The Challenge XXX: Who Would Win a Final If The Remaining Contestants Were All In It?

In each of my recaps, I have a Power Ranking of the remaining contestants based on their standing in the game. But what would happen if the final happened next episode, and all the remaining competitors ran it? Who would be the favorites and would be the longshots? A player’s performance in the challenges and the eliminations depends very different factors than the final, so it’s important to draw a distinction between the two.

Here is how the players would rank if the final happened next episode:

Females

9) Jemmye: Jemmye’s actually very intelligent (she was valedictorian of her high school) but she has been the worst athlete amongst the women by a decent margin and would probably die if she was in a final. While she technically has been in one before, she and Camila were eliminated after the first portion which was really more of a glorified daily challenge.

Finals Competed In: Rivals 2 (3rd)

8) Veronica: Considering she’s competed in multiple finals and won as many as any female competitor in the show’s history, this may seem criminally low. However, she is well past her prime (she’s almost forty years old) and has also never competed in a modern final. Maybe I’m underrating how her experience will benefit her, but she doesn’t have any Final experience past Inferno II and The Challenge has changed a lot since then.

Finals Competed In: Challenge 2000 (Won), The Gauntlet (Won), The Inferno (Won), The Inferno II (Lost)

7) Aneesa: While she’s certainly strong, that does not translate to final success. We’ve seen her fail in a final before, and not only was that eight years ago, she also turned in one of the worst performances in Final history.

Finals Competed In: The Gauntlet 2 (Lost), The Duel II (3rd),

6) Britni: While she has been good this season, I’m still not sold on her. She has yet to win a daily challenge and has beaten Briana and Nicole in eliminations. Rookies also have a pretty bad track record in finals so I wouldn’t count on a win for her this season.

Finals Competed In: N/A

5) Kailah: Maybe one of the more surprising developments this season was how under control Kailah’s been. She was a complete disaster last season, and her constant chaos causing put her in a really bad position politically and it seemed to wear on her confidence in her elimination loss to Sylvia. While she has been dramatically improved this season and is probably in line to be one of the new female faces of The Challenge, her tendency to get down on herself doesn’t give me confidence for her performing in a final.

Finals Competed In: N/A

4) Tori: While she’s cooled down a little bit in the daily challenges, she’s still had an exceptional rookie season. She’s won three challenges and absolutely dominated her elimination with Marie. She also has a great personality for a final challenge. In a final, you need self-confidence in order to plug through the hardships and keep going. While I certainly don’t think she wins this season, I definitely do see final wins in her future.

Finals Competed In: N/A

3) Jenna: While I have long been critical of Jenna in the past, she is the only female outside of the top two to have competed in a final since Rivals 2. She also has the fitness and confidence to do well in a final. However, she is going to have issues with two things that are always major components of a final: eating and puzzles. She struggled hard with the eating section on the Bloodlines final, and can you imagine if Jenna had to do the Rivals 2 final and deal with the Food Test? Would’ve been bad news for Mrs. Compono.

Finals Competed In: Battle of the Exes II (DQ), Battle of the Bloodlines (3rd), Rivals III (2nd)

2) Camila: There’s been a pretty big gap between number three and number two, as Camila and (spoiler alert) Cara Maria entered the season as heavy favorites and nothing so far this season would give any indication they’ve slipped. Camila performed very well on the Invasion of the Champions final, and is also in the best shape she’s been in since her Challenge career started. She’s shown to be proficient in swimming, puzzles, endurance, eating, and any other facet to win a final; which makes her a strong #2. However, with her recent outburst, she’ll probably see a few eliminations between now and the final, which makes it less likely than one would think she gets there.

Finals Competed In: Battle of the Exes (1st), Rivals II (3rd), Invasion of the Champions (2nd), Champs vs. Pros (3rd)

1) Cara Maria: Not only did Cara Maria have the best recent track record of any player entering the season, she has performed to that level and then some so far this season. She has won four daily challenges this season, plus her team winning the second part of The Purge and placing second in Talk Thirty to Me. Although Camila has the edge in puzzles and swimming, Cara bests her in every other category and has won two of the last three seasons she has been on (including Champs vs. Pros) giving her the edge here.

