He comes off as one of the "cool kids" who no one wants to piss off because they want to be part of the in crowd
Bananas actually comes off that Elder frat boy who gets love by the whole campus and all the young guys look up to him.
i think they respect his numerous victories as well.
I think everybody has a mixture of fear and respect for bananas. Plus it's more of a bragging right if one were to beat him in a final, rather than simply getting him eliminated.
That's absolutely what it comes down to for Bananas and CT. I mean, it makes perfect sense. Those 2 dudes are The Real World at this point. If there was a Challenge video game they'd be on the cover. Everyone grew up watching them and shyt. So most folks are star struck.