5 Best Seasons Of MTV's The Challenge, Ranked

"Survivor" often gets credit for the reality TV boom of the early aughts — as it should — but there's one competition series that threw punches and slung insults far before Borneo was riddled with the drama of money-hungry Americans. 

"The Challenge" began as a spin-off series to MTV's "The Real World" and "Road Rules." Its first season (titled "Road Rules: All Stars") sent five former Real Worlders around the country in a winnebago to tackle challenges and chase a "handsome reward." By Season 2, the series rebranded with a new name — "The Real World/Road Rules Challenge" — pitting former "Real World" and "Road Rules" cast members against each other, and thus, "The Challenge" truly came into its own. 

What sets the MTV classic apart from shows like "Big Brother," "The Traitors," and the like? Its players are repeatedly cast allowing drama and bad blood to fester and re-ignite season-to-season, as exes and rivals are partnered together or against each other, and trapped in a house. The goal: Conquer your enemies and boot them from the game before you're the one who gets got. 

Over time, "The Challenge" opened its doors to cast members from "Are You the One?" before widening the search to players from "Love Island UK," "Big Brother," "Survivor," "Ex On the Beach," "Geordie Shore," and more. 

With the competition, drama, and storylines unfolding throughout seasons, cherry-picking the very best can be a bit of a blur if you're trying to chart the history of the cast's windy relationships. So ahead of Season 42 — which is set to premiere in early August on Paramount+ — we revisited all 41 installments so far, to present our picks for the five absolute best seasons of "The Challenge."

Call us suckers for nostalgia, but the "Challenge 2000" served up some true "Real World" and "Road Rules" OGs, who in turn delivered some truly unforgettable reality TV moments. The cast included the "The Real World: New York" legend Heather B. and "Hawaii" standout Teck Holmes, but the season also served as Veronica Portillo's first "Challenge" show. (Bonus points for future "All-Stars" winner Yes Duffy and "Road Rules: Down Under" icon Piggy Thomas.) 

Watching these early cast members complete such crazy missions was thrilling, even from our comfy, cozy spots on the couch. For the very first mission, the cast bungee jumped off of Las Vegas' renowned Stratosphere, one of the wildest missions any of the Bunim-Murray series had done up to that point. "The Real World: London" roomie Kat Ogden even broke a world record (at the time) of free-falling 700 feet after her leap of faith! 

Other memorable moments include a mission that locked each team into separate padded rooms for 48 hours (nightmare fuel!), plus a bonkers skydive where players had to score points by landing on a giant target. The fact that each team had to split $67K and $40K shows us just how far reality TV has come. Rewatching the season (which is available to watch on YouTube in full) is a treat to those who've been watching from the very beginning — and a true trip through time to the genre's early days. 

"The Challenge" is no stranger to the occasional fist fight, but unfortunately for Adam King, he was on the receiving end of CT Tamburello's fists of fury on "The Duel II." Both players were sent home in Episode 1 following one of the franchise's gnarliest, bloodiest, and craziest fights ever (It was so wild, it even made our list of the 25 wildest reality TV moments of all time.) The season also served as a heartbreaking chapter in the CT/Diem romance — a storyline that weaved its way through many, many "Challenge" seasons before Diem's tragic death in 2014. 

But that rousing bout of fisticuffs isn't the only reason the season makes the cut. Queenstown, New Zealand was a beautiful backdrop to host the charades, which only improved upon the individual competition format set forth in its predecessor. Plus, watching Road Ruler Rachel Robinson dominate the women all season long was a true masterclass in how to excel physically and socially in such a complicated and ugly game. Plus, a return to "The Duel" format was welcome after having so many team-based seasons.

"The Challenge" was always known for the dramatic situations it would force its contestants in. (Put people who hate each other under the same roof, booze 'em up, watch them go boom!) But this time, producers had an even more devilish theme in mind for its 21st season: Pairing the players up with their mortal enemies to see if they'll sink or swim. 

After eight seasons of hard work and determination, it took a partnership with Evelyn Smith for Paula Meronek to pull out her first (of two) big win. And while some beef was squashed — even CT made amends with his friend Adam after the madness that was "The Duel II" — but some duos just couldn't hang. Wes Bergmann and Kenny Santucci never got over their drama, and it ultimately cost them the win. (They did get second place, though, for what it's worth.) 

What else makes "Rivals" earn its keep? Despite CT's kindness toward partner Adam, he turned his fiery tirades toward Wes. (And guess who was partnered up together for "Rivals II"?) And who can forget host TJ Lavin”s wowing return following a biking accident that nearly cost him his life? For a host who always demands effort and heart from the series' competitors, the man truly walked the walk after his hospital stay, bringing tears to many of the players' eyes. 

If you were a fan of the Johnny-Evan-Kenny era, then this is the season for you. (Though, may we add: Their treatment of Tonya Cooley throughout was gross, and no, we will not be diving into her subsequent lawsuit here. Google is your friend.) 

Pitting Champions vs. Challengers was a fun way to divvy things up, but business aside, the drama this season was an absolute trainwreck in the best possible way. Three players were disqualified due to fighting: Tonya for slapping Veronica Portillo, and Brad Fiorenza and Darrell Taylor for pummeling each other (despite the fact that they're... friends? #alcohol).

There was so much else to chew on this season besides the drunken debauchery. KellyAnne Judd and Evelyn Smith's friendship was sweet to watch (a tale that turned heartbreaking when they had to face each other in an elimination), Shauvon Torres popped a breast implant mid-challenge (talk about a "Challenge" first!), and the love triangles?! Wes came onto the show with his then-girlfriend KellyAnne, but both of them had exes living under the same roof. Wes' ex-fiancé, Johanna Botta, was there, leading to massive amounts of drama. KellyAnne's ex, Cohutta Grindstaff, was on the cast, too, in addition to Johanna's former hook-up Kenny (from "The Island"). It was Mess with a capital-M, and we were fully seated. 

And for fans of "The Brain Candy Podcast," "The Ruins" was Sarah Rice's first challenge where she not only met her bestie Susie Meister, but showed a lot of heart running the final with just KellyAnne by her side. 

Who can ever forget the look of sheer terror on Veronica Portillo's face when Julie Stoffer tugged on her safety harness thousands of feet in the air? ("WHAT IS SHE DOING?!") This season of "The Challenge" sparked deep-seated drama and rivalries that would set the stage for oodles of seasons to come. In just 10 episodes' time, "The Real World: New Orleans" star Julie become one of the franchise's most contentious players ever. She even threatened to wrestle our dearly beloved Coral Smith, who responded with: "I don't wrestle, I f**king beat b*tches up!" (Coral, we miss you.) "The Inferno" throws back to a world where our reality TV felt real. The drama wasn't fabricated, the confessionals weren't scripted, and yet, the tea was piping hot. 

The season put Team Road Rules against Team Real World, but team unity was almost nonexistent. Aside from Coral and Julie being at each other's throats, Katie Doyle and Veronica's screaming match was etched into the "Challenge" history books. Making matters worse was the "Road Rules" bunch consistently throwing Katie into elimination every chance they could get, and even throwing challenges in order to sink their fellow teammate. 

And check out this stacked cast of reality TV pioneers. Aside from those already named, it also featured Timmy Beggy, Abram Boise, Darrell Taylor, CT Tamburello, Syrus Yarbrough, and Mike "The Miz" Mizanin, among others. Though these may have been simpler times (remember Holly Shand's elimination against Trishelle Cannatella that forced the women to chow down on hot chili peppers?), "The Inferno" delivered serious heat, big fights, and moments we're still talking about more than two decades later.