Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Challenge: USA season 2 for September 21’s episode.
Have we truly lost a legend of MTV’s The Challenge — Wes Bergmann?
“I’m not coming back,” Wes said before he left the “Arena” following his elimination loss during Thursday’s episode. Three balls in the “Hopper” were enough to send Wes down into the sand opposite Survivor: Edge of Extinction winner Chris Underwood.
And like he did on two other occasions thus far on USA 2, Chris fought to keep his game alive. They battled in “Ripped Off,” a loser-go-home challenge that had the two competitors hanging from harnesses while they took turns chasing the other around a tower and ripping off tags. As history has it, Chris pulled off all 10 of Wes’ tags while Wes only captured nine before the time limit ran out.
The three-time Challenge champion made it known earlier in the season that it was likely his last. When he competed against The Amazing Race 33’s Dusty Harris in the Arena during episode 6, Wes was convinced he didn’t do enough to win the “Crank Shafted” elimination challenge. Prepared to make his final exit, host TJ Lavin later revealed he was victorious.
But, his fortune wasn’t the same in his next go-around. So, will the expecting father stick to his Challenge retirement? Wes confirmed on X last month that he fully intended to walk away from the reality competition show.
“The long and short of it is this, I’m done,” Wes tweeted. “It’s mounting entrepreneurial responsibilities paired with becoming a father (in the next month) — there’s no time. Coupled with doing nothing to anyone and still people trashing my name behind my back in interviews — I’m above this.”
Wes participated in USA 2 knowing full well that it was his last run because of his busy life
After nearly a decade of strategizing, manipulating, and competing, Wes told People in an interview published on September 22 that he knew USA 2 was his last hurrah. Wes said his responsibilities with his business incubator company — coined “BetaBlox” — are too great for him to continually leave for months every year to film The Challenge.
Plus, he and his wife, Amanda Hornick, are expecting their first child this Fall, further diminishing his desire to leave his home base in Leawood, Kansas.
Also, the man who has appeared on 21 iterations of The Challenge between MTV’s flagship series and spin-offs, believes he hasn’t left a stone unturned in terms of accomplishments.
“So, it’s mostly the business, a little bit my kid, and then a little bit — let’s be honest — what could I possibly accomplish that’s left?” Wes told the outlet. “I’ve won a bunch. I’ve been the face of this franchise for a long time. I’ve got legendary status. I do enjoy it, so that would be the main reason and only reason to come back.”
Among the things that’ll keep Wes away from the Challenge universe is his business competition show, The Blox. He announced via Instagram after Thursday’s episode that the seventh season of what Wes calls “the greatest show on entrepreneurship” is currently streaming on Amazon Prime. In a show fueled by innovative and cutting-edge products and services, up-and-coming entrepreneurs compete in challenges and workshops while they work to establish themselves as the “best startup on the planet.”
As part of the announcement, Wes wrote that in 2024 he’d spend ” almost three total months throughout the year filming” The Blox.
Wes also feels disrespected by his former ‘Green’ team, potentially lending to his Challenge retirement
Judging by his tweet and the interview with People, Wes’ sour feelings toward his time on the CBS spin-off may have also led to him bowing out. He was Survivor alum Desi Williams’ first pick to join the “Green” team. But, with Amanda Garcia being the only other Challenge veteran representing MTV’s mainline series, he had little political pull on his team chock-full of CBS talent.
When Green won the second daily challenge, they were tasked to nominate a man and a woman for possible elimination. And although Wes had the duty to protect his Challenge peers, the Green members disregarded what Wes had to say and elected to vote in John “Johnny Bananas” Devenanzio and Tori Deal.
Another time, Wes was told by his Green team to throw his Hopper vote toward Survivor’s Cassidy Clark. He did, but several of his teammates went behind Wes’ back and voted in Amanda instead. Cassidy then assumed Wes was the mastermind behind the vote to send her into the Arena, which created a new enemy for the 38-year-old reality star.
Wes explained to People the disrespect he felt from the CBS folk on his original team (Wes defected from Green to “Blue” after his elimination triumph over Dusty).
“It’s just the total picture of how [the] Green team — and some of them in particular — treated me, which was, ‘We’re going to put you in a corner. We’re going to lie to you. You’re then going to come back very maturely and ask, ‘Why? And are we going to be able to move past this?’ They’re going to apologize. Then they’re going to lie to me again and again and again,’” Wes said. “Then I expect them in their interviews to be like, ’Man, I feel bad for what’s going on, but we have to do it.’
“Instead, it’s more like, ‘I don’t believe anything that Wes is saying.’ They’re buying into the propaganda that Wes is this master manipulator when really, I’m the guy that likes to work with new people and forge new alliances.”
With Big Brother 19 winner Josh Martinez backstabbing him by secretly voting for him last episode, it was a rough season for Wes. But, if this actually is the end of Wes’ tenure, longtime Challenge fans won’t remember him for his tumultuous USA 2 run.
Since debuting in the franchise during Fresh Meat in 2006, the Real World: Austin alum has delivered such great content over the last 17+ years, from heroic victories to power plays, and from off-the-rocker drama to downright emotional moments.
The legend has undoubtedly carved himself a spot in the franchise’s Mount Rushmore, and there’s nothing anyone can do to take that away from him.