[dramatic music]
- The first two weeks of "American Ninja Warrior"
have been unprecedented...
They are the future of "Ninja Warrior,"
and the future is now.
And mind-blowing...
- * Show me what you're made of *
- I'm built different!
- With teenagers shaking up the sport
and dominating the leaderboards.
A new era in "Ninja Warrior." - Come on!
- And pushing some veterans to new heights.
[cheering]
The Weatherman delivers!
With a loaded field of hotshot teens
and "Ninja" superstars...
He did the [indistinct] in 360!
- We're expecting more remarkable moments tonight.
It's week three of qualifying
on "American Ninja Warrior."
Hello, everyone, and thanks for joining us.
I'm Matt Iseman. - And I'm Akbar Gbajabiamila.
Matt, the first two weeks have been
some of the most shocking in "Ninja" history.
I can't wait for tonight. - Absolutely, big man.
Now, the leaderboards so far this season
have been dominated by teenage rookies.
- But tonight, we've got some big-name veterans
who are ready to show who's boss.
- * I've got that, ooh, speed *
- We've got the speed demon from Orlando,
heavy metal rocker RJ Roman.
- Yeah!
- Along with "Ninja" legend,
Ohio's Michelle Warnky Buurma.
- Wow!
- Plus, the dynamic duo,
Hawaii's Island Ninja Grant McCartney...
- Yeah! - Yeah!
Yeah!
- And the Eskimo Ninja,
Alaska's Nick Hanson.
- Yeah!
- We've also got last year's top rookie,
Vermont's Amir Malik.
- What do you want?!
- Oh, my!
- He broke the buzzer!
- The course our ninjas will face tonight
is filled with new twists and new obstacles.
For more on that, let's go down to Zuri Hall.
- That's right. We've got two brand new obstacles,
including this one, where our ninjas can catch some big air.
Reach the fourth obstacle,
and the competitors will have to fly
with an upside-down snowboard on Air Surfer.
- Oh!
- And then, go right into Puzzle Twist,
which may tie them up in knots.
both: Oh! - Oh, my goodness!
- And did I mention we've got 10Gs,
if you can beat our 18-foot Mega Wall?
So, good luck. Guys?
- Well, we're gonna start off with a real showman.
All the way from Puerto Rico,
this is Hector Gomez,
a professional wrestler known as
Hector Perfecto.
He's pulling out the mirror.
Getting a good look. - Perfecto.
- And as you can see, he is his own biggest fan.
[both grunt]
- I'm smart. [overlapping chatter]
I'm handsome.
[yells]
I'm the best there is.
My name is Hector Perfecto.
[lively Latin music]
I was 14 years old
when I started in professional wrestling.
When I first started wrestling,
my mom was really supportive.
She took me to every show.
She was also my manager.
And I owe everything to Arlene Delgado.
I think my speed, from wrestling,
my grip, and agility
are definitely gonna help me tonight on the "Ninja" course.
* *
I don't think "American Ninja Warrior"
has ever seen anybody like Hector Perfecto.
* *
- I don't know if we're gonna call his run
or just enjoy the view in these mirrors.
Well, enjoying the view from back in Puerto Rico,
that's his mom and manager, Arlene, and two uncles.
[cheering]
- Hey, he is an entertainer, for sure.
- [cheering] Perfecto!
- Some of his ninja friends
cheering down on the sideline.
- Let's go, Hector!
- You can do it!
[countdown clock beeping]
- Perfecto!
- He's doing it in his wrestling trunks.
This is amazing.
- Whoo!
- [chuckles] Look at him, already taunting the course.
He is such a showman, Matt.
- Let's go, Hector! - You got this, Hector!
- But now it's the second obstacle, Overpass.
That bar above him will start to roll.
Wants to grab it as it slides by.
Look at that, Akbar! - Nice.
- Good timing from the top rope.
This guy knows how to fly, Akbar.
- Yeah, there it is. There it is.
both: Yeah! - Makes the grab.
Now has to slide it to the dismount.
And he's through.
No problem with his first two opponents.
[cheering]
- Look! Perfecto!
- I like it, he's blowing kisses to his hype woman.
- Now Split Decision.
His choices are Spinning Log or Domino Effect.
[coin chimes]
- He's flipping a coin, and it's Domino Effect.
- All right, now, this is gonna be equivalent
to running on top of the turnbuckles.
All right, get on top of them turnbuckles.
- Oh! - No! Body slam!
- Oh! - But he saved it!
It looked like he was gonna tap out,
but Hector Perfecto...
- Oh, perfect!
- Just when you think he's done.
All right, let's check out this replay,
because that was pretty close.
He fell on the last domino,
but he kept his feet out of the water,
climbed to safety, lookit,
and then celebrated like a true champion.
- More than just a pretty face,
Hector Perfecto's showing he's a pretty good ninja.
Now facing the fourth obstacle, Air Surfer.
Got to hold on to the snowboard
as you jump it across those landing pads.
The top 30 from tonight will move on to the semifinals.
If he can get past this obstacle,
he'll have a good shot at it.
- He only weighs 135 pounds.
Should be able to fly easily.
Nice. He's bringing it.
- Hector Perfecto representing for all of Puerto Rico.
Good placement. Great control.
But this is the biggest gap.
4 feet to the next pad.
- Ooh!
- Body slammed on the Air Surfer.
- Drop kicked him! - Not perfecto!
- He didn't have great technique on this.
The board was way behind him,
and he came up short on that fourth pad.
One! Two! Three!
And you're out!
- But you know what, he still looks good.
Well, it's an Olympic year,
and we've got lots of Olympians
taking on course this season,
including our next athlete.
This is former speedskater KC Boutiette,
one of our oldest competitors, at 50 years old.
As you can see, he's still got some moves.
[cheering] - Let's go!
- Boutiette represented Team USA
in four different Winter Games, starting in 1994.
And one of his teammates from that year
is gonna be cheering him on.
- Come on, Bootie.
- It's the Olympic legend,
the woman with five gold medals, Bonnie Blair.
She's watching with her husband,
another speed skater, Dave Cruikshank.
And another skating great, gold medalist Derek Parra,
is also supporting KC.
