The Challenge: The 8 Best Players, According To Reddit

MTV’s The Challenge debuted all the way back in 1998 as a combo spin-off of the MTV shows The Real World and Road Rules. Over the almost 24 years since its debut, The Challenge has expanded its recruitment base while maintaining its appeal as a cash-prize competition show, now having aired over 500 episodes.

As with other reality-TV competition series, fans of the show have developed their favorites, especially when it comes to cast members who have been on the show for several years. So, who has gained the favor of Redditors?

Jordan Wiseley

Even if there’s a good case to be made for veteran Jordan Wiseley to return to The Challenge despite his announced retirement, that doesn’t take away from the impact he made on fans of the show while he was competing.

For Redditor yourmommaisaunicorn, however, this impact was reaffirmed by the numbers. Pointing to the statistics Jordan accrued on The Challenge, this Redditor posits that Jordan therefore “IS the best player” in Challenge history. “Jordan really is as good as he says he is,” they say, and although not all commenters agreed, it’s hard to argue with data.

Cory Wharton

As a competition show, one of the best metrics for judging success could be the amount a contestant has benefited from the show as opposed to how they succeeded on the show. After all, sometimes one opportunity is a stepping stone to many others.

Redditor dcarberry713 points out that even though he may not have been on anyone else’s top 10 list, Cory managed to use his time to catapult to lucrative opportunities. “I don’t know anyone else who’s used the challenge to his advantage financially as much as Cory,” they say. Even though Cory was kicked off of The Challenge for fighting, he certainly played the game right in other ways.

Mark Long

How one plays the politics of The Challenge is just as important as anything else, and by that metric, Mark Long was the best player, according to a former Redditor. “Mark only saw one elimination round in 6 seasons and won money on every season he appeared on,” they point out.

This user goes further in outlining how Mark has maneuvered his way to either a win or an agreement that would benefit him in the long run, like he did with Bananas on his last season, which allowed him to walk away with cash even if without a win. It’s definitely an impressive run, and hard not to enjoy watching someone outwit their competition like Mark does.

Susie Meister

Just because Mark is good at politics doesn’t mean he’s the only one on the show who has that skill. Originally appearing on the Down Under season of Road Rules, Susie Meister isn’t often listed in fans’ top tens; however, at least one Reddit user, giogugenishvili, found her memorable.

“I think if Mark Long didn’t exist, a good argument could be made for Susie” to be the best political player in the history of The Challenge, they say, because at the time of the post she had never been eliminated, and had made several cut-throat decisions over her appearances which helped her stay in the game. Hey, don’t hate the player, hate the game, right?

Wes Bergmann

Wes Bergmann’s 13 seasons on The Challenge mean that he had plenty of time to make his impression on the audience, and even have some character development over that long of a time span. However, like many of his fellow contestants, one of Wes’s biggest draws is how he plays the show’s politics game.

Redditor retrohan7 finds Wes to be the best politician on the show. “Its not just that he’s flashy with his manipulation. He’s effective and gets it done more times than not.” It’s one thing to join the game, but it’s a whole other thing to be able to play it successfully.

Landon Lueck

The passion that some fans can have for TV personalities, whether they be fictional characters or real-life contestants, can sometimes astound even other fans. Not many people would go to the lengths Redditor futurepoet went to in making a case for Landon.

Clocking in at almost 4,000 words, their essay-length post goes into incredible detail as to why they placed Landon at number one, from having “one of the greatest rookie campaigns ever on Inferno II” to his Fresh Meat II performance being “the most impressive … in challenge history.” The passion speaks volumes and lends a lot of credibility to the argument that Landon is the true “total package.”

Veronica Portillo

For true Challenge fans, everyone has their “Mount Rushmore,” the contestants who deserve to have their faces metaphorically emblazoned in stone like the actual U.S. monument. For Redditor Birks04, Veronica Portillo has earned a place on their monument.

“The main theme” of one’s personal Mount Rushmore “is IMPACT,” this user argues, not being the best competitor, although they argue that Veronica has also shown herself to be successful in this regard. She was even “the female face of the show” at one point. Although Veronica is only somewhat likely to win All Stars 3, Birks04 makes a good case for her tenure’s success as a whole.

CT Tamburello

Redditor mobileam comes right out and states what they feel is simply obvious: “I mean we all know CT is up there as the greatest challenger of all time.” mobileam views CT as a benchmark for all future competitors in the series, and when assessing the most recent upcoming roster, found them all falling short.

It isn’t necessarily hero-worship, since this user hopes for there to be another CT, and that casting simply dropped the ball here. It’s one thing to have a fan favorite of yours who you genuinely want to succeed. A favorite becoming a true standard for a viewer is a whole new level of impact.

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