In the 29 seasons (soon to be an astonishing 30) of the longtime MTV series The Challenge (formerly known as The Real World/Road Rules Challenge), there have been over 175 different contestants.  Some were studs.  Many were duds.  Most fell in between.  There have been fan favorites, and many who just simply made for good TV.  But since the ultimate goal of being on this show was to make it to the end and win the big $$$, this list recognizes the ones who accomplished the most on the show.  After compiling all the stats, I was able to determine who exactly belongs in the conversation of “best ever” by ranking them all, and then looking at who made up the top 20.

*ONE BIG CAVEAT*  This analysis is not including anything that happened in the first 4 seasons of the show, because there were no eliminations yet.  During those seasons everybody made it to what would now be considered the “final,” on either team A or team B, and from there was a 50/50 chance that they would win.  Bottom line, it was a slightly different game when trying to compare successes.  Therefore, I chose to compare everyone on an even playing field, when the basic formula of the game was the same.

In order to narrow it down from the over 175 competitors, I established minimum standards they each had to meet in order to be considered, with a focus on the stats that showed who made it the furthest in the game.  Exactly how they each made it to a final doesn’t matter.  They could be a physical juggernaut in challenges.  Or they could be an expert at the political game.  Or they could have simply interacted with the right people in prior seasons (i.e. Rivals, BOTE) in order to gain a solid future partner.  The point is, they got it done, and they got it done the most.

With that said, the first minimum requirement a player had to meet was that they had to have won a Challenge final at some point from season 5 to season 29.  There were only a couple players that were eliminated from consideration from these rankings, as their only victories took place prior to season 5:  Syrus Yarbrough and Julie Stoffer.

The second requirement was that the player had to appear in at least 3 seasons of the show (again, after season 4).  Longevity matters (slightly) when it comes to building a resume and establishing consistent success.  This rule eliminated early season winners Dan Setzler, Eric Nies, Jamie Murray, and Holly Shand, who all won but did not appear in 3 seasons after season 4.  This rule also narrowed the list down to a more manageable 43 qualified contenders.

The third and final requirement was that they had to make it to at least 2 Finals.  Going along with the second rule of showing consistency, in order to be considered one of the best, they need to show they’re able to find a way to make it to the end multiple times.  I wouldn’t consider anyone who made only 1 Final a legitimate contender for best ever.  This rule eliminated these decent, but ultimately mediocre players:

 

Dunbar Merrill (6 seasons, 1 Final appearance, 1 Challenge win, 2-4 in eliminations)

Nehemiah Clark (4 seasons, 1 Final appearance, 1 Challenge win, 3-3 in eliminations)

Adam Larson (3 seasons, 1 Final appearance, 1 Challenge win, 0-1 in eliminations)

MJ Garrett (3 seasons, 1 Final appearance, 1 Challenge win, 2-2 in eliminations)

Johanna Botta (4 seasons, 1 Final appearance, 1 Challenge win, 0-4 in eliminations)

Ibis Nieves (3 seasons, 1 Final appearance, 1 Challenge win, 0-1 in eliminations)

Kina Dean (3 seasons, 1 Final appearance, 1 Challenge win, 2-1 in eliminations)

As you can see, even their elimination records are below average.

 

We are now left with our top 36 Challenge alumni who have all competed at least 3 times, battled their way to at least 2 Finals, and triumphantly won at least 1 of them.

The final ranking is then based off total gameplay accomplishments in 4 categories: Finals appearances, Finals wins, Elimination wins, Elimination record (%).  I chose to consider both elimination record and elimination wins as separate contributors, because of the large disprepancy of elimination appearances in general among these 36 players.  For example, someone having a 5-1 elimination record is obviously very good, but even though the win% is larger than someone with a 12-5 record, I think winning 12 eliminations has to be considered just as impressive, if not more so.  Therefore I am looking at them as separate statistics.

Notable factors that were not considered in the scoring include:

• total prize money earned, as that can be arbitrarily related to how many challenges were won by player A compared to player B, but this is typically tied to wins anyway so the majority of players on this list have earned the most prize money.
• performance in daily missions/challenges.  This is mainly due to the extreme difficulty in determining what consistently qualified as one.  One stand out here is the season of The Island, where I considered the daily challenge as an elimination challenge between 3 people.  One person would win, assuring they stay in the game, while the other two would lose, and voting determined who actually went home.

