The Challenge Vendettas Preseason Power Rankings
The Challenge: Vendettas is rapidly approaching, and I felt it appropriate to give a quick preseason power ranking before the show starts. I’ll be giving each player an overall rating (similar to a rating given in a sports video game) that encapsulates their abilities in a variety of factors on the show. These include Pattern Recognition, Politicking Ability, Strength, Agility, Endurance, and other abilities necessary to succeed in The Challenge.
We’ll start from the bottom, and work our way up:
28)
Jemmye is a good politician, but that’s pretty much all she has going for her. She hasn’t shown an overly competent ability in puzzles and was miserable on anything that required any sort of athleticism on XXX: Dirty 30. She’ll last as long as she doesn’t ruffle the wrong feathers or get taken out in a Purge, but she is absolutely no threat to win.
Overall Rating: 71
27)
Melissa is a firestarter for sure, but how she fares athletically is unknown. She’ll be fire for however many episodes she is on, but this could also lead her to being thrown in early. Her best chance to hang around is to latch onto one of the alpha males of the season and ride him as far as he’ll take her.
Overall Rating: 73
26)
Kayleigh hails from Ex On The Beach, and on there she was never afraid to throw out some verbal low blows. She also competed on Big Brother 18 (UK), where she was removed for threats of physical violence. She looks to be in decent shape, but we’ll see how she handles the rigor of The Challenge.
Overall Rating: 74
25)
Nicole is intelligent and actually seems to want to win rather than just soak up camera time, but her lack of size is just too much of an impediment to overcome. She’ll be good at trivia and puzzles, but once things get physical she’s going to have some problems.
Overall Rating: 74
24)
Victor was known as a “comp beast” on Big Brother, which means he needs to be taken out early due to being a physical threat. However, his opponents in The Challenge are very different from the ones he faced on Big Brother. He also is an abysmal politician, and it would be a shock to see him not be in the bottom five guys.
Overall Rating: 74
23)
Alicia is another shoulder shrug of a rookie. She could be okay, but her best chance of making a dent in the game is hookup with a strong guy.
Overall Rating: 74
22)
Eddie seems athletic enough, but this guys cast doesn’t have any weak links for him to beat up on. He also enters the season a political disaster, with two people for sure gunning for him and no allies to speak of. His best bet is to take out someone early in an elimination and use the power to gain an advantage later, but that’s easier said than done.
Overall Rating: 75
21)
Marie has size on most of the other girls, but in recent years she hasn’t shown to offer much else. Her endurance is horrible, has bad agility and dexterity, and she barely tried in the eating Challenge last season. She could win a few eliminations but outside of that offers pretty much nothing else.
Overall Rating: 75
20)
Sylvia was surprisingly competent during her first season. She won two eliminations and showed the political gall to turn on her castmates. However, Shane’s her only ally from her rookie year on this season still here which could leave her exposed to being thrown in early.
Overall Rating: 76
19)
Rogan’s an athletic specimen, but so is every guy on this season. He could turn out to just be an athletic freak and be a legitimate threat, but if he doesn’t do that his sex drive could be what propels him to the top or sends him to an early exit.
Overall Rating: 77
18)
Like his Ex On The Beach castmate Rogan, Joss appears very athletic but it’s unknown how that translates. He could be a force or a dud we’ll just have to wait and see.
Overall Rating: 77
17)
Natalie played dumb to her advantage on her initial Big Brother season, and once that stopped working she started a showmance with the popular but short James Huling. She’s shown she knows how to play the political game, if she proves she can handle the physical one she could be around for a while.
Overall Rating: 77
16)
Britni had a pretty good showing in her rookie year, but still lacked in some areas (her performance on The Reel World elimination was not good.) She has however, made some new friends this time around and if she uses them correctly could find herself in a power position in the game.
Overall Rating: 77
15)
Tony Two Kids receives a lot of flak for his Challenge abilities, but he has actually improved with each season. Last season, he netted his first individual win and made a smart move by allying himself with Hunter. It will be interesting to see if he sticks with the Young Bucks, moves back to the Banana Boat, or floats in between the two sides.
Overall Rating: 77
14)
The newest member of The Challenge dads club, Cory has always been seen as MTV’s Golden Boy who actually isn’t very good at the show. He did start out his career with a second place finish (although that was more Cousin Mitch’s doing than anything), but his performance in the Invasion final was abysmal and he has been consistently outperformed by his Young Buck counterparts (Nelson and Hunter). He could last, but winning would be an absolute shock.
Overall Rating: 78
13)
I didn’t see anything which separated Kyle from his British brethren at first, outside of the different source show. However, after patrolling social media, he can be seen mingling with Cara Maria and posing for a picture with some of the most powerful vets in the house, so he looks to have already integrated himself into the power alliance in the house. He’s also got enough pedigree in the fitness world to have his own cookbook, so if that translates as well, he could rocket up these rankings.
