop is a battle of core strength, leg strength, endurance, and mental toughness. Personally, I think a player with fantastic core strength can be as impressive as someone with the size to overpower people in a Hall Brawl.
