Shock Elimination Follows Tense Stand-Off on ‘The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras’

This week, The Challenge 40 underscored the individual nature of the season. After the intense “Era Invitational,” which saw eight contestants eliminated in one day, the four eras competed as teams. However, the most unified team during the daily challenge quickly unraveled during deliberations.

Two representatives clashed over their elimination choices, standing firm enough to send themselves into elimination, ultimately resulting in two more veteran contestants leaving the show.

Check out more information about tonight’s episode below to find out who was eliminated.

The Challenge 40 saw a surprising elimination tonight.

Tony Raines
This marks Tony’s return to The Challenge after over five years. His absence might have contributed to his early elimination. Despite winning the daily challenge for Era 3 and gaining power, Tony’s strategy of trying to force Averey to target her friend Derek backfired. Averey called his bluff, placing them both up for elimination.

Tony faced Darrell in the elimination, but despite Darrell’s injury, he managed to win, sending Tony home.

Jodi Weatherton
Jodi, who last appeared on the flagship show 17 years ago and won The Duel, also faced elimination. Representing Era 1, Jodi found herself on the chopping block after her team finished last in the daily challenge. Initially, she and Darrell hoped to compete together against weaker opponents, but Jodi ended up facing Averey alone.

In a close battle, Jodi was narrowly defeated, ending her return to The Challenge.

Due to the unique format of this season, teamwork was showcased in the daily challenge, where eras paddled dragonboats, tackled an eating challenge, and solved a puzzle about past Challenge seasons. Era 3 emerged victorious thanks to their paddling strength, Tony’s eating skills, and Tori’s puzzle-solving abilities.

As winning leaders, Averey and Tony decided who to send into elimination.

This week’s twist came when TJ announced that elimination winners would gain significant power. Victors Darrell and Averey were given the ability to target one man and one woman from each era. In the next daily challenge, targets from the last-place team would automatically go into elimination, while those from the first-place team would decide which other pair of targets would compete.

The designated “targets” for the next episode are:

• Era 1: Aneesa Ferreira & Derrick Kosinski
• Era 2: Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio & Laurel Stucky
• Era 3: Jordan Wiseley & Nia Moore
• Era 4: Horacio Gutiérrez & Jenny West

The remaining contestants vying for the title include:

Aneesa Ferreira, Averey Tressler, Aviv Melmed, Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio, Brad Fiorenza, Cara Maria Sorbello, Cory Wharton, Chris “CT” Tamburello, Darrell Taylor, Derek Chavez, Derrick Kosinski, Devin Walker, Emily Schromm, Horacio Gutiérrez, Jenny West, Jonna Mannion, Jordan Wiseley, Josh Martinez, Kaycee Clark, Kyland Young, Laurel Stucky, Michele Fitzgerald, Nehemiah Clark, Nia Moore, Olivia Kaiser, Rachel Robinson, Ryan Kehoe, Theo Campbell, Tina Barta, and Tori Deal.

Next, check out our interview with Nurys Mateo and Paulie Calafiore, who were eliminated in The Challenge 40 Episode 2.

Source: Entertainment Weekly, People