The Challengewouldn’t beThe Challengeif there weren’t some fights! Throughout the course of the 39 seasons of the flagship program,fans have seen some major blow-ups in the house that have led to instant dismissals, while others have had lingering effects that lasted for seasons.Remember whenJulie Stoffertried to undoVeronica Portillo’s safety harness? How about when Tanya Cooley tossedBeth Stolarcyzk’s suitcase in the pool? OrTina Bartaand Beth? Beth and everyone really! CousinsJenna ComponoandBrianna Julighurled insults at one another for the pettiest fight. Oh, and how many slots are we allowed to giveCT Tamburelloand his handful of fistfights? These are just some of the most explosive fights in the history of The Challenge.
The Challengehas been a staple on MTV since the late 90s.The flagship series has introduced the world to some of the biggest reality stars that have helped make a mark on the genre. While the show does actually have some challenges the cast members have to participate in, fans are obsessed with the drama in the house. Whether it’s political mind games or passionate hook-ups,The Challengehas given fans what they want. But sometimes the heat of the moment can get the best of the competitors. Insert fight here!
The Challenge
15Julie Stoffer vs Veronica Portillo
Some might call it a fight. Others would call it attempted murder.Julie Stoffer’s presence during her time in the early seasons of the show was often marred with drama. When she arrived atReal World/Road Rules: Battle of the Sexes, her formerThe Real World: New Orleansroommate, Melissa Howard, was on the attack, accusing her of stealing money out from under her. Julie was a casualty to the drama as Melissa set the precedent for Julie’s reputation with the other girls. Julie was always a competitor, and it was one of her biggest personal flaws.
In a challenge betweenThe Real WorldandRoad RulesonReal World/Road Rules: Inferno, players were attached to a zip line where they had to go from one building to the other. To capture the win in the heat, Julie was attempting to hinderVeronica Portillo, but was pulling at her safety harness instead. Julie was not listening to Veronica or any of her cast mates from the side. The round was finally called to a stop by hostDave Mirra.Julie claimed she didn’t hate Veronica, she was just trying to win.Though no punches were thrown, this explosive moment has gone down inChallengehistory as one of the scariest moments.
The Challenge: Vendettas
Say hello to Pizzagate.The Challenge: Vendettasbrought an entire cast together that was filled with individuals who had it out for one another. And yet, they all still managed to create a new series of vendettas. AllBrad Fiorenzawanted was pizza. He ordered a bunch of pizza pies for the house.
There was so much pizza in the house thatMarie Rodathought she could sly take a box for herself. But when Brad caught her stealing more slices, he called her out for her selfish “gangsta” ways. Rather than fight to win $500,000, Brad and Marie fought over pizza.From Brad’s perspective, it was about respect. Marie just wanted attention.And she got it! It was petty, but not the pettiest on this list.
13Katie Doyle vs Veronica Portillo
Katie Doylewas a little spitfire throughout her time on the show. Not always the strongest physical competitor, Katie’s purpose was to stir the pot and speak her mind. Even thoughReal World/Road Rules: Infernofound the two shows competing against one another, there was a hell of a lot of in-fighting on theRoad Rulesteam. There were a lot of lingering affects following the drama in the previous season,Real World/Road Rules: The Gauntlet. But once again, leave it toVeronica Portilloto find herself at the center of some drama.
With Katie serving as the team’s punching bag, she took out all of her anger and frustration on the well-liked Veronica.Between all the bleeps tossed into the scene thanks to Katie’s explosive expletives, what was heard were personal insults towards Veronica.Katie revealed in confessional that more than winning, she’d rather hit Veronica and get kicked off. Once again, another situation where Veronica, if she pushed her rival to the brink of physical assault, Katie would be gone. So she pushed her there. Leave it to future WWE superstarMike “The Miz” Mizananto talk some sense into Katie. Though, he really did it so she would stay, and they’d have a fighting chance of winning the season.
