- Tonight on "American Ninja Warrior,"
it's a family affair.
[emotional music]
- This might be the most exciting year ever
because I get to compete with my mom.
[laughter]
[cheers and applause]
- Y'all haven't seen me since season 12,
and so much has changed.
I got married to the Cake Ninja.
- I have the best adventure buddy I could ever ask for.
[laughter]
We did it.
- We have overcome a lot together.
- He's a good brother to me.
I'm a good brother to him.
- Family is more than blood.
- To be out there together running the same course,
that would be so awesome.
- Get the photo album ready.
It's time to make some memories.
[dramatic music]
- Welcome to Universal Studios Hollywood,
our home for qualifying on "American Ninja Warrior."
Hello, everyone. And thanks for joining us.
I'm Matt Iseman.
- And I'm Akbar Gbajabiamila.
Matt, we're just a few weeks in,
but this season has been off the hook.
We've had amazing runs, Mega Walls,
and those head-to-head races at the end.
- And we've got another all-star lineup tonight,
plus some changes to our course.
For a preview, let's go down to Zuri Hall.
- Thanks, guys.
We've had some creative obstacles this season.
And we've got another new one tonight, The Cubes.
It's obstacle number 5, and it will be puzzle for our ninjas.
Each of the three cubes turns a different way with only
tiny slots to grab onto.
- Nice.
- Get through it, and they can run up
the Warped Wall to the buzzer.
If they finish in under a 1:20,
they'll earn a shot at our 18-and-1/2-foot Mega Wall,
which could earn them $10,000
from Wells Fargo Active Cash Credit Card.
- Only the top 12 men and top 4 women from tonight
move on to the semifinals.
The final spots will be determined in a runoff races
later tonight.
- Last week we saw Gary Weiland make
history as the first amputee to reach the semifinals.
- Gary Weiland on fire!
Are you kidding me?
- What are we going to see tonight?
[cheers and applause]
- And our first competitor may look familiar,
but she's got a new name.
This is Caitlyn Bergstrom-Wright.
That Wright got added because she
married fellow ninja David Bergstrom-Wright, AKA,
the Cake Ninja.
- Oh, it looks like he's going to propose again.
He's giving her a cupcake.
That's his favorite.
- Hearts are melting.
Ohh!
- These two were brought together by Ninja,
and it's a huge part of their life.
[soft music]
[laughter]
- David and I met in the 2019 Las Vegas
finals for "Ninja Warrior."
- I had no idea I was going to meet my future wife there.
- When he was in Texas and I was in Florida,
we were texting nonstop, FaceTiming nonstop.
And I guess he thought we were already dating.
- I did.
And then I moved to Florida three years ago now.
The day I moved, I knew I was going to propose.
- Our wedding was the storybook wedding
that I've always wanted.
It was just a lot of our ninja friends.
The maid of honor and best man were Caleb, my little brother,
and then Ashley, now my sister-in-law.
- Us four together, we're like the Bergstrom quartet.
You will see us all around each other,
training together, living together,
cooking together, eating together.
- How's your cake?
- I'm dodging all the icing,
so it's perfectly delicious. - Delicious.
- Yum.
- The first time I was on the Ninja course,
I was so nervous.
I was not even sure if I really wanted to be there.
But now I get to with my husband, my little brother,
my best friend, and I couldn't be more
grateful for this opportunity.
- Caitlyn's got the whole family on the sideline.
Her husband David.
- Yeah, he's still eating that cupcake.
- Plus her brother Caleb and his wife,
Ashley, who will compete in a few weeks,
Mama and Papa Bergstrom there too.
[countdown clock beeping]
First obstacle is Pole Vault.
- She and her brother Caleb exploded onto the scene
back in Season 11.
They became the first brother-sister duo
to make it to Vegas together.
Second obstacle tonight is Greased Lightning,
a wild ride with two jolts in the track.
- Squeeze!
Squeeze!
- You really got to hold on to it.
You can see, too, at 5'3" she's really going
to have to engage her core.
And you have to time your dismount.
And she does it.
- Flies right through Greased Lightning.
[cheers and applause]
- Well, she's pumped to get through that one.
- Now has to bring the heart rate down for tonight's
balance obstacle, Log Runner.
- All right.
Keep your feet hot, keep your feet hot.
Nice. - Right through it.
- How sweet is this?
- Halfway to what would be her very first buzzer.
- Right now!
Let's do it.
Come on, baby.
- She hasn't competed in a couple of years,
but when she did was a top athlete.
Made it to Vegas as a rookie.
And now facing Kite Surfer.
