Hosts Nick Kyrgios and Sophie Stonehouse, with referee Rachel Starr keeping everyone in line, serve up the first episode of Smash City, where the eight picklers face off for a shot at the $20,000 grand prize.

The players split into two rival squads — Team Pickle: Nathan Webb, Nellie Cronen, Kayla Fitzergerald, and Sachia Vickery — and Team Dink: Adi Spiegelman, Trippie Bri, Joey Joy, and Steph Mi.

The teams dive into four high-stakes mini-games. The twist? When the dust settles, the team with the lowest score must send one of their own packing immediately. 

While the contestants' skill level runs the gamut, the mini-games are the perfect way to level the playing field in the most unserious way possible. 

From swinging oversized paddles to a spirited round of competitive trash talk, a completely made-up challenge called “Balls Against the Wall,” and a game of pickle pong, each contestant finds their own moment to shine. 

One thing’s for sure: these content creators aren’t afraid of a little competition. 

In the end, it’s Team Dink that falls short on points, and someone has to go… but not before Referee Rachel dumps water on them. 

After a bit of psychological gameplay from Adi, she flips her vote at the last second and targets Steph. Trippie Bri follows her lead, sealing Steph’s fate.

Just like that, Steph becomes the first player to be eliminated from the competition. If this first episode is any indication, this season is going to be cutthroat. 

After Steph’s elimination, the remaining contestants quickly learn there’s no time to look back. If they linger too long, they could be the next to go.

From now until the finale, each episode will feature one mini-game and one main challenge. In other words, the remaining players get double the chances to shine, stumble, or get sent packing. 

Today’s chaos kicks off with a stare-down for the ages in the “Eyes on the Prize” mini-game, where unbroken eye contact becomes the ultimate test of focus, nerves, and maybe even flirtation. 

In this challenge, contestants must keep a pickleball bouncing on their paddle while locking eyes with their opponent. If the ball drops, or they break eye contact, it’s an instant out.

Sounds tough, right? Not for Sachia Vickery. As the only active tennis pro in the competition, she makes it look effortless, taking Team Dink down one by one.

With cool focus and flawless control, Sachia breezes past the competition, locking in yet another win for Team Pickle.

Next up is the main challenge, where contestants must return serves fired at them by none other than tennis legend Nick Kyrgios. 

It’s a nerve-wracking test for most. But once they find their rhythm, many players manage to combat Nick’s blistering power and signature spin with delicate dinks over the net. 

As the level of play ramps up, the strongest contenders start to separate from the pack. 

Unfortunately, Trippie and Kayla struggle to handle Nick’s serves, returning the fewest shots, resulting in their elimination from the competition. 

The $20,000 Smash City grand prize is almost within reach. But before anyone can start dreaming of the finale, the remaining contestants have to survive one more mini-game and a high-stakes main challenge. 

This episode’s mini-game pushes them far outside their comfort zones: they have just 20 minutes to design and create fashionable pickleball attire using nothing but a pile of random materials. 

Once time is up, it’s showtime. The contestants must strut their stuff down the pickleball runway and face the judges, who will decide who slays and who gets sent packing.

As soon as the clock starts, it’s a full-on scramble. Everyone knows what’s at stake and no matter their design experience (or lack thereof), they’ve got to pull it together fast if they want to stay in the game.

When time is up and the contestants hit the runway, it doesn’t take long for the judges to see which outfits fall flat. 

Unfortunately for Joey Joy, his “innovative” design misses the mark, and he’s sent packing. 

With just four players remaining, fashion show winner Nellie earns the power to choose her partner for the main challenge. She picks the most experienced pickler, Sachia, and together they dominate Nathan and Adi.

As winners, Nellie and Sachia must decide who stays and who goes. And, after a tense deliberation, they opt to eliminate Nathan for being too big a threat. 

Now, only three contestants remain — Adi, Sachia, and Nellie — to vie for the $20,000 grand prize.

The players have battled through a grueling gauntlet of mini-games and main challenges to become the last three standing: Adi, Sachia, and Nellie.

But only two will advance to the final showdown, starting with a timed accuracy mini-game... their toughest yet.  

Each contestant has five minutes to hit as many targets as possible, with the lowest scorer facing elimination. 

Nellie kicks off the challenge with a roaring start, crushing every target and capitalizing on the last 30 seconds when points are doubled.

Sachia, once she finds her rhythm, proves unstoppable, leveraging her pro tennis skills to rack up points fast.

But when Adi steps onto the court, she struggles to find her groove and her journey ends here. Sachia and Nellie will now battle it out in the final. 

At center court, Nellie and Sachia face off in a single pickleball match to 11 points, with the winner taking home the $20,000 grand prize. 

Despite Nellie’s stellar performance throughout the competition, Sachia’s experience shines through. As a pro tennis player, she’s virtually impossible to beat.

The final is a decisive blowout, with Sachia triumphing 11-1. Congratulations to her for showing everyone what a true champ looks like.