Tonight, the first champion to win American Ninja Warrior, Isaac Caldiero, returns for another shot! Others are hoping for a chance at $1,000,000! Here are some highlights of tonight’s two-hour episode:
Here are the American Ninja Warrior obstacles they are facing: floating steps, cannonball drop, wheel flip, block run, spin hopper, and the warped wall.
Derek Pavoni, 24-year-old pizzamaker, is up first. While eating pizza he falls on the second obstacle. Maybe next time leave the pizza on the sidelines. Bill Westrick, who met the widow of the tissue donor for his ACL tear, gets taken out by the block run. Several other contestants give it a shot, but a montage of dives into the pool happen next.
Will anyone get through?
Jody “Big Dog Ninja” Avila is next and he’s made it through the American Ninja Warrior course before. Again, the block run takes another one out! Damn, this is a hard obstacle!
Nicole Martinez is up next, but is the third time a charm? She did pretty well, getting up to the spin hopper but failed to make it through.
Interestingly, when it comes to betting on who you might think will win American Ninja Warrior, it’s hard. Why? Because it’s all going to depend on what obstacles they choose. I mean those spinning blocks are taking out so many people. It’s going to be hard to say who might win. It’s a lot of luck in my opinion too.
Kyle Stradtman, a dog-walking ninja, had a great backstory. He started to drink at 16 and someone suggested he get a dog. It distracted him from trouble and he credits the dog with saving his life. Four years sober, he is the first ninja to get through the course and up the wall!
Josh Butler, a 32-year-old bartender, is up next. Great family story about loss and love. He and his wife lost their baby a few years ago and adopted a son who had medical issues. After that they adopted three more children. Great role model. Unfortunately, the blocks took him out too. Damn, I was rooting for him.
Travis Rosen, one of the most popular ninjas — they call him the ageless wonder — has made it to the finals every year he competed. And he did it again.
Tyler Yamauchi had a phenomenal season last year, making it to Stage 2 and this 5’1 former gymnast is doing well so far in the competition. Unfortunately, he falters on the spin hopper. However, Chris DiGangi made it to the end with the fastest finish of barely over 3 minutes.
Race car driver Scott Dixon is running the American Ninja Warrior course next and makes it through the first few obstacles. There are no pit stops here. Unfortunately, he couldn’t hold on to the wheel flip before his arms gave out. Ethan Swanson was flying with the fastest pace of the night, but couldn’t hold onto the spin hopper.
Dan Polizzi, a firefighter, got through the course and only missed the mega wall by one hand, but did hit the buzzer on the regular wall for the fastest time of the night. It was short-lived though as Michael Bougher, a 22-year-old makes it through and knocks Polizzi out of the fastest time.
Jimmy Choi, an inspirational contestant who has Parkinson’s Disease, did an amazing job trying to get through American Ninja Warrior, but the wheel flip did him in. On the other hand, Philip Hucke got through to the end and hit that buzzer.
Isaac Caldiero, the first Ninja champion is back to try his ‘comeback’ after leaving the sport for a few years. He makes it through, but just misses the mega wall. “He’s human!” said the announcers. He finishes just shy of 4 minutes.
And yes, Jesse LaBreck made it through too! She was the first woman to try the mega wall, but came up short.
If you want to know the Power Rankings for each of the American Ninja Warrior audition weeks, which might help you determine who you would want to put your money on, follow American Ninja Warrior on Twitter at @ninjawarrior.
