The Challenge debuted on MTV back in 1998. And since then, the reality competition series has featured hundreds of competitors and challenges. Which have, in turn, given fans a number of shocking moments over the years. But which of these Challenge moments surprised viewers the most? Here are our picks for the 15 most shocking moments of all time.
15. Jenny West demolishes Jenn Lee on ‘The Challenge: Total Madness’
During season 35 Total Madness, one of the strongest physical competitors to join the show in recent years — Jenny West — was pitted against rookie Jenn Lee in an elimination. Before it began, everyone knew that West would dominate Lee — viewers, competitors, and host TJ Lavin. But what actually happened came as quite the shock.
West demolished Lee in the elimination so quickly that no one else would have had a prayer against her. Lavin couldn’t believe how well she performed. And the moment set the tone for West’s physically dominant reputation on the show.
14. Cara Maria Sorbello competes with a broken hand
Free Agents was a season that featured a ton of drama between Cara Maria and her former bestie, Laurel. But things went to a whole new level when they squared off in an elimination while Cara Maria had a broken hand. And it happened because Johnny Bananas was being petty and voted Cara Maria in instead of Theresa Gonzalez.
13. Amanda Garcia and Zach Nichols refuse to work together and volunteer for elimination
On Final Reckoning, Zach and Amanda were front-runners after winning four daily challenges. The duo seemingly complemented each other perfectly, which resulted in win after win.
However, they also hated each other and refused to work together politically. And because of that stubbornness, they threw away a potential win. These two actually volunteered themselves for elimination when they won immunity. And the Mercenary Twist resulted in their elimination and a medical DQ for Zach.
12. Camilla Nakagawa beats Laurel Stucky on ‘The Challenge: Invasion of the Champions’
Laurel is considered by many to be an unbeatable player. But when she had to face off against Camilla in a Knot So Fast elimination on Invasion of the Champions, things didn’t go as expected.
Against all odds, Camilla defeated the most intimidating female player on The Challenge in one of the most difficult elimination formats.
11. Ty Ruff eliminates Abram Boise
Many fans will remember this elimination moment from Pole Wrestle in Battles of the Exes 1 because Abram went into full psycho mode trying to win for himself and Cara Maria Sorbello.
But after Abram won the first round, Ty shocked everyone with a quick round two win before giving everything he had to come up victorious in round three. It’s true that Abram was a beast during his elimination. But the theatrics from The Challenge Hall of Famer took the moment away from Ty.
10. Wes Bergmann goes after Cohutta Grindstaff on ‘The Ruins’
Going into The Ruins, Wes was known as one of the best competitor’s in the show’s history. He was the first individual male champion and the person who carried Casey Cooper to a final, plus he had an 8-0 elimination record.
Cohutta became Wes’ target when he got friendly with KellyAnne Judd (despite his interest in Susie Meister), and he wanted to take him out. Wes took his shot after the fifth daily challenge and declared himself a mercenary.
But instead of Wes taking Cohutta out of the game, it was Cohutta who torched the cocky Challenge king. Which ended up sending Wes on a downward spiral that took him years to recover from. At the same time, Cohutta became a legend in Challenge history, and got to make out with Susie.
9. Diem Brown gets cutthroat
The Challenge started out in the early days as a fun show with some friendly competition among reality stars. But during Fresh Meat, it transformed into a strategic and physical competition series with a little fun thrown in for good measure.
Fans can thank Diem Brown and Derrick Kosinski for that, when they decided to turn on their alliance and nominate Theo Von and Chanda Sneed into elimination. Which allowed two weaker teams to vote the other strong team — Darrell Taylor and Aviv Melmed — into elimination, too
The move eventually backfired. But Diem’s decision set a precedent for big political game moves, and changed the landscape of the series. Which was quite a surprise for fans.
8. CT Tamburello goes off on Wes Bergmann on ‘Rivals 1’
Fights on The Challenge are pretty common, and some even feel fake and manufactured. But during Rivals 1, CT Tamburello went off on Wes for an entire night, and fans could see this was very real because of the hatred in CT’s eyes.
This shocking fight also gave fans some of the best quotes. Including “Wes, you’re just asking for it now,” and “You just justified it for me to rip a mother f**kers head off!”
7. Kenny Santucci and The Piggyback
Another shocking moment from Rivals that also featured Wes is now known as “The Piggyback.” Wes was dominating most of the challenges as his partner Kenny Santucci lagged behind. But when they hit the final race, Wes cramped up and couldn’t move. Which led to Kenny physically carrying Wes on his back as he went up a mountain.
6. The ‘Mormon Killer’ on ‘The Challenge: Inferno’
The image was quite shocking — Julie Stoffer yanking on Veronica Portillo’s harness in the middle of a ziplining challenge. The moment literally caused everyone to panic — even though it was eventually determined that Veronica wasn’t in any real danger. It also produced the memorable line, “I’ve got a Mormon killer on my hands.”
5. A DQ’d team nominates Mandi Moyer and Wes Bergmann for elimination
In Battles of the Exes 1, Vinny Foti essentially sexually assaulted Mandy Moyer during a night at the club when he ripped her top off and exposed her breasts. But, that’s not the most shocking moment from the episode.
The next day, Vinny and Sarah Rice won the daily challenge and voted Mandi and Wes into elimination. A few hours later, producers went over the tapes and discovered that Vinny had acted purposefully. Which led to Vinny and Sarah’s disqualification. But instead of canceling the elimination, Wes and Mandi still had to compete. Which resulted in their elimination, too.
4. Killa Kam’s master plan
Kam Williams earned her “Killa Kam” nickname in Final Reckoning thanks to her brilliant master plan. Fans will recall that Kam told the house of the two teams she was considering voting into elimination because she wanted to be up front. But, all of that was a lie to manipulate the vote.
“If every vote cancels out, then only my vote will matter,” Kam explained in her confessional.
The strategy totally worked, and Kam was able to pick who she wanted.
3. Ashley Mitchell cuts out Hunter Barfield
Final Reckoning had plenty of memorable and shocking moments. But the moment that Ashley Mitchell decided to take the entire $1 million in prize money instead of sharing it with Hunter Barfield left everyone speechless.
Chances are, any other team would have shared the prize money. But considering the animosity between Ashley and Hunter, she took the money and bounced without regret. Despite the fact he was the highest performing member of their team.
2. CT Tamburello turns Johnny Bananas into a backpack
CT Tamburello wasn’t part of the Cutthroat cast. But, he was brought in as a mercenary for an elimination round, and proceeded to take out Bananas by turning him into a backpack. This iconic Challenge moment saw CT literally stand up and walk across the elimination finish line with Bananas on his back. And it’s because of this scene that many fans consider CT to be the GOAT.
1. Johnny Bananas steals the prize money in ‘The Challenge: Rivals III’
The most dramatic and surprising moment in Challenge history happened in the final of Rivals III. Throughout the season, Bananas and Sarah Rice attempted to heal their broken relationship after she turned on him the season before.
The duo appeared to be successful in repairing their friendship, and created a bond that helped them win the $275,000 grand prize. But when host TJ Lavin revealed that Bananas had the option of stealing all of the prize money, the relationship soured quickly.
Even though Sarah helped Bananas get to the end, he chose to “take the money and run.”
The Challenge is available for streaming on Paramount+. Season 38 will return to MTV in 2022.
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