Who Would Have Been the Most Satisfying Winner of Every Challenge Season?
With the 35th season of The Challenge about to wrap up, I wanted to look back at every winner in the history of the show and think about who would have been the most satisfying champion.
By determining who would have been the most satisfying winners, I tried to stick to who would have been the best champion for the season’s narrative. In a few cases though when a season didn’t have a clear story arc (more so in the early seasons), I just went with who I personally would have rather seen win.
And to be clear, I only considered players/partners who actually made the final and didn’t consider anyone who was eliminated before the final.
Road Rules: Allstars
Who Actually Won: Real World (Cynthia, Eric, Jon, Rachel and Sean)
Most Satisfying: Uhh…Real World?
This is how you know Road Rules: Allstars isn’t a real season of The Challenge (besides the fact that it’s literally called Road Rules) — there was only one option of who could win this season. At least the show spawned The Challenge proper, plus it got Sean and Rachel to meet and eventually have approximately 47 children together.
Real World vs. Road Rules
Who Actually Won: Road Rules (Anne, Katie, Kefla, Mark, Roni and Noah)
Most Satisfying: Road Rules
Road Rules pretty much dominated the missions, and Real World had Beth (who was still despised even back in season two), so Road Rules was the rightful winner here.
Challenge 2000
Who Actually Won: Road Rules (Dan, Yes, Los, Veronica, Piggy and Holly)
Most Satisfying: Real World (David, Teck, Mike, Heather, Kat and Amaya)
While Road Rules was the more cohesive team throughout the season, winning five out of eight missions, I would have rather seen Real World win this season purely because they were the more entertaining team.
David, Heather, Teck and Amaya were the stars of the season, while Road Rules had more subdued personalities. Although, you could watch the entire season and still not know who Kat was despite it only being a 12-person cast.
Extreme Challenge
Who Actually Won: Real World (Syrus, Jamie, Dan, Julie, Kameelah, Rebecca)
Most Satisfying: Real World
I really liked the Real World team, which was the much better unit throughout the season, winning 11 out of 16 missions (including six in a row before the final).
But more importantly, I just hated the Road Rules team. James Orlando is one of my least favorite castmembers in the history of the show and completely dragged the season down, Emily refused to re-do the Defying Gravity mission after Julie broke the rules, Ayanna got kicked off after attacking Christian due to a racial joke, and the whole team other than Laterrian refused to come to the courtroom challenge. RIP Michelle Parma though.
Battle of the Seasons
Who Actually Won: Real World (Mike/Coral, Sean/Elka, Danny/Kelley)
Most Satisfying: Road Rules (Theo/Holly B, Dan/Tara, Timmy/Emily)
Neither team voted strictly on performance during the Inner Circle stage of the game, but Real World voted out Jon/Beth and Stephen/Lindsay when they weren’t in last place purely because they didn’t like Beth and Stephen.
Road Rules was much more devious in their voting, eliminating Veronica/Yes and Chadwick/Piggy for having the next highest amount of points outside the Inner Circle.
I enjoyed Sean and Elka on this season, and who doesn’t love The Miz and Coral together?
But the other team had Timmy AND Theo AND Dan on the other side. I’m sorry, I gotta go with Road Rules here.
Battle of the Sexes
Who Actually Won: The Men (Mark, Colin and Jamie)
Most Satisfying: The Men
This is one of the toughest calls for me out of all 35 seasons. While this is really Ruthie’s season, it’s hard for me to want Ellen — one of the most annoying castmembers of all time — to win.
Other than Puck, the men were pretty boring this season, but they played the game straight up and voted people out strictly based on performance. The females played a much more political game — which I’m grateful for because it added way more drama to the season — but they didn’t play the game fair (like Rachel said, “This game is ugly, the Inner Circle is ugly”).
Since the guys played the game fairly and because I can’t root for Ellen to win, I’m going to stick with the men here.
The Gauntlet
Who Actually Won: Road Rules (Theo, Dave, Adam, Darrell, Rachel, Roni, Veronica, Cara and Sarah)
Most Satisfying: Road Rules
While Road Rules was vicious in throwing in Sarah five times throughout the season, Real World was actually the less cohesive team. Although I’m a big fan of almost everyone who competed for Real World in the final (Miz, Coral, Alton, Norman and Nathan), Sarah and Road Rules deserved this victory.
The Inferno
Who Actually Won: Road Rules (Abram, Timmy, Darrell, Veronica, Holly, Kendal, Christena and Katie)
Most Satisfying: Road Rules
While I have no problem that Road Rules won this season (they were obviously the much better team, having won 11/15 missions despite successfully throwing one mission and trying to throw another), it would have been nice to see them get some retribution for losing on purpose to try to get Katie out.