And, oh, yeah, KC's wife and three kids
will be cheering as well.
- You got this. Whoo!
- Let's go!
Come on, KC! - Come on, KC.
- KC's well-known in the "Ninja" community
for creating custom "Ninja" shoes.
Made a pair for his buddy, Adam Rayl, who's watching,
along with Jake Murray, who trains with KC in Colorado.
- He has got an all-star cheering section,
Olympic greats and "Ninja" greats.
- He actually grew up here in Tacoma,
now lives in Colorado,
trying to skate through Overpass.
- Good. He skated competitively
until he was 48 years old.
He's like-- that's like Tom Brady,
and what Tom Brady has done.
Tom Brady would be proud.
[cheering]
- Boutiette looking to show, as this youth invasion comes,
there's still something to be said for old age and wisdom.
- Yeah! There we go. There we go.
- Whoo! Good job.
- He's at Split Decision, and he's made his decision.
He's going with Domino Effect.
- Get your breath in, man. Take your time here.
- Grant McCartney offering advice.
Everybody knows KC.
- You would think the skater should have good balance.
- There you go! Yeah! - Oh!
- Hard fall, but stays alive. - He's good. He's good.
- Boutiette.
Boo-yah!
- Yeah, that's his catch phrase, Matt.
Team Boo-yah.
- Attaboy! - Boo-yah! Let's go!
- There you go. - Let's go!
- The Winter Olympian should be familiar
with a snowboard.
Let's see if he can handle an upside-down one
on Air Surfer.
- Good stuff. Good control.
- Perfect. Perfect.
- Real precise here. Focused in.
- Watch out. Hold that. Wait.
See, now that's great technique.
You see how he came in compact?
That kind of takes a little bit of the weight off.
- Over that front left side.
Good correction. - Oh, my God.
- It allows you to absorb it using all the muscles
rather than testing the grip. - Stay in line here. Nice.
- Little hops. Little. Yeah.
- Boutiette going for the dismount here.
- [grunts] - There it is!
- You heard that grown-man grunt.
- 50 years old, and he has made it
to the fifth obstacle, Pretzel Twist.
- This might be a little bit of a grind,
so set your mind to it now. You're gonna make it.
- This one is salty, Matt.
- He's got to twist those pretzels off the hook,
like that.
Now has to lock it in and reach the second pretzel.
He's going reverse now, to try to lock it in. Perfect.
- Nice. But that's a great technique. You know why?
Because he can control that backswing with his biceps.
- And it's making his transfer a little easier too.
- Yeah, that's right, Matt. It's the more efficient way
to go about it. And the same thing here.
- Ooh. That right hand barely hanging on.
- If he gets backwards here, that's the best way to do it,
so he doesn't peel off.
- Now, you have to kip up,
try to create a weightless moment to unhook it.
He's trying to twist it off
so he can swing over to that final pretzel.
- Come on. You can do it, KC You can do it.
- He's got to get that left hand up in the middle.
- Bigger swing.
- No! - Ooh.
all: Oh!
- Can't finish the fifth obstacle,
but an awesome run by the 50-year-old Olympian,
KC Boutiette.
- That was a great grind. That was a great grind.
- And of course, don't forget the Summer Olympics
start July 23, right here on NBC.
Tonight,
it's gonna be a wild ride...
- Take it up the Mega Wall.
both: Oh!
- With fantastic finishes...
- You were walking in the air.
- And heartbreaking falls.
We've got "Ninja" favorites...
- That's what I'm talking about.
- And hotshot rookies,
like "Ninja Junior" champion Vance Walker.
Who's gonna be top gun?
all: Hoo-rah!
- We'll shake it up...
- * One, two, Rochambeau *
- And hop to it.
[frog ribbits]
'Cause we're so money,
on "American Ninja Warrior."
- Can I have this briefcase of money?
- Oh, my.
- Whoo!
- Moments ago, freestyle motocross rider
Zach DiPaolo burned some rubber on his way to the start line.
- Now, that right there is an entrance.
- Once the helmet came off,
the adrenaline junky from Richmond, Virginia
kept the excitement going.
This daredevil performs in motorcycle stunt shows
around the world,
jumping 90 feet in the air.
But he couldn't land the nine-foot jump on Overpass.
- Oh. [buzzer blares]
- That was a short ride.
Competitive salsa dancer Rochambeau Dolcine
had everyone shaking it up.
- * One, two, Rochambeau *
- The dancer from Sunrise, Florida used
some of his impressive moves to survive Domino Effect.
- Is he safe? I think he's safe.
- Yes. Fancy footwork.
- He tried to get back into the swing of things
on Air Surfer, but then hit a wall.
Literally. [buzzer blares]
- No!
- I think Zuri's still dancing down there.
- * This is not the salsa, but I like it *
- Well, we're gonna keep the party going
with our next competitor.
This is fun-loving elementary school music teacher
Megan Budway.
[flute toots]
The 26-year-old from Holly Springs, North Carolina
plays a mean recorder,
but wait until you hear her sing.
- [operatic singing]
I am a classically-trained singer,
so I sing a lot of opera.
I have a really big vocal range.
[operatic singing]
And typically in operas,
I sing the really, really high notes.
All right, second-graders,
so your activity this week--
you're gonna find something
in your house to use as a drum.
You can use anything,
with your parents' permission.
[drumming]
I like especially teaching the younger students,
because in elementary school,
it's when they're first discovering music.
My students are so excited
about me being on "American Ninja Warrior."
I've always told them, like, you gotta set your goal,
set your to heart to something,
and you can achieve it, and when I told them
that I made it this year, they were like,
"You said you were gonna do the thing, and you did it!"
I'm gonna hit all the high notes on the course tonight.
[cheering] Whoo!
- She's got some energy, doesn't she?
- Yeah, big man, she's also got plenty of support.
There's her husband and her in-laws
back in North Carolina,
as well as a couple of her students.
And on the sidelines... - Let's go, Megan!
- The ninja she trains with,
Devin Harrelson, AKA Dougie Fresh.
- Play a tune! - Course is all you!
- Come on, Megan!