She's got to use her grip to work around
the red section of the kites.
This obstacle debuted last week.
- She looks like she's got this.
Nice.
- Now has to jump to that spool,
which is attached to bungees.
- Only 5'3" and 123 pounds.
Gotta generate some bounce to get up to that second kite.
- She taking a few extra swings.
And that can wear you out.
- But makes the transfer to the second kite.
Only the top four women from tonight will move on.
If she gets through this, she'll be in good position.
- Nice grab.
- That's amazing.
At 5'3" and she's flexing.
[cheers and applause]
- Yeah, show you're right.
I see you. Show you're right.
Yeah.
- She goes from flexing to dancing.
[cheers and applause]
- Well, she's smiling, because she's getting closer
to what would be her first-ever buzzer.
But she's got to get past this new obstacle, The Cubes.
Each of these has to be turned in a different direction.
- All right, so this first cube here, you can see it's
got a vertical rotation.
You got to turn that 180 degrees.
Yep, keep going. Keep going.
- Get that front half and get the red face--
Oh, just missed.
Get that big ol' Rubik's Cube.
Nice. - Oh, she's looking gassed.
both: No!
- Caitlyn Bergstrom-Wright makes it to the fifth
obstacle, and that may be good enough
to get her to the semifinals.
- She was enjoying every minute of this run.
Bounced her way to the fifth obstacle.
That matches her best run ever,
but just lost her grip on The Cubes.
- Ohh!
- First run as a married woman
turned out pretty well.
And we'll see her husband Cake run in just a bit.
- * I'm bringing the fire *
- Tonight it's a family affair.
We've got mothers, brothers, and even sisters.
- They got all the nuns.
- Plus some favorite members of our ninja family.
Including one making possibly his last run ever.
- Bro pound. - Bro pound.
both: Boom.
- So get fired up...
- Oh!
- Yes!
- For another wild night of qualifying
on "American Ninja Warrior."
[cheers and applause]
- Welcome back to Universal Studios.
- Ohh! [air horn blares]
- Where the wildest ride at the park
is our second obstacle, Greased Lightning.
- Ohh. [air horn blares]
Ohh!
- Brentnol Baker is a detective
in Clayton County, Georgia,
and he had half the police department watching his run.
But the rookie got held up at Greased Lightning.
- Oh, you can't miss that one.
- And though he put up a fight for more than a minute--
- I might have to read him his rights.
- --ultimately, the cop had to surrender with his hands up.
- Ooh! [air horn blares]
- Missouri's Nikki Zink had several nuns cheering her on.
Including her sister, who's also a sister.
But her dismount didn't have a prayer.
- Oh!
Did a backflip right into the water.
This obstacle is having none of that.
- Evan Perperis is an army special forces
Officer and a top OCR racer.
- Ooh!
- But even he couldn't make it safely across.
- No, you can't go backwards.
You got to go forward.
- Glenn Davis turns 60 today, but he can still
do handstands on a skateboard.
- I see you.
- The Georgia gym owner got to celebrate
his birthday on our course.
- You got it. Nice.
- Go fast, Glenn, fast.
- But at Greased Lightning, the party was over.
- Oh! - Oh!
- At least he got cake.
- 60 years old and still doing his ninja thing.
- Well, our next two competitors
are half Glenn's age combined.
They're only 15.
These are the Garemore brothers from Ocala, Florida.
That's Roberto on the left and Nacssa on the right.
And they've had quite a journey to get here.
- Take 1 million.
- Action.
[slate snaps]
We are from Africa.
- We were both born in Guinea Bissau
and adopted in the same family.
- Look how little you guys were in that picture.
- Coming to the USA, we did not speak English.
It took us a while to get used to the people,
the air, the cars.
You know, like the foot pedals,
where you open and close the trash can.
Well, I thought that was the coolest thing ever.
[upbeat music]
- There he goes.
"American Ninja Warrior" was just
a great family bonding activity for us
to sit and watch all together.
- Oh, it's Cliffhanger, Nacssa.
You can do that.
- Yeah.
- Because you don't have to understand English to actually
see these incredible athletes doing
amazing things on the course.
[buzzer blares]
They're sitting there watching it, and they're like,
"Oh, oh, I can do that."
So we decided to build them a rig
and let them do it as much as they
wanted to in our backyard.
- Nacssa and Roberto Garemore were my first ninja students.
I worked with them when they were like ten years old.
- And Nacssa is on a whole nother level right now.
[buzzer blares]
- "American Ninja Warrior" has been so good
for them, because they found a community
that's accepting of them.
Nobody looks down on them for the fact
that they had to take their time to learn English.
