Power Rankings – Week 1
Hello all, and welcome back to the most unbiased power rankings covering MTV’s The Challenge. These power rankings will be a combination of episode performance, TV time (including interviews and conversations), and drama (whether or not they were involved, plus the added significance of it). Each challenger will show their respective finish on the daily, as well as a grade for the other two categories.
* These power rankings are completely spoiler free! *
In the premier challenge fans and stans got greeted with two different vehicles bringing in the two teams, Team USA, and Team UK. TJ Lavin talks about how America is back to take back their thrown from the growing UK side. For the past two seasons, the “Challenge Gods” have been listening to their viewers by giving them a team-oriented challenge. Team USA is full of a stacked cast with returning champions but a lot of grudges held from challenger to challenger. Team UK on the other side are all friends with a total of seven rookies. Trench warfare was the first daily challenge and it proved to be a hard-fought daily.
Jordan
Place: 1st
TV Time: A
Drama: B+
This episode was all about the three members of the tribunal. Jordan got plenty of TV time, and stirred up some drama by appointing himself as the leader of Team USA. Jordan had a great performance in the daily and ultimately had final say on which player went into elimination to face Sean. Already having this much control this early while still not being the main focus of some of the other vets is a strong position to be.
Laurel
Place: 2nd
TV Time: A
Drama: B
Arguably one of the G.O.A.Ts of the challenge when it comes to an overall performance. Laurel is responsible for Team USA winning by blocking Tula and allowing her teammates to catch up. Laurel was involved in a now revolving door with Cara, and more light had been shed on the former friendship. Laurel’s ability to mentally control the game is a very underrated aspect of her game.
Wes
Place: 3rd
TV Time: A+
Drama: B
The star of the episode was Wes. He got the most TV time by far, just continuing his visual dominance from last season. Wes was shown creating alliances and reveled how many people he talked to before the show. This goes to show just how likable Wes is to his other castmates. What keeps Wes out of the top two spots this week is his lack of control in the tribunal, as he had to almost show one of his cards in this game. Still, a solid performance and being the focus of much of the episode puts him in the top three.
Tori
Place: 4
TV Time: A
Drama: C-
This might be the surprise of the list, at least in terms of being so high. Tori climbs up this high due to her alliance. Sometimes being connected to one of the top dogs can help you out in the game. Tori, even if she won’t say it or think this way, has a shield at all times in her partner Jordan. On top of this Tori was on the winning team, and was all over the episode in both interviews and even eavesdropping on the growing romance between Josh and Georgia.
Idris
Place: 5
Elimination win
TV Time: C+
Drama: D
This will be short and sweet. Idris didn’t do much in this episode except two things. He knocked over Wes in the daily challenge and then dominated the pole wrestle elimination. That is why he’s so high up. Without the performance he would be toward the bottom due to his lack of showing, personality wise.
Paulie
Place: 6
TV Time: B
Drama: C
Paulie should be a favorite each and every season. This episode he was a bit on the quiet side compared to normal, but he was clearly one of the best from the daily challenge, out pacing everyone from both sides. Look for Paulie’s angry side to show up sooner rather than later.
Josh
Place: 7
TV Time: A
Drama: A+
While he was on the winning side, he didn’t get showcased as much as he needs to be during the dailies. However, once the challengers made their way into the house, Josh was all over the place in terms of air time and drama. First, was the starting romance with Georgia and then a heated argument about almost nothing with CT. Although it was almost nothing, getting into a fight with CT is never smart, at least not for one’s face. Still, if Josh keeps getting good TV time, he can keep himself high each and every week.
Kyle
Place: 8
TV Time: B
Drama: C
Kyle first came into this competition with an unfair advantage of being paired up with his fellow country men and women. Until CT was added, Kyle was the most seasoned going into his fourth challenge. Despite that, Kyle proved to be what we know him as, and that is quite good at daily challenges. Being the first Team UK member back with a flag is a great way to start leading, and his name was never on the chopping block. This format might actually help him move along nicely.
