C.T. Tamburello’s Back Injury On ‘The Challenge 40’ Explained

C.T. Tamburello has competed in 19 Challenge seasons, but Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras may be the season to break him.

Literally.

C.T., along with 39 other contestants, are set to duke it out on the 40th season of The Challenge. It’s bigger. It’s bolder. It is set to test the endurance of every contestant in ways never before seen.

And as we see in the trailer, CT may not be stepping away a winner.

C.T. Tamburello Suffer Back Injury During ‘Challenge 40’

Love him or hate him, C.T. is a 5-time winner of MTV’s The Challenge. He’s proven time and time again that he’s willing to go to the extreme to win the top prize.

Whether he ultimately goes all the way on Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras remains to be seen, but if he does, he’ll have overcome quite the injury to do so.

You see, the trailer for the new season dropped on July 16th. The sneak peek shows competitors from the past 39 seasons of the reality series fighting it out in “relentless new challenges and twists,” per the press release.

People are jumping off buildings, driving cars off of cliffs, and leaping off trucks, suspended from … a helicopter?!

But towards the end of the trailer, tragedy is teased. C.T. is shown being carried off on a backboard after an apparent back injury. Right before, viewers can see him tumbling, mid-air during an event, but little more is explained. In the clip, C.T. can be heard saying, “My back.”

Still, rest assured: C.T. seems fine. Well enough to film the Traitors season 2. He was walking around just fine.

Then again, this might be the year he finally retires? Maybe?

‘Challenge 40’: Battle of the Eras: Meet The Cast

The all-vet season of The Challenge will be one to clearly floor fans. The forty returning contestants will be broken up in into four teams, or “Eras” (Thank you, Taylor Swift.)

In the trailer, host TJ Lavin breaks down what we can expect from each team.

“Era I started it all,” he explains, talking about the first set of contestants from the first ten seasons. He continues: “Era II introduced Fresh Meat,” referring to stars from season 11-20. “Era III elevated rivalries and romances, and Era IV brought the game global,” he teases.

Era’s Team Breakdown

As for who will be playing for each time, here’s the breakdown:

Era 1 (Seasons 1-10):
Tina Barta (8 Challenges)
Katie Cooley (11 Challenges, 1 win)
Aneesa Fereira (17 Challenges)
Brad Fiorenza (13 Challenges, 1 Win)
Derrick Kosinski (13 Challenges, 3 Wins)
Mark Long (8 Challenges, 2 Wins)
Rachel Robinson (8 Challenges, 2 Wins)
CT Tamburello (19 Challenges, 5 Wins)
Darrell Taylor (14 Challenges, 4 Wins)
Jodi Weatherton (5 Challenges, 2 Wins)

Era 2 (Seasons 11-20):
Derek Chavez (5 Challenges)
Nehemiah Clark (7 Challenges, 1 win)
Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio (23 Challenges, 7 Wins)
KellyAnne Judd (7 Challenges)
Ryan Kehoe (7 Challenges)
Aviv Melmed (1 Challenge, 1 Win)
Brandon Nelson (6 Challenges)
Emily Schromm (3 Challenges, 1 Win)
Cara Maria Sorbello (15 Challenges, 2 Wins)
Laurel Stucky (8 Challenges, 2 Wins)

Era 3 (Seasons 21-30):
Tori Deal (9 Challenges, 1 Win)
Amanda Garcia (7 Challenges)
Leroy Garrett (13 Challenges)
Jonna Mannion (10 Challenges, 2 Wins)
Nia Moore (4 Challenges)
Tony Raines (7 Challenges)
Averey Tressler (3 Challenges)
Devin Walker (7 Challenges, 1 Win)
Cory Wharton (10 Challenges)
Jordan Wiseley (9 Challenges, 4 Wins)

Era 4 (Seasons 31-39):
Paulie Calafiore (4 Challenges)
Theo Campbell (3 Challenges)
Kaycee Clark (5 Challenges, 1 Win)
Michele Fitzgerald (4 Challenges)
Horacio Gutiérrez Jr. (2 Challenges)
Olivia Kaiser (2 Challenges)
Josh Martinez (6 Challenges)
Nurys Mateo (2 Challenges)
Jenny West (2 Challenges, 1 win)
Kyland Young (2 Challenges)

Here’s hoping C.T’s back injury is the only major issue the teams have to deal with!

Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras kicks off on Wednesday, August 14, at 8 p.m. ET.