But since Katie ended up solving the final puzzle, I think justice was served.
Battle of the Sexes 2
Who Actually Won: The Men (Theo, Dan and Eric)
Most Satisfying: The Men
I don’t have much good to say about this season, because it was pretty much a snoozefest on both sides.
The season was similar to the first Sexes, as the men mostly voted each other out based on performance (although Miz was kept around longer than he should have been, and the guys screwed over Brad at the end), while the girls played a more political game.
But the men dominated the women even more so on Sexes 2, winning all but three missions (and they threw the last one). The women (Coral, Sophia and Arissa) just didn’t deserve this victory.
Inferno II
Who Actually Won: Good Guys (Miz, Landon, Darrell, Jamie)
Most Satisfying: Good Guys
You know what they say — good always triumphs over evil. The Good Guys team was extremely likable, and while the Bad Asses were entertaining as hell they were constantly at each other’s throats.
This was Mike’s last season, and it was nice to see the star of the show ride off into the sunset.
Gauntlet 2
Who Actually Won: Rookies (Alton, Landon, MJ, Jamie, Randy, Kina, Susie, Jodi and Ibis)
Most Satisfying: Veterans (Mark, David, Timmy, Aneesa, Robin, Katie, Julie)
This is pretty much a toss up for me. The teams were basically even throughout the season, with the Rookies winning 9/15 missions.
This was truly Derrick’s season, and even though he didn’t make the final I still liked who was left on the Vets more than the Rookies. I’m a big fan of everyone who made the final on the Vets team, while the Rooks had some people I’m indifferent to such as MJ and Ibis.
Plus, let’s give Aneesa a win for christ’s sake.
Fresh Meat
Who Actually Won: Darrell and Aviv
Most Satisfying: Wes and Casey
The problem with Fresh Meat is how much it’s centered around Wes and Casey. Since they were thrown into five exiles, the season had to be all about them, similar to Sarah on The Gauntlet and Derrick on Gauntlet 2.
This led to a lot of the rest of the cast being underedited, including the eventual champions. Up until the final two episodes, Darrell had just 24 confessionals, while Aviv had a paltry 16 confessionals through 14 episodes. While Darrell and Aviv were both very likable, this was Wes and Casey’s season, so it would have made for a cleaner narrative if they would have won.
The Duel
Who Actually Won: Wes and Jodi
Most Satisfying: Wes and Jodi
I really would have no problem with either Brad or Sveltana winning. Svetlana had a great underdog run, winning three eliminations. But Jodi had one of the most dominant seasons in Challenge history, winning seven out of 15 missions. She was the rightful winner of the season.
While I definitely liked Brad more during this time period than Wes, I wouldn’t want to live in a world where Wes wasn’t on the Champions team on The Ruins, where he delivered one of the most entertaining five-episode runs in the history of the show.
Inferno 3
Who Actually Won: Bad Asses (Abe, Derrick, Kenny, Tonya, Evelyn, Janelle)
Most Satisfying: Bad Asses
The Good Guys didn’t really live up to their names on this season. Susie, Cara and Colie were the new “Mean Girls” with their “I hate Tonya” club, and Rachel called Jenn “a chubby civilian” after losing to her in elimination.
Meanwhile, the Bad Asses were all pretty likable after CT got kicked out. The main storyline of this season (other than Susie and her scheming) was Derrick getting his first win, as he was way past due after so many close calls. Tonya also earned the right to be a champion in her sixth season, giving by far the best performance of her career.
Gauntlet III
Who Actually Won: Rookies (Frank, Nehemiah, Jillian, Tori, Johanna, Rachel)
Most Satisfying: Rookies
While the Vets absolutely dominated the season, the Rookies winning always worked for me from a narrative standpoint. The “trim the fat” strategy of the Vets was only focused on taking out the weaker girls, but they didn’t have the guts to take out the fattest of the fat — Big Easy.
Nobody other than Frank, Jill and maybe Nehemiah really earned this victory in my opinion, but if the Vets won this season it would have made for one of the most boring in Challenge history. The Rookies winning makes it so much more memorable, and to me is the most satisfying way for Gauntlet III to have ended.
The Island
Who Actually Won: Evelyn, Johnny, Kenny and Derrick
Most Satisfying: Evelyn, Johnny, Kenny and Derrick
I’m choosing to look at this final as who would have been the most satisfying winner between the Ev/Johnny/Kenny/Derrick boat and the Paula/Jenn/Robin/Ryan boat, instead of putting together some weird conglomeration where a team like Ev/Paula/Derrick/Ryan win.
