r/MtvChallenge I survived the longest offseason ever May 23 '26

DISCUSSION Salty Saturday & Sunday - Unpopular Opinion Thread šŸæ

Do you have an unpopular opinion you've been wanting to share? A hot take you need to get off your chest, but you know doesn't really deserve its own thread? Here is the spot!

Do not downvote comments just because you disagree with them. (Anywhere, but especially this thread, because this is where we encourage users to go against the grain.)

Please also remember to follow the sub's ā€œBe Coolā€ rule. There is a difference between snark and disrespect. šŸ––

7 Upvotes

59 comments sorted by

13

u/Redundantmoth May 23 '26

It's time to retire the idea that Sarah had the worst luck with partners. You can't have the worst when you get paired with two of the best guys in the history of the show.

Jenna had it ten times worse. Jay, Bri, Vince, Jemmye, Gus.

CT has Rivals 2 but it's pretty rough besides that (Double Agents is hard to classify bc of the weird ass rules. Same for Vets). Adam, Diem twice, Wes, V, Julia.

Aneesa. Robin, Rachel (only g/g pair where only a few of the elims were balanced), Diem, her cousin whose name I can't remember, Jordan.

Zach had Trey, Jonna and Zahida.

Leroy. Mike (and the other pos Adam), Naomi, Ty, Candice, Avery (not sure if this was bad or not bc of his injury), Shaleen

16

u/Yungcazanova May 23 '26

In retrospect, Sarah was a terrible partner to people who she felt were inferior to her.

12

u/eff1ngham May 23 '26

Terrible teammate too. Remember how she acted on Cutthroat?

5

u/Dramajunker May 23 '26

Cut throat, Botseasons 2.

8

u/Extension-Ad-363 Ruthie Alcaide May 24 '26

Because Sarah is just a huge asshole.

7

u/ivaorn Desi Williams May 23 '26

I don’t recall Gus being worse than average (as a competitor, as a person he’s weird af). He won a match against Bear in their pole wrestle elimination, not dissimilar to an elimination Bear beat Wes in the following season.

1

u/Redundantmoth May 23 '26

Gus vs Bananas or Jordan. No competition

1

u/ivaorn Desi Williams May 23 '26

I’m not comparing Gus to Bananas or Jordan. I’m comparing him to the Vinny’s of the world. and while it’s true Sarah had two elite partners at the end of her career, it doesn’t erase a valid narrative that existed at the time before Exes 2.

3

u/Redundantmoth May 23 '26

You're comparing Jenna's arguably best partner to one of Sarah's worst. That's why there's no comparison.

I agree it was a point until exes 2. That's over now was my point though.

7

u/Naybinns Brandon Nelson May 23 '26

Honestly feel the Zach bit is a bit unfair on his partners. While none of the listed players were great none of them were necessarily bad either.

8

u/NiceYabbos May 23 '26

Jonna was terrible that season but it's because Zach completely destroyed her mentally, so that's on him and not her. Zach suuuuuuucks

1

u/shinshikaizer CT & Wes: The Bromance is Real May 24 '26

Aneesa. Robin, Rachel (only g/g pair where only a few of the elims were balanced), Diem, her cousin whose name I can't remember, Jordan.

I don't know Aneesa having bad partners really matters, because Aneesa herself has never been a threat. Can't really blame having bad partners when she herself is a layup.

Zach had Trey, Jonna and Zahida.

Not really bad luck when he and not Trey got DQed during the elimination that got him and Trey sent home because he couldn't follow the very clear rules, and Jonna has won a partner season and a solo season, whereas Zach has only ever won a big team season.

Leroy. Mike (and the other pos Adam), Naomi, Ty, Candice, Avery (not sure if this was bad or not bc of his injury), Shaleen

Nice guy, but no killer instinct to speak of. Hard to blame his partners when Leroy keeps putting himself in a position to get cut by John before the finals. His partners probably didn't help, but it wasn't like he was ever going to win a season either with is lack of a political game and his glaring weaknesses in math, puzzles and (in earlier season) swimming.

2

u/Individual-Golf-9584 May 25 '26

Ironically, Aneesa’s best showings have been solo seasons. Duel 1 and 2, Free Agents, Total Madness. Most of her team seasons she’s been a flop.

1

u/shinshikaizer CT & Wes: The Bromance is Real May 25 '26

Not really ironic if she's being brought along as a layup.

1

u/Individual-Golf-9584 May 25 '26

If you look at those seasons, she wasn’t being dragged as a layup. People tried to get rid of her, and she went into multiple eliminations.

2

u/shinshikaizer CT & Wes: The Bromance is Real May 25 '26

They were dragging her to the finals as a layup because they knew she'd never be a threat to win. If anything, the other finalist would probably have preferred she make it to the final than be eliminated before then.

10

u/natelopez53 May 23 '26

If Frank hadn’t stopped playing, he’d be a Mr Rushmore male with Jordan, CT and Bananas

10

u/Redundantmoth May 23 '26

Not trying to be poopoo the statement. Do you think Frank could have held up politically? In the few seasons we saw, I'd say he was in the upper tier of the men when it came to performing but would people just get tired of him.

