Cory Wharton is known for facing daily events, eliminations, and finals on MTV’s The Challenge. However, he recently took on a different sort of challenge just in time for the holiday season.
The 31-year-old, who also stars in Teen Mom OG, is featured in a promotional video where he participates in what’s referred to as “Santa’s Bootcamp.”
It involves Cory undergoing several phases of training to take on the role of the action-hero Santa Claus from the upcoming film Violent Night.
The movie stars David Harbour, known for portraying Detective Hopper on the popular Netflix series Stranger Things.
Harbour’s participated in action sequences for the sci-fi and fantasy series, and he’s also been in the role of Hellboy, a tough superhero. Those are just a few of the parts Harbour’s played, while Cory’s acting and movie roles are much more limited.
Although he’s been away from MTV’s competition series, he’s been staying in shape, as he’s participated in other sports during the past year, including a celebrity boxing match.
However, donning a Santa costume and trying to do action scenes for a film is no easy feat, so could Cory handle that challenge?
Cory participates in Santa’s Bootcamp for Violent Night
Cory is playing the part of Santa Claus in a video unveiled on The Challenge Instagram, but not the jolly fellow many people imagine flying around with Rudolph and bringing presents down the chimney.
Instead, this Santa is one the bad guys won’t want to mess with, as seen in a trailer for the upcoming film Violent Night. In the promotional video, Cory Wharton is dressed like Santa in a red and white suit with a fake beard and hair, carrying a bag of goodies.
“Everybody knows Santa loves sweets, but you know what else he likes?” Cory, as Santa says as he sits down to enjoy a cookie before revealing, “Kickin’ a**.”
From there, Violent Night stunt coordinator Jonathan Eusebi gets involved and takes Cory through some of the moves he needs to perform as Santa.
With a sledgehammer in hand, Cory goes through defensive, striking, and kicking moves that Jonathan shows him. Next, Cory attempts to reenact a short action scene from the film with some of the stunt guy villains coming at him.
Cory handles his business as he takes out all of the menacing villains using sledgehammer strikes, knee-kicks, and other moves, with Christmas music and decorations as the scene’s background.
After all the a** kicking that Cory does, he relaxes to enjoy his cookie as the video closes out. Check out the full promotional clip below to see Cory in action.
The Challenge alums react to Cory’s action-hero clip
With The Challenge sharing Cory’s Violent Night promotional clip, several of his castmates and other alum from MTV’s show reacted. They mostly showed support, although Wes Bergmann didn’t shy away from making a joke about his castmate.
“I’m gonna have a nightmare tonight,” Wes commented about Cory’s promotional video.
“EPIC!!!” Mark Long commented, including a Santa emoji.
Cory’s friend Hunter Barfield from the Team Young Bucks group on MTV’s show dropped several flexing bicep emojis, while All Stars OG Ruthie Alcaide wrote “Nice!” in the comment section.
Cory last appeared in MTV’s The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies season, where he teamed up mostly with rookie Bettina Buchanan during the season. They won an elimination together, sending Amber Borzotra and Jeremiah White home in Episode 9.
However, Cory seemed to become checked out of The Challenge competition when he took on rookie Logan Sampedro in Episode 13, ultimately losing an elimination called Rope Burn.
Following the season, the four-time finalist said he was taking a break from MTV’s competition show to spend more time with family. Barring him landing any movie roles based on his Violent Night promo, fans shouldn’t be surprised to see Cory return to The Challenge at some point in an upcoming season due to his love of the competition.
The Challenge: Ride or Dies airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on MTV. Violent Night releases in theaters on Friday, December 2.