Former The Challenge champion Zach Nichols wasn’t impressed with his former castmate Darrell Taylor’s Battle For a New Champion appearance.
Zach recently spoke about Darrell’s arrival at The Arena on MTV’s Season 39, as the former champion came in with a mercenary role to try to take out one of the main cast members and claim $10,000.
In previous episodes, viewers saw former champions Devin Walker, Kaycee Clark, Jordan Wiseley, and Tori Deal defeat their opponents to send them home.
Of those individuals, Kaycee and Jordan competed in somewhat physical events where they could put their hands on their opponents.
Devin and Tori had events featuring puzzles, but they weren’t the sort of headbangers that put opponents against each other, like Hall Brawl or Pole Wrestle.
Darrell, considered an elite competitor among MTV’s OGs, arrived at The Arena and got an elimination similar to those.
With that in mind, Zach called out production as he called it “bulls***” that Darrell received that sort of elimination event.
The Challenge’s Zach Nichols blasts Season 39 elimination
Zach was sour overall about The Challenge Season 39, Episode 10. He seemed particularly irritated by how production set up what he felt was a weak event for Darrell Taylor to showcase why he’s a legend in The Challenge.
“Listen, dude; this is bulls***,” Zach said, adding, “You have Darrell coming in, arguably [one of] the last people you want to see in a physical elimination round, and they give him like a balance the scale, light these cherry bombs on fire [event].”
“You know what? People want to see someone get their a** kicked. Let Darrell be that guy,” Zach continued, mentioning, “It was cool when he did it to me. Those ratings were great.”
“Let him beat the s**t out of Kyland [Young]. Let us all enjoy it. Let the ratings skyrocket, and let Darrell enjoy his time in the Hall of Fame,” he said.
Zach praised Darrell as one of the “most fit people” around, not just for his age but in general, and that production brought in a “brawler,” so they should’ve “let him brawl.”
Zach and Darrell previously competed in an elimination during The Challenge: Invasion season in what is considered a very physical event.
The two competitors faced each other in the classic Pole Wrestle, with Darrell showcasing why he’s among The Challenge greats.
Darell faced Kyland in the Fire Walker elimination
Upon Darrell’s arrival at The Arena for Season 39, TJ introduced him as the only Challenge competitor to have won four straight finals. Darrell selected Kyland’s pole randomly at The Draw, which put him head-to-head with the former Big Brother Challenge: USA competitor.
They competed in an event called Fire Walker, which featured each competitor standing on a swinging platform hanging over the ground. There were six arms connected to each platform, with a fire bowl at the end of each arm.
The competitors had to use their body weight to swing and guide their platform toward a nearby flamethrower. The objective was to become the first to light all six bowls with fire.
The video shows that Kyland got off to a hot start, and Darrell struggled. Darrell caught up to light his fourth fire bowl down the stretch, making it neck and neck.
However, Kyland tuned out the noise from the people in the stands and focused on swinging the platform to light up his final two bowls first.
With that, Kyland stayed in the game and saved $10,000 of the cast’s total prize purse for the final. In addition, he became the second cast member to defeat a Challenge champ, as Big T Fazakerley previously defeated Kaz Crossley.
After his win, Darrell offered a handshake and praise for Kyland, indicating he’s got what it takes to become a future champion after defeating one in an elimination.
The Challenge: Battle For a New Champion airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on MTV.