 

Based on how important I felt each category was compared to the overall score, here’s how I assigned point values:

Final appearance – 20 pts each

Finals win – 30 pts each

Elimination record – win % times 30 pts

Elimination wins – 2 pts each

*The average elimination win % among the top 36 players was roughly 67%, and the average win total was just over 5.  Therefore someone with average stats in both would receive 10 points in each category.

 

I also wanted to highlight a short list of those who had/have been longtime mainstays on the show, and met all qualifying categories except for the most important one, and may have made this ranking, had they won at least 1 Final at some point:

Aneesa Ferreira (11 seasons, 2 Finals appearances)

Leroy Garrett (7 seasons, 2 Finals appearances)

Diem Brown (8 seasons, 2 Finals appearances)

Robin Hibbard (9 seasons, 3 Finals appearances)

Jenn Grijalva (6 seasons, 4 Finals appearances)

Jenna Compono (4 seasons, 3 Finals appearances)

 

 

Again, this is a ranking of the MOST ACCOMPLISHED Challenge competitors.  Here are the remaining qualified players who didn’t make the top 20:

Alton Williams, Tyler Duckworth, Tori Hall, Rachel Robinson, Camila Nakagawa, Jillian Zoboroski, Jordan Wiseley, Timmy Beggy, Theo Von, Cara Zavaleta, Zach Nichols, Frank Sweeney, Tonya Cooley, Katie Doyle, Jodi Weatherton, Mark Long

 

When all was said and done, we ended up with 11 males and 9 females at the top.  You’ll notice that in order to rank this high, their stats had to either be extremely solid all around or they had to really excel in a particular category.  Here they are in reverse order:

 

#20 Veronica Portillo (RR: Semester at Sea)

Seasons: 7

Finals: 3

Wins: 2

Elimination record: 1-1

One of the oldest “old school” players, these stats actually don’t include a win Veronica earned prior to season 5.  But she doesn’t need it to support her claim as one of the best ever.  Her social skills managed to keep her out of almost all eliminations, having only been in a couple of them, and in 7 seasons she is one of the few females on this list to have won a Final at least twice.  She is also coming back to compete in season 30.

 

#19 Brad Fiorenza (RW: San Diego)

Seasons: 8

Finals: 4

Wins: 1

Elimination record: 4-2

A fairly underrated player, Brad eventually held his own in many of the toughest seasons (see: The Duel, The Duel II).  After a slow start to his Challenge career, he gradually got better as the seasons went along, making it to 4 finals in his last 5 seasons (the only one he didn’t was when he was sent home for being stupid enough to pick a fight with Darrell), and capped it off by winning his very last one.

 

#18 Emily Schromm (RW: DC)

Seasons: 3

Finals: 3

Wins: 1

Elimination record: 5-0

Widely considered one of the strongest female competitors to ever play, Emily has made it to the finals in every season she has been in.  Unfortunately for us, that only consisted of a total of 3 seasons.  And she only managed to grab victory once.  Mostly bare minimum requirements there, BUT her exceptional 5-0 record in eliminations helped boost her into the top 20.

 

#17 Evan Starkman (Fresh Meat)

Seasons: 6

Finals: 3

Wins: 2

Elimination record: 4-2

The first one to appear on this list from the well known “JEK” alliance, Evan also had the fewest appearances of the three.  But he was able to take home 2 victories in 3 finals appearances, as well as sport a respectable 4-2 elimination record.

 

#16 Coral Smith (RW: Back to NY)

Seasons: 6

Finals: 4

Wins: 1

Elimination record: 2-0

Another old school player, Coral has 1 Challenge win, BUT did make it to 4 finals in her 6 seasons, and is also undefeated in eliminations.  And actually, the only times she didn’t make it to the finals were due to either an injury or her quitting early.

