Art by Janine Carpena https://twitter.com/magicarpena?lang=en

Is it just me or did it seem like Ashley only came on War of the Worlds for the appearance check?

As a two-time Challenge Champion whose taken home over a million dollars in winnings, she might move on from the Challenge if there are bigger opportunities on the horizon or if she feels it best for her sanity. If you haven’t noticed, she has stepped away from Twitter quite a bit since winning the million dollars (and the backlash that came with stealing the money).

Regardless, her loss to Hunter in this first elimination will benefit War of the Worlds. Due to the length of Final Reckoning (22 episodes including the Reunion) and spoiler availability, most fans knew Ashley stole the million dollars for the longest time, so her rivalry with Hunter already feels like a tired topic. Challenge producers love extending storylines as long as they can, e.g. CT/Diem, Zach/Jenna, Wes/Bananas, etc. Hunter eliminating Ashley in the second episode ends tension which could have gotten in the way of fresh new stories and gives both players closure. Obviously, the relationship will never be repaired, but there is some Deus Ex Machina about Hunter beating Ashley and hugging her after pulling out the win.

It is difficult to imagine Ashley winning a non-team season again. Whoever wins a million dollars will have a massive target on her back. Nobody playing the game wants her to win again, especially when most people believe she did not deserve the money. Similar to how Bananas is “cursed”, Ashley is cursed by her own volition … though it is 100% worth it, it is 1 MILLION DOLLARS! Ashley’s won over 400k more in her Challenge career than Johnny Bananas has in eighteen seasons. TAKING THE MONEY WAS WELL WORTH IT!

But, will she ever be as entertaining again? Some competitors thrive as underdogs and don’t hold up as well once see they hit their peak. When Ashley won Invasion of the Champions, it was probably the most shocking win ever. On a season with four female finalists and a stacked group of female Underdogs, Ashley somehow navigated her way to the end and pulled out the win. She was the Underdog of all Underdogs, she went from Smashley to Challenge Champion. Although she won, everyone still underrated Ashley, even her partner Hunter. After sloshing through the season, Ashley completely showed out in the final and gave her best performance of the season. Hunter carried her for most of Final Reckoning physically, but Ashley’s alliances got them farther in the game when it mattered most, she won herself the choice to take the million dollars and shocked the world.

What now? How can Ashley shock us at this point? Is she gonna bang a dude in the bathroom on premiere night? Is she going to simulate a sexual experience on a giant bar of soap? Or is she going to outwit Nicole Z and her friend Amanda in an elimination? What about going to go toe to toe with Olympian Lolo Jones in an elimination? How about curse out Terrell Owens and Casper Smart? Make out with Johnny Bananas?

Ashley has already done all of those things, but most importantly she’s won the biggest pot in Challenge history. In some sense, Ashley’s Challenge career should end because I’m afraid the next thing she does that will legitimately shock me will be something incredibly illegal. And at the same time, Ashley needs to come back, because even though it felt like she came on War of the Worlds for the appearance check, she should try and tie the total for most wins by a female competitor (three). I’m not even sure if I like Ashley because of her choices as a human being, but like Wes said, she’s one of the greatest to ever play the game and easily one of the most captivating and controversial stars of this Challenge era.