DC WRAP: The Challenge Champs vs. Stars III - Finale Endgame

BY DC CUEVA                     

■ @DC408Dxtr  @ TW / IG / YT

We are at halftime of 2018 in MTV Reality, and what a time to be alive for those who follow these shows you love following an eventful first half of the year. We began just after New Year's Day with The Challenge Vendettas, then went to Hawaii for Ex On The Beach -- and both have certainly brought us the goods. For those into shows outside the Trifecta, there was the second half of Siesta Key, two generations of Teen Mom being joined by those Young & Pregnant, and of course, Jersey Shore Family Vacation.
   And then, there's the third spinoff season of The Challenge, Champs vs. Stars II. There, despite having just three actual champions and a group who joined them who didn't all have finals experience, nonetheless they brought their very best against an almost-entirely new group of athletes and celebrities who gave it their best shot... and then, there was the Olympian who heralded the British invasion to The Challenge who certainly put up a strong effort in a season we won't forget.
   As is custom for the final act of the major series this site covers - and in the first of two of them to come here this week, this entire WRAP is dedicated to the stretch run and final of a Champs vs. Stars season that had everything we wanted in a regular Challenge season: drama, competition, an intense final and worthy champions. We'll have some takeaways from this season, head into the Strategy Room to dissect the finalists and discuss Team Dad Bod... that is all ahead.

 THINGS TO KNOW 

A FEW TAKEAWAYS...

● POLITICS > FRIENDSHIPS: First, even with the charitable nature of Champs vs. Stars, it doesn't mean it will be a totally friendly competition... proof of that came in Week 2. For there, we saw Kam and Daniel "Booby" Gibson have a connection which then evaporated when he decides to vote her into an elimination she would then lose to Brooke Hogan. This was the most notable backstabbing in the house when it comes to politics taking over being cordial on The Challenge, though something that also emerges is of what's revealed on the reunion of how CT didn't come to the aid of Aneesa after she fractured her ankle and had to leave.

● EMOTIONS ON FIRE: If what we saw last season with T.O. awakening CT as did what we saw with Camila, this and last season has surely brought the drama factor to Champs vs. Stars that made Champs vs. Pros feel oh so different. When we saw Hennessy, we expected some fireworks to come from Cardi B's sister, and eventually it takes place: her and Devin getting into it before a nomination and her deciding to bolt.

   When we saw Shane return last year, we expected him to show that fire that made him a favorite among old-school fans, and he became a breakout star on Invasion... and it's when he finds Louise's foot moving to another position on the board in that double twister challenge that makes him a favorite of everyone including newbies to this show. And there's Ashley: when Louise decides to pull a fast one on everyone with that trade, she loses it once again - going off on the Stars and even her own Champs teammates. She can be that great competitor, but whenever you wake her up it can be a bit too tough to handle.

● STARS ON PARADE: Going into this season, the Stars chosen for this season were a good bunch in not Hennessy, but also Drake Bell, Lil' Mama, Selita Ebanks and, of course, Jozea who we'll be seeing in six days. But those who stood out among them were Brooke Hogan and Daniel "Booby" Gibson, who won challenges and eliminations and won over everyone during this season with the former forming a BFF bond with Shane and the ladder making the final with Wes. And of course, the big stars were Louise Hazel & Casper Smart -- and they were far and away the most competitive of the celebrities/athletes who were given this chance to play with the top dogs and who proved that they can keep up with the best this show has to offer to them.

● DAD BOD REIGNS: For the final act, Louise & Casper head into the final challenge to face off against Wes & Booby and CT & Tony -- the third pair having started this season being the quickest of the competitors in the very first challenge and became their respective team captains before the teams were split into two mixed teams and then into pairs for the homestretch. If what we saw in many of these finals of late have seemed like an easy ride for what should be the toughest stretch these players go through each season, what takes place in this season's final is more of what we should expect: a long, grinding final where the field is evenly matched and so tightly bunched you do not know who's gonna win until the closing stages. That's what we got in this final where all of the three teams led at some stage of the game, all until the food portion of the final where the Dad Bods smoked the field and take a lead that they do not relinquish en route to the win... that's what finals should be.

■ FINAL ORDER 

    PAIRS STAGE

 1. CT & TONY                       

 2. LOUISE & CASPER             

 3. WES & DANIEL                  

 4. KAILAH & DRAKE              

 5. TORI & LIL' MAMA             
 6. BROOKE & SHANE             

 STRATEGY ROOM: ENDGAME 

So, what do we make of the third installment of Champs vs. Pros/Stars? Well, there's just a little bit to dissect in the Debrief that's to come in this time before Final Reckoning debuts next week, but it's safe to say that the final we saw here is better than what we have seen in recent finals of late on not just the spinoff but the regular show as well. And unlike the ladder where they have decided to give the spinoff a big boost by saving the winner reveal on Dirty 30 and Vendettas to before Champs vs. Stars starting up, this one took place DURING the finale itself.

