The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras Ends with the Closest Finish in the Show’s History Thanks to Karma Points

Some of The Challenge 40 contestants found themselves in their winning era after the Battle of the Eras Final.

The Jan. 8 finale picked up with finalists Derek Chavez, Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio, Michele Fitzgerald, Tori Deal, Rachel Robinson, Jenny West, Jordan Wiseley and Kyland Young partaking in the overnight checkpoint, which required them to count coins in 30-minute intervals broken up by singing “Show Me the Way to Go Home” before coming up with the final total.

While almost everyone finished by 4 a.m. and headed to bed — which meant sleeping on the steel floor of the S.S. Sinister — Tori, who’d been in last place going into the overnight checkpoint, found herself still counting. Around 4:30 a.m., Tori, 31, wrapped up and squeezed in some sleep.

The next morning, host TJ Lavin revealed that Tori came in last place alongside Bananas, 42.

“This is not how I wanted Day 2 to begin,” Bananas said in a confessional interview.

Derek and Rachel took first, Jordan and Michele placed second, and Kyland and Jenny landed in third.

Given that, Tori contemplated quitting. “I’m gonna go home,” she said. “Honestly, I quit.”

But TJ convinced her to stay. “No one’s going home,” he said. “You can and will get through this.”

To find out what they needed to do for the fifth checkpoint, the Challengers had to swim from the S.S. Sinister to a wooden raft. Once there, the reality stars learned they’d need to swim through a cave to a hidden beach to collect one paddle, then swim back to the raft and find a key in a cage below the raft that would unlock a boat. They had to paddle back in the boat to Sinister as part of the Submerging Terror challenge.

“I know this is going to be another rough day,” Kyland, 33, told the cameras.

Tori found herself in first place after being the first one to get to her boat, but Jordan, 34, struggled to paddle due to being born with symbrachydactyly, a rare congenital hand condition that caused fingers on his left hand to be misshaped and missing.

“I can’t row like them,” Jordan said in a confessional interview. “They can row both sides nice and easy, ‘This is awesome!’ It’s hard for me to row on my left side.”

But Jordan still placed first in the Submerging Terror checkpoint, with Jenny, 38, joining him for the women. Tori and Derek came in second, Bananas and Rachel, 41, took third and Michele, 34, and Kyland ended up in fourth.

For the sixth checkpoint, the finalists had to swim over to a sandbar where TJ, 48, informed the contestants they’d be partaking in Mathematical Leasure, a speed math contest, and then swimming back to Sinister. TJ also offered the Challengers coconut water, which they were surprised to learn wasn’t something gross they’d have to drink as part of the Final.

“What the hell is wrong with TJ?” Jordan remarked.

Jenny and Jordan won first again, followed by Michele and Derek, then Rachel and Kyland and lastly, Tori and Bananas.

The seventh and final checkpoint required the finalists to swim over to a barge and then head into a cathedral to retrieve an underwater scooter. Using the underwater scooter, they had to follow the buoys and collect tokens.

Michele, followed by Rachel, made it back to Sinister before any of the men. Ultimately, Michele and Jordan finished in first, meaning he placed first in all seven checkpoints across both days of the Final. Rachel and Bananas came in second, Tori and Derek nabbed third and Jenny and Kyland took fourth.

“You just finished one of the hardest finals in the history of The Challenge,” TJ informed the finalists. “You all are killers, man.”

The BMX cyclist then informed the finishers that the Karma Vote ended up being worth two checkpoints, and for the men, that resulted in zero movement in the standings. TJ announced Jordan as the first-place winner for the men, earning him $200,000. Second place and $75,000 went to Derek, and Bananas scored $25,000 in third. “I’m the side-chick all season long,” Bananas joked.

Unfortunately, Kyland didn’t receive anything for his last-place finish.

For the women, the Karama Vote played a bigger factor, resulting in Tori taking last place and Michele moving from second to third place and walking away with $25,000.

“This was the closest finish in Challenge history,” TJ told Michele. “You were only one point away from going home with some big money.”

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Afterward, TJ revealed that the Karma Vote moved Rachel from third place to first — tied with Jenny. As a result, Rachel and Jenny would both receive the title of Challenge champions and split $475,000.

“To be crowned champions together is just like, the dream outcome,” Jenny said in a confessional interview.

Rachel agreed. “We’re so happy to share the money, to share the title,” she said.

And Bananas appreciated that both of his Bananas’ Angels allies won, calling Jenny and Rachel “two of the most badass chicks to ever grace The Challenge screen.”

“This totally, totally unpredictable fairy tale season that three of us had, and then looking over at Michele and Tori, I mean, if this isn’t f—ing poetic justice, I don’t know what is,” the seven-time champ said in an on-camera interview.  

The finalists hugged it out before parting ways, and Jordan assured fans would see him back on the show, telling the cameras, “You can call me for Challenge 50!”

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Part 1 of The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras reunion will air Wednesday, Jan. 15, at 8 p.m. ET on MTV.