Tony Raines Responds to Accusations of Quitting 'The Challenge 40'
The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras is here! Throughout the season, Parade.com will speak with the challengers who were eliminated from the milestone season of the MTV series.
Tony Raines' rain on The Challenge has slowed to a drizzle the past few years. Having not appeared on an MTV season since 2018, he has elected to instead take the reigns as a family man, focusing on being a husband and father. And so, when he returned to the flagship for Season 40, he knew he wanted to play big and unafraid. He was emboldened even more when he was thrown into the first Era 3 elimination against Leroy Garrett, seeing himself on the bottom of a group filled with connections. And so, Tony vowed to himself, the first chance he had at power, he was going to take it.
Conveniently enough, that chance came the very next round. Era 3 won the first team daily challenge of the season, and team leaders Tony and Averey Tressler were put in charge of who to send into elimination. Averey was immediately and persistantly resolute about not sending in Era 2, given it would put her close friend Derek Chavez right in the line of fire. But Tony had different plans, cutting a deal with the Era 4 players, and wanting to build a relationship with Era 1 by granting the request of Darrell Taylor and Jodi Weatherton. Leading up to the elimination, Tony insisted to Averey and the house that he was willing to stalemate and go into elimination, something that many disagreed with. The one person who did was Averey. She called Tony on his bluff, sending them into elimination and accusing him of wanting to go home. Whether or not that was true, that's exactly where Tony went, as he went from the most powerful position in the game to the least in the span of one night.
Following their eliminations, Tony talks with Parade.com about what led to his stalemate decision, making up with Cory off-camera, and his reaction to how everyone responded to his behavior in the house.
Related: Everything to Know About The Challenge 40
So suffice it to say, your decision to stalemate and go into elimination garnered a lot of reactions. And we had people saying both to your face and in confessional that you were doing all this because you "didn't want to be there" and wanted to leave. So, first and foremost, clarify for me: Did you want to stay in the game?
I wanted to be there just as bad as anybody else wanted to be there. That's a false narrative. That's fake news. It's not something I enjoy hearing. And the interviews that I'm doing, I'm hearing that that's more and more prevalent, that that's the narrative that's going around is, "Oh, he didn't want to be there." And I can remember hearing Averey say it in the room I was in the bed. I can remember her saying, "He don't even want to be here. He's checked out." And then I can remember her telling TJ in the sand, "And I don't think he wants to be here." And I'm just trying not to take offense to it.
Because this whole time, me and Averey have gotten along. You're not going to be able to see it; they're not going to show it. But I talked to Averey probably more than I talked to any other woman out there. We had a great rapport. I feel like we had a good friendship, good relationship out there. We confided each other. She talked about how she kicked things off with Adam after All-Stars, because we were on All-Stars for a little bit together. She was a great person, and we really got along. And I'm talking to her about my family and the reason why I'm out there and why she's out there, and she's got something to prove. And it's like, "Hey, I'm finally coming back to a flagship. I gotta kill it." So for her to come and say, "Oh, he don't even want to be here. oh, he's checked out." Whoa, I'm not checked out! I told you that I missed my family. And I'm FaceTiming them and, of course I'm tearing up a little bit because I miss my family. But I'm also out here for my family. So for her to say that, it was just disingenuous. And I try not to take offense to it. But, man, it hurts my feelings.
Well you talk about building this rapport. Let's get to how that built into your decision to force a stalemate and go into elimination. Because it seemed like you were really banking on Averey backing down or Derek standing up and going in. How confident were you going into elimination that there would be a stalemate?
Well, I don't know if I was confident. I was confident in what I what I proposed; I was confident in what I told her. I was confident in, "Hey, I'm not going back. This is what I feel like is best for my game. And if we can't come to a decision, then I'm not afraid to go down there in the sand." Now, when I say that, I'm very, very confident in it, and I believe it. But at the same time, I'm hoping that, she's going to take that as, "I don't want to go into elimination. I'm not trying to go home. I got a lot to prove out here. I'll try to figure something out with Derek. He's my best friend. He's my boy, whatever. He'll go ahead and take this one for me. I'm not going to take this one for him."