 

#15 Cara Maria Sorbello (Fresh Meat II)

Seasons: 9

Finals: 4

Wins: 1

Elimination record: 12-5 (1-0 on Bloodlines where her partner was only participant)

Sporting the most elimination wins by a female, Cara Maria had a rough go of it for a while, constantly getting thrown in, but always determined to play her way back into the game.  Making 4 finals is no easy task when you have had to fight through 17 eliminations.  Because of this, she deserves a spot in the top 20.. Cara Maria is also making her 10th appearance this upcoming season.

 

#14 Abram Boise (RR: South Pacific)

Seasons: 9

Finals: 4

Wins: 2

Elimination record: 2-2 (1-1 on Bloodlines where his partner was only participant)

One of my favorite competitors, Abram really spread the wealth of his achievements evenly over his tenure on the show, making it to the finals roughly every other season, winning 2 of them.  His elimination record isn’t great though, having as many losses as he does wins.

 

#13 Laurel Stucky (Fresh Meat II)

Seasons: 5

Finals: 4

Wins: 1

Elimination record: 9-1

I’ll admit I was quite surprised when I saw that Laurel had only won 1 Final.  But her limited appearances highlighted how dominant of a player she could be.  She had made it to her first 4 finals and won her first 9 eliminations, until just recently when Camila upset her in an elimination that would have taken her to a 5th final.  Her end results were occasionally hampered by her interaction with teammates (see: Zach, Cara Maria) but regardless of all that, there’s no denying that she is one of the best females to play this game, and I’m confident that she will only move up this list with more appearances.

 

#12 Susie Meister (RR: Down Under)

Seasons: 3

Finals: 3

Wins: 2

Elimination record: 4-0

These stats actually don’t include a season that Susie appeared in prior to season 5, but she came up short in it anyway.  You could put up a good argument that Susie actually is the best female to ever play.  Her lack of appearances is what keeps her lower on this list, but she certainly made the most of her 3 seasons, making it to every final, winning twice, and to top it off she won every single elimination she had to participate in.  That’s quite the resume.

 

#11 Paula Meronek (RW: Key West)

Seasons: 10

Finals: 5

Wins: 2

Elimination record: 5-5 (1-0 on The Island)

Prior to this upcoming season, Paula had been able to say that she is the only female to appear in double digit seasons.  Paula went winless for a while, and eventually it seemed she would never achieve greatness, making it to several finals but always coming up short.  Then she benefitted from a new theme introduced (Rivals and Rivals II) which paired her up with two very strong players in Evelyn and Emily.  With their help, she was able to take first place in both seasons.  The great part is that she wasn’t carried by either of them.  She pulled her own weight, and made those great players even better.

 

 

#10 Mike ‘The Miz’ Mizanin (RW: Back to NY)

Seasons: 5

Finals: 4

Wins: 2

Elimination record: 2-0

The other big player to come out of the Back To New York cast, The Miz has a very similar stat sheet as his former roommate, Coral.  The difference is he has twice as many Challenge wins and even did it in fewer seasons.  The Miz was a force to be reckoned with in the earlier years of the show.  He only got sent into two eliminations, but can also boast that he is undefeated in them.

 

 

#9 Wes Bergmann (RW: Austin)

Seasons: 10

Finals: 4

Wins: 2

Elimination record: 13-6

The elimination champ, and the primary rival to the JEK alliance, Wes began his career strongly, making it to the finals in his first two seasons.  As he got older, his performance kind of tapered off a bit but his political game never did.  And after 10 seasons and 2 wins, he has some amazing overall stats including the most elimination wins.

 

#8 Landon Lueck (RW: Philadelphia)

Seasons: 4

Finals: 3

Wins: 3

Elimination record: 5-1

Like Emily S. and Susie, one reason keeps Landon from the top of this list.  He only gave us 4 seasons.  But also like them, he made the absolute most of it.  Landon was arguably unbeatable with 3 wins in his first 3 seasons, until a controversial matchup in The Duel II, which unfortunately ended up being the last we saw of him on the series.  Landon could still be considered the best to ever play, and I wouldn’t argue it.

