Sorry if I sound like a broken record when it comes to criticizing Cory, but he surely has been a disappointment so far on the Challenge. It does not help that Cory was an awesome guy in the Real World house. He seemed like the guy who you meet a party and he gives you a beer. A chill dude who was a college football player and personal trainer seemed like he would devour the Challenge. MTV has pushed him down our throat, and like a fish out of water, he’s flopped around.

Let’s look back at some famous Challenge competitors who didn’t quite fulfill the potential we thought possible after their Real World season.

Zach Nichols: Real World San Diego 2

College Wide Receiver who ran a 40 of 4.75 while being 6'4 and the size of Thor. If you watched the Challenge and had to build the “stereotype” of someone to dominate the show, Zach is what you would build. Hilariously, Zach has taught us over the years that being big can hurt you in this competition. Being too big for high altitudes, not having enough gas for endurance competitions, as well as being too big to fit into the small holes an doing the skill competitions. Zach won his first season of the Challenge, but had a stacked team in a game full of rookies, newbies, and flops. Since then he’s made 1 finals in 4 seasons, an embarrassing far 3rd place finish, and gone 1–3 in eliminations. I think he has the potential to finish strong again one day, but right now Zach has looked very disappointing as an athlete, not even mentioning his personality.

CJ Koegel and Scott Herman (RW Cancun and RW Brooklyn)

It may surprise you to see these two on these lists, as CJ has done quite well on the 2 Challenges he was on, while Scott’s never done a Challenge. My problem withe each of these two is that exact reason, they literally haven’t showed up to compete. CJ was great on Battle of the Seasons and is talked about every season when casting starts, but he never comes on despite working as a model, which seems like the perfect job if you want to do a Challenge. Scott Herman has become a workout beast, and it frustrates fans of the show to watch Jay and Nate compete instead of someone like Scott.

Theo King (RW Bad Blood)

My expectations were very low for Theo going into Invasion. I did not like his demeanor or personality on Bad Blood, but a good amount of people were hyped for him after the hype he created for himself on Real World. Still, I expected a guy like Theo who had some top level speed and agility stats in College and High School to come in and tear the game up a little. However, Theo is a quitter who is afraid of heights and blames others for his problems.

Danny Jamieson (RW Austin)

Real World Austin was a good amount before my time, so when I watched it for the first time, I went back to see online reviews and forums to see how people felt about the season. I was jarred by the reactions people had of the season. Nehemiah, who I thought was the chillest dude, was abhorred due to his views on the Iraq War. Danny was loved for his good looks and relationship with Melinda, people thought he would become a star on the Challenge. Now he is looked at as one of the worst competitors in Challenge history with an 0–5 elimination record.

Brooke LaBarbera (RW Denver)

She was a mess on Real World Denver, the mess that you cannot stop watching. A girl whose emotions are all over the place, versatile enough to hookup with both sexes, and has good size usually ends being a challenge must have, but Brooke was such a bad competitor she couldn’t even stay long enough to be the hot girl.

Katelynn Cusanelli (RW Brookyln)

My expectations were very low for her, but she would always brag about her cat like reflexes and ninja skills. Then she’d be up there doing worse than all the other female competitors.

Ty Ruff (RW DC)

Even though he made the Exes 1 final and has an elimination record of 4–3, Ty was a disappointment considering his size, stature, and that he looked like he was sculpted.

Tony Raines (RW Skeletons)

Looked like a star on Real World, still has not made it to the halfway point in a Challenge after 3 attempts.

Nicole Zanatta (RW Skeletons)

Not that disappointing, but while she made the final in her rookie season, she finished in 3rd place despite being the worst athlete of the group. I really underrated how dumb she was, as she struggled with simple multiplication. That’s gonna keep you from winning a final definitely.