They found this space where they can just go be.
- Easy stuff.
Easy stuff.
- A lot of people have underestimated us.
Once we show them what we can do on the course,
you know, they change their minds.
- I'm so excited that they're getting their shot,
and they're going to amaze everybody.
* *
[cheers and applause]
- So Roberto is going to lead it off.
Nacssa's on the sideline with the parents.
He'll run next.
Back in Florida, two big groups of family and friends
ready to watch the brothers run.
[cheers and applause]
[countdown clock beeping]
- This is a dream come true to be here.
These brothers have been watching
and training for six years.
- Wow.
That was effortless.
- Steps up to Greased Lightning,
which has already knocked out a few ninjas tonight.
- Oh. - Uh-oh.
Uh-oh.
- He didn't release.
And no one has recovered from this so far.
Going to have to generate another big swing.
Oh, my.
He's the first to ever do that.
- Nice. - On to Log Runner.
He just exploded.
- Yeah, I think, Matt, he's trying to make up for the time
that he lost there on Greased Lightning.
- Trying to quickly bounce his way across Kite Surfer.
[cheers and applause]
- Oh.
- Roberto cut down on Kite Surfer.
- Looked like he may have been rushing it.
- It's almost impossible to recover when you
miss the first dismount on Greased Lightning,
but Roberto did it.
He turned it on after that but missed
the grab on Kite Surfer.
Still he's still got a shot at landing in the top 12.
[cheers and applause]
- So now it the other brother Nacssa, who's also 15.
- Both the brothers are quick to say
Nacssa is the better ninja.
- We'll see if that's true.
[countdown clock beeping]
- Both he and his brother great kids
and some amazing ninjas.
- RJ says Nacssa is so fast.
- Roberto's hustled over to support his brother.
- Well, hopefully Nacssa doesn't make
the same mistake Roberto did on Greased Lightning.
He's got to release.
And he does.
- OK.
- Now Log Runner.
- Right into it. - Nice.
- Wow.
- And you can see how easy that was for him.
He just floated over the top of Log Runner.
- RJ wasn't kidding when he said this kid is good.
- Yeah, and he's come so far.
He and his brother started training
six years ago when they could barely speak English.
At 15, he is looking like an elite ninja.
- He looks so calm, so peaceful,
like this is his playground.
- And he just rode that bungee, rode the momentum.
But this is where his brother fell.
Not a problem for Nacssa.
[cheers and applause]
- This has been a fast run,
but it's been an efficient run.
- And now facing the fifth obstacle, The Cubes.
Got to spin this first one vertically.
- Yeah, he's living up to the hype so far.
This must be a dream to be out here
crushing it after watching the show for so many years.
- And he's mastering The Cubes.
Got to rotate it now.
180 degrees.
Good power out of Nacssa.
- One more cube to go.
This one will rotate as soon as you grab it.
- One more.
Big grab. - Nice!
- Got it!
- Has to hang on one hand while he rotates it around.
Now just the dismount.
Yes!
- He is gonna get his first buzzer.
- Nacssa Garemore delivers.
[buzzer blares]
[upbeat music]
[cheers and applause]
- Nacssa, what's it like being out here
getting the buzzer on the big course?
- It means a lot, you know.
I've been waiting for so long for this moment.
It just means a lot.
- Well, now you get a chance to go to the semifinals.
Are you ready to go racing?
- Yes. - Let's go.
- Nacssa, we'll see in the semis.
Go celebrate with your family.
- Matt, he's come full circle.
He used to watch the top ninjas on TV,
now he's proven that he is a top ninja.
We may be seeing him for years.
- Coming up...
At 71, Ginny MacColl will try to be the oldest
ever complete an obstacle.
And she's got a pretty good coach, her daughter,
ninja great, Jessie Graff.
- Be on the sidelines, cheering my mom on,
I'm going to be so nervous but so excited.
- When "American Ninja Warrior" returns.
- Qualifying rolls on here at Universal Studios,
and three ninjas got their shot minutes ago.
Florida's Lain Shahboz is part of a ninja legacy.
[cheers and applause]
Her parents, Joyce and Mark,
competed together way back in season four
with Lain on the sidelines.
Tonight the 20-year-old got her chance.
- Get up, get up, get up.
Ooh.
- But the former college swimmer splashed out early.
[upbeat music]
Social media sensation Johnny Brown likes to get squirrely.
His flying squirrel videos have garnered
over 93 million views
on TikTok, and he had his fans going nuts tonight.
- Squirrels, they just run up everywhere.