   Like what we had with Cara on the most recent regular Challenge season, there's a winner with general approval from viewers like yourselves - perhaps it's a majority opinion for the dads of Team Champs. But the finals field for Champs/Stars III was as deep as we had on Dirty 30, where CT & Tony, Louise & Casper and Wes & Booby all had good to solid seasons and were worthy enough to make it to the end once Kailah & Drake met their match.
   The final exceeded what we saw in not only the first two seasons of this spinoff, but even finals of recent Challenges where not only was it an exciting final, it was also a closely-contested one that wasn't decided until the late stages... that's what it should be when you have some great teams who were worthy competitors to gain this crown.

 3RD  WES & DANIEL

As we've mentioned here before, Wes is the only man of the first Champs vs. Pros/Stars class to not win a title... and with respect to Camila last year this represented his best chance to finally join the others who've won a final since then. If this was a crown that CT & Tony and Louise & Casper wanted, this was the one Wes needed... and after holding that lead early on and confronting his match in the eating portion, this one certainly stings a bit. We're sure that with him now bearing a wedding ring, he's retired from the regular Challenges but will keep on doing these spinoffs until he finally wins one for his charity... then he can hang 'em up for good. But also credit to Booby for hanging in there and also bringing it this season.

 2ND  LOUISE & CASPER

For many, this was the team that should have deserved the opportunity to wear that crown and make history. It was not to be for Louise and Casper despite her veteran experience and him being the villain of sorts of this season. But they did prove that, though they came up short, the time for a Star to reign victorious on Champs vs. Stars should be coming very soon. Louise got to show the experience she gained from impressing everyone on Champs vs. Pros to great extent: two dailies wins and winning two of the last three eliminations is a mark to be proud of here along with winning the very first challenge on last year's season... it's no wonder why she's been touted to make her way to an actual Challenge season though she got beaten to the alter here. And for Casper - he not won that next to last challenge in rather controversial fashion with attention being paid to his partner, he also joined Wes and those who won three eliminations in one season, along with gaining a reputation for his brash persona. Don't be surprised if, he too, also gets chosen for a regular season too.

 1ST  CT & TONY
See Below...

TEAM DAD BODS

When you look at the progression of this season from when it began on Tax Day until it ended just before the Summer Solstice, judging by what we've seen in the past year the three vets to watch in this third edition were Wes, CT and Tony. All three of them made the final, and in the end, it's the defending champion that keeps his title and adds to his stellar legacy, and also helps to crown a new king of the castle... a coronation that - considering his journey - was almost inevitable.

After what happened to Diem and the new change to his life in a new baby, CT returned to regular duty on Invasion in a new frame of mind of not being that bad boy we've seen over the years. There in Asia and since - and with just the sole exception of his showdown with Terrell Owens last winter, CT's only screen time came during competition: a far cry from what we're used to seeing from him.
   Going into Thailand, he had just one Challenge title to his credit when it was Wes who gave him the gift of that first finals triumph five years ago on Rivals II. Him being able to dominate the early half and then just hang on to take down Nelson and Cory in that 3-day final helped to validate himself in the Top 5 among all-time male competitors. And he followed that up with making it to the end on Dirty 30 also, when Jordan and Derrick had a better two days than him.

   Now, he has won three finals in the course of the past thirteen months - Invasion, the dominant Champs season on the winter Champs vs. Stars with Bananas and Emily, and now the summer edition of the spinoff. CT has made made his plea in the discussion of being THE all-time great: Bananas, of course, has those six titles; Darrell has his four rings; CT has two titles and many finals appearances... and of course all of them have spinoff wins to add to those legacies... and the Bostonian becomes the first to win CVS twice (it could've been all three had he gracefully conceded his spot on Pros to Wes).

   Had it not been for getting DQ'd on The Duel, the Big Easy Gauntlet III final, the fight with Adam and him throwing that last Rivals jungle or stumbling on Exes, CT could easily have several more finals wins than what he has now - same way that Jack Nicklaus' many runner-up finishes could easily have the Golden Bear with more golf majors than the 18 he has. But again, it's him being the beast he has been that more than makes up for the lack of success he had up until that Rivals II win, and it's just now that he is finally getting the recognition he rightfully deserves.
   And here on CVS III, CT had to overcome something he had here that brought back what happened in the last final that included an endurance element: a back injury that hampered him for much of this final that saw him slow down just as we saw last fall. But, it was his puzzle mastery and experience that saw him carry the day and shows how gritty any player must be to handle the most tension-packed test of any season. That brings us to the star of this season, and a likely candidate for MVP of this cycle...