- I loved my elementary school music teacher,
Ruthanne Steele, Mrs. Steele, but I don't think
she would have competed on "Ninja Warrior."
- Megan Budway representing
for all those teachers out there
who make a difference.
- Get the ball rolling! Come on!
- Let's go. Commit. Trust yourself.
- Power lifter in college.
- Come on, you gotta commit to it. Come on.
- Gotta find the rhythm here, Akbar.
- Wow, that was real smooth.
- And you can imagine, her students are gonna be saying,
"Yeah, that's my teacher."
Mrs. Budway showing the way.
She's good at music, and now she can say,
"I'm good at 'Ninja.'"
- Get there, Megan. Yeah.
- Now, it's Split Decision.
She's asking her family and friends for advice.
- All right, looks like she's going with Domino Effect.
- You got this. - All right, girl.
Remember, fast feet. Let's go.
- Here we go. Nice athleticism.
- Right through Domino Effect!
- Let's go!
Let's go! - Look at this!
- I'ma tell you right now, Mrs. Budway's making
a very good case to not only become a music teacher,
but a PE teacher.
She is putting on a physical education.
[cheering]
- This is impressive.
The music teacher, a rookie,
now taking on the fourth obstacle, Air Surfer.
- And check this, these are small landing pads.
So you've got to be careful.
- Oh! - Come on, Megan.
- And look at left side of that surfboard there.
- Watch that. Yep. Relax a little bit.
You got it. - Little uneven, Akbar.
Watch the placement here. - Watch out.
It's a little uneven. Remember, margin of error
is thin on that smaller platform.
- Do not hit a wrong note here.
- No! - Oh!
[buzzer blares]
Well, she comes up short on Air Surfer.
But a good run for the music teacher, Mrs. Budway.
- You can see why her kids love her.
Great energy on the course,
but she just didn't get enough distance on Air Surfer.
- But that was so much fun! Oh, my gosh!
I can't believe I'm here.
Thank you, guys.
- Up next, an old friend.
This is Illinois firefighter Brandon Mears.
He's a nine-time veteran who's had success on the course,
but the past few years,
he's been tormented by balance obstacles.
In 2017, it was the Broken Pipes.
- Oh, no!
- Come on!
- In 2018, it was Block Run.
- No! Oh! Oh! Oh!
- No!
In 2019, it was Diving Boards.
- Can he hold on? - No!
Last year, on Spinning Bridge, it happened again.
No! No, no, no!
He's tried all kinds of training methods
to change his luck.
And he'll face another balance test tonight
at Split Decision.
- If I end up making the wrong decision on Split Decision,
it's definitely gonna haunt me,
and I'm gonna really have to think about things after that.
- And Matt, it's really been frustrating for him.
He wants to put balance problems behind him tonight.
- Well, there are the folks who love him no matter what,
his wife, two kids, parents, and grandma,
all back in Illinois.
And on the sidelines, fellow firefighter
and partner in the Towers of Power, Dan Polizzi.
- Let's go, Big Tower!
- Go, Brandon.
[countdown clock beeping]
- Well, he's standing at 6'5",
one of our tallest competitors.
That's why he and Dan Polizzi are the Towers of Power.
- Well, I kind of feel like we're a tower--
we're towers of power too. - Right?
- You've got this, Brandon.
- See, his timing here. Long wingspan.
- Nice. - Perfect.
Great upper body strength.
Should have no problem with this one.
But he's already thinking about that balance obstacle.
- Oh, boy. You can see a little struggle there.
But he's got it.
Matt, this is it. This is the moment of truth.
- Looking to the family. Which way should he go?
- Ashton.
- Asking his son for advice.
- Pipe, right? Go for the pipe?
- He's 185.
I think the heavier athletes, those dominoes will shift.
You're proportional. You weigh more than those dominoes do.
I think the Spinning Log is a good choice for Mears.
- But it's very similar to an obstacle he fell on
four years ago.
- Everyone holding their breath.
They know how badly he wants to get through this.
- Do it all the time. Do it now.
It's fine. Ashton's gonna help.
- He's gotta get out of his head.
He can't think about his past failures.
He's gotta have his mind focused on future success.
- No!
Not again! - Oh, man!
- The tower brought down by the Spinning Log.
And he cannot believe it has happened. Again.
- Wow.
- You almost had it.
- Matt, that was mental. That wasn't physical.
It was mental, for Brandon Mears.
Watch his second step.
His foot's already on the side of the log.
And by the third step, he's way off.
No way to recover, and it's another nightmare ending
on a balance obstacle for Brandon.
Let's go down to Zuri.
- Brandon, how you feeling right now?
- I feel really let down.
It's--I love this sport so much.
And I'm a little emotional, because I just,
I love the upper body stuff, but I just can't
get this balance locked down, no matter how much I practice.
And I think, with me getting older
and getting more responsibilities
with being a firefighter, I think it might...
- Yeah. Oh. - Be time to pull the plug.
I just think it's time to let...
let the next gen take over.
I just--I hate letting my family down.
I know they're gonna love me no matter what, but...
- I know you're going through a hard time right now,
but I'll tell you right now,
your family is beaming behind you.
They are so proud of you. - We love you.
Good job.
- And I hope we see you out here again, you hear me?
- Yeah. Thank you. - All right.
- Wow. An emotional conversation there.
Passing the torch over to the next generation.
- And we're about to see that next generation,
because this week's teenagers are ready to hit the course,
including a flamingo kid.
- Who doesn't like this?
- And could your family live on a boat?
- Ready to go wash the deck? - Yep.
- This ninja mom's taking her crew out to sea...
- Let's go.
- When "American Ninja Warrior" returns.
- Welcome back to the Tacoma Dome for the third night
of qualifying on "American Ninja Warrior."
And while we were out, the doctor was in.
- Oh, he's checked his heartbeat.
- Whoa! - Yep, he's ready.
- Dr. David Daniels is a family medicine specialist
in Atlanta.
And his family was loving it,
as he powered through the first two obstacle.
[cheering]
- Excellent. I see you, big boy.
- Daniels let his biceps make his choice on Split Decision,
but the Domino Effect wasn't what the doctor ordered.
both: Oh!
