They might not have been as strong as they are right now. Considering that they had quite a few wins in S3 (Sforza, Apanuugpak, Chandragupta, and Pirate Captain). Not to mention, they had some very strong teams too (Imperial Wizard, Ivan the Terrible, and Empress Eugenie.) I guess it depends which episodes would've been ones where they don't enter the temple.
What if Jammin John went into the temple first instead of Jennifer in Galileo's Cannonball?