For basketball fans like me, you might've heard about "The Process" that's been taking place over in Philadelphia with the 76ers, which saw them win a playoff series for the first time in many years in spite of the later Twitter burner controversy that cost Bryan Colangelo his GM job. It's the same thing when Challenge fans talk about the humble beginnings and sudden rise of one who has now stamped himself as a Challenge powerhouse, and who now has his coronation.

   For Tony, this is the culmination of a process that started in Turkey on Bloodlines, where a fight on opening night with brother Shane, cheating on his baby mama that same day and him getting hurt in a challenge early on was not a good start. It was further compounded when he and Camila got in a non-physical fight on Rivals III that got them sent home, and even more when he lost the first night elimination to Shane following the merge with the Champs on Invasion and him crying in his exit interview. We all thought that this would be the end for a promising Challenge career that had big things expected of him but could not muster anything - many others have suffered this fate too.

   As we have written here many times, one can point to what happened on Dirty 30: him losing to Ammo in an elimination he was expected to win. But once he found that he had a chance to get back into the game via the Redemption House, that served as the wake-up call Tony desperately needed to stop with the non-game nonsense (aside from THAT night in the bus) to now become a contender he was destined to be. Ever since, this has probably become one of the most improbable rises to glory that The Challenge has ever seen: someone who should have retired by now go on a tear.

   Yes, some people - including fellow blogger Allan Aguirre - agree that the phrase "Tony Time" might be overused a bit... the latest instance of the cockiness he's had throughout his MTV time. But now, with all of what we've seen since last August, he has been able to back up that phrase with probably the most successful stretch of competitive consistency we've seen in a long time: a resilient run on one season with two dailies & one elimination win post that Redemption return, a dominating regular season with 7 troikas, just as many dailies wins in Spain and a finals berth the next, and a crown to go along with it on his first trip to the spinoff.
   This run now gives Tony serious consideration for this site's Most Valuable Player of the past seventeen months of The Challenge against Cara Maria and her two finals wins (see our Debrief to see who wins). And if we do see him on a Challenge again to give it one more go before it's time to settle into the biggest challenge of all of parenting, he will have that target on his back to try to prove that this is no flash in the pan, that the process is now paying off. And having this experience will more than help to make him a top dog going forward... that is, if he decides to keep going on here knowing that he's a changed man from when we first saw him in Chicago all those years ago.

For some context, both CT and Tony have come from humble beginnings to make it to the top: one had a long wait to win his first title, and the other waited less than half of that to cross the finals line first. For the most recent member of the champions club - 84 in total of those who've won a final, it took only two Challenges for Ashley M. to go from being the one that had everyone asking "Why is she here?" as a first-time rookie to becoming a surprise champion on the very next season.
   CT had to wait a decade for this first sip of the victory champagne, and Sarah and Paula waited just as long as him - 8 seasons - to get their first crowns... so did Cara Maria who like Bananas came from being rookies being eliminated on their first go to not only being multiple champs but now this show's de facto faces. Tony took three years and six overall challenges to have this feeling of being on top, and he also knows what it's like to be sent home in elimination when he lost on Invasion and Dirty 30, but he joined CT in gaining their way out of Redemption on the ladder.
   The Bostonian has already been given his due, and there's not much to prove for him other than to further stake his claim to his throne, and now teaming with Veronica will be a task he should be able to live up to as he looks to add to his trophy case towards his career sunset. And Tony's rise from a chaotic start to now fulfilling this yearlong process adds proof that anyone can win The Challenge from whatever background they have. Both of these runs have been great for this show and no wonder why Team Dad Bod are THE MVP's.

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This is just the start to our DCBLOG prelude to the next cycle of MTV Reality (formerly the MTV Trifecta but now the name has changed to reflect the expanded schedule of programming we cover), with several posts to come as we count down to Premiere Week next week.
   For this week's wave - which began earlier with Wes' Austin roommate Melinda's unique look at true crime, we'll be offering our preseason preview of The Challenge: Final Reckoning, to come this weekend, plus a recap of Season 1 of Floribama Shore which kicks off Premiere Week on Monday before the drama begins to go down in South Africa the next night. Be sure to join us then.

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