[buzzer blares]
- He may need a doctor after that.
- Good try. Good try.
- Cara Mack hosts a podcast called "The Ninja Babes,"
where she interviews many of our top women competitors.
- Okay, Cara.
- And this three-time "Ninja" veteran
put together one of her best runs ever.
- Keeps it up, she's gonna have to interview herself.
- Though her night ended on the Air Surfer.
- Oh, no! - Oh!
- She's got a good shot at landing
in the women's top five.
- It was awesome. So happy to be here.
- South Carolina's Bob Reese showed off some of the moves
that made him a social media sensation.
- [cackles]
- Reese gets millions of likes for insane videos
that usually end with him failing.
- I knew my feet were gonna slip. I'm fine.
- But on the course tonight,
the 25-year-old rookie had success.
Ooh, nice little flip.
- Oh, my! That was nice.
- The parkour expert flew through Domino Effect...
- It would go viral if he fell.
- And made it to the fifth obstacle,
before getting another fall to add to his collection.
- Ooh! [buzzer blares]
I don't know if that one's gonna go viral.
- Well, if you haven't heard,
we've lowered our age limit this season to 15.
And up next, the first of our teen competitors,
16-year-old Owen Dyer out of Bentonville, Arkansas.
- Was that a flamingo on his head?
- Yeah. The kid from Arkansas is using a flamingo.
That's part of the plan Owen cooked up
with his kid brother.
- "American Ninja Warrior,"
my name's Owen Dyer,
and I'm from Bentonville, Arkansas.
For my application for "Ninja Warrior,"
I had to bring my homie right here,
Mr. Flamingo.
Who doesn't like this?
I mean, who's gonna be like, "Aww, we don't want this guy"?
[flamingos honk]
Flamingos are pretty good at balance,
because they're always standing on one foot,
so hopefully I can get some lucky powers
from Mr. Flamingo here.
- If you win it all, what are we gonna do with the money?
- "We"? - [laughs]
- What are you talking about, man?
I originally got into "Ninja Warrior"
because of my little brother, Hayes Dyer.
He's the one that pushes and motivates me.
Guys, I can't let my little brother beat me.
That's embarrassing.
- Do you think you're gonna be nervous?
- I'm not gonna really put too much pressure on myself.
I'm just going more for the experience than anything.
- Do you think the water's gonna be cold?
- Why would you think I'm going in the water, man?
I'm gonna go there for a buzzer.
- Well, I think you're gonna hit a buzzer.
- Hey, I appreciate it.
The Dyer Situation Ninja name is not just mine.
It is me and my brother.
- Are there any new obstacles you think they might have?
- I'm not sure.
I'm really hoping there's some type
of really tough grip obstacle. - Yeah.
- I think it's really cool that me and my brother
can bond doing "Ninja Warrior" together.
There's about to be a Dyer Situation on this course.
I'm gonna grab this flamingo by the wings
and fly all the way to the buzzer.
- And Hayes is gonna be watching back in Arkansas,
along with their mom, aunt,
and lots of other friends and family members.
- Let's go. You've been waiting for this! Let's go!
- Dad's down on the sideline
with some of our other teenage competitors.
- Yeah! You got this, Owen.
- You can only imagine how nervous
he is right now at the start line.
[countdown clock beeping]
He asked his principal could he take the day
off of school, and his principal was like,
"For 'Ninja Warrior,' of course!"
- And there's his principal right there,
along with his guidance counselor.
A big day for Bentonville West High School.
Let's see if he can pass the test here on Overpass.
Lets the bar go by. Gonna be a long lache here.
Prides himself on his ability to fly.
- Oh, he can fly. You can see by the kick.
You saw the way he kicked. You knew he had it.
5'10", 135.
This kid is all muscle and heart.
[cheering]
- His little brother's excited.
He wants that million dollars. - Oh!
- Going for the Spinning Log.
Nobody has completed it here tonight, Akbar.
- Well, you know he's got it. Look. Look, this is nothing.
- Wow! - He just flew through it.
Gone through it. And now, Matt,
he says anything that has to do
with upper body obstacles, he loves.
- Well, this is a new one, the Air Surfer,
and this will test your ability
to control that board and have good placement.
Again, precision is so key here with that board.
- Oh, my, look at the left side! Barely.
- He's got to control that. But that's all right.
You see the height and distance he had on that one?
That was spectacular.
- This kid is flying. [cheering]
- Owen Dyer.
Owen is owning this course.
- Yeah! Owen giving us a point. - Okay.
- But now the challenge on Pretzel Twist.
- You can't eat this.
- No one has figured it out thus far.
Lock it in. - Oh, nice.
You gotta watch out for that backswing,
'cause that backswing can throw you off.
- Well, this is as far as anyone has gotten.
No one has been able to unhook this second pretzel.
- Very good.
- Makes it over, but now has to kip up
to get the pretzel off the hook.
And he does it!
Finding his way through.
Has to lock it in.
- There you go! Nice! - And immediately...
- Nice. - Grabs the final pretzel.
And he's now closing in on our first buzzer.
The teenager showing how it's done.
- Look at him. Look at him!
16 years old, just strutting.
- And he's unhooked.
Now just has to fly over that spinning wall.
- Got it!
[cheering]
- In his first time on the course,
the success of young ninjas continues.
- Oh! - A hard misstep.
- Deep breath here. Shake it out. Let's go.
- Big strides. Come on.
- Just do it. You got this.
- Get up there!
- Look at Hayes. "Get up that wall!"
[chanting] Beat that wall! Beat that wall!
- There he goes. - Owen Dyer!
- Ah!
[dramatic music]
[cheering]
- 16 years old!
[cheering]
Owen Dyer, our first finisher tonight.
- What a moment for this kid
and the folks back in Arkansas.
- What's going through your mind right now?
Your brother's watching you.
Here you are, on the biggest stage.
How's that feel, man?
- I'm in shock.
- Hey, tell me, what's making you so emotional?
- It's a dream come true.
And the three things I love most in life
are here with me right now.
My friends and family... [cheering]
Jesus Christ, and doing "Ninja Warrior."
- Ho! God bless you, man. - Well said.
