39 seasons ofThe Challenge. There have been some all-time greats alongside some pretty sad duds. But in between, the flagship program has had some incredibly underrated seasons. These seasons featured some great casts, explosive moments, and intense competition. From the firstBattle of the SeasonstoDouble Agents,The GauntlettoInferno III, these seasons and more deserve a second chance for your attention!
Way back in 1998, six icons fromThe Real Worldwere put in an RV to give them theRoad Rulesexperience. From there,the two shows competed against one another.And the rest is history. Whether billed asReal World/Road Rules ChallengeorThe Challenge, the flagship program has been appointment television for 39 seasons, with a trio of spin-offs to its name. Within the 39 seasons, these 10 are the most underrated.
The Challenge
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In the first generation ofThe Challenge, there were two trilogies;The GauntletandThe Inferno. They both had their own unique formats, but always fulfilled the need for some high-stakes drama. To conclude the third part ofThe Gauntlettrilogy,Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Gauntlet IIIbrought together former cast members fromThe Real World,Road Rules, and the first edition ofFresh Meatas the Veterans team was pitted againstthe Rookies. The Veterans team dominated the season, knocking out the Rookies in nearly every elimination challenge.This also marked the moment where the tides of allegiances were shifting as perennial staples likeCoral Smithno longer had the power as the new kids ofFresh Meat,Evan StarkmanandKenny Santucci,controlled the game. Unfortunately for them, they made a major mistake by keeping their friendEric “Big Easy” Bankssafe. With the final challenge being a team challenge, which ever team finishes completely as a team would win.Big Easy gassed out. His eyes rolled back into his head. They were literally dragging him.Some people thought he might have died. They believed that they would just unchain him and leave him behind. While the Veterans may have finished first, they didn’t finish as a team, giving the remaining Rookies,Frank Roessler, Jillian Zoboroski, Johanna Botta, Nehemiah Clark, Rachel Moyal, andTori Halltheir first victory.
No one knew that when the first iteration ofReal World/Road Rules Challenge: The Gauntletwould kick off a revolution. Battling it out in Telluride, Colorado, 28 ofThe Real WorldandRoad Rulesfinest competed to see which show would reign supreme. Hosted byJonny Mosley, the season showcased just how strong theRoad Rulesalumni were. But they also happened to be a bit diabolical. With determination to remove the perceived weak links from the team, theRoad Rulesteam continued to sacrificeSarah GreysonfromRoad Rules: Campus Crawl, tossing her into five Gauntlets. Like a great underdog story, Sarah continued to win and helped TeamRoad Ruleswin in the end. This season did help to continue to establish the arcs of some fan favorite players, includingMike “The Miz” Mizanin, Coral Smith, andVeronica Portillo.
8The Challenge: Battle of the Exes II
Like any juicy reality television program, bad break-ups and steamy hookups in the house may have lingering affects. In the second edition of this theme,The Challenge: Battle of the Exes IIwas quite exciting. Thirteen pairs of exes were brought together to settle their differences in hopes of their share of $350,000.The biggest twist of the season featured the Battle of the EX-iled,where eliminated teams had an opportunity to re-enter the game where the newly eliminated team battled against the previous Battle of the EX-iled winner. The season featured cast members fromThe Real World,Road Rules,Fresh Meat, andAre You the One?,who had a range of relationships that fans witnessed occur through the various appearances on their respective shows. While the season did have a major knock against it withNia Moorebeing expelled for her verbal harassment toward her formerThe Real World: PortlandroommateJordan Wiseley, the season also marked the final appearances fromDiem BrownandRyan Knight, both passed away prior to the season airing. Due to their short-lived romantic alliance, Jordan andSarah Ricewere able to work exceptionally well as a team, winning the season in the end.
The third chapter inThe Infernotrilogy was quite spicy. Filmed in the beautiful locale of Cape Town, South Africa, once again, the cast was divided up into “Good Guys” and “Bad Asses.” While the second edition of this trilogy can easily be considered one of the best in the franchise,Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Inferno 3had big shoes to fill. The biggest low point of the season will forever beCT Tamburello’s sucker punch on poorDavis Mallory, but after he was removed from the house, the game was on. The Good Guys just could not physically stack up with the Bad Ass team. The men and women were just so much stronger. While it wasn’t a full-on demolition, the result was obvious. This season was filled with a cast that continued to establish their placements in the franchise. Though this was likely the very last time anyone would ever callJohnny Bananasa “good guy.” The Challenge truly did change that man!
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6The Challenge: Battle of the Seasons (2012)
It’s always such a thrill when fans get to see their favorites reunite, but it’s even better when the former cast mates get to play together as a team.Inspired by the theme that helped catapult the entire flagship series,The Challenge: Battle of the Seasonsbrought together 8 teams of 4 of (mostly) previous roommates fromThe Real Worldas they battled for a piece of the $250,000 grand prize. Team Austin reunitedDanny Jamieson, Lacey Buehler, Melinda Stolp, andWes Bergmann. Team Brooklyn reunitedChet Channon,Devyn Simon, JD Ordoñez, andSarah Rice. Team Cancun reunitedCJ Koegel, Derek Chavez, Jasmine Reynaud, andJonna Mannion.Team New Orleans reunitedJemmye Carroll, Ryan Knight, McKenzie Coburn, andPreston Roberson-Charles. Team San Diego reunitedAshley Kelsy, Frank Sweeney, Sam McGinn, andZach Nicols.