 

#7 Sarah Patterson (RW: Brooklyn)

Seasons: 9

Finals: 5

Wins: 2

Elimination record: 6-2

My favorite female competitor made it to #7.  Sarah was always a tough out, when it involved traditional methods.  Unfortunately, a couple times her gameplay would be cut short due to things beyond her control (i.e. partners who either quit or got DQ’d).  But in her 7 seasons not having to leave abruptly, she made it to 5 finals, winning twice.  In fact, she never lost an elimination as an individual.  After 9 seasons, Sarah definitely deserves top 10 recognition.

 

#6 Evelyn Smith (Fresh Meat)

Seasons: 7

Finals: 4

Wins: 3

Elimination record: 6-3 (2-0 on The Island)

As grouchy (or some would say arrogant) as Evelyn was a lot of the time, she made this show better because of it.  She was like a small but feisty bulldog that you didn’t want to mess with.  Her performance in The Island was beyond spectacular.  With 3 wins in 4 finals, she has the most wins of any female to ever play.  And her stats make her the most accomplished female to ever play this game.  I wish she would come back for one more season.

 

#5 Derrick Kosinski (RR: X-Treme)

Seasons: 9

Finals: 4

Wins: 3

Elimination record: 8-5 (1-1 on The Island)

The Diesel is one of the best to come out of Team Road Rules, having a lengthy tenure on the show (and adding to it by returning this coming season after a long layoff).  He is behind only two players in Challenge history in total wins, with 3.  He also has the third most elimination wins of all male contestants.  With solid stats all around, Derrick rounds out our top 5.

 

#4 Chris “CT” Tamburello (RW: Paris)

Seasons: 12

Finals: 6

Wins: 2

Elimination record: 5-3

CT only trails Bananas for the most seasons played, with 12.  Because of that, he has made it to a whopping 6 finals, winning 2 of them.  He’s also only had to play in a total of 8 eliminations, mostly due to the fact that nobody wants to go up against CT 1-on-1 in ANYTHING.  CT has had to leave the game prematurely on 3 separate occasions, so it’s fair to say that had he been able to stick around for any of those, these numbers would look even better.  He’s got at least one more season in him, as he is also returning for season 30.

 

 

#3 Darrell Taylor (RR: Campus Crawl)

Seasons: 7

Finals: 4

Wins: 4

Elimination record: 5-2

If you only counted the first half of this series’ lifespan, Darrell would likely be sitting at #1 on this list.  Winning his first 4 Challenges is a feat that I doubt we see matched by anyone ever.  Also, as you can see, if you wanna beat Darrell, don’t let him make the finals because he’s undefeated in them.  He took a very long break from the game, but has returned recently to see if he can do it again.  (Which he sort of did already, by taking first place in the off-shoot Champs vs. Pros).

 

 

#2 Kenny Santucci (Fresh Meat)

Seasons: 8

Finals: 7

Wins: 3

Elimination record: 5-2 (0-1 on The Island)

Easily one of the most talented competitors all around, Kenny charmed his way to 7 finals in 8 seasons.  He also had the strength of the JEK alliance to control the house often.  Kenny was very good at keeping himself out of eliminations by directing votes elsewhere.  He was a master at the social game, with a great nose for the endgame.  He’s tied with the 3rd most wins all time, and 2nd most finals behind only the man in the #1 spot, but achieved that in almost half the numbers of seasons.  When it comes to overall Challenge success, it’s hard to argue anyone is better than Kenny was (except for one guy of course).

 

#1 Johnny ‘Bananas’ Devenanzio (RW: Key West)

Seasons: 14

Finals: 8

Wins: 6

Elimination record: 11-8 (1-1 on The Island; 3 wins from BOTE2 ‘Redemption Island’ style second chance matchups)

Obviously, we all knew who would show up in the #1 spot.  No player has more wins, no player has made more finals.  But also, no player has played this game as many times as Johnny.  This upcoming season will make appearance #15 for him (out of 30!).  He’s the mainstay of all mainstays.  And he is still trying to pad his stats a bit before he finally hangs it up.  No matter what you think of him personally, you can’t deny his skills.   On top of that, he is tied with Wes for having to fight through the most eliminations, winning 11 out of 19.  If you calculated everyone’s achievements on a per-season scale, Bananas wouldn’t be #1.  But it’s impossible to deny the fact that he is clearly the most accomplished Challenge competitor.