12Adam Royer vs Ty Ruff
The Challenge: Rivals
The season was calledThe Challenge: Rivals, where pairs of previous rivals were paired up to squash their beef in order to win together. It was a brilliant concept. But this isThe Challenge. Might as well create new rivals in the process! For whatever reason, the show decided to bring in and pair upThe Real World: Las VegashousematesLeroy GarrettandAdam Royertogether. Fans of their series were well aware that Adam’s time on the show was cut short due to his poor behavior. Did they expect him to change his ways before enteringThe Challengehouse? Wishful thinking. During an evening with booze involved,Ty Ruffwas bantering with the women, taking his comments to a level that Adam found disrespectful. Because Adam was a rookie and Ty already had some established relationships, they were all laughing at Ty. Adam didn’t care.
He found the situation was going too far and was about to make everyone in the house aware of it. Out of nowhere, a crash can be heard on the balcony and bodies are trying to tear Ty and Adam off of one another. Ty continued to instigate Adam as Leroy tried to get his partner to not let him push his buttons. Well, it was no use. As Leroy knew, Adam was about to do something stupid as he went searching for “that guy.“As Leroy attempted to hold Ty back, Adam went on the charge, knocking poor Mandi Moyer to the ground, wailing Ty in the face.Adam was pulled from the game. Luckily for Leroy, he was allowed to stay, as they brought in his friend and ally,Michael Ross, where they ultimately placed third. This marked the last time Adam was ever invited to The Challenge.
11Jenna Compono vs Brianna Julig
The Challenge: Battle of the Bloodlines
It’s time to award the award for the pettiest fight inThe Challengehistory.The Challenge: Battle of the Bloodlineswas an exceptional concept that helped expandThe Challengefamily by literally bringing in family for the Challengers to compete with. With the pairs already having a history with one another, there had to be at least one pair that would bring family drama to the show. EnterReal World: Ex-Plosion’sJenna Componoand her cousinBrianna Julig.
Despite being seen as a weak team, the cousins did end up taking third place. But it was a rocky road to get there. Brianna was miserable. She wanted to go home and placed the blame squarely on Jenna.In the bedroom, the cousins hurled insults and low blows.Nothing will forever be better than Jenna saying, “Congratulations. Your dad owns a bakery.” While Brianna never returned to the show, this blow up helps solidify Jenna as a staple. One can only assume they had a fantastic Christmas watching this back as a family! Hope Brianna brought pastries!
10Camila Nakagawa vs Tony Raines
The Challenge: Rivals III
The Challenge: Rivals IIIwill forever be remembered forJohnny Bananas’notorious and villainous move of taking all the money he and his partnerSarah Ricewon. But before that moment happened, it was another pair of rivals that engaged in some disorderly conduct.Tony RainesandCamila Nakagawawere paired together following their heated argument duringThe Challenge: Battle of the Bloodlines. During one of the season’s many drunken evenings, Bananas and his cousinVince Gliattawere bullying Camila following some tomfoolery. To truly make matters worse, Bananas instructed Tony to put Camila to bed. Camila would not listen and her insults to her partner got heated. What started a season earlier transferred over to this season.
Tony’s frustration led to him kicking a trash can as Camila instigated him, asking him to punch her. He then cornered her against the wall, as she called him a drunk. Camila next tossed a glass at Tony. The men had to physically pick Tony up to remove him away from Camila, who was being escorted out herself. Hurricane Camila was in action, screaming at the woman trying to calm her. This moment would never have escalated had it not been for the childish behavior of Bananas and Vince. In the end,TJ Lavintold the entire cast that behavior would not be tolerated and thus Tony and Camila were removed from the game. Don’t worry, Tony will later go on to cheat on his girlfriend duringThe Challenge: Dirty Thirty.
9Ayanna Mackins vs Christian Breivik
It’s time to make history and discuss the first removal of a player following an altercation in the show’s history. Had it not been for the incident betweenAyanna MackinsandChristian Breivik, a precedent for physical violence may never have been set.Real World/Road Rules: Extreme Challengewas the fourth season for the spin-off. It saw a team of six cast members fromThe Real Worldand six cast members fromRoad Rulestraveling around on tour buses, competing for a handsome reward at the end of the season. Despite airing over two decades ago, the actions that led to the event were quite extreme.
