The Champ is back to go for consecutive titles. CT’s win on Invasion, was not very impressive compared to most of his prior seasons, and even CT will admit he was not in the best shape. He lived off of the mystique of CT from the past and didn’t have to face an elimination until the final round before the final where he beat his biggest competition in Darrell. Did he work his ass off to earn the Invasion win? Not really, but he put in years of service to get the win on name value alone. A lot of great competitors have those wins: Brad (Cutthroat), Derrick (the Ruins), Johnny (the Ruins), and so on. He showed up and kicked ass.

It will be interesting to see how hard CT pushes himself going into this season. When he won Rivals 2, he came back for Free Agents in great shape, though his intensity was somewhat gone. After having been so hungry for a win for so many years, CT wanted to win again, yet he was content with not winning too. When he gets eliminated by Bananas right before the final, watch his response, he literally brushes it off like it is nothing: “I’ll just come back next time, be better, and win”. There was little disappointment for a man who once attacked Wes and TJ after DQing on the Duel 1. CT’s indifference was hilarious. I fear that CT is coming only for the appearance check and not caring much of whether he wins or loses.

The 400k dollar prize is what will push CT. In Florida, 400k can take you a long way, much further than it would in California or the northeast. CT’s always had a mad desire to dominate these games his way. Now that he has a kid, the world has opened for CT, he has a broader perspectives. CT is no longer playing for himself, he’s playing for his family, he understands what that money can do, how good of a life they can have.

It’s hard to tell what type of shape CT is in. He looked a little better than Invasion during Champs vs Pros, then not as well at the reunion. The reunion was filmed literally a few days before the season 30 departure. The key for CT was to be slimmer, instead it looks like he is 245–250 lbs area. Hopefully, the Challenge’s favorite competitor can bring it home again.

Now here’s a review of CT as a competitor, as well as his social media handles (he uses Twitter to repost his IG stuff):

Skills & Physical Strengths: At 6'2 and 250 lbs, CT is a monster. A behemoth, one of my favorite part of Champs vs Pros was when he played CM Punk in Pole Push. Victor Cruz declared it as “ in one corner WWE Champion, CM Punk, and in the other, just a huge man.” If you had to describe CT the first time after seeing him, that’s pretty spot on.

CT is one of the top swimmers in Challenge history, right below the tier 0 swimmers like Wes and Tyler, used to be one of the fastest (not sure what his speed is like these days), used to have crazy hops (can probably still get up, just not consistently), and was a monster. He still has many CT abilities. However, with age and with less fitness, it’s not something he can put out like when he was in his 20’s. CT can whoop the younger kids asses in anything 1 on 1, but it may be better for him to take the Darrell strategy of going on cruise control until the game gets serious.

Social & Mental Game: Did you watch the way that CT was able to talk Ashley off of a cliff and make her smile during her meltdown before they left for the final? That was adorable. CT embodies a dad so much these days. He was once the crazy kid who nobody could settle down. Now that he has mellowed out, he can relate the outcasts, he can make them feel good. CT doesn’t like the attitude of Cory, Nicole, and other meatheads, he does not see anything special in them, or at least nothing for them to be acting like the game owes them something.

What CT respects is the true underdogs, the ones with fight in them. He respected Amanda, Ashley, Nelson, Shane, etc., all the people you would generally sleep on. It makes sense as CT was never one to be fully invested in the IT crowd during his Challenge days. They were only afraid of him back then.

CT is a weird puzzle savant who excels in tangrams and anything where it’s visual (i.e. make these 8 puzzle pieces fit in the diagram, or create this). Not as good when it comes to riddles and trivia.

Eliminations: One of the weirdest facts about CT is that he has an underwhelming elimination record (for CT) at 5–3. You’d have expected CT to be 11–1 or something. This is mostly due to the fact people don’t want to see CT in elimination. Seeing CT in an elimination is a terrifying premise, I’d shit pants or quit if I had to play against CT. Well… I’d wait til I got to the elimination, if it was physical, I’d pretend to trip and sprain my ankle.

FUN GAME. HOW MUCH WOULD YOU NEED TO BE PAID? TO TAKE A PUNCH FROM CT IN THE FACE? WHEREVER YOU READ THIS, REPLY IN THE COMMENTS.

I say, at least 10k. With 5k, I could have some serious damage, a concussion, and it won’t look good for a while. I want to make a small profit.

I asked my best friend and he said enough money to take care of his family, as he would probably die after a punch from CT.

What was I writing about? Oh yeah, you don’t want to see CT in elimination.

Final Potential & Endurance: Considering he won the last final that he was in, CT should feel good going into the next final he does, right? Well, he only beat Nelson by 2 minutes, and partially due to Nelson being one of the worst swimmers in Challenge history. If Shane or Hunter were in Nelson’s place, maybe they win that final.

This next time around, CT isn’t going to be facing no regular underdogs. I guarantee you, if CT gets to the final, he’s going to be seeing at least one of: Bananas, Jordan, Derrick, or Darrell. And I can guarantee you that those people are better than Nelson, and are in way better for a final than CT.

Final Score: 95/100