‘The Challenge’ Premiere Recap: 40 Legendary Players Return and Learn Teams Are Immediately Being Cut

Things got off to a quick start on the premiere of The Challenge: Battle of the Eras. The 40 returning players, who were split into teams of 10 based on what era they first appeared on the hit MTV show, learned that two players from each team would immediately be cut after a challenge and eliminations on night one.

The players competed individually in the first challenge, which consisted of three parts. First, they had to solve a puzzle before getting into a boat and paddling to retrieve 10 lights that matched the color of their era. The challenge concluded with the competitors racing back to shore and placing those lights in their respective slots on a board.

T.J. Lavin explained that the last place male and female from each era would automatically be going into elimination. However, the first place male and female would be in a position of power, as they would get to decide who would go against the last place finishers.

For era one, C.T. Tamburello and Rachel Robinson were victorious, while Mark Long and Katie Cooley came in last place. For the men’s elimination, C.T., 44, and Rachel, 41, wanted to pick between the men who came in third and fourth place: Derrick Kosinski and Darrell Taylor. Derrick, 40, noted that Darrell, 44, had always been there for him in the past and wanted to take one for the team by stepping up to go into the elimination round against Mark, 53.

The female vote was a bit more difficult, as Rachel had close relationships with both Aneesa Ferreira and Tina Barta, while Jodi Weatherton was one of the strongest competitors on the team. Rachel said she wanted to let C.T. make the decision so the vote would be unbiased, but we won’t see his choice until next week’s episode.

Laurel Stucky and Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio were the winners for era two. KellyAnne Judd and Ryan Kehoe were the last place finishers. Ryan, 43, declared that he wanted to go against Brandon Nelson, since he had already lost to Nehemiah Clark in the past and wouldn’t want to be pitted against his No. 1 ally, Derek Chavez.

Meanwhile, Laurel’s nemesis Cara Maria Sorbello pleaded with her and Johnny, 42, not to be put into elimination. Cara, 38, finished the challenge in second place and pointed out that the winners would’ve normally rewarded her for the impressive performance. She warned Johnny and Laurel, 39, that she’d take it personally if they voted her in. The decisions will be revealed in episode 2.

Era three featured wins from Cory Wharton and Tori Deal, with Leroy Garrett and Nia Moore in last place. Since Tori, 31, is still close with her ex-fiancé, Jordan Wiseley, and was on Ride or Dies with Devin Walker, there was no chance she’d vote one of them in, leaving Tony Raines as the apparent obvious choice for the men’s vote.

When it came to the females, Averey Tressler knew she was at the bottom of the totem pole because of her lack of relationships with other players on her team. Jonna Mannion reminded Tori and Cory, 33, that she is a two-time All Stars champ and a well-rounded player. Amanda Garcia had the most groveling to do because of her troubled past with Tori. She tried to appeal to Cory by pointing out that they’re both close friends with Nelson Thomas, a former Challenge competitor who recently had his leg amputated. That wasn’t enough for Cory, though, so Amanda, 30, also urged Tori to protect her because they have a lot of the same friends in the house, even though they don’t like each other.

For era four, Michele Fitzgerald and Horacio Gutiérrez were the winners. Horacio’s girlfriend, Nurys Mateo, along with Theo Campbell, were in last place. Michele, 34, agreed to let Nurys, 29, decide who she wanted to go against. Since Nurys had beef with Olivia Kaiser after season 39, and didn’t want to go against Kaycee Clark or Jenny West, it seemed Nurys was leaning towards picking the Love Island alum. However, Olivia, 32, was Michele’s No. 1 ally, which Michele asked Nurys to take into consideration.

The male vote brought up past issues between Theo, 33, and Paulie Calafiore, who had beef after War of the Worlds 2. Theo made it clear that he wants to go against Paulie, 35, and Paulie said he’s ready to go down in the sand against him. The episode concluded with their confrontation, which will continue to play out in episode 2.

The Challenge: Battle of the Eras airs on MTV Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET.