The Top 10 Greatest Women’s Eliminations in MTV Challenge History

This blog has been a long time coming. Today, we rank the Top 10 greatest women’s eliminations in Challenge history. How did I define greatest? Pretty simply, I tried to create a mix of 10 eliminations that were entertaining, competitive, unique, historically relative, or all of the above. Importantly, I asked myself if it was an elimination that made you feel something, whether it be excitement or emotions.

It was a very difficult blog to write. I spent many hours rewatching eliminations, going through the seasons, redrafting and reranking this list a billion times, and did all of it knowing people would likely disagree and be angry with me. That’s the risk you have to take, especially when you can change some people’s minds on some eliminations or reaffirm some of their long-time beliefs.

For this blog, it is vital to note from the jump, whether it be 1 v. 1, 2 v. 2, or a threeway elimination, the rankings on this list only include Female vs. Female eliminations. Sarah & Jordan vs. Zach & Jonna won’t be on here because that’s a co-ed elimination. Kam & Kayleigh vs. Brad & Kyle won’t be on here because that’s an intergender elimination. The only scenario in which we include women from co-ed elimination is if they have a heat where it’s the two women going head-to-head with little to no male involvement. An example of this would be on Battle of the Seasons, when Cara Maria faced Lacey in a Hall Brawl while Big Easy faced Wes. In that scenario, Cara vs. Lacey would be eligible for this list, though, as you likely know, it’s not cracking the Top 10.

Now that we have explained the basic rules, let’s do some quick honorable mentions and jump into the list.

Honorable Mentions:

Cara vs. Nia (Free Agents): One of the most grueling eliminations The Challenge has ever seen and was physically dangerous; Cara pulled off a gutsy win.

Cara vs. Aneesa (Bloodlines): Shut up, Aneesa! It was just an excellent pole wrestle and final elimination of the season.

Veronica vs. Jodi (Inferno 2): As great of an athlete as Jodi is, Veronica proved to be a much fiercer opponent mentally.

Sarah vs. Katie (The Ruins): A really good, entertaining, and heated elimination.

Jenna vs. Tori (Total Madness): Tori thought Jenna would throw the elimination, only for Jenna to pull off the upset and for Tori & Jordan to meltdown before our eyes.

Jenn vs. Rachel (Inferno 3): Watching military veteran Rachel cry about losing an elimination to a “civilian” was hilarious.

Kailah vs. Sylvia (Invasion): A fun “upset” that put Sylvia on the map.

Kam vs. Natalie (Vendettas): Seeing Kam win a third elimination and one specifically set up for Natalie to win was pretty great.

Edit Addition:

Leah vs. Kendal (Inferno 1): A reader suggestion that I overlooked. It was an elimination with an incredible crowd atmosphere and intensity.

Kina vs. Cara (Gauntlet 2): Another suggested omission. Kina was the Elimination Queen of the Gauntlet 2. Her feud with Cara Z was fantastic; bra straps got ripped during the elimination, and Kina took home the W.

Onto our Top 10.

10 Katie vs. Julie on The Inferno 1

Let’s kick off with a classic. Julie and Katie had itching powder applied to their bodies, and then they walked slowly on a treadmill for three hours. After that, they jumped rope until one gave up, leaving the other as the winner. It was such an incredibly simple and basic elimination, yet everything else around it made it entertaining.

Context is crucial. Going into the elimination, both Katie & Julie’s teammates desperately wanted them to lose as they all wanted a strong team going into the Final. The Road Rules team went as far as throwing the Lifesaver challenge and $10,000 to ensure that Veronica would win the comp and Katie would go in. Katie was rightfully pissed and went into the elimination wanting to win not only for herself but to spite her team. She had to go against the absolute crazy person that is Julie Stoffer. As a franchise, The Challenge got built off its great personalities; having people like Coral, The Miz, and Veronica going crazy in the crowd as you have Julie and Katie chirping each other back and forth as they leisurely walk on the treadmill is Reality TV goodness. I wonder how fans would react if we got this type of elimination today.

The elimination is hysterical. Katie was ripping cigs while walking the treadmill, something unimaginable in a modern-day elimination. Then you had Julie saying she could jump rope for hours, only to fuck up after less than 20 seconds. And the cherry on top was Katie’s curse-out celebration and rant after winning. Katie vs. Julie was a perfect snapshot of what The Challenge used to be and why it initially gained such a wide-ranging audience.

