Maybe, I’ve not said the nicest things about Cory as a competitor in the past, but today I might say some positive stuff, then again it may trend towards negative. Here’s what I wrote about him in preparation for Invasion:

In it, I wrote wondering if Cory was a real competitor, or is he a fake with popcorn muscles. Watching him lose to Nate on Rivals 3, had to be one of the most shocking elimination losses that I never saw coming. At that time, I thought Cory was awesome and a potential future superstar. In that moment, it was like on Spongebob when he had the big inflatable muscles that all popped in one moment. That’s Cory for you.

This will be Cory’s fourth season of the Challenge. Kind of crazy that this new guy is already on his fourth, and that a good amount of people wouldn’t mind if he was or was not there this season. It feels a bit in the last couples years that we have been a bit over-saturated by Cory. Last season, MTV had Cory on the press tour with shows like Entertainment Tonight, they wanted to show him off as the star of the season. Then the season came on, and Cory was less than impressive despite making it to the final.

Cory’s final performance is up there with some of the worst, including quitters even. He finished 3rd place in every heat of the final, last place in every portion, and in the end had the audacity to blame it on his partners. I wrote an entire piece before the final explaining the difference between Cory and his friend, Nelson Thomas. When it comes to Cory, he’s the guy at the gym popping off about he’s the best, he’s the champ, and when he has to show up, it’s only excuses. While Cory did have a bad knee, and has had an ACL surgery, I’d prefer if he prefaced himself as trying to get better from that, instead of acting like he is the best.

In theory, Cory is bad competition. Then you look at his career stats, and he has made two finals in three seasons. That usually means you’re a beast. Cory well… we finally get to see what he can do on his own now.

Now here’s a review of Cory as a competitor, as well as his social media handles:

Skills & Physical Strength: Respect needs to be given where it is deserved. Cory played fringe D1 College football. He gave up his scholarship due to a pregnancy scare that a crazy ex-girlfriend lied to him about. I’m very sympathetic to this, the girl took away possibilities from Cory. Now since then, Cory has not shown the highest character. His biggest strengths on these Challenge has been his dick strength. In four seasons of MTV (3 Challenge, 1 RW), he’s had sex with 5 girls already, on pace for 1.25 girls a season, and no current sign of slowing down. He’s hooked up with old and new!

His arms are big, and Cory has shown an ability to excel in most anaerobic activities. He blew everyone away in the inner tube jumping mission on Invasion, during the rope walk on Bloodlines he sped right through it with his arms, and has proven to have those football-like bursts of speed and athleticism.

He’s a bad long distance runner, weak swimmer, and he cannot compete with the heavyweights like CT and Zach when it comes to strength. I’d like to see a more trim and quick Cory for Season 31. His body does not seem different from Invasion based on his Instagram pics.

Social & Mental Game: Cory seems like he wants to be with the veterans, now that he is getting up there in season appearances. It also feels like that would be a bad choice for him. None of the veterans have him ranked highly on their social totem pole. For him to be successful, he needs to play with Dario, Nelson, Hunter, Tony, etc, and attempt to play Underdogs versus Champs part two, except they don’t have the benefit of not seeing them in eliminations.

My problem is that he may be a follower and not try to stir the pot. The Champs aren’t going to protect you, so him and the other new generation need to take their shots rather than fighting themselves. He was generally well-liked, and he still might be liked within the cast, though after actions the past two seasons, it may not be the best for him.

His biggest struggle is that he likes to play the game in the middle and scope which side is better to play with. Now he’s playing with a stronger cast and more veterans, so this time around, that shit will get sniffed out quickly. And then when it comes to puzzles, Cory is bad a them, which is generous. He killed his chances of winning and Nicole’s chances of winning on the first portion of the final for Invasion.

Eliminations: His current elimination record stands at 2–1. Which is giving him too much credit. The first elimination he ever won, was against Theo, who quit, and it wasn’t even a physical competition, just who would jump off a cliff faster. He won the second spot in the final for the Bloodbath, though that was more Nelson’s win than anything. Cory’s one loss was to Nate S., one of the worst competitors ever to play the game. That loss equates to like ten losses.

Cory has the size and build to be good at eliminations. He won’t do well if it’s a puzzle or needs critical thinking skills. He’s a hitter, not a thinker.

Final Potential & Endurance: After one of the worst performances in Challenge history, it is hard to expect Cory to ever be able to win a final unless he completely changes the way he trains or the way his body is. Cory was able to finish second place on Bloodlines due to Jenna & Brianna putting up a similar performance to how Cory did on Invasion, and that his cousin Mitch was able to house all the puzzles, saving them so much time in the game. Cory actually isn’t that bad of a competitor, however, his ceiling is too low to ever expect him to win a Challenge.

Final Score: 77/100