August 21, 2025 • 27 mins
Derrick Kosinski & Scott Yager break down Episode 4 of The Challenge Season 41.
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WATCH the full episode here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/137027024?pr=true&cr=true
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:12):
What's up, everybody. This is Scott Jeger here joined by
mister Derek Kazinski. Because you didn't come for me, you
came for d the special Episode four breakdown of Challenge
Mania where we're talking all vets and new threats here
at challengemaniacs dot com, with a free preview over at
the Challenge Mania podcast feed. Well, this is brought to
you by Challengemania dot Live, where you can get tickets
(00:33):
to all of our shows, but specifically our return to
Chicago on August thirty first. Only a handful of GA
tickets left car Maria, Devin, Michelle and Moore. Maybe even
a surprise guest coming down the pike. That's City Winery
on August thirty first, in the very very safe area
of downtown Chicago. Then the following week. Woo, this is
an exciting one. We've got a ton of cast members
from season forty one for our return to Phoenix stand
(00:56):
Up Live in Phoenix on Sunday, September seventh. We've got
We've got Olivia. We've got Ben who won this daily
in this episode we're gonna talk about today. We've got
Derek Chavez who's been chopping at the bit to get
his two cents in about this season on a Challenge
Mania stage, We've got a Nissa Ferreira, and we've got
Mark Long and two brand new Challenge Mania Hall of
Famers and Tory and Jody Weill officially be crowning them.
(01:18):
And a survivor goat who came this close to one
in the Challenge USA, Tyson Apostle. All of them are
available not just to see on stage, but to mingle
with and meet and greet because there are still BP
tickets available for Challenge Mania Live Phoenix, that is Sunday,
September seventh. Go to Challenge Mania Dot Live today and
get those. All right, let's talk some Challenge episode for
(01:39):
you've heard this song before, d but have you heard
this version of Ita Bananana?
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Hey?
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Hey, good bye, everybody, pour one out. What are we
even gonna watch next week? The Challenge is gone from
the Challenge.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
The Challenge is over. Everybody that the Challenge is done,
and everybody go home. It's it's officially been canceled on MTV.
There there will be no more Challenge. The challenges is over.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
Yeah, that's it.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Should we do a moment of silence? Let's do a
moment of silence. I know the people who are listening
for free on the Challenge maning a podcast feed are like,
you take up ten seconds of silence, but pour one
out for banana Man here. And as I mentioned, there's
a free preview going on. If you're listening to this,
it's probably gonna be about twenty twenty five minutes. Want
the whole shebang, go to challenge maniacs dot com. Sign
up at the maniac level or above. But uh yeah,
(02:35):
a moment of silence for the banana man.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
M all right, enough, Okay, well the challenge is over,
but now it's back.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Okay, So let's say this is this the most ironic
form of poetic justice we've ever gotten. We spend a
whole week talking about whether you guys were trying to
put him in or not, and then the week later
he does the dirty work for you, and he loses
the daily puts some off in there against whoever you
guys would have wanted. And boy, did you guys pick
the right guy to go against them.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
But let me let me just tell you.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Let me give give you something else from Leo, because
Leo had some cutting words. Uh this this episode a
few times, and this season he's he's really kind of
talking about coming for the Vets, taking our spots.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
And he specifically talked about Johnny Bananas this episode and
he said, Uh, growing up in sports, the best players
never talked like this. They never said things like I
Am the Challenge as a grown man. That gave me
the ick. How ironic that you can call call yourself
the messiah and you're going in the sand. I don't
(03:43):
think this is going to end well for Johnny Bananas.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
I mean, let me say this, I will say and
said in his defense, and and look, I think maybe
did the challenge Gods know that in episode four here
we're gonna be saying goodbye to the Banana Man. So
why not episode three, I Am the Challenge really build
him up just to tear him down. Sure, again, there's
a little bit of poetic justice there, but Lebron James
(04:08):
has had seasons where he doesn't make the playoffs. It
doesn't make him any less the face of the league here.
So I will say Bananas can be sort of a
I don't want to say a two outcome hitter, because
like for instance, last season, he makes it all the
way to the final doesn't win, but I would sort
of still put that in the same category as his
seven winning seasons. Go look at his record. When he
(04:29):
doesn't win, he does more often than not go out
in the first third of the season. Stack guys John
Headles pull him up. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm miss speaking,
but it does feel like, at least recently in the
last ten seasons here, if Johnny's not long for the
game picking up a dub, he's towards the first half
of the season ejection wise. Does that feel right to
(04:49):
you or no?
Speaker 2 (04:53):
I don't know, But just like going back to you know,
like going back to this, this competition and what he
went up against, and you know, as far as like
karma goes and how much he does for the challenge.
I mean, this is not something he was going to win.
This is not something that anybody was going to win,
(05:15):
unless you.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Were maybe maybe a CT.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
If THEO would have beat Gabe at this.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
I think like this, someone being humongous was going to
win at this. And this guy, Gabe, he's not just
your average six foot five, sloppy.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
Out of shape guy. He is the opposite of that.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
I mean this dude is like scary, fast, scary strong,
scary endurance for a six five and thirty pound guy.
I don't think anyone's beating him at this I think
that this was going to be a loss againainst anyone.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Maybe even CT, maybe CT doesn't even doesn't even win
this thing.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
Well, let me okay, so let's talk about the specific
to this elimination. Because there's been a hot topic on
social media. I'm gonna pull up a question here. Our
guy West and Bergmann has been very outspoken on social
media over the last twenty four hours. Mac Jay, who
I believe had a question that you complemented last week.