- Owen, hit that buzzer one more time.
- Hit it again! - Yeah!
- How awesome is it?
A 16-year-old kid, being vulnerable,
being honest, having a real moment there.
- Matt, that was sweet 16.
- You never know what or who you'll see
on "Ninja Warrior."
How 'bout Peyton Manning?
- Hey, Matt, Akbar, and all you "Ninja" fans.
Peyton Manning here.
- The guys from Cheap Trick.
- Go hit that buzzer.
- And Olympic gymnast Shannon Miller.
- All right!
That and more... - [screams]
- When "American Ninja Warrior" returns.
- Our third night of qualifying here in Tacoma
is really delivering.
Minutes ago, South Carolina mail carrier Kristine Karlson
kicked off her run with a postal pep talk.
- I'm gonna treat every obstacle like a mailbox.
Drive up to it, sling the mail, and slam it shut,
and keep it moving.
I'm gonna deliver it.
- Things looked good until the 30-year-old tried
to go air mail on Overpass.
No! - Aw!
- Return to sender.
Marine Corps pilot Landon Nagao was ready
to be top gun.
He flies helicopters at Camp Pendleton in California.
And he had his whole squadron cheering him on.
all: Hoo-rah! Let's go, Landon!
- Nagao survived a bumpy ride on Domino Effect.
- Wow. Ooh!
Okay, you see his boys going crazy.
They excited.
- But ironically, the pilot overshot the runway
on Air Surfer.
both: Oh!
- Missed the landing.
My goodness!
- And up next, out of Sugar Hill, Georgia,
is former gymnast Alyssa Varsalona.
- Nice, and she can still stick the landing.
- Varsalona competed two seasons ago and had success.
But now the stakes are higher.
This year, she's got to outdo her husband, Cole.
- * Let the games begin *
- I competed on season 11 of "American Ninja Warrior."
- Varsalona.
- Oh! Oh! Did she save it? Yes!
- I made it to the fifth obstacle.
both: Ooh!
- But I fell on the Ferris Wheel.
- What a tremendous debut performance.
- I started training for "Ninja Warrior"
so I could keep up with my wife.
- I'm gonna beat you. - No, you're not.
- * Couldn't help it *
* I was made for this *
- I won. - No, you didn't.
If she beats me,
I'll never live this down.
- I would have lached to that ledge.
He thinks he can beat me after just one year.
There is no way.
You know I'm gonna beat you in Tacoma, right?
- No shot. - I'm gonna go further.
- You have no chance.
- [chuckles] Okay.
- * Let the games begin *
- Whoo!
- Cole will get his chance in a few minutes,
but for now he's cheering.
- Come on, Alyssa.
- And Alyssa's got lots of other family members watching,
and a very special guest supporting her,
fellow gymnast, Olympic gold medalist Shannon Miller.
So great to have these Olympians
supporting our ninjas.
And the Olympics now just a few weeks away.
- You got this, Alyssa. You got it.
You worked hard. You could do it.
[countdown clock beeping]
- Yeah. Got Shannon Miller giving you some encouragement.
- Shannon Miller was one of Varsalona's idols
as a gymnast.
- You got this!
- 5'7", 140.
Decent wingspan, Akbar.
- And a more methodical approach for Alyssa Varsalona,
not wanting to make a mistake.
Seeing it happen as it goes. - There it is.
- Nice! Yeah. - Timed it perfectly.
- Makes that lache so much easier.
- Let's go! - Okay. Here we go.
- Makes it more efficient, Akbar.
Save some of that upper body,
save some of that grip strength.
- See, get it evenly. Nice dismount.
All right, here it is, Matt. Split Decision.
- And Varsalona has had five knee surgeries.
So running across any obstacle has to be a little scary.
- Watch every step. You got it, babe.
- Here we go.
- Ooh! - Gold. That was gold.
- A little stumble at the end,
but falls right on to the landing platform.
[cheering]
And here she is on the fourth obstacle,
the Air Surfer.
A gymnast, great body awareness,
but the grip strength gonna be tested here.
No woman has gotten through it so far.
Look at that board. It's uneven already, Akbar.
- All right. And you gotta see it, make that landing.
That's a big landing. Now, the second one
is a small landing pad.
- Stay even. You got this.
- Ah! Nice!
- And you could see. barely on on that right side.
The placement hasn't been great,
but still alive.
- Ooh. Barely hanging on there.
- Oh, no. - Oh, she's got it. Uneven.
- Maybe going for the dismount here.
That board can still slide.
Not locked in to place.
Got the power, though. - There you go.
- Varsalona.
- Oh, my God.
- And she's putting pressure on her husband.
How's he gonna top this? - Let's go!
- Now taking on Pretzel Twist.
Getting closer to her first buzzer.
The top five women from tonight will move on
to the semifinals. - Lock it in.
- Alyssa Varsalona putting herself in good position
to be one of them.
- Stay calm. Stay calm.
- Let's go--ooh, no! - No!
- Aw.
- That's okay. Good job, babe.
- Can't handle Pretzel Twist. - Good job.
- But it's the best run by a woman tonight.
- Just pulled me off on the backswing.
- Hey, that was an awesome try.
Awesome.
- Her husband runs next.
Let's see if he can do better.
- Before the break, we saw the strong run
of Georgia's Alyssa Varsalona.
- Whoo!
- And minutes ago, her ultra-competitive husband,
Cole Rives, tried to outdo her.
- Whoo! - Come on, babe.
- She said, "Anything you can do, I can do better."
- Babe, you got it.
- Varsalona made it to the fifth obstacle on her run.
But Rives... both: Oh!
- Ran into trouble on the second.
- Anything he does, she can do better!
- You got me. You got me.
- Virginia's Ben Whitlow started his run
by kissing a frog.
- [cackles] Oh, boy.
I think that was a French kiss too.
- Whitlow's known as the Frog Giggin' Ninja,
because he catches frogs with his bare hands.
- Whoo! I got him!
- And he brought us one of his friends, and we made a bet.
If Ben Whitlow, the Frog Giggin' Ninja,
gets to the top of the tower,
one of us is gonna kiss the frog.
- You are.
