Reality TV worlds are colliding and we are so here for it.
The Challenge universe is rapidly expanding, thanks to the premiere of The Challenge: USA, which has assembled alums from various competition shows—including Survivor, Big Brother, Love Island USA and The Amazing Race—to duke it out for a $500,000 grand prize. Now, this might be where you say to yourself, "They forgot to list MTV's flagship, The Challenge, as one of the shows competing in The Challenge: USA!" Reader, we did not.
While the CBS spinoff series recruited longtime host TJ Lavin to join the party, none of the competitors from the MTV flagship show were invited to appear, though they will be included in Paramount+'s global tournament, War of the Worlds, which will feature talent from three other international versions of the show.
Still, it felt a little weird not to to see some of the Challenge legends who helped make the series so successful—like 7-time champ Johnny "Bananas" Devenanzio, CT Tamburello and Wes Bergmann—not included in The Challenge: USA.
And as it turns out, some of the OG cast members feel the same, with Wes recently telling E! News he initially had "mixed feelings" about The Challenge: USA.
But Wes, who recently won The Challenge: All Stars' third season, said he is trying to view the spinoff from a business perspective.
"The total eyeballs on our universe are probably going way up this year because of all the stuff," the 14-season vet explained. "My day job is I invest in start-up companies and what I have to explain to some of my people is you may have to sell some of your business to raise money, but the business is worth more. So your piece, although it's no longer 100 percent, is worth more now that you've raised money."
Using an expression from the entrepreneur world, Wes continued, "It's better to own part of a watermelon than all of a grape. This is essentially the same thing. We are sharing our brand and our world."
However, that doesn't mean Wes, who has been recapping the spinoff on social media, is totally down with The Challenge: USA. "They are stealing quite a few of our jokes," he noted. "There is a little bit of an icky feeling, but it's turning into a watermelon that we are sharing and our piece of said watermelon is bigger than owning the entire grape."
Despite having some reservations, The Real World: Austin vet did offer up a compliment to the new Challengers—"and an insult to the flagship players, who are just so entitled," he added—commending their approach to the game.
"They don't know what's going to happen in the future, this might be a one-time thing," he explained. "They are playing accordingly, versus a lot of my comrades on the flagship show where it's not a one-time thing for them. So the whole leave-it-on-the-field thing, they are doing that on CBS and it is refreshing to watch that."
And, like any defending champ would, Wes said he's keeping his eye on several of The Challenge: USA stars, whom he could see eventually competing on the main show: "We're going to get some really good players who come from that group."
The one cast member he is particularly interested in competing against? Survivor winner Tyson Apostol, who has quickly become the frontrunner and fan-favorite.
"I am rising the ranks as one of Tyson's fans," Wes said. "But he's gotta watch out because he's really just encroaching on my territory here. To put another swimmer with good humor, intelligence and overall athleticism on the show feels like that's my role, so I'm a fan but he is on thin ice."
Hall brawl, anyone?
The Challenge: All Stars is streaming on Paramount+ and The Challenge: USA airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on CBS.