There is always a bit of trepidation and excitement associated with every new Champs VS series. People loved the original spin-off, however, the sequel was viewed as sub-par. With news of a third spin-off in less than a year’s time, along with a significant lack of “Champs” on the roster, fans were wary of the third installment. MTV went all on in with the new generation of females, brought in some old time veterans, and banked on CT and Wes, as franchise faces, to carry the show. The Stars has its biggest name to date, with 90’s tween star Drake Bell, along with the iconic 00’s reality star Brooke Hogan, Instagram favorite Hennessy Carolina and a group of world class athletes in Arian Foster, Louise Hazel, and Boobie Gibson.

Tonight’s first episode was not the best, but it did make fans want more. Champs vs Stars 3 began with a montage of cell-phone confessionals from the Stars. The Champs and Stars teams arrive in Black and White jerseys, and begin to mingle. Wes, CT, and Ashley are excited to see Louise from Champs vs Pros back. Tori and Kailah are hyped to meet their childhood hero, Drake Bell. The Miz then introduces all the Stars, hyping them up. Their biggest athlete is Arian Foster, one of the best running back in the NFL. Their first challenge kicks off and it’s a race up a lubed hill of bouncy stairs. It looks simple, but turned out anything but, when you are an adult, carrying your whole weight and balancing in the lube.

The two teams were timed by the individual finishes in two heats. Players who do not complete the challenge receive a five minute time penalty.

Heat 1 Finishes: 1st Tony, 2nd Casper, 3rd Drake, 4 Tori, 5 Aneesa, 6 Kam, 7 Ashley, 8 Louise DQs: Jozea and Selita

Tony beats everyone from the get-go. Casper and Drake were able to traverse easily due to their small size. The Champs girls pushed through and finished between 4th-7th, while Louise came in behind. Jozea and Selita tried their hardest but failed.

Heat 2 Finishes: 1st CT, 2nd Devin, 3rd Arian, 4 Kailah, 5 Wes, 6 Booby, 7 Brooke, 8 Shane, 9 Lil Mama, 10 Hennessy

CT walks up the stairs while the others pile-up behind him. Devin gets up pretty quickly, followed by Arian, Kailah, Wes, and Booby. Meanwhile, Shane takes one for the team by continually falling down the stairs and knocking out girls like a bowling ball. He finishes in 8th, guaranteeing his team the win. Lil Mama and Hennessy are able to finish, with only seconds left on the clock.

Aftermath: It seems like a decisive victory for the Champs, with both Tony (1st) and CT (2nd) finishing with the best times. However, they then discover that teams will be based on the top finishers. Tony and CT are now captains with first and second picks, respectively, alternating between sexes per pick. They start off by keeping it in the family.

Tony’s Team: Wes, Casper, Booby, Drake, Tori, Kam, Louise, Aneesa, Henessy

CT’s Team: Shane, Devin, Arian, Jozea, Kailah, Ashley, Brooke, Lil Mama, Selita

Hilariously, Devin expects Tony, as his boy, to pick him first, however, Tony smartly goes with Challenge Legend Wes, first. CT then goes with his buddy Shane, embarrassing Devin. Wes helps Tony assemble his team, and they pick Casper instead of Devin. CT takes a hard minute to decide between Devin and a Pro Bowl running back, eventually picking Devin. Wes picks Louise, getting the biggest edge athletically and politically.

After the picks, the Miz announces the winning team will be based on their challenge times, giving Tony’s team the win as CT has both people with time penalties. Winning team picks an MVP to decide who goes into elimination for their team. Losing team must vote amongst themselves. Tony also wins the “Power Play”, which allows him to protect any player on the other team that week.

Before elimination voting, Wes, Devin and Louise meet up to talk strategy. Wes convinces Louise to be on the Champs side in order to give her protection and a spot in the end. Ashley convinces Arian to go in as their strongest guy, largely to the protect the Champs.

At deliberation, everyone on the Red Team vote for Arian, except Jozea, who wants to prove himself as a competitor. Tony asks Arian if he wants protection, extracting an indifferent retort from Arian. A power-hungry Tony is tempted to go in and take Arian out himself, asking him “how his knee is”, a reference to Arian’s career-ending injuries. He finally comes to his senses and puts in Casper to take out one of the strongest stars.

Elimination Time

In the elimination, players will hit a target with a bat, as the target will wind up a side winding screw. As it goes higher, the target will become more difficult to move. Essentially, players are attempting to uncork something by hitting it with a baseball bat. First to pop it off wins.

Unfortunately, the elimination itself is not a fun watch. It goes for about a minute, finishing with a Casper win. After the elimination, Tony makes amends with Casper, who does not trust him. The Miz informs everyone of the “save”, where a team can save an eliminated player on their team, but it can only be used once. The Champs use their numbers to decide against Arian returning, upsetting Brooke Hogan.

Post Elimination

While the players enjoy a spaghetti lunch, Brooke expresses her upset at not saving Arian. Shane, Kailah, and the other champs show no remorse as it is a game. Selita is upset that they are “talking shit” without him there. Their profanity makes Selita exit the room in anger. Brooke helps her while the Champs couldn’t care less. While exiting, Brooke tells them to not be so dramatic and not be so Jerry Springer.

This might be a great season.