Christian made a joke toLatterian Wallacethat Ayanna considered to be racist because Christian used a derogatory slur. While it did not make it on camera, Ayanna physically attacked Christian.Despite Christian’s pleads for her to stay, Ayanna is removed from the game.It was a very unfortunate incident. It became an important teaching moment for Christian.Ayanna has spoken out about the incident being years from it, but it’s clear that had this happened today, Christian would have been removed and disqualified as well.
8Tonya Cooley vs Veronica Portilla
Real World/Road Rules: The Ruinsis one of the top tier seasons of the flagship seriesdespite the awful incidents that happened in the house.The season pit Champions versus Challengers, which amplified the stakes in the house. When it came toTonya Cooley’s time on during her tenure, it was a whirlwind. With a victory under her belt, she was placed on the Champions team, but like almost every season she had been in, no one really liked her. She was often instigated, especially when she was under the influence of alcohol. She was bullied by both the men and women alike. For the longest time, she was the punching bag, but she always returned to the show for the opportunity to compete.
Tonya had enough with one of the OG Mean Girls of the franchise,Veronica Portillo. She got into Veronica’s face and went on a tirade, using personal and homophobic attacks. Veronica was such a veteran of the show, she knew the rules.She knew if any physical altercation ensued, her life in the game would be jeopardized. Tonya, on the other hand, did not care.What started with Tonya grabbing Veronica by the neck ended with Veronica getting exactly what she asked for. Tonya hit her. She slapped her directly on her ear and would not let up. Tonya was instantly removed from the game.There will forever be discourse about whether Veronica should have been eliminated for the incident as well.Veronica manipulated the situation to the point where she knew Tonya would snap. Tonya’s fragility was used against her. Between the multiple incidents that happened this season, it marked the final time viewers would see Tonya on the show.
7Laurel Stucky and Camila Nakagawa vs Amanda Garcia
The Challenge: Invasion of the Champions
The Challengehouse is known for silly pranks. But sometimes, when you prank one of the biggest hotheads in the game, something seemingly silly can turn into a petty explosion. Welcome to the chip incident fromThe Challenge: Invasion of the Champions.Laurel Stuckywas eager to inflict some psychological warfare onAmanda Garciaby putting some chips in her bed. Amanda approached Laurel about the incident, to which Laurel defended herself, calling the prank funny. She claimed she did it because she “loves” Amanda.
Interesting way to express your admiration! Amanda and Laurel continued to keep their heated argument alive only for a hurricane to hit.Camila Nagakawadecided to insert herself into the feud as the Camilantor got up close and very personal with Amanda. Hazing or initiation, call it what you want. It was petty and completely unnecessary. Thankfully, the show’s security detail was able to break up the women before anyone had to get thrown out of the house.
6Turbo Camkiran vs Jordan Wiseley
The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2
SinceThe Challengebegan opening up the potential cast members to other franchises around the globe, the show has introduced viewers to a mix of characters. Some served as fodder. Others were top tier competitors.Turbo Camkiran, originally from the Turkish edition ofSurvivor, was a genuine competitor. His main purpose was to actually compete and not allow the outside forces in the game to complicate his potential. He was not there for the foolishness. So was Turbo the right fit for this show? It’s debatable. Regardless, Turbo enteredThe Challenge: War of the Worlds 2as a Challenge champion, winning the previous edition. And then he met his match:Jordan Wiseley.
They were both tremendous powerhouses in the game, but when Jordan began talking smack, disrespecting his honor, Turbo exploded.With the house engaged in their verbal spat, Team USA was eager to see Turbo and Jordan face off in an elimination. Unfortunately, it never reached that point. A war of words led to the security detail coming in. But when they let the argument continue, it was over. The look in Turbo’s eyes was truly predatorial. Jordan mocked Turbo’s walk, setting the man off completely. Despite a warning, Turbo got violent with the production team and was removed from the game. You cannot copy Turbo’s walk!