Overall Rating: 79
12)
This may seem high for an Are You The One? rookie, but this female cast isn’t exactly stout and Kam has one huge advantage over almost all of them: Size. She appears to be at least 5”10, and probably closer to 6”0. Due to this, she should be considered a favorite in elimination against any of the girls listed so far, and she has a plausible chance of beating the girls ahead of her too. We’ll see how her endurance holds up, but with that built in advantage plus appearing to already have some friends on the cast, means she could be in for the long haul.
Overall Rating: 79
11)
This may seem high for Devin, but I trust him to rebound from last year’s disappointment. Devin may be the least physically impressive of any guy on the cast, but that hasn’t stopped him from performing in the past. While his explosion and strength are lacking, his mental game is top notch and he showed remarkable ability to perform in competitions during Are You The One? Second Chances and had an admirable performance in the Rivals 3 final.
Overall Rating: 80
10)
While she looked like she would be dead in the water after her awful performance on Champs vs. Pros; she rebounded in a big way last season. She showed to still be adept at the political game, had a strong performance in her elimination against Aneesa, and showed the ability to stay under the radar but make moves when it mattered. She also enters this season with a rock-solid ally in Shane and should be able to use the relationships she made last season to boost her position in the game.
Overall Rating: 80
9)
Nicole is probably the second most imposing female physically on the cast. She’s the only female who could realistically compete with Cara Maria in man in the sand type events, and already had a pretty impressive performance on Invasion of the Champions. However, she hasn’t shown to be strong at puzzles and her aggression in the house could cause some problems politically.
Overall Rating: 87
8)
Shane is coming off a surprising return on Invasion of the Champions, where he was consistently underestimated and was a step away from making the final. He’s one of the craftiest players on the cast, giving him an advantage over some of the meatheads on this season. While he’s never participated in the final, his stamina and adaptability makes him a huge threat to win if he gets there.
Overall Rating: 88
7)
Leroy has frequently been referred to as the best male competitor to never win, and this could be his last chance. He looks to have lost some explosion since his back injury and has always been terrible in the water and with puzzles. He looks a bit slenderer this time around, which could help him if he gets to the final but moves him down the elimination ladder a rung. If he really wants to win, he needs to not hide behind Bananas and be surprised when his name gets thrown out and instead be willing to make the moves necessary to advance his own game.
Overall Rating: 88
6)
Kailah had a strong second season last year, and looks to be in even better shape this time around. She made waves last season by turning on ally Cara Maria and making it to the doorstep of the final. She has background as a female football player, so he’s certainly not afraid to get physical, and doesn’t appear to have noticeable weaknesses.
Overall Rating: 88
5)
When sizing up how each male would rank by their ability in a physical elimination, a surprising name came out number one. While Leroy, Zach, Brad, and Bananas all have a decent claim to the title; Nelson in my opinion should be a favorite in elimination in all of them. His drive to win is unmatched within in the cast, and his biggest obstacle to success is himself. If he can avoid getting himself thrown out or losing a puzzle, he is a legitimate threat to win.
Overall Rating: 91
4)
Brad has been gone for a while, but the recent track record of champions returning after extended absences is very strong. Darrell returned after a nine-season absence and was probably the best physical performer on the cast (and then won Champs vs Pros directly after that); and Derrick also returned after a nine-season absence and got a second place finish out of it. Brad looks to be in as good of shape as when he was in his The Duel/The Gauntlet III prime, and his well-roundedness as a competitor means you can’t count him out no matter what the event is.
Overall Rating: 91
3)
Zach isn’t the most popular competitor nowadays, having received a lot of blowback for his treatment of women and underperforming in recent seasons. However, he’s still probably the best overall athlete on the cast and while he’s not as big as he once was looks to be in the best shape to win a final. I’d put him as a favorite over any non-Nelson competitor in an elimination, and even with Nelson it would be incredibly close. He has shown so far on Champs vs. Stars he’s still a monster physically and could easily come away with the title of champion this season.
Overall Rating: 93
2)
Cara Maria may not be number one in these rankings (although she came exceptionally close to it), but she’s as safe a bet to make the final as one can get. She’s made the final in three of her past four seasons (four of her past five if you include Champs vs. Pros); and considering this female side has the depth of the Lob City Clippers she seems set to return. Even though she has as many people gunning for her as anyone on the cast, it’s hard to see anyone taking her out. Her one weakness in a potential final is swimming. We haven’t seen her swim since Battle of the Bloodlines, and if that rears its ugly head again it could cost her the win.
Overall Rating: 93
1)
The man. The myth. The Banana. In a season with a relatively unproven cast, Johnny comes out on top. While he looked as bad as he has in a while losing to Derrick on that spindle, the last time he looked that bad he returned to have his most impressive season to date. Johnny has some of the best foot speed on the cast, and is by far the leader in general Challenge IQ. He also is the odds-on favorite to win the final against anyone, putting him at number one on the cast.
Overall Rating: 94