So that was my whole thing. Either she's gonna go ahead and accept Derek going in and kind of go along with that, or we're gonna come to a stalemate. And my contingency plan was, we'll get down there, we're gonna say we're in a stalemate, and Derek's gonna be like, "No, Averey! No way. You're my best friend in the world. There's no way I'm letting you do this." And he's gonna go ahead and go down. That was what I was relying on right there. Because I figured she was gonna be stubborn. Because Averey, I don't know if really comes through, if it translates through TV or not. But has a lot of heart. She plays with a heart. You could tell if she's down for you, she's down for you. It don't matter about her game or anything else. It matters about that bond that she has with you. So I could tell she was gonna stick to it. But I'm thinking, "Okay, but there's no way Derek's gonna let her do that." That was my whole backup plan. That was my contingency. Alright, we get down there. We're gonna make a little show, like, "Hey, I'm not budging." And she's like, "I'm not budging." And Derek's like, "Okay, I'm not gonna let this happen. Tony, you're an asshole." And he's gonna go down there. Boom, done. That was my mindset.
You mention in confessional that you noticed a lot of grumbling in your directions after you went to the stalemate. And I imagine one of the reasons why you made this move is because you felt at the bottom of Era 3. If you had survived elimination and gone back into the house, what do you think would have happened?
I'm battling either way. I'm battling within my era. The other eras, I'm actually trying to form some kind of alliance with them outside of my own era. Because nobody in my era has got my back except Devin, and there's only so much Devin can do, right? So I come back from that elimination, I'm battling either way it goes. So my mindset would have been, "Look, guys, this is what's best for my game. Everybody out there that's a true challenger knows you got to throw everything out the window, and you got to do what's best for your game if you want to make it to the end, to get to that final." Everybody knows that. Now, also at the same time, everybody knows the best way to make it to a final is not to go into elimination. I was put [between] a rock and a hard place. But again, I made a decision, stuck with it, and I gotta live with it.
Something that may have caused complications in your era is the fact that you and Cory were playing together for the first time since he body-slammed you during Final Reckoning. And is someone who, alongside Tori, puts you into that first elimination, despite your pitch to go for a bigger threat in Jordan. Talk to me about hitting unpause on that relationship after five years.
You know what, and maybe they'll show it later on. But what wasn't aired was me and Cory actually had a conversation, and we actually had some resolution with that whole situation. It was actually at the introduction, the first episode, I forget what that episode description was. But we talked there. He came up to me like a man and apologized and admitted fault, admitted he was wrong. And I know that over the years, he's had a lot of growth. He's done a lot of growing himself; he's got a beautiful family. And for those five, six years, we didn't talk, we didn't communicate, we didn't like one single photo of each other on social media. And we'd seen each other before at the airport and at the hotel, but it was very awkward; it was still very standoffish. And for him to come over and say, "Hey, man, I've been wanting to have this conversation with you for a long time, and I wanted to do it on camera so you know that it's real. And I want to come to you as a man and apologize for what happened years and years ago." I said, "Man, that's all I needed from you." And right there, we swept it under the rug. We squashed the beef.
It was a moment that I wish they could have shown. Because I feel like it was a special moment between us, especially because of what happened. It was big. They actually went to a flashback [of it] on one of Cory's interviews, where he was like, "Hey, alright, y'all go ahead and show it." And they showed the body slam. So for us to kind of come, to come to terms on it and and have an understanding with each other again and have a Challenge friendship again was nice. Because, before that, me and Cory's always been cool. We started these things together. Bloodlines was our first challenge together. We did pretty much everyone together up until that point. So for that to happen and then it not get shown, was disappointing.
But I guess it's all for naught, because this guy throws me into elimination. [Laughs.] We make up, and then you throw me into elimination. But if you look at, if you connect the dots and you look at all the different relationships within my era, that was going to be really, really hard for Cory to make a move and to try to save me. Now, if he would have saved me, now we can work together; maybe I'm your number one. But at the same time, he knows that I'm Devin's number one. He knows that in the back of his head. So he would have been my number two, even if he saves me. And then now he's the odd man out. Because he throws in Devin, and Devin has ties to Tori; they're best friends. Tori wasn't gonna throw either one of them other guys in. Let's be real. That's her ex-fiance; they're still best friends. And then you got Devin, who is literally her best friend. So it just wasn't going to happen. And I understand the move, of course; it's no hard feelings whatsoever. I would have been cool, though, if he pulled that trigger and showed he was a man. "Boom, let's go. Jordan, yep, you're in there. I know you're the best player here. I'm getting you out early. Let's go. Gotta pull the trigger." But he didn't. And you gotta respect people's games.