- On the course, the parkour coach scurried
his way through the obstacles.
- He gets through this one, give the squirrel a nut.
Whoa!
- But on Kite Runner, the rookie showed
he wasn't a flying squirrel.
- Ooh!
He should've ran it in his suit.
- North Carolina's Brandon Thomas
was fired up for his run.
- Yeah!
- The 18-year-old rookie was born with a rare form
color blindness, so the course doesn't appear
red and blue to him.
- All he sees is that buzzer.
- But that didn't slow him down tonight.
- Brandon Thomas is so pumped up right now.
- He made it to the fifth obstacle.
- No!
- And that could earn him a spot in the semifinal,
where every run is a race.
- That was so much fun.
- And on the course right now the Cake Ninja,
David Bergstrom-Wright.
- Nice.
Ooh!
- We saw his wife, Caitlyn, run earlier.
Balance obstacle ended his season early last year,
but not tonight. - Whoa.
Already on the fourth obstacle.
- I think he wants that Mega Wall.
Would need to finish under a 1:20
to earn a shot at it.
- I love the pace out of the Cake Ninja.
Someone must have told him there's a red velvet
cupcake at the buzzer.
- Yeah, that or $10,000 at the top of the Mega Wall.
- Well, he is an explosive athlete.
You know he got a shot there.
- Tried it back in season 12 but couldn't scale it.
- And this year's Mega Wall is 6 inches taller.
- First needs to figure out The Cubes.
This is where his wife, Caitlyn, fell earlier.
- This obstacle is so difficult.
- This just eats up time.
- Nice.
Oh, he's got great technique, Matt.
And he's got plenty time to have an opportunity
at the Mega Wall.
- Well, still has 20 seconds now.
David Bergstrom-Wright looking strong.
- All right.
Now this one's got 180 degree vertical change here.
- Whoo-hoo-hoo.
- Oh, boy.
He's got about 10 seconds.
Here we go.
- We got action, Matt.
- Oh, hey.
Get it. Get it. Get it. Get it.
- David Bergstrom-Wright
get his fourth career buzzer
and earns a shot at the Mega Wall.
- Let's go!
- That was fast, man.
That was real fast.
And you've earned your shot at the Mega Wall.
You ready for it?
- Yes!
Let's go!
- You ready for it?
- Go do it.
- 18 and 1/2 feet.
$10,000.
- Let's go.
- Trying to be the fourth ninja to take down
the Mega Wall this season.
[together] Mega Wall!
- Got to stick to this wall like fondant.
Here we go. Stick.
Got to stick on it like fondant.
Ooh.
- No Mega Wall, but it's the fastest finish so far.
He's moving on to our ninja-versus-ninja semifinals,
where every run is a race.
And his wife, Caitlyn, may be going there with him.
Up next another member of a well-known ninja family.
This is 71-year-old Ginny MacColl.
Yes, 71.
- And she looks awesome. - Yes, she does.
And look at that.
"Never too old, never too late."
- She's the mother of Hollywood stuntwoman and ninja
superstar Jessie Graff.
Ginny's had a long career as an actress.
You may have seen her in some Hallmark movies,
but a few years ago Jesse got her into Ninja.
- I can go up.
- Right.
- But when it's dead--
- But you went all the way down, yeah.
- It's hard.
- My mom had never done a pull-up in her entire life.
And when she was 61 she started
secretly working on it.
- My generation of women were not
encouraged to do any kind of strength training
or to build muscles.
[cheers and applause]
When I saw Jesse on "American Ninja Warrior"--
- Her story. Her story right there.
- She's so healthy and strong, and I want to get stronger.
I always said Jessie was a mini me
when we were growing up.
Now I feel like I'm a mini Jessie.
[laughs]
- Seeing my mom compete at this level at this age
has just shifted my perception of the world
and the possibilities for me.
There's a whole new generation of kids coming in,
and they have superhuman powers.
Like, how much longer can you do this?
And then I'm like, oh, 30 years.
You're good.
[dramatic music]
[applause] Go, Mama.
- We've had 70-year-olds get through an obstacle,
but Ginny could make history right here
if she does it at 71.
- Remember, you're gonna spot the pole, spot the trampoline.
Punch.
Grab.
[countdown clock beeping]
- All right. There you go.
Nice. Nice.
Get up.
Come on, come on. - Climb!
Climb! - Climb!
Climb!
Keep going.
- And look at this.
Ginny MacColl is going to do it.
- Keep going. Keep going.
- Ginny MacColl has made history.
- Keep going.
- 71 years old.
Never too old, never too late.
- I like it.
Keep going.