9 Tori vs Jenny on War of the Worlds 2

Shifting tones from an OG comedy to a modern headbanger, Tori & Jenny was a total curb-stomp of an elimination. War of the Worlds 2 was a season formatted as US vs the UK, but as it evolved, the storyline by the end of the season was Tori & Jordan against Cara’s Cult. Tori & Jordan decided they didn’t want to help Cara & Paulie win, so when they got thrown into elimination against beasts in Georgia & Theo and won, they chose to turncoat to Team UK.

Tori’s path to the final wasn’t over, though. She got put against the muscular, mega-fit rookie Jenny West in a Hall Brawl. Going into the elimination, everyone in the crowd expected Jenny to win based on size/strength alone. TJ blew the horn, and Tori pulled out a close first-round win; many were still a bit skeptical. In the 2nd round, everyone was shocked as Tori flattened Jenny. People were ready to anoint Jenny as the next Emily Schromm, only for Tori to take her down a peg. Regardless of how you feel about Tori now, this was a badass Challenge moment that put Tori in the discussion as one of the top females of the current era. Seeing Jenny dominate Total Madness the following season made the moment even more impressive after the fact. The electrifying shock factor of this elimination gets it on the list because it had me out of my seat in excitement.

8 Sarah vs. Irulan on The Gauntlet 1

Sarah Greyson, the OG Queen of The Gauntlet, had to be on this list. In the first Challenge season with eliminations, Sarah won 5 solo eliminations, a record that still stands to this day. The eliminations were intergender, where Sarah took down both men and women.

We are celebrating her record-setting 5th win, which was against Irulan Wilson from The Real World Las Vegas. The elimination was Dead-Man’s Drop, a game where players got suspended 10 feet in the air over a pool with only a thin swing/pole to hang onto. Sarah had already won the elimination twice but faced much stiffer competition against Irulan. The two players went for over 45 minutes before Sarah eventually won out.

If you didn’t know, Sarah got voted off the RV on Road Rules Campus Crawl in part because she wouldn’t commit during the missions. Sarah felt like an outsider both on Road Rules and The Challenge. On The Gauntlet, Sarah had a DQ in a daily challenge or two which got her labeled as weak and thus thrown into endless eliminations. Sarah kept fighting and fighting in The Gauntlet. At the end of the day, Sarah won the season and built a character arc-type that many would follow on the show for generations to come.

7 Laurel vs. Ninja on War of the Worlds 2

In terms of chaos, there aren’t many eliminations crazier than Laurel vs. Ninja. This was a marquee match-up. Ninja was coming off finishing as the top female on War of the Worlds 1, and she got put up against Laurel, the greatest elimination competitor in show history and, at the very least, a Top 3 female Challengers All-Time. The elimination looked like production set it up for a Ninja win as it was a climbing-based elimination.

Then Laurel, as the superhuman she is, went toe-to-toe with Ninja. It all came down to finding the final hole to put a peg in… Laurel found a hole at the top of her tower, put it in, and TJ blew the horn…

To this day, I think TJ blowing the horn means it’s over, or we have to do a completely new elimination and reset. The way the elimination continued after, with Ninja getting the win after being told where the final peg hole was, didn’t feel right. That’s on TJ.

Of course, we must mention the best part of this elimination debacle, Laurel’s ludicrous celebration that included multiple “Suck It” crotch chops. When they reversed the outcome, I thought Laurel was going to combust like the Human Torch. It was a shitshow of an elimination that dominated social media, as everyone had an opinion about the outcome. You probably still have an opinion about it now. While I know it’s a controversial elimination — this one makes this list because it had fans engrossed and caring about the show.

Importantly, the elimination swung the game’s direction and numbers towards the Cara/Paulie cult alliance. It would have been a much different season had Laurel won this elimination.

6 Theresa vs. Nany on Battle of the Exes 2

This one does feel like cheating a bit as part of this elimination did include a male Pole Wrestle between their partners (Leroy & Bananas). Nonetheless, Nany & Theresa is on here because they are one of the best rivalries in Challenge history, and it came to a head with the final elimination of Exes 2.

The animosity began on Free Agents as Theresa threw shade behind Nany’s back in confessionals, followed by them getting into it at the reunion. Then things got amped up when they got partnered with Wes & Bananas, respectively, on Exes 2. Theresa and Wes exploded with joy when Nany & Bananas got eliminated earlier in the season; they also looked like ghosts when the two returned from exile. After their return, Nany laughed loudly when fortunes got reversed as Wes lay hurt on the floor while he and Theresa got eliminated.

It looked like Nany had won the war. That is until Nia’s DQ before the last elimination. Theresa had already taken a long flight home back to America when MTV gave her a call and one last shot to come in as Leroy’s replacement partner. As tired as Theresa was, she got on another cross-continental flight to compete in a win-or-go-home elimination against Nany.

The elimination itself is fantastic. Both women got down and dirty in this elimination, and what was great about this specific Pole Wrestle was that there were no stoppages. Even with the kicking, dragging, and elbows, they played until one person came out the victor. Ultimately, Theresa took home the win and made her first Final.

5 Sylvia vs. Melissa on Vendettas

When discussing pure entertainment, few eliminations get as down and dirty as Sylvia vs. Melissa.

On Vendettas, Melissa was one of the five OG Brits to debut on The Challenge, and she made the most noise from the jump. Within the first few episodes, Melissa had injured her foot, won an elimination, had a showmance with Nicole Z, was polidicking throughout the house, and got into multiple blowups, notably an explosive one with Kam & Jemmye. Melissa was public enemy #1 in the house, and for that reason, she got thrown into elimination and had to face Sylvia. Sylvia got tossed into elimination by Brad & Joss as they threw her under the bus to avoid a guy elimination day. It was a cowardly move as Sylvia had stepped up to eat rotten cheese during the daily challenge as Brad & Joss didn’t have the stomach for it. Sylvia was rightfully pissed off. Both women were heading into the elimination arena angry and wanted to come back to get some revenge.

The elimination they played was a variation of balls in which TJ would drop the ball down a plinko-esque board; the two would race to grab the ball and then put it in their respective goals. First player to three wins. It was a physical headbanger; they could tackle, wrestle, or do whatever in their path to their goals. They also competed in an oil pit, which added to the visual aspect of the elimination and affected how the players combated each other.

The actual elimination was a fantastic back-and-forth. Even though Sylvia had the size/weight advantage, she also entered the elimination with a 100+ degree fever that evened the odds between them. Along with that, Melissa played a much more vicious dirty game, throwing knees and elbows. It was brutal and fucking awesome to see two women go at it and give 110%. Melissa took the early lead, but Sylvia wasn’t backing down. If anything, Melissa’s physicality brought a beast out of Sylvia to fight back. In the end, Sylvia took home a 3–1 win. Sadly, both players’ games were over after this elimination, as Sylvia’s fever led to her getting medically removed.

4 Jonna & Jasmine vs. Sarah & Katelynn on Rivals 1

I’ve talked about this elimination on multiple platforms in the past, and it’s because it is truly one of the all-time great Challenge eliminations upsets that’s only aged better with time.

On Rivals 1, Jonna & Jasmine were the lone female Rookie team in the game and thus had their backs against the wall. They were the season’s underdogs and got set up to face Sarah & Katelynn in elimination. At that point in time, Sarah was already a 2x Finalist in three seasons, with her lone loss coming to Laurel. Sarah was uber confident about her chances of beating Jonna in any elimination and felt it was a certainty if the elimination was a puzzle. It wasn’t just Sarah having a sense of confidence — she literally told Jonna to her face and in front of others that she knew she could beat Jonna in a number of games. Now, what did the elimination end up being?

A PUZZLE! Not just any puzzle, it was the Tower of Hanoi, a classic puzzle you can find at a Cracker Barrel or 7th Grade Honors Math Class. While the puzzle itself is not the most complex, one simple error could ruin a player’s entire progress. Sarah worked too hastily, something even her partner Katelynn was realizing in the moment; meanwhile, Jonna was in total control the whole time. Jonna had the puzzle on lock, Jasmine listened to her orders, and they stunned the crowd as they pulled off the upset.

What makes the upset so remarkable is that this was the last time we ever saw Sarah Rice lose a Challenge elimination — she’d go on to win her next 4 Eliminations in a row, make it to 3 Finals, and win 2 Championships from then on. For Jonna, this was the greatest moment of her Challenge career prior to All-Stars. Jasmine never won an elimination again. Over time, this all looks more and more impressive.

3 Ashley vs. Nicole vs. Amanda on Invasion of the Champions

On Invasion, they made history as the final Underdog elimination was the first ever three-person elimination in Challenge history. To this day, the initial three-woman elimination is still the best there’s ever been.

After Jenna Compono got knocked in Part 1 of the Underdog Bloodbath, two spots in the Final remained for Ashley, Amanda, and Nicole. The opening was a threeway reverse tug-of-war elimination. We had seen eliminations like this in the past, including a great 1+ HR-long battle between Cara Maria & Nia. The added third person to this elimination created much more chaos as all three tried to sprint to their bell for victory and immediately got knocked back by the momentum of two opposing forces at once. From there, we watched each player try to drag themselves forward while the weight of two opponents pulled them away in differing directions. The players were all tightly harnessed, which led to excruciating pain as the weight and pressure of pulling forward and getting pulled back squeezed their limbs.