Well let's talk about another relationship that, in the past, had bad blood that turned good: Johnny Bananas. You two were partners in Final Reckoning, your last flagship season. And, this episode, he comes to you saying it's not a good idea to force the stalemate. But, because you heard him cheering for Leroy over you in the last elimination, you felt he didn't have your best interests at heart. Talk to me about your logic, and your relationship overall.
Anybody that watches The Challenge understands the history. I came in with Bananas, and he was somebody I confided in. We just took a liking to each other, gravitated toward each other. I looked at him as like a big brother in The Challenge, this and that. But at the end of the day, Johnny is a true challenger. He's always going to do what's best for his game. Now, he's got strong, strong ties to Leroy. I get that and understand that. And maybe I shouldn't have took that in a way of like, "Oh man. You gonna root that loud for Leroy?" But what happened with us on Final Reckoning, and then going through what we had to go through together on Final Reckoning, and then, even after filming Final Reckoning, hanging out afterwards, just the bond and the brothership and us getting back to a good place, I thought he would have handled that situation a little better. Yeah, Leroy was your boy 10+ years, this and that. But, come on. It was just very obvious of, "Hey, you didn't really want me there."
So if you're coming up and you're trying to give me advice, why are you trying to give me advice? You were just rooting for me to go home. Something's not adding up here. And they probably didn't show it. But after elimination the next morning, he's sitting there trying to give excuses on why Leroy lost, instead of giving me my flowers on how good I did. Leroy's not even there anymore, man! You can't even come give me my props, man? So they didn't show that either. But that was something else that rubbed me the wrong way. So for him to try to come and give me advice, look, he's he Banana Man. He's done more than anybody and all this and all that. But, at the end of the day, I still gotta do what's best for my game. And, at the time, I figured the decision that I had made was the best was best for my game.
I know you haven't watched the episode yet to hear what everyone has to say about your decision. But suffice it to say there were some choice words from Ryan in particular. He says what you did was a "masquerade of ego," and even says that your decision was because you "can't digest the fact that a woman might have the final say." What's your reaction to that?
[Sighs.] That's such low-hanging fruit. Come on. That's the easy target. That's like, "Oh, look, this big guy and little Averey. You need to do what Tony says." That's not the case at all. I'm not looking at like, "Oh, she's a woman. She's gotta do what I say." You're a challenge; I'm a challenger. This is what I think is best for my game. This is what you think's best for your game. Okay, we have a disagreement. You have a disagreement, you come to a stalemate. Guess what you do? You go down to elimination. It's not anything else. I haven't watched the episode, obviously. But I don't feel like I was super aggressive or in her face, like, "You're going to do what I say." That's just not my character. It's not who I am. It's definitely not who I want to come across as on TV. I made huge strides from the Rivals III days and things like that. That had nothing to do with my decision at all. That wasn't how I wasn't trying to come off that way at all. And so a "masquerade of ego." What was the other quote?
That you "can't digest the fact that a woman might have the final say."
Yeah, okay, my wife's gonna laugh at that one. [Laughs.] My wife, she runs the house. She's the boss. Come on, get out of here.
Finally, in honor of the infamous "Shit They Should Have Shown" episode of the old-school days of The Challenge, what's one moment from your time on the show that you wish you had made the edit?
Oh, god, I have such a bad memory. I'm the worst of this because I do have a horrible, horrible memory. But them showing the slingshot fight was awesome. One thing I wish they would have shown leading up to this, and I think it would have made a little better for TV. Show a little more of me and Averey's conversations, like the good ones. Show a little bit of that, and then show how it turned, how it went from night to day, it flipped on itself. I think that would have been nice. Because we had some good conversations. That's probably one thing I wish they could have shown.