- Well, here she is on Greased Lightning.
- Matt, everyone in the crowd is going crazy.
[cheers and applause]
- Greased Lightning is going to be a challenge.
- Hold on, hold on, hold on.
Hold on!
What?
- Didn't dismount.
But how did she hold on?
- She's hung up now.
And we've only seen one ninja make it out of this.
- Grab it forward. [indistinct].
- She is fighting. Look at the grip strength.
That mama's got some good grip strength.
- Keep going. Keep fighting.
- You have to extend those arms and launch.
This would be a tough save for even an elite ninja,
but Ginny MacColl refusing to give up.
- Look at the fight in her.
- You're winning just by holding on.
- Well she's been training pull-ups with her daughter.
- She's smiling.
[cheers and applause]
- Come on, Ginny.
- She is not-- - Look at this face.
- This is where--
- This is where Jessie Graff gets it from.
- I love that.
That's my favorite one ever.
- Ginny MacColl just made history
and did it with style.
- Like her shirt says, "never too old, never too late."
And listen to this crowd.
71, the oldest to ever to get through an obstacle
on "American Ninja Warrior."
[cheers and applause]
When we come back, it's Jesse's turn.
- Oh, yes.
Jessie Graff continues to deliver.
- The first woman to conquer stage one
at the National Finals goes for another buzzer.
- Her story.
Her story right there.
- When "American Ninja Warrior" returns.
- A qualifying course can be a danger zone.
And minutes ago, former fighter pilot Joel Neeb,
whose call sign is Thor, came ready to drop the hammer.
- That's a mean call sign.
- Neeb flew more than 2,000 missions for the air force,
and he had some other top guns on his sideline.
- Yeah.
- Let's go, Thor.
- But Thor found himself in a dogfight
on Greased Lightning. - Here we go.
Hammer down.
Ooh!
I said hammer down, not drop down.
- Crash and burn.
It happens.
- Three-time veteran D.C. Banks
was ready for his-close up.
- OK.
I see you.
- He did get past Greased Lightning.
And then the former college football player
sprinted past Log Runner.
But in Kite Surfer, the Banks collapsed.
And the dreads got wet.
Former pro wakeboarder Austin Hair did get past Kite Surfer.
- OK, Austin Hair.
- With his wife Lisa and daughter, Lena Rose,
cheering him on, the two-time veteran
put his own spin on The Cubes.
- Ooh!
He did like a little pirouette or something like that.
OK.
- He just needed to solve the final one
and he'd have a shot at the buzzer.
- Ooh!
He was so close.
- Daddy.
- But no need to cry, Lena Rose.
That's good enough to get Daddy into the semifinals.
[cheers and applause]
On the course now--
- Oh, a little stumble--
- Tennessee teenager Elijah Browning.
His nickname is "The Boss" and for good reason.
Only 18 but runs several businesses.
Sells sports cards, builds ninja rigs,
and now has a successful modeling career too.
- Matt, it's crazy to think that he didn't make it
to Vegas last year. - Wow.
- Oh, my goodness.
- And he is coming out with a vengeance tonight.
- He's just flying through the fourth obstacle.
- Boom. Nice.
- And he's got the whole extended family
on the sideline, led by his biggest fan, his mom, Renee.
Trying to get his third straight qualifying buzzer
but first has to get past The Cubes.
Only two ninjas have survived it tonight.
- At 6'1" he's got some long arms for this.
- Mom can barely watch.
- You got this, buddy.
- Makes it the second cube.
- He's got them long limbs.
- Rotate it. - Nice.
- Good power.
- Nice.
- This third one is the toughest.
He lands it.
- Ooh!
- Hanging on.
- Come on, big fella.
- "The Boss" fighting for the dismount, and he's got it.
And "The Boss" is going to complete
his third qualifying course in a row.
- Let's go!
[cheers and applause]
[upbeat music]
Let's go!
* *
- Same as the old Boss.
- Let's go, boys.
- [laughs]
- Man, are you ready to go racing in the semifinals?
- Dude, I'm so stoked about racing.
Let's go.
- Go down and celebrate with your family, Boss.
I think your mom needs a hug.
Akbar, he is a star.
[cheers and applause]
- And when you talk about stars,
there's none bigger than our next ninja.
If there were a Mount Rushmore for ninja athletes,
this next woman would definitely be on it.
I am talking about one of the all-time greats, Jessie Graff.
Wearing her signature superhero outfit,
the stuntwoman has been busy working
on TV shows and movies, including
the "Wonder Woman" films.
And she is, of course, an icon of "Ninja."
