Top 10 Worst Designed Eliminations in MTV Challenge History
This past week, we saw Jenny dominate her elimination against Jennifer Lee. It was anticlimatic because Jenny is very strong and Jenn is not. What gets underrated about the elimination as a whole is the game they played was far too simple. All players had to do was flip a set of weights. I don’t think it was one of the worst 10 eliminations in Challenge history (it was close). However, I decided to create a list of 10 of the Worst Designed eliminations in Challenge History.
10 The Geography Elimination War of the Worlds 1: Zach/Zahida vs. Bananas/Morgan
It makes me laugh very hard that Bananas cut a deal where Zach was supposed to throw the elimination to Bananas, and he still lost. Regardless, this elimination was a bit flawed as there was too much crowd interference. Crowds affect eliminations all the time, but the fact players were told answers in a game where you can only be right/wrong makes the elimination a bit bullshit. I’m cool with players doing trivia for eliminations, but allowing the crowd to take the test for them isn’t cool.
9 Hanging by a Thread (Cut the Rope) Rivals 2 Elimination: Cooke/Cara vs. Anastasia/Jessica & Camila/Jemmye vs. Diem/Aneesa
They used this elimination twice on Rivals 2. Players were hung upside down and had to cut a rope to release their opponents into the water. This elimination is known for when Cooke urinated. As a whole, the elimination isn’t bad, and it is a decent partner exercise, but it visually is quite boring. It’s not fun to watch, and the fact they used it twice in one season makes it worse.
8 Push Me Elimination Duel 1 Elimination: CT vs. Brad, Beth vs. Svetlana, Kina vs. Svetlana
If 2 out of 3 times, players are disqualified because they rip the flag, then the game might be flawed. A flat out disqualification instead of a restart may also be questionable. Wes is thankful that this happened because he got to face Brad instead of CT in the final, and everyone was happy to have Beth out of the house. Wes and CT are probably the most important male figures in Challenge history, so the fact we didn’t get to see them go head to head in a final while both were in their prime is devastating.
(Also, here’a a Survivor article I wrote this weekend, if you’re into Survivor)
7 Water Torture Battle of the Seasons Elimination: Devyn & JD vs. Eric & Camila, Jemmye & Knight vs. Sam & Zach, and Dustin & Trishelle vs. Robb & Marie
The Water Torture elimination from Battle of the Seasons was flat out unsafe. Cast members revealed that one of the people who tested this daily challenge almost broke their neck while checking to see if it would work. I love to watch players get physically tested, but I don’t want them to be traumatized.
6 Reverse Tug of War Gauntlet 2 Elimination: Ruthie vs. Jisela, Beth vs. Ruthie, Beth vs. Montana, Timmy vs. Derrick
Reverse Tug of War is a dumb elimination because it is completely size-based. In an actual tug of war, the smaller competitor can win if they had good upper body strength, a sense of balance, and grip strength. In this version of tug of war, the bigger person will win about 90% of the time. It is inherently flawed.
5 Balls of Fire (Penalty Shootout) Vendettas Elimination: Nelson vs. Cory
Most people don’t know how to kick soccer balls. Seriously, you may think you know how to kick one, but as someone who played soccer for ten years and coached, I can tell you most people don’t truly understand how to kick a ball with power and accuracy. Second, kicking a soccer ball on sand is 50x more difficult. People who play soccer at a high-level struggle the first time they play on sand; it’s something that takes a few hours of kicking the ball around to assimilate to. Then they decided to put the ball on fire, and the two people playing, had never played soccer before. A MESS.
4 Ring My Bell (Running) Bloodlines Elimination: KellyAnne vs. Nany
Players ran back and forth between one end and another where they would push a mattress that would ring a bell. They’d do this until one player accomplished the feat 50 times. MTV just got lazy with this one.
3 I Can (Betting) Duel 1 Elimination: Tyler vs. Bananas, Big Easy vs. Nehemiah, Diem vs. Aneesa, Svetlana vs. Diem
This elimination ranks so highly because during the Nehemiah vs. Big Easy elimination, they ran out of watermelons that could get lifted. Nehemiah got eliminated because they ran out, and that seems like a massive oversight.
2 Chair’d Remains (Escape the Chair) War of the Worlds 1 Elimination: Georgia (w Turbo) vs. Nany (w Wes)
First off, players in this elimination require the taping out of an outside source whose lives in the games aren’t on the line. Turbo did an excellent job of taping Nany, but Wes struggled to tape Georgia. So even though Wes sucked in the elimination, it was Nany who got eliminated. And yes, Nany could have picked someone else to tape her, but Georgia was given the first pick for this elimination despite the fact she was also allowed to call Nany out. If Nany had the first pick, she probably picks Turbo, and then there’s a good shot that Georgia gets eliminated. Easily one of the worst eliminations ever.
1 Who’s Got Balls? (Cliff Jump) Invasion Elimination: Anika vs. Jenna & Cory vs. Theo
All players had to do was grab five wicker balls and jump off a cliff. This elimination was far too simple, and the fact that there was not a running clock during the challenge meant MTV could fudge the numbers in any way they’d like. It’s especially fishy as an elimination since Cory and Jenna were competing; two of the players MTV was pushing as new faces of the franchise during Invasion. An elimination that takes little skill/hard-work and can be rigged puts it at #1 easily.