He mentioned that hearing you say that he had a
great question last week gave him power to run through
(06:29):
a wall or attack the day or somebody. So hopefully
today Max ja about this question here, Mac j says
Wes has been complaining about haul brawls and other unfair
physical eliminations when there are size discrepancies. Now I'll add
something he suggested as he said, there should be two
eliminations in play for every scenario, and if size difference
(06:52):
is a thing, they should go with option one. If
it's not, they can go with option two, your haul brawls,
your pull wrestles, et cetera. Can you tube debate if
there was any for bananas to win this elimination.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
Well, let's first of all look at the setup.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
For let me say, amazing question, go attack the day.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
First of all, mac J mac J. I used to
tell my friends, dominate the day. I have to wake
up and text my buddy Jennings and dominate the day,
all right, and uh, dominate the day. Oh and let
me just remind people that this is the elimination set
up that we saw with Nia versus America. And I
(07:34):
would even go out on a limb with an injured
knee and say that Nia would have probably dominated America's
day in this elimination.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
Uh, you know, we didn't know what what it was
going to be.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
We didn't see all the ropes and everything, but this,
you know, spiked wood wall was kind of what we saw.
So again, like just a sheerly bigger sized person is
like ninety five percent chance going to win this unless
your athletic abilities are like really far off right where
(08:13):
it's like this huge person is just like has extremely
weak hand strength or just like does it want to
be there?
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Or what about this though, let me ask you this,
so okay, all right, What I will say in the
challenge God's defense is that there are way worse versions
of this elimination. You were in one of them on
the Gauntlet two against Timmy Baggie. Right. Yeah, we've seen
that elimination many times where it is literally just your
weight against theirs. Yeah, and mathematically you have no shot
against someone that much bigger than you. That would have
(08:45):
been I think the place to really make this claim.
What I'll say that they kind of dirtied this up
a little bit, and I found interesting was the element
of being able to fake the guy out. You know,
you juggle this rope and me go over here. I
wonder if someone like Jordan would have been able to
maybe do a little better in this. Now here's the thing.
The other round went so well for Gabe, So I
(09:09):
wonder two things. I wonder if Gabe goes first, right,
and the other person has a chance to kind of
feel it out, see how much time they have to
beat et cetera, get the strategy down, and if the
second person was maybe maybe a Jordan. And not to
say that Johnny's doesn't fall in this category, But I
do think it's the first time we saw this. I
wonder did they put enough equalizers in place here where
(09:33):
it would be possible to beat someone of a larger stature,
whether that's Gabe or not. Because Gabe not only is bigger,
but also had the strategy down too, and he did
it in like, you know, such a fell swoop two
minutes and twenty two seconds. Did Johnny's time of you know,
ten or eleven didn't even come close? Now, So I
wonder when they practiced this with the Dream Team, for instance,
(09:56):
did they practice with a Scott Jeger or a Mark
Long or a ct or a Gabe going against a
smaller person And were there times that smaller person one?
Because if that's the case, I don't blame it entirely
on the construct of the elimination. I wonder did Johnny
just not have the mental tools to peg this and
(10:17):
figure this out sight unseen, which again, these are the
first two people to have done the elimination, so he
has the Gabe, in addition to having the size benefit,
also had the benefit of seeing the thing where you
can you know, jiggle one running here whatever, which he
also used to his advantage. You know, jiggle one running
(10:41):
here whatever, which he also used to his advantage. So
I think Johnny really had a deckst act against him.
I don't know that it was all physicality and weight based,
but you tell me if I'm wrong. You watch this play.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
The problem is is the athleticism is too close to
to make it a difference, right, Like had had Gab
been ah, you know, a little bit slower, a little
bit more sluggish, you know, wasn't as quick, you know,
(11:14):
quick to hear the jingles, And had Johnny when he
was attaching his carabineers.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
Been a little bit more smooth, a little quieter, then
maybe you know, that would have helped his vans.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
But we're talking about a perfect game, like we're talking
about like Jordan esque, like superhero type shit like we
have seen Jordan beat up a beat a bigger guy
like Chauncey in a reverse tug of war where you
you explained that I couldn't physically, I couldn't mathematically beat
a guy like Timmy where he weighed, you know, two
(11:47):
hundred and twenty pounds versus my one hundred and sixty,
and it just the physics don't work. Well, we kind
of watched the physics not work between Jordan and Chauncey.
And Jordan is a superhero, right like he is like
he can figure things out that like the normal person can't.
(12:09):
And and and look, we've seen Johnny beat Jordan's in eliminations,
physical eliminations. We saw him beat him in in a
in a in a ball balls in during the final
of whatever season that was not too long ago, the
one that the Torrian Devin won. We've seen him winning that.
(12:30):
We've seen him beat him in a in a was it?
Was it a puzzle game in uh on U s
a was that Usa? No, he won us A. Jordan
beat Johnny but like Global Global Global, But like we're
talking about, like Johnny would have had to have the
perfect little tedious mechanics to give himself.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Does he beat me?
Speaker 2 (12:58):
And there was another time he's he's running with his
with this coin and he overshoots. Yes, the fucking basket.
So like right then, and like those are the those
that's a big mistake.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
Yeah, So you're actually so the way you're describing it,
I think the answer to to mac Jay's question because
they don't want to get to Wes's question, which is
can you debate if there was any possible way for
bananas to win your name in ways in which Bananas
could have done better and potentially won. And then also
let's give gabies flowers, because as you said, he pitched
a perfect game. He attacked this with perfect strategy. Again,
(13:33):
he is a freak of nature athletic wise, but also
he had the he had the benefit of going second. Right,
And and I will say, I'll ask let me ask
you this. There are guys who also are bigger than Johnny.