The nine-time veteran was the first woman to hit a buzzer
on Stage One in Vegas.
- You saw Jessie's mom, Ginny MacColl, run earlier.
- Come on, Jessie. - Now Ginny's on the sideline
along with friends, including ninja great, Barclay Stockett.
She'll be right at home on this first obstacle.
Jessie was a pole vaulter at the University of Nebraska.
Held the school record at one point.
- You can tell she's a pole vaulter.
You see that? She got two feet on there.
[together] Jessie! Jessie! Jessie!
- She doubled Gal Gadot in "Wonder Woman '84."
Wants to summon that superhero strength
here on Greased Lightning.
- All right, let's see if she learned from her mom.
You got to release right at bottom.
- Nice timing.
She did. - Oh.
- Nice. - A good save.
- Yes!
- Well, up next is Log Runner, and she fell on a balance
obstacle last season.
- Let's go, Jessie!
- She's not overthinking it.
In the past, we've seen her overthink.
She's just going for it.
Just go, go, go, go, go.
- Great job.
- You go, girl.
- Yes!
- Mama, there go your daughter.
- Takes a breath before starting the fourth obstacle,
Kite Surfer.
- Yeah, she's really big on being your own superhero.
She's motivated.
So many ninjas, boys and girls alike, they look up to her.
- Got that wide wingspan.
5'8". Good power.
- Perfect!
- Nice.
- Caitlyn Bergstrom-Wright is the only woman
who's bested the Kite Surfer.
- She's been battling injuries the past few years,
but she looks healthy.
- Matt, I know we're only on the fourth obstacle,
but I'm so excited.
I got to say it.
She's back.
- Oh, Jessie [indistinct].
- Yeah.
Nice.
- Jessie Graff.
- I see you.
I see you, Jessie Graff.
- And she's at The Cubes.
[together] Jessie! Jessie! Jessie!
- Hasn't hit a buzzer since season 12.
- Oh, she's about to get this one.
She's about to get that buzzer.
- You can see she's figuring it out, looking at the cubes.
- Jessie plots out every move she makes on the course.
Putting a lot of thought into this one.
[together] Jessie! Jessie! Jessie!
- Ooh!
- She had a plan.
Just couldn't execute it.
Wonder Woman splashes down on the Cubes.
- This was classic Jessie Graff crushing obstacles
and having fun, but on the first cube
just couldn't find the right spot for her hand
and spun right off.
- Ah!
- The good news is, she's moving on.
We're going to see her racing in the semifinals.
- The Cubes knocked out Jessie and some other ninjas tonight.
And this obstacle came from our obstacle design challenge
submitted by ten-year-old ninja fan
Grace Quagliata of Ithaca, New York.
If you've got an idea to test our ninjas,
send it to...
And we might see your idea on the course next season.
- When we come back, buckle up.
Rock and roll speed demon RJ Roman
is going to go for broke.
Plus, a fan favorite says goodbye.
- It's time to hang it up.
- When "American Ninja Warrior" returns.
- What is "American Ninja Warrior"?
You're looking at it.
- His submission tapes were always explosive.
- Bro pound.
both: Boom.
- And so were his performances on the course.
- Ah! Ah!
Ah!
- Firefighter Brandon Mears is best known
as 1/2 of the Towers of Power alongside fellow Chicago
firefighter Dan Polizzi.
- Let's go, baby.
Towers of Power once more.
- And tonight will be the final run
of his storied career.
- I have had a long run on this show,
and I've loved every second of it.
Tonight, when I go out on the course,
I'm doing it for myself and my family.
This is a big one for me.
I want to still know I can still hit a buzzer.
- And there are his biggest fans.
That's his wife and son and dad back in Illinois.
- Let's go.
- Other ninjas, including fellow firefighters
Mike Bernardo and Selena Laniel
came to see this run.
Folks in the crowd wearing fire hats as a tribute.
- Brandon Mears one last ride.
[countdown clock beeping]
- Matt, he's 6'5".
He was one of the first really big guys to try Ninja.
He showed it could be done.
- Yeah, come on. That's one.
- His Towers of Power partner Polizzi
is definitely going to miss him.
They've been a team for years.
Brandon now facing Greased Lightning.
- Bigger frame here, Akbar.
These drops could be jarring.
- He's so tall.
He's got to squat down to get in position.
All right, hold on.
- He didn't let go.
- Oh, no.
- And he's going to wind up in no-man's land.
- Only Roberto Garemore has saved it from this position.
You can see he's grimacing.
- Oh, boy, that's a lot of weight.
185 pounds. He's trained so hard.
- Oh, look at the frustration.