Bear
Place: 9
TV Time: A
Drama: A-
Bear comes in very high to start this season despite being on the losing end of the daily. Bear is showing he’s a student of the game and is already learning how to adapt to not only the daily but the nominations as well. As soon as he heard his name getting thrown out, he started getting everyone in agreement to vote in Sean instead. The one down fall here to his game is already being a target out of the gate.
Georgia
Place: 10
TV Time: B+
Drama: B
Georgia just can’t keep her hands off these men. Last season is was Bear and now it looks like her and Josh have started to connect with one another. Having an ally on the other side can help keep her around. Being that she is on the most dominant competitors from her team should allow her an opportunity to continue to be a leader and keep her place in this game. One thing is for sure, Georgia won’t be underestimated like last season.
Kam
Place: 11
TV Time: B-
Drama: C
Kam is back and here to prove she’s better than her last season performance. She wants people to put respect on her name and by playing the game she does, that will come with time. A challenge championship is the one that’s missing to complete her full game plan. It’s shown that team KK is still intact and will be able to build their alliance from both sides. If Kam can make the playmaker moves she did from two seasons ago, she can break this top 10.
CT
Place: 12
TV Time: A
Drama: A+
Without even performing in the daily challenge CT made enough of an impact to start at number twelve this week. Probably top three in interviews, as well as a drama filled overreaction fight with Josh put CT in the spot light. Watching CT not get selected by Team USA wasn’t comfortable and something that might come back to bite Team USA if they're not careful. CT is known to hold grudges and take no prisoners when it comes to these types of situations if we can get a little, just a tiny taste, of the old CT everybody’s going to be in trouble.
Cara
Place: 13
TV Time: B
Drama: B+
The current Queen of the challenge Cara Maria is looking to make her fifth consecutive finals appearance although this time she’s easily going to want to get that third challenge championship and set herself apart from all the other female challengers past and present. Cara performed while getting sent to the front line during the daily challenge as she’s one of the strongest and fastest girls on the team. Once into the house though we get to see a little bit of drama that is still there between the former friendship of her and Laurel.
Bananas
Place: 14
TV Time: B
Drama: B+
Bananas is no stranger to going after his rivals and enemies right from the start, and this proves to be true this season with him trying to call out Wes. This is one of those true great rivalries that will just never go away. Not much to see from Bananas this episode which is why he falls into the middle tier. With not as much camera time as normal and not really getting air time during the challenge is hard for Bananas to crack the top 10.
Dee
Place: 15
TV Time: B+
Drama: B+
Dee didn’t get to participate in this challenge but that did not stop her from being all over this episode. Dee quickly reminding everybody that she still has an alliance with both Ninja and Wes on the American side, as well as charming over Rogan and gaining some new UK alliance members. Dee is going to start proving that she can hold her own in this game socially and if her new training regimen works out; she should be a force on the field as well.
Joss
Place: 16
TV Time: B+
Drama: B
Joss returns for a third season of The Challenge looking just as in shape as he is always does. This time he seems to have made a new alliance member in Wes as well as having his best friend Rogan on the challenge with him longer than he did last time. Joss is a candidate to eventually move into the top ten. If Joss can develop a social game and not take crap from anybody, he will be a premier player for seasons to come.
Rogan
Place: 17
TV Time: A
Drama: B+
Rogan did it, he lasted longer than he did on his first appearance on the challenge. While the future still needs to tell us, what Rogan can actually do during the daily challenges, his presence was felt from being involved in a drama of maybe getting nominated by the tribunal. This is all due to his new found allegiance to Wes.
Zach
Place: 18
TV Time: C
Drama: D-
Zach starts off the next group of veterans who kind of were just there on this episode and they get to move up into this middle-tier just due to the fact that they won the challenge but really didn’t have much else going on for them. If Zach wants to be here this time, she can go all the way to the final just because he's such an imposing athlete.
Leroy
Place: 19
TV Time: C+
Drama: C
Leroy's here to finally try and get a challenge championship under his belt. He’s got tons of friends all over the veteran's side, it’ll be interesting to see if they want to keep him around as he does have his flaws and some of the competitions the challengers do. If Leroy can change his social game and not just try and coast the entire way, we might have a new champion in this game.