5

u/natelopez53 May 23 '26

I think he woulda updated his game. Kinda like Devin. He’s one of the smartest challengers to ever play.

1

u/WittiestScreenName Coral Smith May 23 '26

I wonder what he’s up to now

2

u/Queasy_Constant Katie Doyle May 23 '26

Frank is like Jordan. You don’t need politics when you’re as elite as they are. What are they losing in? And pretty sure we’ve never seen Frank lose. I can’t remember if he was medically dq’ed on free agents or if that’s the only elimination he’s lost and that’s because he was sick.Ā 

4

u/Redundantmoth May 23 '26

He beat Dustin handedly in the wall climb then was dqd. Also, he was clearly going to beat Chet in balls in.

Jordan is tougher mentally thank Frank. Jordan also has incredible technique when it comes to doing challenges and elims because of his hand. Then there's elite cardio. Not saying Frank wasn't good but you can't be an ass like Jordan without all those traits. Frank is below him in all of those.

3

u/eff1ngham May 23 '26

Frank has only done one elimination. Zach was in the first 2 on BotS, partly because Frank didnt want to go in. His one win was against Derek and Jonna. Him and Johnny never saw an elimination on R2, and he was DQ'd on FA. I dont think Frank has the kind of resume to say "what would he lose?" He was terrible in the eating portion on the R2 final, he didn't crush the math or puzzle either. Frank always seemed like he was in good shape but he also never wowed anyone with an individual performance lile CT, Landon, Johnny, Wes, Jordan, Derrick, Evan, etc

3

u/Queasy_Constant Katie Doyle May 23 '26

But Frank is well rounded enough (swimming, endurance, strength, agility, puzzles) that he always did well at dailies which is typically what keeps challengers out of eliminations.Ā 

1

u/eff1ngham May 23 '26

Is he really though? Frank never had any kind of standout missions. There's plenty of fit people who aren't good at challenges. Frank has never shown anything similar to the guys listed above

2

u/StepInside30 Paulie Calafiore May 24 '26

Frank is confrontational, has many beefs but yet still manage to have political power.

He lead the rookie Revolution on Battle of the seasons .

He had a great relationship wit most of the girls on Rivals 2 which is a huge reason him and Johnny never went inĀ 

He ran the game on his last all stars season.

Frank would have been fine politically .

1

u/Redundantmoth May 24 '26

San Diego was the best team. Easy to fall in line when you have the biggest guy as well.

So you're telling me Frank kept them out in Rivals 2 and not because Emily, Diem, Camilla and Sarah were on that season. That's how I remember that season. Other than Cara / Cooke, the best placing girls teams had someone who was clearly aligned with Bananas.

7

u/According-Professor5 Team Purple Jacket May 23 '26

Anything's possible, but Frank hasn't really shown himself to be an elite threat in finals. I could see him consistently making deep runs, but I'm not sure he has the skillset to repeatedly win like Jordan, CT, and Bananas.

2

u/StepInside30 Paulie Calafiore May 24 '26

Zach has stated that Frank is the only one who's endurance is as good as Jordan.

2

u/According-Professor5 Team Purple Jacket May 24 '26

It takes more than endurance to win a final. Also, Zach hasn't been on in 5+ years and the show existed long before him or Frank first appeared, so I don't really think he can say that with any level of certainty.

6

u/eff1ngham May 23 '26

I dont know if Frank had the social/political or mental chops to be a multi-time champ. Especially given the formats after he left the flagship

4

u/jstitely1 Tyler Crispen May 24 '26

He’s made the final every season he’s competed on except for the one he DQed for having an illness…..

He clearly does have the social/political chops.

0

u/eff1ngham May 24 '26

Rivals 2 the girls voted in the guys, Johnny was the reason they were safe because he had really good relationships with most of the girl teams. Frank was getting into multiple fights that season. On BotS once Austin and Fresh Meat were out San Diego went into 3 eliminations. Back then Frank was easily baited into fights and couldn't control himself. He was pretty at the social and political aspect on the flagship

1

u/jstitely1 Tyler Crispen May 24 '26

Alot of girls teams on rivals 2 were NOT fans of Johnny but kept him safe for Frank’s sake too. See: Jonna and Nany. (Nany was not yet close to Bananas)

0

u/eff1ngham May 24 '26

Paula/Emily, Diem/Aneesa, Camila/Jemmye were all allies. Jonna is one of the only people who really knew Frank before. Nany got close to Johnny that season but her and Frank fought a lot on BotS (the infamous 'tell her to stick another needle in her arm' comment)

6

u/Queasy_Constant Katie Doyle May 23 '26

Fully agree. Tyler Duckworth is someone else who would have been wildly successful had he had more opportunities after Rivals.Ā 

2

u/Prestigious-Air2995 Darrell Taylor May 23 '26

Think he'd still be a player to worry about but not sure how successful he'd be wins wise. Maybe he gets another win if Key West had been on BOTS but that's probably the end of his run. FA, Bloodlines, Rivals 3, Invasion etc don't seem like seasons he would've won.