- Oh, his hands are starting to get uneven, Matt.
His hands are starting to get uneven.
- Oh, no.
- Come one, Dad.
- Get a big pull through forward.
Pull through forward.
- Come on!
- [indistinct] to the bro zone.
- Come on. Everything you got!
both: No!
[buzzer blares]
- Ah!
- Couldn't make the dismount.
And after a decade in the sport,
a heartbreaking end for Brandon Mears.
- So much success through the years,
but that is not the way he wanted to end his career.
- I got a lot of great memories, a lot of highs,
a lot of lows.
I love this show and everything it's taught me
and where it's brought me.
So...
- He's been a tremendous competitor for a long time
and one of the most loved.
[cheers and applause]
- Our next athlete made it all the way to stage 4 last year,
and he's a favorite to get back there again.
It's the rock-and-roller from Orlando, RJ Roman.
He's become one of Ninjas biggest stars.
And a few months ago he was part
of an all-star team of Americans
that competed on "Ninja Warrior Germany."
- I've never been out of the country before.
It was an absolute blast.
[together] We are team USA,
and we will beat them all.
- We had an all-star team of ninjas.
We had Jesse Labreck and Chris DiGangi,
Jay "Lache" Lewis, Lance Pekus, Barclay,
myself, and Austin Gray.
Whew. It was so much fun.
[rock music]
I had the fastest time on stage one.
- Nein!
- And I cleared stage three sub three minutes.
Stayed out of the water.
Coming back with the win was great momentum
for this season.
[buzzer blares]
I haven't hit the water in over a year,
and I'm not going to start tonight.
* *
[cheers and applause]
- His family is going to be cheering
him on from back in Florida.
Lots of his training partners on the sideline.
[countdown clock beeping]
- And RJ has one speed, fast.
- Whoa!
Did you see him get two feet on the pole vault like that?
- Oh, my God. Wow.
You know he wants a Mega Wall.
He got it last year.
Will need to finish under 1:20.
- I don't think that's going to be an issue.
- Come on. Nice.
Got through it.
- He's a heavy metal musician,
and he is shredding this course.
- Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo.
- Oh, my goodness.
- He's on the fourth obstacle in under 30 seconds.
- RJ Roman looks even stronger than he did last year.
- Five buzzers last year.
- Wow.
He is just sending it here by far
the fastest through the course to this point.
The Cubes can eat up some time, but this has been
an unbelievable pace so far.
- Matt, and I don't even think he's tired to be
quite honest with you.
- RJ Roman is truly shredding this course.
- Whoo!
- Hard to believe, but he wasn't an athlete growing up.
He was into music, but he is now one of the best
ninjas in the world.
- Well, Matt, he's in his prime.
25 years old. - Oh, my gosh.
- 5'6", 145 pounds.
- And he's going easily get a buzzer
and have a shot at the Mega Wall.
One of the fastest time we've seen all season.
RJ Roman.
[rock music]
* *
- I knew it. That's how we do it.
[cheers and applause]
- Hey, RJ, slow your butt down.
You're going to get a ticket moving that fast.
- God, you're going to give me another ticket.
Dude, that's where all my 10K went to last year.
[laughing]
- RJ, last year you were seconds
away from a perfect season.
You look stronger this year.
Is this the year you get that million dollars, buddy?
- Man, every year I feel like it is.
But most importantly, the community
that we're building here, that's what it's all about.
[cheers and applause]
- Well, you went fast enough to take a shot at the Mega Wall.
- Let's see it, RJ.
Get down there.
- He made it up the Mega Wall last year,
but it's now six inches higher.
[together] Mega Wall! Mega Wall!
- Well, he's got his community cheering him on.
18 and 1/2 feet away from another $10,000 for RJ Roman.
- Here we go.
All right. Walk it up.
- Shred it. - Walk up!
Ohh!
- Whoo!
- So close. - Wow.
- That extra six inches we added made a difference.
He got his fingers to the top but not
enough to pull himself up.
- But he still gets his fifth straight qualifying buzzer
and the fastest finish tonight.
He leads the pack of those moving on
from tonight's group.
We had four ninjas in all hit buzzers.
Non-finishers will fill out our top 11,
who are guaranteed to move on to the semifinals,
where they'll race for a spot in Vegas.
And our 12th and 13th place competitor's are
about to face off for the final spot
in the semis in the runoffs, a head-to-head race
on our two-lane course.
- Man, if it's anything like last week, we got action.
- It's next on "American Ninja Warrior."
- Moments ago, we had our first
runoff race of the night.