Let's name a couple of them. Tyree, Uh, let's uh
big easy for instance, could Johnny have beating them in this?
I think so. I don't think it's entirely sized size.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
And right, right, Okay, so let's just say, let's use
like Tyree for example, right, Like, we've seen ty reef
not have great performances and elimination, but the one that
we brought up with Dunbar and Tyree like Tyree seemed
to do well, you know, so like, but let's just
take the win loss, you know, you know, aspect into
(14:16):
into into the equation where Johnny has been in over
thirty eliminations, the guy's arguably in the best shape of
his life and Tyree, you know, comes and goes to
the challenge and you don't know what what what kind
of shape and and and head what kind of shape,
and you know a level of intelligence in the game
that he's going to have or bring to the table.
Right Like, there could have been times where he he
(14:40):
would could trick him with the rope and Tyree could
have went to the wrong rope, right Like, that's something
that Gabe didn't do. Like he didn't go, oh am,
I at the wrong rope. He was like, no, I
see the rope wiggling. I'm jetting over there. And then
I'm jetting over there, like he's so quick, and then
here's the here's the the icebreaker he's Here's the bottom line, man,
(15:01):
is when when when.
Speaker 3 (15:05):
Gay went on offense.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Okay, his expertise as a six foot is a six
foot five juggernaut. That's what he did for years and
years as a I don't know if he played professional football,
but I think he played something played some rugby, but
also I think he played at a very high level
(15:28):
at the full back position of football.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
Full back guys full back full backs.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
Run through large men to open a hole, like when
it comes down to him holding a six foot five
full back with two hands on a rope, Like, that's
just not going to last for very long. You're just
gonna win in that like And to be honest, Scott
me and you, Okay, you're a much larger guy than
(15:55):
I am. Right if you were going just say, I'm
holding a rope and you're going to deliver the coin
into a basket, right, And I can't even see you.
I can't even see like what's going on on the
other side. I'm just going off a feel. How long
can I hold Scott Yeager before he eventually his weight
(16:15):
outwears my little hands, Like your weight is eventually going
to outweigh my little hands, no matter what your athletic
capacity is, just the sheer size of you.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
But don't you think but they aren't there enough, like,
for instance, the strategy that they baked into this in
addiction the difference between you and Timmy, which is just
attached these guys together and go the opposite ways. And
isn't there enough wiggle room there where you would say
I have a chance based on a how well you
(16:46):
do and how badly?
Speaker 3 (16:47):
Are yes?
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Yes, yes, there is a little bit of an equalize
and it's and it's based on you know, speed, quickness,
like savviness, strategy.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
I personally thought there was okay when I saw the
idea of that you can wiggle one to make it
look like you're going there. But also, you know, like
you said, how like little movement you have for the
one you're actually going to things like that, which, again
the discrepancy between the two of these was so much
that Cherry blew them out of the water. But my
(17:21):
point is that this was not the elimination to make
the point that Wes is always making right, the point
that Wes is always making. I do agree for when
someone like you, where someone gets the tough draw of
a weight based elimination where literally the weight you have
no chance, right, those I believe are kind of few
and far between. I would even argue that ones like
(17:43):
haul brawl and pull wrestle there's still enough strategic wiggle
room in there. Marcus twice your size, you could just
beat him last season. So I just think like Wes
wants this to be like I don't know, amateur wrestling,
where you don't have to go against anyone that weighs
more than seven and a half pounds more than you.
But I just think that with all the stuff that
people like wes Okay, when it comes to the challenge,
(18:05):
like oh, you could take my phone, you can lock
me in a bunker, you can make us twenty people
have to share a coffee maker. Uh, and and that
when people complain, he goes guys get used to it
as a privilege. He tows the company line. The one
thing that he's up in arms over is the weight
discrepancy for not not just I mean for like what
seems like every elimination where a bigger person could and
(18:28):
should prevail. Honestly, we wouldn't have Derek Kaczinski. And this
legacy you have is this pit bull if you never
went up against a Joss.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Yeah, yeah, yet exactly exactly.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
I mean, so I don't you go up against Racio?
Speaker 2 (18:45):
What even I want to go against Roscio, and I'll
still at a disadvantage, right like he was still he
was still younger, faster, quicker, all right, Like he had
all those and he's still lost. But when someone went there,
I was still at it. I was still at a disadvantage. Okay,
you want to talk. That's what I'm saying is like
the the advantages and disadvantages are.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
All like you know, how you how you size.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Everything up right, Like I saw him in THEO arguing
about about certain things. To be honest with you, I prefer
to go against the bigger guy because I feel like
I have advantages over the bigger guy.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
I'm hoping that you lose the best of both worlds. There.
You see, I didn't even think about that.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Right you have. You have literally the benefit of either
you did the coolest thing ever, you beat someone who
you shouldn't have beaten, or if you lose, no one's
blaming you because you'll look right like I mean, that's
even a better setup than going against somebody who's mathematically
your weight class.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
So like, for example, uh, THEO threw in uh, you know,
the the elimination that he went against Johnny Bananas last
season on season forty. It was like they had to
like work their way through these polls, right through like
a like a tunnel, right, like a small tunnel, so
where a smaller guy would have somewhat of an advantage.