Finals Competed In: Cutthroat (2nd), Rivals (2nd), Rivals II (2nd), Battle of the Bloodlines (1st), Champs vs. Pros (1st)

Male

8) Tony: Unlike the girls side, where to be honest it is difficult for me to see anyone outside the top two winning, the guys field has a lot more potential winners. However, not in my wildest dreams do I see Tony as one of those potential winners. His self-confidence has been down and I just cannot see him having the endurance to do well in a final.

Finals Competed In: N/A

7) Hunter: I could see Hunter winning a challenge in the future, but I don’t see it happening right now. Hunter is strong and fast, but physical strength and sprint speed is often unimportant in finals. Hunter is a complete head case who explodes at random moments and I can’t see his composure holding up well in a final. He’s also horrible at puzzles and hasn’t shown great endurance either.

Finals Competed In: N/A

6) Dario: Dario has not been a part of seemingly any conflict or storyline this season (wasn’t Tori supposed to be gunning for him or something?) but he’s actually been okay in competitions. He seems to be somewhat intelligent and has been very even-keeled so far this season, so I feel like he could be okay.

Finals Competed In: N/A

5) CT: I was tempted to put CT a lot lower, but he did just come off a win and has been exceptional in the daily challenges so far this season. However, he looked awful on the endurance/stamina challenges on Champs vs. Pros and it wasn’t like he dominated the final on Invasion of the Champions either. I could definitely see his size becoming issue and we’ve seen plenty of times when muscle hurt in the final challenges instead of helping (Zach on Free Agents.)

Finals Competed In: The Inferno (Lost), The Inferno II (Lost), The Gauntlet III (Lost), Battle of the Exes (2nd), Rivals II (1st), Invasion of the Champions (1st)

4) LeRoy: I love LeRoy (who doesn’t), and he’s probably the best competitor in the show’s history to never win a final. He’s exceptionally athletic, has great composure, and has pretty good stamina as well. LeRoy’s always going to have one big downfall when it comes to final challenges: swimming. The majority of final challenges have involved some swimming aspect, and if swimming is involved LeRoy’s going to have problems.

Finals Competed In: Rivals (DQ), Battle of the Exes II (2nd)

3) Derrick K: Derrick’s had an underrated season so far. There’s never been a whisper of him going into elimination (unless you count Nelson’s tirade), and he’s performed well in the majority of the dailies. He also has won the last three finals he competed in, and while they were all team finals, that’s still very impressive. I could see him struggling with puzzles, but he’s seemed a lot sharper this season than before so here’s hoping it won’t be an issue.

Finals Competed In: Inferno II (Lost), Inferno 3 (Won), The Island (Won), The Ruins (Won)

2) Jordan: I was really tempted to put Jordan number one, but the number one’s experience edge put him over the top. Jordan’s agility and conditioning are unparalleled, and he’s never lacked for self-confidence. When watching the Battle of the Exes II final, he was consistently driving Sarah to perform without wearing on her too hard through the whole event. He also has shown surprising strength and intelligence, making him the complete package in a final.

Finals Competed In: Rivals 2 (3rd), Battle of the Exes II (1st)

1) Bananas: Although I considered not doing it, there is really no way to not put the Banana-Man number one. His six final wins is unmatched, and he has the complete toolbox to perform in a final. While his puzzle ability has been questionable in the past, he seems to have really improved in that area and no one will do whatever it takes to win like Bananas. He also knows all the ins and outs of the game and if there’s anyone on this season who can find the easiest path to victory, it’s Johnny Bananas.

Finals Competed In: Inferno 3 (Lost), The Island (Won), The Ruins (Won), Battle of the Exes (1st), Rivals II (2nd), Free Agents (1st), Rivals III (1st)