The Challenge 35 “Total Madness”: Week 2 power rankings

Week 2 is in the books in the Challenge House and boy what an episode. This was a great follow up episode to a wonderful season opener and now we get going.

This weeks challenge was a race to bring back 15 crates up and down a hill. They were broken up into teams of three and had to race up a hill to collect a crate, then bring it back down the hill to their side. The first three teams to finish moved onto the second round where they would drop 9 crates onto a target.

Here were the teams:

• Wes/Jordan/Jenny
• Josh/Bayleigh/Jenn
• Kaycee/Jay/CT
• Cory/Swaggy/Dee
• Fessy/Kyle/Melissa
• Ashley/Bear/Jenna
• Nelson/Kailah/Tori
• Bananas/Aneesa/Nany
• Rogan/Big T/Mattie Lynn

Looking at the teams, right away you see the stacked team of Wes, Jordan and Jenny. Three proven all-stars in this game and it was no secret they finished first. However, they didn’t fare so well in the next round.

Joining that trio was Cory/Swaggy/Dee and Fessy/Kyle/Melissa in the second round. Team stacked didn’t do so well and had a Houston Rockets-like performance after dominating the regular season and then shooting 30 percent from the field in the playoffs hitting just 2 of the 9 targets.

Team Fessy/Kyle/Melissa hit 7 of the 9 targets with Fessy as the spotter,proving once again he’s going to be a strong competitor.

🎯🎯🎯 #TheChallenge35 pic.twitter.com/dPwPf1dvgU

— The Challenge (@ChallengeMTV) April 9, 2020

But it was the final team that took it home. Cory/Dee/Swaggy nailed all 9 of their targets as Cory continues his strong start to this game, earning another spot in the Tribunal for the second time this season.

Following the competition, the house voted Jenn into Purgatory and the Tribunal brought in Jenny, Tori and Big T. Dee decided that Jenny was her No. 1 in this game and should have the easy ticket to the finals over Tori, someone who helped her win last season. But that wasn’t even her biggest mistake of the show.

Before the elimination between Jenn and Jenny started, T.J. revealed another new twist that the Tribunal can volunteer themselves to go down and compete allowing them to earn a red skull and punch their ticket to the final. So Dee was offered up the shot against a layup Jenn, in a physical competition after talking allllllll that smack to her earlier in the day. Of course she takes the challenge right?

WRONG. Big mistake Dee. Instead she defaults to Jenny who put on an absolute clinic using just one hand to throw the jugs over the bar and dominate Jenn. Not only did Dee HAND Jenny (the strongest female competitor) a golden ticket to the finals but she missed her best chance to earn a ticket.

The second red skull is locked in! ☠☠☠ #TheChallenge35 pic.twitter.com/FmjeUFLrLj

— The Challenge (@ChallengeMTV) April 9, 2020

What the hell were you thinking? Anyway, onto the rankings………

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ELIMINATED: Asaf (Episode 1), Jenn (Episode 2)

Wont last long

26. Big T  (Trend: –)

I’ll give Big T this, she wanted to go in and prove herself. This was the chance and she didn’t get it.

25. Melissa (Trend: –)

Really didn’t notice her in this episode.

24. Aneesa (Trend: –)

Not much for Aneesa in this episode.

Something still to prove

23. Kailah ( Down)

She still has a lot to prove here in her return this season and so far that hasn’t been the case. But the previews suggest that the fireworks are coming soon.

22. Kaycee (–)

I mentioned last week that Kaycee was a strong player in this game and she wasn’t bad in this particular challenge but she didn’t do much to warrant me moving her up.

21.Bayleigh (–)

Not much action from Bayleigh this week. She wasn’t a candidate to go in to an elimination even with Swaggy as part of the Tribunal.

20. Josh (DOWN)

He gave it his all in this challenge but was sandbagged due to Jenn not being able to carry a crate while Bayleigh held her own.

Right in the middle

18. Bear (–)

Bear probably had the quote of the night while describing watching Kailah run. He’s falling in love quickly…..

17. Nelson (–)

He had two strong girls on his team and they were close to earning that third spot in the second round. Still, something to prove…

17. Swaggy C (UP)

Swaggy delivered in this challenge, helping his team who had a great strategy. He wasn’t much of a factor in the deliberations and still has Bayleigh on his side.

16. Jay (–)

A VERY quiet episode from Jay. But he does have a red skull.

15. Nany (DOWN)

Didn’t even hear from Nany this episode.

14. CT (–)

Does anyone want to go up against C.T. in an elimination? Doubtful unless it’s endurance.

13. Ashley (DOWN)

What exactly does she do well here? She was very quiet again.

12. Jenna (–)

Didn’t see too much of Jenna last night. Let’s see if that changes with her alliance of Kailah and Nany.

There’s potential there…

11. Dee (DOWN)

What the hell was she thinking? She should have taken that golden ticket….

10. Mattie (–)

Mattie is a strong competitor and I think we will find out soon enough.

9. Kyle (–)

The Rogan/Kyle deal is still on after two weeks but I have a feeling that won’t last long for the Brit duo.

Contenders? or Pretenders?

8. Fessy (–)

Another great performance from Fessy. It’s clear that the veterans are starting to take notice as evident by Jordan wanting to keep pace with him in the competition.

Outside looking in, for now..

7. Tori (–)

I’m on Tori’s side. She has a legit gripe that Dee didn’t throw her in. But she’s also going with a bold strategy of not wanting to wait for an elimination and just go in now. Let’s see if it pays off.

6. Cory (UP)

Cory makes the biggest jump in our rankings, moving nine spots up after another challenge win. He’s been in the Tribunal twice now through two episode and has set himself up nicely here.

5. Wes (–)

Wes wasn’t much of a factor in this episode as he was on a stacked team for the competition but they couldn’t deliver in the next round.

The favorites

4. Jordan (DOWN)

Jordan is still a favorite to win it but he may have played his card too fast. He’s upset Dee didn’t give Tori the chance to punch her ticket to the final and he’s got a point. However, his showing in the helicopter was bad..

3. Johnny Bananas (UP)

Just being a snake in the grass waiting to strike.

2. Rogan (UP)

Rogan had another great showing and came seconds away from earning that third spot in the second round. He had Big T and Mattie on his squad and he showed he’s a legit competitor in this game.

1.  Jenny (UP)

She punched her ticket to the finals with a dominating performance in the elimination. She’s by far the top female competitor and might be the overall favorite to win it all.

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