(20:05):
But I would say this, I would say this, but THEO,
you're a lot longer, right like you are? You are
three times longer than I am, which which allows you
to get through there, you know, a little bit faster
than the smaller guy.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
Right, So like in.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
The end, it kind of came down to like how
much you can pull your own weight to squiggle your
own weight through there. He didn't like smoke him, you know.
And but there are advantages and disadvantages to being long
and skinny, or long and thick, or you know, short
and stocky, Like there are advantages and disadvantages to everything,
(20:49):
just in this particular instance, gave versus Johnny like where
he's you know, you got seats at the end of
this thing saying looks looks very very much like Gabe's
doing the uh the backpack walk.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
Like at some point like that guy is a jugger
or not? You know what I mean? Like this is did.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
They put enough into this game for you that you
would not have felt like there's no chance now.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
I think the only thing that Johnny could have done
was be a little bit quieter, a little.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
Bit smoother with with with.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
Attaching his carabine or not making noise, because the only
thing they that they could hear is them breathing. And
I don't even know how much you could hear the
breathing because they're probably like ten feet away with that
with that.
Speaker 3 (21:37):
Rope in the wall, and you can't see each other.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
So the only thing I would think is you hear
that carabiner click that click, and.
Speaker 3 (21:45):
You know kind of where to go where he's at,
you know.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
But I think they could have been smoother.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
But it's also like the ropes for so close Scott,
that like if even if he was even if he
like got him, even if he duped him right like,
it still weren't wasn't that far away that you couldn't
go up there and snatch him up. And because of
the you know how strong much stronger he was, he
was able to pull him back, you know. Yeah, I
(22:19):
don't know.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
I don't know. I think somebody who's already going full
speed and then you have to run and pick up
the thing and be able to stop them. Like it
doesn't sound as easy as he made it look. I
think this was just a great performance by Gabe. I
think Johnny. I think Johnny would have had a better
strategy had he even gone second, or had he seen
this a couple of times on television beforehand. I do
(22:40):
not agree. I agree with Wes with a Haulbro. I
do not agree with with this one because I do
think they put enough little wrinkles in place to even
it out a little bit.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
And and even like just going back to Theo's performance
on like Paulie, because that in Halbro and because the
way discrepant seeing those in THEO and West are the
ones arguing here, like if if THEO doesn't go perfect,
doesn't hit him perfectly, you're not drilling the guy out
(23:14):
of the box if you're not getting as low as him,
and you're just you're just not you know, Because so
the athletic side of some of these guys like Gabe
and THEO really come into play where the equalizers sometimes
really aren't enough. Like again, hall Bro, I would much
much rather go up against a taller guy than a
(23:39):
guy in my size. That's just that's that's how I
look at it.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
We got to say goodbye to the main feed, but
we have a lot to talk about to tease you
guys to go over to challenge Maniacs Dot Comedy. Here
the rest of this interview with Derek relating to episode four.
I'm gonna read this next question we got from Gilbert here,
but don't answer here, d wait till we say goodbye.
To the main feed. To the free feed, go to
challenge maniacs dot com. Sign up at the maniac level
or above. You get full video of all of our
(24:05):
podcasts and interviews and our episode breakdowns. You get early
in ad free audio, and of course you get these
full episode breakdowns. Did you hear Gilbert says or see
what Zach and Johnny said about America on his latest podcast, Debt,
Taxes and Bananas. Can Derek clarify if what they said
is true or if they're just giving America hate again?
(24:26):
I assume you did there, Gilbert. Okay, goodbye main feed.
We're heading over to Patreon. Derek, what uh all right? Guys?
Speaker 3 (24:34):
This sends you time here on Challengemania.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
Take care of yourselves and hopefully you'll see in the future. Nashville, Tennessee,
(25:01):
we are coming back one more time this year, and
we are coming back with our most star studded lineup
ever Saturday, November twenty second, myself, Derek Kazinski, did Godfather,
Mark Long, Nani Gonzalez, Katie Cooley, and the Man himself,
Johnny Bananas and Johnny Bananas of course, will be joining
us for the panel for the me and greet, but
he is also bringing that acoustic guitar of his and
(25:24):
he will be doing a music set. That's right, Tennessee,
you've heard of Vonneru. This is gonna be Banana rou
We're talking City Winery, full audience, full performance. Who knows
what he's gonna play to close out the show on Saturday,
November twenty second. Gonna be a great time. You're gonna
want to be there. Here's how. Tomorrow, Tuesday, August the fifth,
go to challengemaniacs dot com sign up for one of
(25:44):
our patron pre sales. We begin with Savage level patrons,
then Diesel level patrons. In our increments, we release tickets
to Savage, then Diesel, then Maniac level patrons, and then
all patrons later in the afternoon. Whatever's left will go
up at the Citywinery website and challengemania dot live on
when with the password removed. But if you want that password,
if you want that link early, if you want to
make sure you get those coveted VIP tickets to be
(26:07):
able to meet everybody, hang out with bananas, get your
poster side, get those selfies on Saturday, November twenty second.
You'll want to go to challengemaniacs dot com Tuesday, August
fifth all pre sales maniac level and above. Also come
up with all of our exclusive bonus podcasts and content.
Full video of road Rules thirty, full video of our
massive panel from New York City last week, and full
video of all of our interviews early in ad free
(26:29):
access as well over at challengemaniacs dot com. Join the
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It's Banana Rue. That's right. Bananas will be playing a
music set as well on the guitar and singing on Saturday,
November twenty second with Nannie, with Katie, with Mark, with Derek,
and with myself. Go to challengemaniacs dot com today.
