The Greatest Male Players in Challenge History: #8- Kenny Santucci
8 Seasons: Fresh Meat (2nd place), The Duel, Inferno III (Win), Gauntlet III (Final), The Island (Win), The Ruins (Win), Fresh Meat II (2nd place), Rivals (2nd place)
Final Efficiency: 7/8 (87.5%)
Win Efficiency: 3/8 (37.5)
36 Mission Wins, 5–2 Elimination Record
Individual Missions: 1/8 (12.5%)
Partner Missions: 8/35 (21.9%)
Combined: 9/43 (20.9%)
Average Times Voted In Per Season: .57
Seasons Making Final Going Into Minimum Amount of Elims: 4
Kenny might not even be a top-20 competitor all-time, so how does he rank this high? Because the man was in my opinion the greatest politician the show has ever seen.
Kenny really didn’t become a kingpin until the back half of his career, but he was still solid in his first four seasons, reaching three finals.
On Fresh Meat he and Tina had exile wins over Eric/Katie and Theo/Chanda, and they won the final daily to reach the final, where they placed second behind Darrell/Aviv.
The only time Kenny ever failed to make the final came on The Duel, when he lost in Ascender to Nehemiah. But he rebounded by winning Inferno III, securing the last two guys life shields to save himself, then going through Gauntlet III without having to see an elimination.
Kenny’s political mastery truly began on The Island. Having strong relationships with basically the entire cast — including his powerful alliance of Johnny, Derrick, Dunbar, Johanna and Paula — there was no way Kenny was ever going to have to sweat making the final after beating Tonya in the first vote off.
But not only was he able to get himself to the final, he was able to thread the needle to somehow get Bananas into the final as well, convincing Evelyn to take Dunbar’s key instead of her rival Johnny.
It was a dominant political game for Kenny in a very noncompetitive season, but he proved he could do it again playing against the best of the best on The Ruins.
Other than Syrus, Kenny was probably the worst male competitor on the Champs team. But politically, he and Evan were in total control of one of the greatest teams ever assembled on The Challenge.
Those two, along with Derrick, Johnny and most of the girls on the team (namely Susie and Johanna) controlled who would be going into elimination at every vote. Wes went in three times, Darrell and Syrus both went in twice. Kenny never saw the Ruins, once again skating into the finals.
Things were different on Fresh Meat II, however. After working with Wes for the first vote, their feud reared its head again, as Wes got Landon to throw him and Laurel in against Sarah/Vinny.
After his two closest friends in the house went out (Sarah and Paula), Kenny and Laurel had their backs against the wall with just one real ally (Pete/Jill). But they won the next three missions (and allowed Pete/Jill to win the next one), methodically destroying Wes and Evelyn’s alliance.
Fresh Meat II was Kenny’s best game, and it remains one of the greatest performances in Challenge history.
Not only did Kenny/Laurel dominate physically, but he was also able to coax Jenn and Ryan back to his side and capitalize on the majority alliance’s mistakes, culminating in Wes facing Evelyn in elimination.
Yes, Kenny fell short in the finals due to Landon’s Herculean effort, but any doubts about Kenny as a competitor were squashed on Fresh Meat II.
Of course, he was bad on his final season, Rivals. Still, his relationships helped keep him out of the final two eliminations, as Paula even chose to send her Real World: Key West roommates Johnny/Tyler into the final elimination against CT/Adam rather than Kenny/Wes.
In the final, Kenny made up for his poor performance throughout the season, at one point literally carrying Wes. Kenny/Wes had a huge lead after the first day, but it was cut to just a minute the next day, costing Kenny his fourth win.
When you factor in Big Easy going down on Gauntlet III, Kenny could have easily been a 5-time champion.
Kenny wasn’t a beast in daily challenges (other than on Fresh Meat II), and wasn’t anyone to be feared in an elimination, but he was excellent in finals, as he had great cardio and could put down food like a garbage disposal.
Politically, I think Kenny is better than his boys Evan and Johnny because they at times got into trouble from their strong personalities (Evan on Duel II, Bananas on The Island and The Ruins), whereas Kenny was the most calm and didn’t paint a target on his back.
I’m not sure anyone has run a game as well as Kenny did on The Island and The Ruins — it felt at times that his friends were just handing him wins.
And while Fresh Meat II Kenny is praised more for his physical game, his political game also was excellent, as he never wavered from his allies (even Ryan and Jenn who weren’t being totally loyal to him), and eventually got them and Landon to come to his side.
Kenny had a truly remarkable career, and had he not been “banned” there’s no telling how many more wins and finals appearances he would have racked up.
Mr. Beautiful made seven finals in eight seasons, a feat that almost certainly won’t be repeated by a male on this show.