Nany
Place: 20
TV Time: C+
Drama: D-
Nany is back again trying to prove that last season she wasn’t just good because she had Turbo. Nany has so many different friends all across this team as well as some connections on the UK side as well. Can Nany finally get over that hump?
Ashley
Place: 21
TV Time: C
Drama: D-
The challenge richest competitor is back and this time she wants to get a third challenge championship to prove that she is not a fluke. Ashley gets labeled as a lot of things that being lucky, a thief and a challenger who will quit if things don’t go her way. But what she really should get looked at and talked about as is being one of the best well-rounded challengers ever. Look for this season to go her way, if she can keep her head.
Faith
Place: 22
TV Time: C
Drama: D-
If anybody was a rookie on Team USA it would be Faith. She returns this season to prove that she is a fierce competitor and somebody that should be taken serious in this challenge. She got an moderate amount of TV time and performed toward the bottom in the daily challenge for her team.
Jenny
Place: 23
TV Time: C-
Drama: D
Jenny came into this powerful bodybuilder and former winner of a UK power show. Jenny had a quick little connection with one of the vets on our way up to the daily challenge, performed well in the daily challenge and then ended up fading away during the episode. If given the chance head-to-head she’ll be able to prove just how strong and dominant she can be.
Turbo
Place: 24
Time: C+
Drama: D-
Turbo returns in a classic way with his great one-liners and awesome jokes during his interviews. Due to Turbo having no drama and no real chance of actually getting to compete is why he fall so low this week. Although Turbo is low this week, don’t expect him to stay here as he should appear in the top ten sooner rather than later.
Tula
Place: 25
Time: C+
Drama: C-
Tula had an interesting episode. She got plenty of screen time and lots of interactions on interviews and showcase during the daily challenge. “Big T’s” performance in the daily challenge is exactly why she falls so low due to having so much exposure throughout the episode. Because she got bodied by Laurel, she cost her team the victory.
Esther
Place: 26
TV Time: C-
Drama: D-
Esther had a pretty decent interview to start off the challenge but I’ll tell you that was pretty much invisible outside of kind of a talking about deliberation. She comes in one spot higher than Theo due to him not living up to his potential on this show.
Theo
Place: 27
TV Time: C-
Drama: D-
Such a weird spot to start for Theo this season but with him not having any screen time combined with him not standing out during the daily performance it’s hard to move him up. Expect for Theo to be showcased a more in the upcoming episodes, as he is one of the premier athletes of the challenge.
Kayleigh
Place: 28
TV Time: D
Drama: D
Kaylee is back and this time she looks like she might be in a little bit better shape. No negatives from her game so far as she wasn't really showcased. It appears like her alliance is strong with Kam still which is only a positive for her. It’ll be interesting to see if she gets in one of her annual fights as she has on every season, this time it looks like she'll have some backup.
Ninja
Place: 29
TV Time: D-
Drama: D-
Well I think Ninja is one of the most deserving reinforcements that the game can offer. She didn’t do much in the episode to move up high in the ranking. It’ll be interesting to see how her game can work knowing the fact that she has Paulie and Dee both around as alliance members. Look for Ninja to move up this list quickly in the coming weeks, when she gets to actually perform.
Nicole
Place: 30
Time: D-
Drama: D-
Nicole is Georgia's best friend, and that's all we know. She appears to have a little bit of fight in her but it is yet to be showcased. Prediction is that this season she will get into one or two arguments with one of the Americans who just happened to annoy her.
Zahida
Place: 31
TV Time: D- (should be an F)
Drama: D-
Zahida was shown twice during the episode, once on an introduction interview and the second was her getting knocked over during the daily challenge. Being pretty much invisible on the premiere episode of this season is never good. Unless miracles happen, she should find herself towards the bottom week in and week out.
ELIMINATED
Sean
Finished: 32nd
Poor Sean never got a chance to show who he really is. The former winner of shipwrecked had all these skill sets in his bag that were washed away and never got put to use. Sean did however put up a good fight against Idris in the physical elimination Pole Wrestle, just coming up short to the former professional boxer. Sean has the look of what the challenge gods want, so it would come as no surprise if we see him again next season. If he does return, he’s going to actually have to show up with a personality and try to stand out sooner than right before elimination.
-TYLER
@DailyJorter
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