Speaker 4 (27:03):
The challenge Mania Shop is open. Head over to challenge
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What's up, everybody. This is Scott Jeger here joined by
mister Derek Kazinski. Because you didn't come for me, you
came for d the special Episode four breakdown of Challenge
Mania where we're talking all vets and new threats here
at challengemaniacs dot com, with a free preview over at
the Challenge Mania podcast feed. Well, this is brought to
you by Challengemania dot Live, where you can get tickets
(00:33):
to all of our shows, but specifically our return to
Chicago on August thirty first. Only a handful of GA
tickets left car Maria, Devin, Michelle and Moore. Maybe even
a surprise guest coming down the pike. That's City Winery
on August thirty first, in the very very safe area
of downtown Chicago. Then the following week. Woo, this is
an exciting one. We've got a ton of cast members
from season forty one for our return to Phoenix stand
(00:56):
Up Live in Phoenix on Sunday, September seventh. We've got
We've got Olivia. We've got Ben who won this daily
in this episode we're gonna talk about today. We've got
Derek Chavez who's been chopping at the bit to get
his two cents in about this season on a Challenge
Mania stage, We've got a Nissa Ferreira, and we've got
Mark Long and two brand new Challenge Mania Hall of
Famers and Tory and Jody Weill officially be crowning them.
(01:18):
And a survivor goat who came this close to one
in the Challenge USA, Tyson Apostle. All of them are
available not just to see on stage, but to mingle
with and meet and greet because there are still BP
tickets available for Challenge Mania Live Phoenix, that is Sunday,
September seventh. Go to Challenge Mania Dot Live today and
get those. All right, let's talk some Challenge episode for
(01:39):
you've heard this song before, d but have you heard
this version of Ita Bananana?
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Hey?
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Hey, good bye, everybody, pour one out. What are we
even gonna watch next week? The Challenge is gone from
the Challenge.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
The Challenge is over. Everybody that the Challenge is done,
and everybody go home. It's it's officially been canceled on MTV.
There there will be no more Challenge. The challenges is over.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
Yeah, that's it.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Should we do a moment of silence? Let's do a
moment of silence. I know the people who are listening
for free on the Challenge maning a podcast feed are like,
you take up ten seconds of silence, but pour one
out for banana Man here. And as I mentioned, there's
a free preview going on. If you're listening to this,
it's probably gonna be about twenty twenty five minutes. Want
the whole shebang, go to challenge maniacs dot com. Sign
up at the maniac level or above. But uh yeah,
(02:35):
a moment of silence for the banana man.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
M all right, enough, Okay, well the challenge is over,
but now it's back.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Okay, So let's say this is this the most ironic
form of poetic justice we've ever gotten. We spend a
whole week talking about whether you guys were trying to
put him in or not, and then the week later
he does the dirty work for you, and he loses
the daily puts some off in there against whoever you
guys would have wanted. And boy, did you guys pick
the right guy to go against them.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
But let me let me just tell you.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Let me give give you something else from Leo, because
Leo had some cutting words. Uh this this episode a
few times, and this season he's he's really kind of
talking about coming for the Vets, taking our spots.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
And he specifically talked about Johnny Bananas this episode and
he said, Uh, growing up in sports, the best players
never talked like this. They never said things like I
Am the Challenge as a grown man. That gave me
the ick. How ironic that you can call call yourself
the messiah and you're going in the sand. I don't
(03:43):
think this is going to end well for Johnny Bananas.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
I mean, let me say this, I will say and
said in his defense, and and look, I think maybe
did the challenge Gods know that in episode four here
we're gonna be saying goodbye to the Banana Man. So
why not episode three, I Am the Challenge really build
him up just to tear him down. Sure, again, there's
a little bit of poetic justice there, but Lebron James
(04:08):
has had seasons where he doesn't make the playoffs. It
doesn't make him any less the face of the league here.
So I will say Bananas can be sort of a
I don't want to say a two outcome hitter, because
like for instance, last season, he makes it all the
way to the final doesn't win, but I would sort
of still put that in the same category as his
seven winning seasons. Go look at his record. When he
(04:29):
doesn't win, he does more often than not go out
in the first third of the season. Stack guys John
Headles pull him up. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm miss speaking,
but it does feel like, at least recently in the
last ten seasons here, if Johnny's not long for the
game picking up a dub, he's towards the first half
of the season ejection wise. Does that feel right to
(04:49):
you or no?
Speaker 2 (04:53):
I don't know, But just like going back to you know,
like going back to this, this competition and what he
went up against, and you know, as far as like
karma goes and how much he does for the challenge.
I mean, this is not something he was going to win.
This is not something that anybody was going to win,
(05:15):
unless you.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Were maybe maybe a CT.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
If THEO would have beat Gabe at this.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
I think like this, someone being humongous was going to
win at this. And this guy, Gabe, he's not just
your average six foot five, sloppy.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
Out of shape guy. He is the opposite of that.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
I mean this dude is like scary, fast, scary strong,
scary endurance for a six five and thirty pound guy.
I don't think anyone's beating him at this I think
that this was going to be a loss againainst anyone.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Maybe even CT, maybe CT doesn't even doesn't even win
this thing.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
Well, let me okay, so let's talk about the specific
to this elimination. Because there's been a hot topic on
social media. I'm gonna pull up a question here. Our
guy West and Bergmann has been very outspoken on social
media over the last twenty four hours. Mac Jay, who
I believe had a question that you complemented last week.