A lot of people hate this season, but I really enjoy it because of how great the Johnny vs. Evelyn storyline is throughout the season. While the most satisfying ending would have been Evelyn leading her own boat and kicking Johnny’s ass in the final, she chose to give herself an almost guaranteed victory by teaming up with him and Kenny in the end.
Seeing them win together after all the drama they had throughout the season is a much better result for the show than seeing a ragtag group of Paula/Robin/Jenn/Ryan somehow pulling off the victory.
Duel II
Who Actually Won: Evan and Rachel
Most Satisfying: Evan and Rachel
Rachel was clearly the best female of this season, and while Brittini had an excellent rookie campaign and Aneesa also had a strong season, Rachel was the deserving champion.
Brad came up short in excruciating fashion and I would have been happy to see him win, but Evan was the star of this season. He won the most eliminations out of any guy, and really turned into a kingpin on this season.
The Ruins
Who Actually Won: The Champions (Evan, Kenny, Johnny, Derrick, Susie)
Most Satisfying: The Challengers (Sarah and KellyAnne)
People forget how close Sarah and KellyAnne were to pulling off a massive upset, as the Champions didn’t pull ahead until the last puzzle. While the Champions completely dominated the season, Sarah and KellyAnne earned their spots in the final, winning two eliminations apiece.
The behavior of JEK throughout the season made it hard for even their biggest fans to root for them, so seeing the Challengers come out on top would have been a comeuppance similar to the rookies winning Gauntlet III.
Fresh Meat II
Who Actually Won: Landon and Carley
Most Satisfying: Kenny and Laurel
This might be my most controversial opinion in this article.
While Landon had an incredible performance, especially during the final, it never felt quite right to me that Kenny and Laurel didn’t win after completely dominating the season. Arguably the best pair in Challenge history, they won 5/9 missions (it could have easily been six if they hadn’t let Jill/Pete win the Turn Style mission), plus they won an exile over Sarah/Vinny.
I still have no idea how Landon and Carley pulled off this victory in the final, and I’m happy they got the victory. But this was Kenny and Laurel’s season, and when somebody completely dominates a season like they did, I’d usually rather see them win.
Cutthroat
Who Actually Won: Red Team (Brad, Tori, Dunbar, Tyler)
Most Satisfying: Blue Team (Jenn and Emily)
I guess I’m kind of immediately contradicting myself here, because for all intents and purposes Grey dominated Cutthroat, winning 5/9 missions. But with how catty Laurel and Sarah were to Cara and Abe, it was hard to root for them. And while Brad definitely deserved to finally get a victory, Red was an unlikable team with how they scapegoated Brandon and Camila.
On paper, Blue looked like they would be the best team of the season, with a core of Bananas, Derrick, Ty, Jenn, Emily and Theresa. But it just never came together for them, as they won just two missions throughout the season and were down to just two girls for the final.
Jenn and Emily really had no chance to win the final because it favored having more people, but Blue was clearly the most likable team of the season so I would have liked to see them win.
Rivals
Who Actually Won: Evelyn/Paula and Johnny/Tyler
Most Satisfying: Evelyn/Paula and Johnny/Tyler
Ev and Paula clearly deserved this win, having won four missions and an elimination. Paula was past due for her first victory, while Evelyn cemented herself as the female GOAT.
I went back and forth a lot on Johnny/Tyler vs. Kenny/Wes. While Johnny/Tyler outperformed Kenny/Wes throughout the season, Rivals was literally built around Kenny and Wes (and to a lesser extent CT and Adam).
The fact that Kenny/Wes had such a big lead over Johnny/Tyler on day one cheapens their win a bit, but if Kenny would have been on more seasons it probably would have been better for the show that they didn’t win this season. Kenny screaming at Wes after the final was a pretty perfect end to their arc — the longtime rivals hadn’t become any closer despite having a season to work together. Meanwhile Johnny and Tyler’s relationship improved dramatically after their love/hate relationship on Real World: Key West and two testy Challenge seasons on The Duel and Gauntlet III.
I get that people believe Kenny and Wes deserved this victory, but narratively I think Johnny and Tyler winning was best for this season.
Battle of the Exes
Who Actually Won: Johnny and Camila
Most Satisfying: CT and Diem
This is pretty obvious. While CT and Diem completely shit the bed politically in the last two rounds, they have the most famous romance in the history of The Challenge and were running a final against two teams who never even dated.
CT and Diem both deserved to be champions at this point in their career, and led for most of the final before CT gassed out in the end. It’s heartbreaking to hear Diem’s “Come on, Chris” pleas as Johnny and Camila pass them at the very end.