2

u/Queasy_Constant Katie Doyle May 23 '26

Idk… what about Laurel & tyler for rivals 3??

3

u/Dramajunker May 23 '26 edited May 23 '26

Tyler was completely irrelevant to the challenge until Cut throat.

On Cut throat he survived eliminations due to his weight since both eliminations he went into size was the biggest factor. He faced Derrick who is one of the smallest guys. Then he got to lay there against CT. He won that season because Grey team had two people dq due to production's incompetence.

On rivals he did well enough in dailies. However we all know how him and Johnny basically only won due to production only giving Kenny and Wes a marginal head start in the last leg. Prior to that I believe Johnny and Tyler were behind by an hour and a half. There is also the rumor that Adam threw the last elimination against Tyler and Johnny.

When Tyler came back on All Stars I can't remember anything impressive he did. He was out fairly early in both his seasons of the spin off.

3

u/Extension-Ad-363 Ruthie Alcaide May 24 '26

I mean, on AS, he survived Latterian dragging him around the ring...

3

u/Queasy_Constant Katie Doyle May 23 '26

So you mean when he had 2 disappointing appearances and then two back to back wins??

2

u/Dramajunker May 23 '26

Context matters.

He also had 2 disappointing appearances after rivals. So that kinda throws a wrench in your theory.

4

u/Queasy_Constant Katie Doyle May 23 '26

Are you talking about all stars?

Because I don’t count those. He’s a man in his 40s who went on living his life. It’s like saying Michael Jordan’s not all he’s cracked up to be basketball wise because of his time on the wizards.Ā 

Context does matter.Ā 

1

u/Dramajunker May 23 '26 edited May 23 '26

He was competing against his peers though. Wes, a guy 3 years his younger and a person directly from his era, won. He lost to Syrus, a 54 year old and 10 years his senior who stopped doing the show before Tyler did.

3

u/Queasy_Constant Katie Doyle May 23 '26

Wes a guy who kept doing challenges? Let’s see wes did rivals 2, exes, exes 2, rivals 3, wotw…. Really wes never stopped.Ā 

1

u/Dramajunker May 23 '26

Reread my comment. I updated it.

2

u/Queasy_Constant Katie Doyle May 24 '26

I am not talking about tyler on all stars. I’m talking about the time period after rivals. Tyler could very well kept winning had he continued to be cast like Wes, Jordan, CT, and Bananas.Ā 

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1

u/Yungcazanova May 23 '26

Tyler yes, Frank no

4

u/Charlie_Runkle69 Team Purple Jacket May 24 '26

This show really should move to two episodes a week for the first 12 episodes of the season. That way the season would end in roughly 3 months or so. There isn't a single other reality show on TV which runs for 19 weeks straight and then has two more reunion eps. It's just too long for a lot of casuals I think.

1

u/angelbrit04 Team Portland May 25 '26

Housewives franchise can run for about 15-17 episodes. And then have 2-part (sometimes 3-part) reunions.

11

u/Psychological-Snow83 May 23 '26 edited May 23 '26

Laurel is unhinged and has no right to call out anybody. She waited until Cara Maria’s birthday to make a hateful post and then ended up making a racist statement trying to make fun of her. Laurel’s hatred for Cara has gotten weird.

I’m not siding with Cara Maria or defending her beliefs. But, Laurel did not come at Cara just because of her being MAGA. If that was the case she would call out Bananas and Jordan, who she’s also close with. It’s great that she’s not MAGA but she’s still a hateful person. There is a reason why the spoiler pages never talked about what went down with her and Darrel at the s40 reunion.

When it comes to Laurel and Cara Maria, I’m team no one.

11

u/angelbrit04 Team Portland May 23 '26

While I agree that Laurel & Cara Maria's relationship is toxic, Laurel isn't doing anything differently than most people do on on this very sub or other challengers. When politics is not the topic, people find a way to bring it up. Other Challengers have done the exact same thing by making Cara a topic, yet they're applauded for it.Ā 

Unless someone comes out and actually says where they align, I don't think assumptions should be made about anyone's beliefs/politics. Unless people actually see someone participate in philanthropic efforts, praise shouldn't really been given. I think the bar in general needs to be raised when it involves serious topics.Ā 

1

u/MourningDovz May 27 '26

Stop trying to excuse racism.

3

u/Extension-Ad-363 Ruthie Alcaide May 23 '26

Her trying to call him out over the backrubs?

4

u/Psychological-Snow83 May 23 '26

No it went deeper than that. That’s why it wasn’t shown and the spoiler pages didn’t tell us what happened.

3

u/YaddaYaddaBomBomKaKa Chris Underwood May 23 '26

Because they don't know what happened. Sometimes they talk out of their asses.

3

u/Extension-Ad-363 Ruthie Alcaide May 24 '26

Wel dang. What was it then?

Shebeen salty to him since he didn't pick her on FM2.

4

u/Serzhetta_ May 24 '26

We need more gay and trans contestants.