He mentioned that hearing you say that he had a
great question last week gave him power to run through
(06:29):
a wall or attack the day or somebody. So hopefully
today Max ja about this question here, Mac j says
Wes has been complaining about haul brawls and other unfair
physical eliminations when there are size discrepancies. Now I'll add
something he suggested as he said, there should be two
eliminations in play for every scenario, and if size difference
(06:52):
is a thing, they should go with option one. If
it's not, they can go with option two, your haul brawls,
your pull wrestles, et cetera. Can you tube debate if
there was any for bananas to win this elimination.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
Well, let's first of all look at the setup.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
For let me say, amazing question, go attack the day.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
First of all, mac J mac J. I used to
tell my friends, dominate the day. I have to wake
up and text my buddy Jennings and dominate the day,
all right, and uh, dominate the day. Oh and let
me just remind people that this is the elimination set
up that we saw with Nia versus America. And I
(07:34):
would even go out on a limb with an injured
knee and say that Nia would have probably dominated America's
day in this elimination.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
Uh, you know, we didn't know what what it was
going to be.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
We didn't see all the ropes and everything, but this,
you know, spiked wood wall was kind of what we saw.
So again, like just a sheerly bigger sized person is
like ninety five percent chance going to win this unless
your athletic abilities are like really far off right where
(08:13):
it's like this huge person is just like has extremely
weak hand strength or just like does it want to
be there?
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Or what about this though, let me ask you this,
so okay, all right, What I will say in the
challenge God's defense is that there are way worse versions
of this elimination. You were in one of them on
the Gauntlet two against Timmy Baggie. Right. Yeah, we've seen
that elimination many times where it is literally just your
weight against theirs. Yeah, and mathematically you have no shot
against someone that much bigger than you. That would have
(08:45):
been I think the place to really make this claim.
What I'll say that they kind of dirtied this up
a little bit, and I found interesting was the element
of being able to fake the guy out. You know,
you juggle this rope and me go over here. I
wonder if someone like Jordan would have been able to
maybe do a little better in this. Now here's the thing.
The other round went so well for Gabe, So I
(09:09):
wonder two things. I wonder if Gabe goes first, right,
and the other person has a chance to kind of
feel it out, see how much time they have to
beat et cetera, get the strategy down, and if the
second person was maybe maybe a Jordan. And not to
say that Johnny's doesn't fall in this category, But I
do think it's the first time we saw this. I
wonder did they put enough equalizers in place here where
(09:33):
it would be possible to beat someone of a larger stature,
whether that's Gabe or not. Because Gabe not only is bigger,
but also had the strategy down too, and he did
it in like, you know, such a fell swoop two
minutes and twenty two seconds. Did Johnny's time of you know,
ten or eleven didn't even come close? Now, So I
wonder when they practiced this with the Dream Team, for instance,
(09:56):
did they practice with a Scott Jeger or a Mark
Long or a ct or a Gabe going against a
smaller person And were there times that smaller person one?
Because if that's the case, I don't blame it entirely
on the construct of the elimination. I wonder did Johnny
just not have the mental tools to peg this and
(10:17):
figure this out sight unseen, which again, these are the
first two people to have done the elimination, so he
has the Gabe, in addition to having the size benefit,
also had the benefit of seeing the thing where you
can you know, jiggle one running here whatever, which he
also used to his advantage. You know, jiggle one running
(10:41):
here whatever, which he also used to his advantage. So
I think Johnny really had a deckst act against him.
I don't know that it was all physicality and weight based,
but you tell me if I'm wrong. You watch this play.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
The problem is is the athleticism is too close to
to make it a difference, right, Like had had Gab
been ah, you know, a little bit slower, a little
bit more sluggish, you know, wasn't as quick, you know,
(11:14):
quick to hear the jingles, And had Johnny when he
was attaching his carabineers.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
Been a little bit more smooth, a little quieter, then
maybe you know, that would have helped his vans.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
But we're talking about a perfect game, like we're talking
about like Jordan esque, like superhero type shit like we
have seen Jordan beat up a beat a bigger guy
like Chauncey in a reverse tug of war where you
you explained that I couldn't physically, I couldn't mathematically beat
a guy like Timmy where he weighed, you know, two
(11:47):
hundred and twenty pounds versus my one hundred and sixty,
and it just the physics don't work. Well, we kind
of watched the physics not work between Jordan and Chauncey.
And Jordan is a superhero, right like he is like
he can figure things out that like the normal person can't.
(12:09):
And and and look, we've seen Johnny beat Jordan's in eliminations,
physical eliminations. We saw him beat him in in a
in a in a ball balls in during the final
of whatever season that was not too long ago, the
one that the Torrian Devin won. We've seen him winning that.
(12:30):
We've seen him beat him in a in a was it?
Was it a puzzle game in uh on U s
a was that Usa? No, he won us A. Jordan
beat Johnny but like Global Global Global, But like we're
talking about, like Johnny would have had to have the
perfect little tedious mechanics to give himself.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Does he beat me?
Speaker 2 (12:58):
And there was another time he's he's running with his
with this coin and he overshoots. Yes, the fucking basket.
So like right then, and like those are the those
that's a big mistake.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
Yeah, So you're actually so the way you're describing it,
I think the answer to to mac Jay's question because
they don't want to get to Wes's question, which is
can you debate if there was any possible way for
bananas to win your name in ways in which Bananas
could have done better and potentially won. And then also
let's give gabies flowers, because as you said, he pitched
a perfect game. He attacked this with perfect strategy. Again,
(13:33):
he is a freak of nature athletic wise, but also
he had the he had the benefit of going second. Right,
And and I will say, I'll ask let me ask
you this. There are guys who also are bigger than Johnny.