Similar to how Rivals was built around Kenny and Wes, Exes was clearly built around CT and Diem, but they had begun to work out their issues by the end of the season. A CT/Diem win would have been one of the most satisfying victories in Challenge history.
Battle of the Seasons
Who Actually Won: San Diego (Zach, Frank, Ashley and Sam)
Most Satisfying: Brooklyn (Sarah, Chet, JD and Deyvn)
Evil conquered good on Battle of the Seasons. Frank and Zach were absolutely loathsome, but San Diego had the strongest overall team and came out on top.
Brooklyn was the most likable team of the season, but Sarah and Chet made a grave mistake not cutting bait with Devyn and JD, and Devyn held them back in the final.
Rivals II
Who Actually Won: CT/Wes and Emily/Paula
Most Satisfying: CT/Wes and Cooke/Cara
CT was way past due to get his first victory at this point, and he finally got his wish of not being the Dan Marino of The Challenge anymore.
While Emily/Paula were absolutely dominant with 6/10 mission wins, Cooke/Cara had a delightful underdog run this season, winning two eliminations and pulling out a victory in the final daily, causing the dominant alliance of Emily/Paula, Diem/Aneesa and Jemmye/Camila to have to turn on each other.
Emily/Paula were clearly the best team of the season, but seeing Cooke/Cara disrupt the status quo would have been awesome.
Free Agents
Who Actually Won: Bananas and Laurel
Most Satisfying: Bananas and Laurel
Bananas and Laurel were the best players this season, and they were deserving of their victories. Laurel won four eliminations, while Bananas won three.
Nany and Johnny Reilly surprisingly gave Laurel and Bananas a run for their money in the final, Zach was a beast in dailies, and Devyn was delightful as always. But the right people won Free Agents.
Battle of the Exes II
Who Actually Won: Jordan and Sarah
Most Satisfying: Jordan and Sarah
If Wes had made the final with Theresa, I would have strongly considered picking them for most satisfying given how incredible of a strategic game Wes played on Exes II.
But with the options of Jordan/Sarah, Leroy/Theresa and Jay/Jenna, the easy choice is Jordan/Sarah.
After years of bad luck with partners, Sarah was paired with one of the best competitors in the history of the show, and the duo lived up to their potential with three mission wins.
Theresa was only in the final because she got to come back at the 11th hour after Nia got kicked out, and Jay/Jenna were an embarrassment in the final.
Battle of the Bloodlines
Who Actually Won: Cara and Jamie
Most Satisfying: Cara and Jamie
There’s something about the number eight for great competitors getting their first win. It took Brad, Paula and Sarah eight tries to get their first victory, and Cara finally got her win on Bloodlines in her eighth season.
Cara was the star of Bloodlines, having to deal with a cheating scandal, her psychotic boyfriend coming into the game, and her and Jamie having to go into three eliminations.
Cara/Jamie pulled off an epic victory over Bananas/Vince in elimination, then she took out Aneesa in a pole wrestle elimination. Cory/Mitch had a nice season, and Jenna/Brianna were hilarious, but Cara/Jamie were the rightful winners.
Rivals III
Who Actually Won: Bananas and Sarah
Most Satisfying: Bananas and Sarah
There’s basically nothing noteworthy about this season other than Bananas/Sarah dominating and Bananas taking Sarah’s money in the end.
The whole season built up to the final moment, as Johnny and Sarah slowly became friends again, and by the end of the season they were full on besties. But when the producers gave Bananas the option of stealing Sarah’s money, there was only one way this season could have ended. Bananas got his revenge for Sarah throwing him in on Exes II, causing Sarah to swear off The Challenge for good.
Invasion of the Champions
Who Actually Won: CT and Ashley
Most Satisfying: CT and Ashley
Man, we are on an epic run here of having satisfying champions. This was CT’s comeback season after Diem’s death and having his son, and there’s no universe where Nelson or Cory would have been more satisfying winners.
While the Underdogs had an advantage of not having to face the Champions in eliminations, Ashley had a great season politically and was able to beat two strong competitors in the final in Camila and Nicole Z. Plus, her calling her mom after winning is one of my favorite moments in Challenge history.
Dirty 30
Who Actually Won: Jordan and Camila
Most Satisfying: Derrick and Cara
This is a tough one. Camila was clearly the best female on Dirty 30, but she had a racial outburst on Leroy, making it very hard to root for her. Tori hadn’t done enough yet to earn the title of champion in my opinion, so by default I give this one to Cara, who dominated the missions and won her way out of the Redemption House.
