The Challenge was originally called something else.
The Challenge ( originally known as Road Rules : All Stars , followed by Real World/Road Rules Challenge ) is a reality game show on MTV that is spun off from the network 's two reality shows , Real World and Road Rules . The title of the show was originally Road Rules : All Stars before it was renamed Real World/Road Rules Challenge by the show 's 2nd season , then later abridged to simply The Challenge by the show 's 19th season . The series initially used no hosts but instead a former cast member who had been kicked off his or her season , providing assignments as `` Mr. '' or `` Ms. Big '' ( David `` Puck '' Rainey , David Edwards , and Gladys Sanabria served this role ) .