Let's name a couple of them. Tyree, Uh, let's uh
big easy for instance, could Johnny have beating them in this?
I think so. I don't think it's entirely sized size.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
And right, right, Okay, so let's just say, let's use
like Tyree for example, right, Like, we've seen ty reef
not have great performances and elimination, but the one that
we brought up with Dunbar and Tyree like Tyree seemed
to do well, you know, so like, but let's just
take the win loss, you know, you know, aspect into
(14:16):
into into the equation where Johnny has been in over
thirty eliminations, the guy's arguably in the best shape of
his life and Tyree, you know, comes and goes to
the challenge and you don't know what what what kind
of shape and and and head what kind of shape,
and you know a level of intelligence in the game
that he's going to have or bring to the table.
Right Like, there could have been times where he he
(14:40):
would could trick him with the rope and Tyree could
have went to the wrong rope, right Like, that's something
that Gabe didn't do. Like he didn't go, oh am,
I at the wrong rope. He was like, no, I
see the rope wiggling. I'm jetting over there. And then
I'm jetting over there, like he's so quick, and then
here's the here's the the icebreaker he's Here's the bottom line, man,
(15:01):
is when when when.
Speaker 3 (15:05):
Gay went on offense.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Okay, his expertise as a six foot is a six
foot five juggernaut. That's what he did for years and
years as a I don't know if he played professional football,
but I think he played something played some rugby, but
also I think he played at a very high level
(15:28):
at the full back position of football.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
Full back guys full back full backs.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
Run through large men to open a hole, like when
it comes down to him holding a six foot five
full back with two hands on a rope, Like, that's
just not going to last for very long. You're just
gonna win in that like And to be honest, Scott
me and you, Okay, you're a much larger guy than
(15:55):
I am. Right if you were going just say, I'm
holding a rope and you're going to deliver the coin
into a basket, right, And I can't even see you.
I can't even see like what's going on on the
other side. I'm just going off a feel. How long
can I hold Scott Yeager before he eventually his weight
(16:15):
outwears my little hands, Like your weight is eventually going
to outweigh my little hands, no matter what your athletic
capacity is, just the sheer size of you.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
But don't you think but they aren't there enough, like,
for instance, the strategy that they baked into this in
addiction the difference between you and Timmy, which is just
attached these guys together and go the opposite ways. And
isn't there enough wiggle room there where you would say
I have a chance based on a how well you
(16:46):
do and how badly?
Speaker 3 (16:47):
Are yes?
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Yes, yes, there is a little bit of an equalize
and it's and it's based on you know, speed, quickness,
like savviness, strategy.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
I personally thought there was okay when I saw the
idea of that you can wiggle one to make it
look like you're going there. But also, you know, like
you said, how like little movement you have for the
one you're actually going to things like that, which, again
the discrepancy between the two of these was so much
that Cherry blew them out of the water. But my
(17:21):
point is that this was not the elimination to make
the point that Wes is always making right, the point
that Wes is always making. I do agree for when
someone like you, where someone gets the tough draw of
a weight based elimination where literally the weight you have
no chance, right, those I believe are kind of few
and far between. I would even argue that ones like
(17:43):
haul brawl and pull wrestle there's still enough strategic wiggle
room in there. Marcus twice your size, you could just
beat him last season. So I just think like Wes
wants this to be like I don't know, amateur wrestling,
where you don't have to go against anyone that weighs
more than seven and a half pounds more than you.
But I just think that with all the stuff that
people like wes Okay, when it comes to the challenge,
(18:05):
like oh, you could take my phone, you can lock
me in a bunker, you can make us twenty people
have to share a coffee maker. Uh, and and that
when people complain, he goes guys get used to it
as a privilege. He tows the company line. The one
thing that he's up in arms over is the weight
discrepancy for not not just I mean for like what
seems like every elimination where a bigger person could and
(18:28):
should prevail. Honestly, we wouldn't have Derek Kaczinski. And this
legacy you have is this pit bull if you never
went up against a Joss.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Yeah, yeah, yet exactly exactly.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
I mean, so I don't you go up against Racio?
Speaker 2 (18:45):
What even I want to go against Roscio, and I'll
still at a disadvantage, right like he was still he
was still younger, faster, quicker, all right, Like he had
all those and he's still lost. But when someone went there,
I was still at it. I was still at a disadvantage. Okay,
you want to talk. That's what I'm saying is like
the the advantages and disadvantages are.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
All like you know, how you how you size.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Everything up right, Like I saw him in THEO arguing
about about certain things. To be honest with you, I prefer
to go against the bigger guy because I feel like
I have advantages over the bigger guy.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
I'm hoping that you lose the best of both worlds. There.
You see, I didn't even think about that.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Right you have. You have literally the benefit of either
you did the coolest thing ever, you beat someone who
you shouldn't have beaten, or if you lose, no one's
blaming you because you'll look right like I mean, that's
even a better setup than going against somebody who's mathematically
your weight class.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
So like, for example, uh, THEO threw in uh, you know,
the the elimination that he went against Johnny Bananas last
season on season forty. It was like they had to
like work their way through these polls, right through like
a like a tunnel, right, like a small tunnel, so
where a smaller guy would have somewhat of an advantage.
(20:05):
But I would say this, I would say this, but THEO,
you're a lot longer, right like you are? You are
three times longer than I am, which which allows you
to get through there, you know, a little bit faster
than the smaller guy.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
Right, So like in.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
The end, it kind of came down to like how
much you can pull your own weight to squiggle your
own weight through there. He didn't like smoke him, you know.
