While MTV's the show's format have remained the entire time. There are of course the daily challenges, the finals, and the dreaded eliminations.
Eliminations are the do-or-die moment for any Challenge contestant, and while the odds always seem to be in favor of one competitor over another, there is always a chance that the underdog player will prove themselves and wind up scoring the win. So, what are the most shocking elimination wins in Challenge history?
Casey & Wes Vs. Almost Everyone - Fresh Meat
This is a bit of a throwback to earlier seasons when The Challenge was almost a different competition, however Wes and Casey's insane streak of dominance is still incredibly impressive.
The Austin cast of Real World were targets from the very start of Fresh Meat, and Wes and Casey wound up eliminating every other Austin cast member team themselves. They went into 5 out of the 8 exiles for the season and won every time, which is proportionally the best winning streak of any season.
Leroy & Ty Vs. Trey & Zach - Rivals II
This elimination win was quite the upset because at first, it appeared that Zach and Trey had actually won the elimination, and it was only upon closer examination of the footage that it became clear they had lost for breaking one of the key rules of the elimination.
The elimination was memorable not only because of the unexpected ending, but because Zach in particular displayed a significant lack of sportsmanship when he had first thought that he'd won.
Jordan & Sarah Vs. Zach & Jonna - Battle of the Exes II
Ever since his debut on The Challenge, Jordan has been a very dominant player who excels when it comes to strategizing on the fly, but most fans weren't aware of quite how skilled he was until this elimination.
He had to face off against Zach in a competition of who could hammer something the hardest and fastest, and Jordan's knowledge of how to effectively use the tools meant that he beat one of the strongest male competitors literally single-handedly.
Devin Vs. Bananas - Vendettas
There hasn't been any love lost between the Banana man.
Although Johnny's elimination record isn't nearly as good as his Challenge win record, going against such a seasoned vet was a huge risk. However, Devin proved that he could put his money where his mouth was when they were thrown in together and he actually did defeat the Challenge champ.
Laurel Vs. Ninja - War Of The Worlds 2
Laurel is undoubtedly one of the fiercest and most dominant players in the history of the show, but when the contestants arrived at elimination and saw that it was a competition that very heavily favored Ninja, everyone presumed Laurel was likely going to get eliminated.
And although both competitors had trouble with a hidden hole that a rod needed to be inserted into, Laurel believed that she'd found it while Ninja did not. Laurel intensely celebrated her win only to discover that she didn't actually win.
Darrell Vs. Cory - Double Agents
Cory isn't exactly a competitive slouch, so it's not out of the realm of possibility that he could beat Darrell in an elimination.
However, Darrell is still one of the strongest competitors in the game, and what made this particular elimination so shocking is that Cory won so quickly and easily. Granted, the competition did essentially boil down to a foot race that Darrell lost by a few seconds, but most viewers were expecting the fight to be a little more dogged.
Derrick Vs. Joss - Vendettas
Derrick isn't called Diesel Derrick for nothing, and anyone familiar with The Challenge is not at all surprised to see him manhandle a guy who is twice his size.
However, one thing that Derrick has never been is a master strategist, so the fact that he and Joss went at it for so long and then Derrick managed to pull out the win not by brute strength, but by out-strategizing Joss and making him believe that Derrick had gone out of bounds when he didn't, was shocking.
Devin Vs. Wes - Double Agents
It was clear from the outset that Devin and Wes didn't want to go against each other in elimination, and it also seems fair to say that Wes just didn't want it as much as Devin did in the moment.
However, Devin constantly underplays his athletic abilities when it comes to the game, so seeing him defeat one of the strongest competitors who has one of the best elimination records in history was a shocker.
Jay Vs. CT - Total Madness
Everyone loves an underdog, and as soon as obvious Challenge fanboy Jay Starrett debuted on the series, he became a fan favorite. However, when he defeated CT in an elimination, he became an instant legend.
Although their elimination wasn't entirely physical, it was grueling and required a lot of strategy, plus it was based on an elimination style CT had won before. But Jay pulled off the epic upset, and his geeked-out reaction to beating such a legend was just the cherry on top.
Johnny & Tyler Vs. CT & Adam - Rivals
Bad luck and bad behavior have prevented CT from getting a lot of wins that he should have easily gotten, but one of the biggest surprises was when he and Adam lost in Rivals.
It was truly their season to lose, and while Johnny and Tyler are clearly not an easy team to beat, were it not for Adam mixing up the balls that needed to be relayed across the course, they likely would have won that elimination and possibly the season.