- The 21-year-old farmer had no problem
hopping his way across the early obstacles.
- Come on. Rip it here. Nice!
Look at him. He's puffing up on them.
- Yes! - Causing his little buddy
to swell with pride.
- Look at him puffing up. - It is puffing up.
Look at that. - He's puffing up.
He likes having his back rubbed.
- Whitlow bounded all the way to the fifth obstacle
before ending his run in true frog fashion.
- Oh!
- With a splash.
- Ooh. Ooh. Wow.
Cannonball! [buzzer blares]
- [cheers]
[camera shutter clicks] [frog ribbits]
- [cackles]
- Like the Frog Giggin' Ninja,
our next athlete, Brad Giles,
is a lot of fun.
Oh, look at that, Akbar. He's got some moves.
- Some old school moves.
- And besides having smooth moves,
Giles is the very successful CEO
of his own healthcare business,
who's dedicated his life to giving back.
- When you are a Black entrepreneur,
you taking care of your community
and people you know who need help.
Me and my wife and several of my entrepreneur friends
love to give back.
- This video of Atlanta entrepreneurs
paying $40,000 for customers' groceries went viral.
- We all just told everybody, groceries are on us,
so get whatever you need for the holidays
and get you through Thanksgiving,
and get your turkeys.
This receipt is saved, bro.
Being able to help people who actually need assistance
was kind of one of our passions.
Look how fast you're going.
Yeah. You're doing awesome.
Me and my wife run a home healthcare business,
where I take care of kids with special needs.
So you're gonna put your elbow back down.
Here we go.
These are kids that are wheelchair-bound,
kids that have different disabilities,
and it's just amazing to be able to see them do things
they never thought were possible.
My man.
- Our clients are like our family.
We have over 100 kids that we care for.
Being able to give back like that is so important to us.
- Samari, take a look. Look at that duck.
Watching them overcome their disabilities
makes me want to work even harder at "Ninja,"
because I feel like I'm overcoming my own weaknesses
and pushing my body to its absolute limit,
which, let me tell you something, it's hard.
[laughs]
- It's gonna be even better, because I got you there.
Yeah. High five it up. That's what I'm talking about.
- The Give Back Ninja.
This guy walks the walk, Akbar.
- Yeah!
- Matt, you gotta love his passion.
- And he's got lots of family members cheering him on
from back in Atlanta, led by his wife Tronda.
And there's Samari,
one of the many special needs kids he's helped.
- You got it, man!
[countdown clock beeping]
- He's one of our older competitors, at 38.
I don't know how this run's gonna go.
- Better not go out like that, homie. Come on, now.
That was a little tricky on that first obstacle.
- Well, he never trained for "Ninja Warrior"
until just a few months ago.
His wife's a trainer,
and he said she was kicking his butt in the gym.
- Yeah, he did not like that.
Oh, nice. - Good reach out.
- That was good. That was a great move too.
great technique for a guy who hasn't done a lot of "Ninja."
But now, it's the lache.
This is a move, if you're not familiar with,
could be a little tricky.
Hold on. Don't peel off.
He almost peeled off. You saw that.
- Absolutely. Might have gone with a switch grip there,
but Brad Giles getting through it.
- Yeah!
- Oh, he is pumped. You gotta love his energy.
[cheering]
He's going for the Domino Effect.
- 5'10", 185 pounds.
If he can just stay on top of the dominoes,
stay in the center of mass, don't get out of sort,
he'll make it. - Impressive!
The Give Back Ninja is taking his best shot at this course.
- Oh, my God!
- Brad, slow down, man.
Don't waste all your energy. - Oh, my God.
- I don't think the Give Back Ninja has an off switch.
And remember, he's a 38-year-old rookie
who's got a full-time job running his company.
Doesn't have nearly as much time
to train as some other ninjas.
- All right, now it gets real.
This is where it starts to-- the cumulative effect
of the upper body, it starts here at Air Surfer.
A lot of absorption. 185 pounds coming down like that.
Here we go. Boom.
- And just having to be accurate too.
We've seen people get that board uneven,
and all of a sudden, splashing down.
But Brad Giles-- look at this, Akbar.
Positioned for the dismount.
- Ooh, a little squeaky.
Come on. - Yes!
[cheering]
- Yes, baby!
- This is awesome.
- Well, now, that energy--
he may be running a little bit low, Akbar,
and he's gonna need it here for the Pretzel Twist.
- I don't know how much he's got left for Pretzel Twist.
- 16-year-old Owen Dyer, the only athlete
to get past this tonight.
- Locking it in that 45-degree position.
- Just missed it.
A little more. There it is.
- You can see there's the steering wheel,
this twisted pretzel.
That's the part that makes it
a little challenging to reach over.
- And this rotation is so hard.
- All right. - The handle does not lock.
- He's got to see where he wants to make that next grab.
Oh, you see he's kind of in an awkward position there.
- Oh, boy. both: Oh, no!
- [screams]
You did great! - Yes!
Oh, that was so much fun. - Great job.
- Well, it was fun to watch too.
Brad Giles, the Give Back Ninja,
he gave it his all on the course, Akbar.
- He absolutely did, Matt.
And he enjoyed every minute of it.
And as a 38-year-old rookie,
he made it to the fifth obstacle.
The top 30 from tonight move on to the semifinals.
And Brad Giles may be one of them.
- Oh, I love "Ninja Warrior." Whoo!
- Here come the big guns.
- Oh, yeah! [cheering]
- Okay, big dog. I see you.
- As Hawaii's Grand McCartney, Alaska's Nick Hanson,
and Florida's RJ Roman get ready to run.
Plus, the teenager who's already a "Ninja" champion.
- He is the greatest of all time!
- And who's gonna step up to take down our Mega Wall
for some mega bucks?
Stay tuned.
- Welcome back to "American Ninja Warrior,"
where we're about halfway through
tonight's qualifying round.
- And Matt, it's been yet another unpredictable night.
Split Decision, the choice between balance obstacles,
has definitely kept rookies... - Oh, my!
- And veterans off-balance.
No! [buzzer blares]
Minutes ago, "Ninja" legend Michelle Warnky Buurma,
a nine-time veteran,
made it to Split Decision and chose Domino Effect.