And but there are advantages and disadvantages to being long
and skinny, or long and thick, or you know, short
and stocky, Like there are advantages and disadvantages to everything,
(20:49):
just in this particular instance, gave versus Johnny like where
he's you know, you got seats at the end of
this thing saying looks looks very very much like Gabe's
doing the uh the backpack walk.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
Like at some point like that guy is a jugger
or not? You know what I mean? Like this is did.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
They put enough into this game for you that you
would not have felt like there's no chance now.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
I think the only thing that Johnny could have done
was be a little bit quieter, a little.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
Bit smoother with with with.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
Attaching his carabine or not making noise, because the only
thing they that they could hear is them breathing. And
I don't even know how much you could hear the
breathing because they're probably like ten feet away with that
with that.
Speaker 3 (21:37):
Rope in the wall, and you can't see each other.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
So the only thing I would think is you hear
that carabiner click that click, and.
Speaker 3 (21:45):
You know kind of where to go where he's at,
you know.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
But I think they could have been smoother.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
But it's also like the ropes for so close Scott,
that like if even if he was even if he
like got him, even if he duped him right like,
it still weren't wasn't that far away that you couldn't
go up there and snatch him up. And because of
the you know how strong much stronger he was, he
was able to pull him back, you know. Yeah, I
(22:19):
don't know.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
I don't know. I think somebody who's already going full
speed and then you have to run and pick up
the thing and be able to stop them. Like it
doesn't sound as easy as he made it look. I
think this was just a great performance by Gabe. I
think Johnny. I think Johnny would have had a better
strategy had he even gone second, or had he seen
this a couple of times on television beforehand. I do
(22:40):
not agree. I agree with Wes with a Haulbro. I
do not agree with with this one because I do
think they put enough little wrinkles in place to even
it out a little bit.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
And and even like just going back to Theo's performance
on like Paulie, because that in Halbro and because the
way discrepant seeing those in THEO and West are the
ones arguing here, like if if THEO doesn't go perfect,
doesn't hit him perfectly, you're not drilling the guy out
(23:14):
of the box if you're not getting as low as him,
and you're just you're just not you know, Because so
the athletic side of some of these guys like Gabe
and THEO really come into play where the equalizers sometimes
really aren't enough. Like again, hall Bro, I would much
much rather go up against a taller guy than a
(23:39):
guy in my size. That's just that's that's how I
look at it.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
We got to say goodbye to the main feed, but
we have a lot to talk about to tease you
guys to go over to challenge Maniacs Dot Comedy. Here
the rest of this interview with Derek relating to episode four.
I'm gonna read this next question we got from Gilbert here,
but don't answer here, d wait till we say goodbye.
To the main feed. To the free feed, go to
challenge maniacs dot com. Sign up at the maniac level
or above. You get full video of all of our
(24:05):
podcasts and interviews and our episode breakdowns. You get early
in ad free audio, and of course you get these
full episode breakdowns. Did you hear Gilbert says or see
what Zach and Johnny said about America on his latest podcast, Debt,
Taxes and Bananas. Can Derek clarify if what they said
is true or if they're just giving America hate again?
(24:26):
I assume you did there, Gilbert. Okay, goodbye main feed.
We're heading over to Patreon. Derek, what uh all right? Guys?
Speaker 3 (24:34):
This sends you time here on Challengemania.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
Take care of yourselves and hopefully you'll see in the future. Nashville, Tennessee,
(25:01):
we are coming back one more time this year, and
we are coming back with our most star studded lineup
ever Saturday, November twenty second, myself, Derek Kazinski, did Godfather,
Mark Long, Nani Gonzalez, Katie Cooley, and the Man himself,
Johnny Bananas and Johnny Bananas of course, will be joining
us for the panel for the me and greet, but
he is also bringing that acoustic guitar of his and
(25:24):
he will be doing a music set. That's right, Tennessee,
you've heard of Vonneru. This is gonna be Banana rou
We're talking City Winery, full audience, full performance. Who knows
what he's gonna play to close out the show on Saturday,
November twenty second. Gonna be a great time. You're gonna
want to be there. Here's how. Tomorrow, Tuesday, August the fifth,
go to challengemaniacs dot com sign up for one of
(25:44):
our patron pre sales. We begin with Savage level patrons,
then Diesel level patrons. In our increments, we release tickets
to Savage, then Diesel, then Maniac level patrons, and then
all patrons later in the afternoon. Whatever's left will go
up at the Citywinery website and challengemania dot live on
when with the password removed. But if you want that password,
if you want that link early, if you want to
make sure you get those coveted VIP tickets to be
(26:07):
able to meet everybody, hang out with bananas, get your
poster side, get those selfies on Saturday, November twenty second.
You'll want to go to challengemaniacs dot com Tuesday, August
fifth all pre sales maniac level and above. Also come
up with all of our exclusive bonus podcasts and content.
Full video of road Rules thirty, full video of our
massive panel from New York City last week, and full
video of all of our interviews early in ad free
(26:29):
access as well over at challengemaniacs dot com. Join the
pod squad and get tickets for our return to Nashville.
It's Banana Rue. That's right. Bananas will be playing a
music set as well on the guitar and singing on Saturday,
November twenty second with Nannie, with Katie, with Mark, with Derek,
and with myself. Go to challengemaniacs dot com today.
Speaker 4 (27:03):
The challenge Mania Shop is open. Head over to challenge
Mania dot Shop today for the best way to support
the podcast while looking good doing it. New designs and
items added every few weeks. Maniacs time to mobilize. Check
out challenge Mania dot Shop today
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