Nicole was the clear favorite physically, and if they ran the elimination straight up, she would’ve eventually won out. Ashley sounded like she was going to die for the majority of this elimination. Although Amanda was the smallest person there, she kept digging, getting low, and clawing forward. Every time Amanda got somewhat close, Nicole would turn around and use her upper body strength to reel her back in. It looked like it was going to be a never-ending stalemate, that is, until the Lavender Ladies decided to team up. Ashley & Amanda moved in one direction together, and Nicole could only play defense from there. In the end, Nicole decided she disliked Amanda more than Ashley, leading Ashley to take the victory. This was a critical moment as Ashley was very clearly struggling the most in the elimination, and it was amazing to watch her take advantage of the situation at hand. Looking back, there was a real possibility we wouldn’t have ever gotten 2x Champion Millionaire Mitchell if Nicole chose to hold down Ashley instead of Amanda.

This now leads us to an additionally entertaining Part Two of the elimination. Nicole & Amanda played a physical elimination where they got tethered together inside a dirt pit circle where the first person to get two feet outside of the ring wins the round; it was a best 2 out of 3 game. Even though Nicole could squat-press Amanda, the elimination was thrilling because Amanda used her brain. Amanda waited for the perfect moment to use momentum to try and scramble out the circle first. Nicole won Round One by literal inches, where Amanda’s second foot stumbled on the rope that was the circle boundary. If Amanda had gotten the edge of her foot out, she would’ve won the elimination 2–0 as she took Round Two using the same strategy. In Round Three, Nicole finally figured out what Amanda was trying to do and used her physicality to keep Amanda from getting anywhere near the outside to pull out the win.

The elimination was a big moment for all three players involved. Ashley snaked and outsmarted both her ally and her enemy to build the path to victory that turned her into a Challenge legend. Nicole got to eat more peanut butter in the house. Amanda got to show many that there is both a lot of grit and intelligence behind the big drama persona.

2 Laurel vs. Cara Maria on Free Agents

I might be a crazy person because this is essentially a non-elimination that I’m rating as the second-greatest women’s elimination in Challenge history. Laurel easily defeated Cara Maria in Wrecking Wall as Cara competed in the elimination with a fractured hand. If you have to punch holes through a wall to win, it’s tough when you only have one hand — especially when facing the most dominant elimination force in Challenge history.

I stand by ranking this #2 because this is one of the most important moments The Challenge has ever had as a franchise.

Entering Free Agents, Laurel was already known as one of the greatest Challenge competitors ever. Laurel had done 3 Seasons, made 3 Finals, put up historic daily challenge stats & performances, was undefeated in eliminations, and was an absolute physical specimen. All that said, Laurel was still missing a Challenge Championship. On Free Agents, Laurel was the clear alpha dog in the house, where it felt like anyone beating her would be a colossal upset.

Her “best friend” entering the season was her former Rival and partner, Cara Maria. Cara had done 6 Seasons, made it to 3 Finals, and totaled a bunch of elimination wins. Despite Cara’s success, there was a shadow over her where people viewed her as someone who had gotten carried by stronger teammates (Laurel, Cooke, etc.). At the same time, as the number of people in the house against Cara grew, fans became more invested in her as an underdog/misfit they could root for. After a solid showing with Cooke on Rivals 2, Cara went into Free Agents in the best shape of her life. We watched Cara win three eliminations on Free Agents, including a reverse tug of war against the 6’ tall Nia. Even though she was overmatched size-wise, Cara showed so much heart, pulled out the win, and gained the love of many fans. Straight up, the Cara/Nia elimination would be on this list if I wasn’t spending 8 billion hours talking about Cara right now.

By the midseason of Free Agents, everyone Cara viewed as the clear #2 to Laurel, and once she got up there, fans began to wonder whether Cara could pull off the impossible. During the season, the best friend relationship between these two fractured. The divide between these two made Cara the lovable underdog, and Laurel became the “villain.” Let me tell you, Laurel was scary in that role because she felt unbeatable in eliminations.

Things ramped up when Cara faced Jessica McCain in a Balls In elimination. Cara broke her hand while scoring her first point, slamming the ball into the basket; she still stayed in there and won the elimination (all while Laurel cheered for Jessica). Following the elimination, production asked Cara to remove herself medically; instead Cara waived medical liability to keep herself in the game — it was an all-time badass move. Then in one of the biggest shiteater moments in Challenge history, Johnny Bananas voted Cara into the subsequent elimination with the broken hand; Laurel pulls the Kill Card, and now these two best friends turned enemies get pitted against one another.