- No! - What!?
all: Oh.
- Well, just a reminder,
any ninja, any obstacle, any time, Akbar, it can end.
- [groans]
- Then it was 17-year-old "Ninja" rookie Elena Borges,
who also made it to the third obstacle,
and she, too, decided to go with dominoes.
both: Oh! - Oh, she's safe.
- She's still alive! - You can save it.
- She's still alive! - What?
The high school junior gave it one last jump,
but couldn't recover.
both: Oh!
- Almost saved it.
- I--I don't know.
- Then it was a competitor 35 years older,
as fan favorite Bootie Cothran started his run
with a very prophetic tune.
- * Don't want to fall in the water *
* Till I hit that buzzer tonight *
* *
- When the 52-year-old reached Split Decision,
the pine tree farmer naturally went with Spinning Log.
But he twisted his ankle on takeoff, right there,
before ever hitting the log,
so he never got good footing.
- Oh! - What?
- And Bootie was singing the blues.
- Oh, I didn't know I'd just fall on that!
Oh, man!
- Well, balance shouldn't be a problem
for our next athlete.
This is former pro wakeboarder Austin Hair.
He was inspired to compete by his wife,
who's also a ninja, despite a disorder
that sometimes makes it difficult to walk.
- [cheering]
[singer vocalizing]
* *
* Are you ready? *
- I was a professional wakeboarder for 12 years.
I won national championships in that.
I got third on the overall World Series as well.
I had retired from wakeboarding in 2017,
and my wife was the one who turned me on
to "Ninja" originally.
How you feeling, babe? How's the pain level?
- It's super tolerable.
- Okay. You think you'll be able
to train? - Yeah.
- Sometimes it is hard for Lisa,
because she has ankylosing spondylitis,
and so it'll just cause flare-ups.
Any little movement at all just sends shooting pain
down her spine, down her legs.
- So, life with AS.
There's my car.
I've only made it this far.
And I can't walk.
And I have to make it all the way upstairs.
So incredibly frustrating.
[solemn music]
You just kind of get used to it,
and you just accept that level of pain.
"Ninja" has taught me that ankylosing spondylitis
cannot stop me.
[uplifting music]
We were supposed to be
competing this season together,
and it was not the ankylosing spondylitis
that stopped me from competing.
But instead,
it's that we're having a baby.
- Good job, Lisa.
Knowing that we're about to start a family
is one of the most exciting things in my life,
and I would love to cap it off by hitting a buzzer tonight.
- And Lisa will be watching back in Florida,
along with a big group of family and friends.
- Let's go! - Come on, Austin!
[countdown clock beeping]
- Austin started wakeboarding at 12
and was a national champion at 13 years old.
33. 5'10", 174.
See the ninja skills here.
- Yep. Trust. - Go. Go.
- And a nice grab on Overpass.
He's been training with RJ Roman in Orlando.
Probably needs to get to the fifth obstacle
if he wants to move on to the semifinals.
And he's asking his wife which way to go
on Split Decision.
Gonna go dominoes.
- Let's go! Let's go!
- You know he's got great balance, as a wakeboarder.
Nice. - Nice.
That was perfect. - Let's go! Let's go!
[cheering]
- And the wakeboarder now has to grab
this upside-down snowboard on Air Surfer.
- You got to apply the skills you have
to brand new challenges.
- Let's go! Steady.
You got it. - Ooh.
That board--that was not a smooth transition, Akbar.
- And, you know, it's the jolt too,
and the amount of pressure.
He's taking all that weight, 174 pounds.
- Yeah! Let's go.
- And you're just feeling it in your forearms.
It taxes the forearms now, but he should have good grip
as a wakeboarder.
- Yeah! - Good dismount there.
- Let's go! Crushing it!
- His friends are starting to get excited.
He's reached the fifth obstacle.
- Love you, Lisa. Wish you were here.
- Come on, come on, come on, come on! Hold on tight!
- Putting himself in good shape
to move on by reaching this point.
Teenager Owen Dyer's the only one
to get through Pretzel Twist so far.
- All right, nice. Lock it in from back here.
This allows him to use the bicep.
Boom. Control the swing.
- And I like the arms fully extended there on the swing.
Use the body. Use the lower body.
- Yeah, he's super efficient though.
Look at this! Okay, rookie.
- You got it. You got it. Come on! Nice. Come on.
- All right, now, watch out for that backswing.
Nice. - Great job.
- Hold on. And then use the momentum
to carry you on to the next side.
This is great.
- Just has to unhook the last pretzel.
That's it. Then dismount.
- Great--great awareness. - Extra swing.
- Okay, 33-year-old rookie! - Look at this!
[cheering]
Austin Hair looking to be our second finisher.
[cheering]
- You got this, Austin! - Whoo!
- Matt, his wife is going crazy on the screen behind him.
- You got it! You got it! - Let's go!
- Here you go.
[cheering] - Okay!
- Austin! Great hair day!
[cheering]
- Oh, my God!
- Yeah!
Yeah!
- And he is pumped.
Unbelievable.
- Whoo!
- You got a kid on the way.
What's it gonna be like someday
having your kid watch this moment?
- It's gonna be-- it's gonna be crazy, you know?
I'm doing this for Lisa.
She still does "Ninja." She still crushes it.
That's what this is all about. - Yeah, and it's a reminder
to you to never make excuses, right?
- I got no excuse. - Yeah.
- I got no excuse compared to her.
- Yeah. - She's amazing.
- Well, did what you had to do, big man.
- Thank you. - Congratulations.
Enjoy the moment. - Thank you.
Thank you.
- Holy smokes! That was so awesome!
- Stick around.
We've got more heartbreaking moments.
- Oh! Oh, my God.
- And unexpected twists.
* *
And someone's gonna cash in...
- I'm rich.
- When "American Ninja Warrior" returns.
- Welcome back.
Florida landscaper Vinny Tapia
looked like a man happy to be alive.
- Yeah! - And no wonder.
Three years ago, Tapia had a major heart attack.
But just four months later,
he ran the ninja course in Cincinnati.
- Okay! I see you!