For the guys, while Jordan is an incredible competitor, he’s just an asshole and he had his “down syndrome face” rap battle line against Jemmye this season. Although CT dominated in dailies, I didn’t need to see him win again so quickly.
Derrick returned to The Challenge after a 10-season layoff and was the only male who never went to the Redemption House (other than Nelson, who was kicked off for hitting Derrick). Derrick’s main storyline throughout the season was playing for his son, which would have made his win satisfying.
Vendettas
Who Actually Won: Cara
Most Satisfying: Tony
It’s kind of weird that Cara won Vendettas because she didn’t do much of anything on this season (other than hook up with Kyle), making the troika just one time.
Vendettas was the season of Tony Time/Tony Two Kids/Tony Troika. After a disappointing start to his career, Tony came into his own on Vendettas, making six troikas and completely running the game politically with Zach.
Final Reckoning
Who Actually Won: Hunter and Ashley
Most Satisfying: Hunter and Ashley
It’s not that Hunter and Ashley were likable on this season, but I don’t know how anyone else winning would have been more enjoyable. Joss/Sylvia were bores, Paulie/Natalie lost THREE eliminations throughout the season, and Cara/Marie didn’t even seem like they gave a shit during the final.
Ashley taking the money from Hunter is an iconic moment, so I wouldn’t change a thing about the end result of Final Reckoning.
War of the Worlds
Who Actually Won: Turbo
Most Satisfying: Wes
I’m perfectly happy with Turbo winning this season. He was both lovable and dominant in his rookie campaign, and proved himself to be an absolute badass in the final.
But War of the Worlds was Wes’ season. He tied for the most tribunals with six, and was the puppet master politically for most of the season. Again, I have no problem with Turbo winning, but Wes winning after taking a four-season break would have been awesome.
War of the Worlds 2
Who Actually Won: Team UK (CT, Jordan, Rogan and Dee)
Most Satisfying: Team UK (CT, Jordan, Dee and Tori)
Thank god Team UK won over the insufferable US team, who had a final four of Paulie, Cara, Ninja and Zach (it really couldn’t get much worse than that).
The only thing that sucked about Team UK winning was Tori not getting any money, given she was one of just four competitors in the final who had won an elimination. War of the Worlds 2 was Jordan and Tori’s story, so I would have liked to have seen Tori take Rogan’s spot in the end.
I would keep Dee over Rogan because of Dee being underestimated by Rogan and him plotting against her at the end of the season. Obviously the fan perception of Dee has changed in the last season, but Dee was a badass on War of the Worlds 2 and I would have rather seen her win over Rogan.
Total Madness
Who Actually Won: ???
Most Satisfying: Jenny and Cory
(Note: I have no idea whether there will be a male and female winner or just one champion this season).
I’m not a big believer in winner’s edits on The Challenge, but if we are to look at how the nine finalists have been portrayed this season, I really think there are only three people who can win.
Although she got caught sloppily scheming last episode, Jenny has been shown to be a warm and delightful presence in the house this season. Plus, she’s clearly been the best female competitor of the season, having made four tribunals (most of any women) and being the only female in the final to have won two eliminations.
Looking at her competition: Kaycee is the most underedited player in this final, Bayleigh’s edit has been pretty negative, and Melissa didn’t get much content in the first half of the season. I’d be shocked if any female beats Jenny in the final, both from a competition and narrative standpoint.
For the guys, Cory has gotten one of the biggest winner’s edits I’ve ever seen on The Challenge. We’ve been reminded almost every episode that he’s playing for his family, including constant shots of him looking at pictures of his daughter. Based on his physical and mental abilities, it’s hard for me to imagine Cory winning, but his edit can’t be ignored.
Johnny Bananas is a major star of every season he’s on, and there’s not much different in how he’s been edited this season compared to other seasons.
For the other guys, nearly all of Rogan’s storylines have been tied to Dee, Kyle was portrayed as a floater and a weak competitor for most of the season, and Fessy was basically a piece of furniture up until the last couple episodes.
So it comes down to Bananas versus Cory, a rivalry Cory has been trying to make happen for years now. While the narrative of Bananas earning his seventh victory and breaking the “curse” he’s had since he took Sarah’s share of $275,000 is fairly juicy, the Cory family growth arc is too tempting.
Cory has gone from someone who literally got an award from the show for being a womanizer, to being portrayed as the most deserving of the money due to his family back home. Nelson sacrificed himself for Cory to have a chance to win, and it would be a bit of a letdown if it was all for naught.
As a longtime fan, I’m rooting for Bananas in the final. But from a narrative standpoint, I think Cory winning this season would be the most satisfying result.