Honestly, had these two faced off when 100% healthy, I’m pretty confident Laurel would have won. Even assuming their physical strength was equal, Laurel had a clear reach advantage over Cara and is a better strategist when it comes to eliminations/challenges. That doesn’t matter.

The outcome of what happened is what matters. Laurel wins against Cara; she then beats her nemesis/hater, Theresa, in the surprise elimination before the Final and goes on to win the season. Nobody deserved a Challenge Championship more at that point in time than Laurel. Laurel is one of the greatest competitors the show has ever seen, and winning in an individual format is fitting as Laurel deserved to stand alone.

Yet that’s almost secondary because the lightning in the bottle moment that was the fanfare Cara got from the heartbreak of watching her go out there and try to punch a wall with a broken hand was something you couldn’t script. Everyone was behind Cara Maria at that exact moment. That scene is why so many people are still fans of Cara to this day. This elimination turned Cara Maria from the plucky underdog to one of the female faces of the franchise. When Cara returned for Bloodlines, fans wanted to watch Cara continue to grow and become a Champion. As the years went on, Cara was not only the female face of the franchise — at a certain point, when Bananas hit a rough patch, Cara held down being the overall face of the show with a ton of hate coming her way. Even hate from me at times, someone who began blogging about this show partly because I was such a big fan of hers, and this elimination put my emotions through a cyclone.

Fuck, I feel like I have to take a drag of a cigarette after all that. The Challenge is not what it is today without this elimination between Cara & Laurel.

1 Susie vs. Kim on The Ruins

It almost feels weird talking about another elimination after I poured my heart out talking about Laurel & Cara on Free Agents. That was more of a moment than an elimination — Susie vs. Kim on The Ruins is the best fucking elimination this show has ever seen. I previously ranked this as the best “Pole Wrestle” type elimination The Challenge has ever seen and was hoping not to rank it #1 so that I could show some variety. Then I rewatched the elimination and went, “Yeah, this is fucking awesome.”

For context, The Ruins was coming to a close, where Susie was the only remaining female Champion, meaning she would have to go into elimination. Susie was playing to survive, and Kim was playing for a guaranteed spot in the Final. The extra wrinkle was the player bank accounts, where the winner of this elimination would have 25k dollars — the most of any player entering the Final. If we’re truthful, the stakes of the elimination are only a bonus because the elimination itself was a spectacle of brutality.

The elimination was Rag Doll — a Pole Wrestle variation, where they used a rope instead of a pole. I cannot understate how different the rope makes the elimination. The positions players can maneuver into with the rope make it 10x more dangerous and 100x more entertaining.

Visually, the elimination was an intense physical battle, and here’s a play-by-play breakdown copied from a previous blog of mine:

Early into the elimination, Susie has the upper hand and punishes Kim throughout. At one point, the rope is behind Kim’s neck and is 20% away from being entirely around it, choking her. She maintains her grip at the bottom of the rope despite it possibly burning her neck.

At one point, they both stand up, and the rope goes from under Susie’s legs to between them. Kim is trying as hard as she can to pull the rope from both Susie’s arms and legs. Meanwhile, Susie’s inner thighs are feeling the pain of a rope getting pulled through them. Can you imagine a robe burn on the inner part of your legs that close to your private parts? On top of it all, IT IS RAINING. Except it’s not, MTV used a rain machine to make it more intense. Simply wow.

Susie gets the upper hand again by knocking Kim to the floor, ties a mini two-hand grip to start lifting and smashing a grounded Kim and bringing her back to the ground. Kim is not having a good time at this point.

Now that Kim is making noises that sound like she is dying, Susie attempts to wrap the rope around her arm to limit Kim’s grip and pull out the win. Kim sees this and quickly grabs the top of Susie’s rope that she is leaving open to now constrict Susie’s arm.

As you can see, Susie does not take kindly to this move. The two white women are now bright red. Kim is nearing purple.

After a long battle in the rain and many rope burns, Susie pulls out the win.

I don’t think this elimination has as much historical relevance as some of the others from this blog. Yet, if you asked me to pull up an elimination between two women to sell the intensity of The Challenge to a random person on the street, it would be Kim vs. Susie. What’s so amazing is that these two women look like they could have gotten pulled out of a Nordstrom Rack or a fucking Hobby Lobby, yet you throw them into this elimination, add some rain, and they become badass gladiators. That’s the beauty of The Challenge right there.