Team St. Thomas reunitedLaura Waller, Maire Roda, Robb Schrieber, andTrey Weatherholtz. Of course, there were two caveat teams. Team Las Vegas brought togetherAlton WilliamsandTrishelle Cannatellafrom the first edition ofThe Real World: Las VegaswithDustin ZitoandNany Gonzalezfrom the second edition ofThe Real World: Las Vegas. Team Fresh Meat was compiled as a replacement team whenTeam Sydney was unable to compete.Team Fresh Meat featuredBrandon Nelson, Camila Nakagawa, Cara Maria Sorbello, andEric “Big Easy” Banks. Needless to say, this season was a celebration of the show that helped make The Challenge what it is today. This season marked the return of Trishelle, creating the second chapter in her reality television career. Additionally,this was also a transitional period with new faces beginning their rise to the top.
5The Challenge: Double Agents
The Challengehas proven that no two seasons will ever be the same, not only because of the cast make-up, but also because the twists and turns continue to change. ForThe Challenge: Double Agents, it was another spy-themed season. The lingo and terminology was campy, especially when the players had to use the words in a serious manner. Regardless, the twist of the Infiltration was a welcome addition.This mechanic of Infilitration allowed the winner of the elimination challenge to select any player of the opposite gender, aside from the Double Agents, to become their new partner.This kept things spicy, forcing players to play on their toes. Now thatThe Challengehas invited individuals from around the world and from a smattering of different series, many of the new faces continue to find it hard to find their footing. For those who did,they became the new faces of the franchise.Tula “Big T” Fazakerleyhad a breakout season, establishing herself as aChallengesuperstar. But it was the rookie victory from formerBig BrotherstarAmber Borzotra, alongside legendCT Tamburello, that helped define just how unpredictable this game can be. The season was also able to prevail as it was filmed during the COVID-19 pandemic. That deserves praise in itself.
4The Challenge: Battle of the Bloodlines
Throughout its 39 seasons,The Challengewas determined to expandThe Challengefamily and bring in new blood. WithRoad Rulesover andThe Real Worldslowing down, the show tasked their stars to bring in their blood to battle inThe Challenge’s bloody brawls.The Challenge: Battle of the Bloodlineswelcomes fifteenChallengevets and their bloodlines to bring some family drama into the house. While none of the bloodlines truly broke out into too many future appearances, their time on the show provided some fabulous moments. It was a season of lots of cousins, but leave it to cousinsJenna ComponoandBriana Juligto bring family drama into the Challenge house with such a petty fight. After eight tries,Cara Maria Sorbellofinally got her firstChallengevictory. This season was a lot of fun and refreshing having a new theme to play off. AsThe Challengejourneys into the next decade, this would be a welcome theme to reintroduce.
3The Challenge: Cutthroat
Filmed in Prague, Czech Republic,The Challenge: Cutthroatwas a completely different vibe. It had a much darker theme, with the Gulag being the location where eliminations took place. This season was quite refreshing as, rather than the typical team or solo format the game had previously used,The Challenge: Cutthroatfeatured a three-team format that began with a draft. In each daily challenge, the winning team would be safe, and the two losing teams would be forced to send in one player from their team to compete in the Gulag. In the end, the Red Team won, withBrad Fiorenzafinally earning his firstChallengeon his eighth appearance on the show. The final challenge was exciting as it did see the Blue Team have two incredibly strong women,Emily SchrommfromThe Real World: DCandJenn GrijalvafromThe Real World: Denver, as their last two competitors kept up with the other teams. What this season will forever be remembered for is the Gulag with the Heavy Hitters,CT TamburelloandTina Barta, being brought in to face off against Johnny Bananas and Theresa Gonzalez respectfully.CT literally picked up Bananas like a banana, walking him across the dirt.
2The Challenge: Fresh Meat II
After the success of the first go around ofReal World/Road Rules: Fresh Meat, the flagship franchise brought it back. This time withThe Challengemoniker. Just like the first one,Challengevets drafted their Fresh Meat partner following their participation in the combine.The Challenge: Fresh Meateven included a trio of former Fresh Meat,Evelyn Smith, Kenny Santucci, andRyan Kehoe, taking on the veteran role this time around. It was a grueling season with some legendary political games coming from Kenny andWes Bergmann. Many seasons are disregarded for occasional repetitive story lines, but this season was the origin story for two of The Challenge’s biggest names today:Cara Maria SorbelloandLaurel Stucky. While Laurel did place second with her partner Kenny, Cara only lasted a single episode. Despite being selected first in the draft byDarrell Taylor, the pair were eliminated first. Thankfully, the show took a second chance on Cara, as she was brought. And as they say, the rest is history!
Finding this season to re-watch may be a bit difficult, but if you do,Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Battle of the Seasonswas a game changer. This season completely set the bar for howThe Challengewould forever be played. No longer was the show using the old format of a six on sixReal WorldversusRoad Ruleschallenge. The shows would be competing against one another, but with a massive twist. Now, there was a theme as sixteen pairs of two fromThe Real WorldandRoad Rulesbattled it out for their share of a $300,000 prize. The alumni were put in teams, but the two shows competed internally to be a part of the Inner Circle.The season utilized a point system, and let’s just say, it was quite controversial! This season truly had everything.Mark LongandEric Nieshosted.Beth Stolarczykbegan her journey as a disliked player by other Challengers, and received an unfortunate nickname in the process.
There was a hurricane in Mexico that almost shut down production, but led to one of the best parties in the history of the show.Road Rules: Europe’sBelou Den TexBROUGHT HER BABY TO THE CHALLENGE!The Real Worldteam made a monetary pact with theRoad Rulesteam to split the prize at the end. OnlyRoad Rules: Maximum Velocity Tour’sHolly Brenstonpassed on it and walked away with nothing. But most importantly, this season gave us the budding friendship of the formerThe Real World: Back to New YorkroommatesMike MizaninandCoral Smith. This season introduced new game play in terms of forming alliances. It established a strong sense of competitiveness. This season is essential viewing to truly understand the show that is today.