Jason Grossman, a medical sales manager from LA
who landed in 12th place among the men,
stepped up to take on 37-year-old Virginia
shipyard worker Nyjle Henry, who was in 13th place.
Grossman, who's 11 years younger and 30 pounds lighter,
got off to a quick start.
- You got to hit it hard and fast.
- Henry stayed within striking distance.
- Matt, I think Nyjle Henry is playing it too safe.
- But he got hung up on Bee Hive.
- That's a long time.
Oh, he couldn't even make it.
- And that gave the two-time veteran
Jason Grossman the win.
Though he splashed down on Sideways,
it doesn't matter.
He's moving on to our ninja-versus-ninja semifinals.
- Yeah, Let's go.
[cheers and applause]
- For the women tonight it's veterans at the top
as Jessie Graff, Caitlyn Bergstrom-Wright,
and army jag corps officer Jeri D'Aurelio finished one,
two, three.
Our runoff race is between two teenage rookies.
In fourth place is Colorado's 15-year-old Jaleesa Himka.
And she'll be facing fifth place
Amelia Leonardi, a 17-year-old
with a lot of spirit.
all: Let's go, Amelia!
- Leonardi is a cheerleader at Clearwater
Central Catholic High School.
- Oh, boy. - Here we go.
- Earlier tonight, she even fired up
our crowd from the start line.
- I would say the key to being a good cheerleader
is just being super positive and having great energy.
Let's get fired up.
Hey, get fired up.
I want to cheer for the Dallas Cowboys when I get older,
but then I also want to cheer, hopefully,
at Alabama for college.
[upbeat music]
Ready.
OK.
Let's go, ninja.
* *
- The other competitor, Jaleesa Himka,
has been training Ninja her whole life.
Her mom was an elite athlete who
now runs an outdoor ninja gym Jaleesa trains at every day.
- Athletic talent definitely runs in our family.
- Yes!
Best time yet!
Good job!
- She gets her muscles from me.
I was a gymnast since the age of five.
Went on to get a scholarship for gymnastics in college.
I got the call saying, "Hey, do you want to be
on 'American Gladiators'"?
And I was like, "Yes."
Ended up winning that show.
- My mom was an American Gladiator
but I'm an American Ninja Warrior.
* *
[cheers and applause]
- You can hear Jaleesa's mom already.
- Let's go! Get it!
- Come on, Amelia!
- These are two fun teenagers.
- Ah, got a little dance going on here.
- Definitely don't look like their feeling pressure.
Amelia's got her own cheerleaders on the sideline.
- They've got pom-poms and the whole thing.
- You can see Leonardi badly injured
that knee in cheerleading about a year ago,
but she's out here.
Going to be tested on this first obstacle, Home Run.
[countdown clock beeping]
- Four obstacles to the buzzer
or whoever gets farthest the fastest.
Himka has a five-inch height advantage.
Use those long limbs.
And has a slight lead.
- Yeah, but you know the cheerleader's
going to be aggressive, be, be aggressive.
- Leonardi's a flyer as a cheerleader.
Should been able to launch herself pretty well here.
- Both of them rookies.
Only one will move on.
[cheers and applause]
- And Himka staying ahead.
Onto Bee Hive.
- Leonardi's pausing to catch her breath.
Remember, it's not who starts an obstacle first.
It's who finishes first.
And Jaleesa doing a good job just staying one
move ahead, keeping the pressure on Leonardi.
But Leonardi's closing it.
- Matt, these two teams are in a battle.
- Himka is first off the Bee Hive.
That could be key if they don't finish.
- Yeah! Let's go!
- One more obstacle to a buzzer for Jaleesa Himka.
But here comes Amelia Leonardi.
- She's got spirit, but can she catch Himka?
- Well, this is when
when you're on this fourth obstacle,
you got to get competitive.
And Amelia has got to go.
- She's only 5'1".
You can see the challenge getting
up and reaching that lead arm around, but she's doing it.
- Jaleesa's getting away.
Amelia needs to catch up.
Look at Himka.
- Jaleesa Himka one move away.
She can hit her first ever buzzer, and she does it.
[cheers and applause]
The 15-year-old delivers.
- Wow.
[cheers and applause]
- I love the fight in Leonardi, though.
Not giving up.
She is not. I like-- both: Oh!
- A great effort from both the teenagers,
but ultimately it's Himka who has the most to cheer about.
We're going to see her in a few weeks in the semifinals
where every run is a race.
- That wraps it up for tonight.
From Akbar Gbajabiamila and Zuri Hall, I'm Matt Iseman.
We'll see you next time on "American Ninja Warrior."