- And tonight, the 45-year-old was back
for another shot,
but suffered a heartbreaking early fall.
- No!
- Oh.
- Heather Weissinger actually keeps hearts beating,
because she specializes in implanting pacemakers.
- Here we go.
- Heather's an honorary member
of the Towers of Power
with Brandon Mears and her boyfriend, Dan Polizzi.
- Whoo!
- And unlike Mears,
she survived the balance obstacle.
- Yeah! - Whoo-hoo!
- She's got the heart of a champion.
- But one obstacle later,
her strong run ended on Air Surfer.
- Oh! She missed it!
- That was fun.
I think I kind of blacked out on the balance.
- Then, it was Dan's turn.
The Illinois firefighter followed his girlfriend's lead
and chose Domino Effect.
- He had that forward lean, going over.
- And after getting through the first five obstacles,
he was the first to attempt the Mega Wall tonight.
- You got this. - And though
he came up short... - Oh!
- He still became our third finisher of the night.
So many of our competitors are inspired
to run the course by family members.
And that's certainly the case with our next athlete.
You can see him pointing to the sky.
That's for his dad. - Let's go!
- This is a very emotional Bryce Buckland,
who's here to pay tribute to his pop.
[melancholic music]
- My dad's name was Russell Buckland,
and simply put, he was my best friend.
Dad and I's favorite band is Cheap Trick.
Any time they would come into town,
we made sure to go see them.
- * And I feel so *
* Lonely *
- My dad was diagnosed with leukemia
when I was 13 years old.
That was a big blow.
Watching him go through treatments
was a humbling experience.
But even still in that weakened state,
the mentality didn't change.
It was always, "All right, what's next?
"What do I have to do? Chemo?
I'm gonna do it, because I want to live."
* *
- * Wherever you go *
* I'll be with you *
- So, my dad passed away on June 20, 2020.
I took that day to just be thankful
and be appreciative of everything
that he had done for me.
- * After the fire *
* After all the rain *
* I will be *
* There *
- I want to go out there and give it
everything that I have,
'cause that is always what he has done.
- And Bryce Buckland's gonna have lots of support
from his family back in Florida,
including his mom, who you see there in the middle.
And we also arranged a special surprise for Bryce.
Take a look at this.
- Hey, Bryce. It's Robin.
- And Rick, from Cheap Trick. Go hit that buzzer.
- We're sure your dad will be so proud of you.
- He'll be so proud of you.
- Just picture Rick's face on the buzzer.
- Ah! [cheering]
- Oh, that's really cool. - Talk about a special moment.
Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Cheap Trick,
the band he and his dad idolized,
with a personal message.
Even the other family members are crying.
They know what that means to him.
- You can see the relationship he had with his father.
Emotional.
[countdown clock beeping]
- And now he's got to use that emotion on this course.
- Yeah, you know, big props
to the guys from Cheap Trick for doing that.
That's pretty sweet.
- One obstacle at a time.
- Bryce Buckland,
looking to be a rock star himself tonight.
One thing we know he's not gonna do is surrender.
Oh. Let that bar go.
- Come on. Throw it. - Need a big lache.
Nice. Locked it on. - I love it, Matt.
He's carrying that never give up attitude from his father.
- He's got it. Going with that switch grip.
Here he goes.
Looking very strong.
- There you go.
- And he's through.
How cool is that, though?
The band you and your dad loved wishing you good luck.
- And in a run like this, every obstacle he gets through
is just gonna be a wave of emotion.
Good footwork here. - Nice.
- Yeah! - Right through the dominoes.
- Whoo! Yes! - He is pumped.
- He had a little bit of emotion.
Now, the adrenaline's starting to pump in.
- Well, he's an athlete.
He was a drum major
for the All-America Band, a true honor,
but also a high-level gymnast, Akbar.
Good body awareness, good control,
but this board--
easy to make a mistake here,
get that board off-center.
- Yeah, it's upper body strength and technique.
You just gotta be able to see it. It's a rhythm.
Being able to keep the rhythm on the smaller landing pad,
making sure you're accurate. - Oh!
- He almost overshot it on Air Surfer. Ooh.
- That left side in precarious position.
- And don't over-correct it.
You gotta just control your body.
He's gotta go up and out.
Not a lot of leverage, though.
Whoa. Oh! - Oh, no!
- The grip pulled off.
[sighs] [cheering]
- Well, he looks disappointed, but he shouldn't be.
You know his dad would be proud.
And Zuri's gonna see how he's doing.
- Bryce, you and your father loved Cheap Trick,
and they kicked off that start line run for you.
How was that? What did that mean to you?
- The fact that they were willing to go out of their way
to do that and honor my dad,
that just--that means the world to me, so...
- You've certainly honored your father.
You've had your own performance in the Tacoma Dome.
And it was a job well done. Good stuff.
- I'm just--I'm so happy and blessed to be here.
I got my family.
I love them all so much.
You know, I didn't get a buzzer, Dad,
but I love you.
- Hey, Matt, Akbar, and all you "Ninja" fans.
Peyton Manning here. Tune in tomorrow night
for the premiere of the Capital One College Bowl.
It's the ultimate academic challenge,
with life-changing college scholarships on the line.
Be sure to watch us tomorrow night on NBC.
Back to you. - Oh, man, thank you, Peyton.
And a guy who looked like he could play football,
five-time veteran Michael Johnson,
just tackled our course.
- We don't see a lot of swole ninjas like this.
- And despite being the night's heaviest competitor,
at 215 pounds,
he was light on his feet.
- You can be swole and mobile. This is a mobile ninja.
- But on Air Surfer, it was his feet
that turned out to be his downfall.
- Oh, no!
- The snowboard hit my foot.
That's gonna make for a greater slow-mo.
- His foot did get in the way.
Then it was another Georgia ninja, The Maker,
obstacle designer Kevin Carbone.
- Let's see what he's got. - Carbone created
some of "Ninja's" most popular obstacles,
including the Wingnuts and Slingshot.
And he cruised through the first five obstacles tonight.
- I feel like Kevin Carbone's about to do something special.
- The Maker went for the Mega Wall.
- Kevin Carbone! Oh! - Aw!
- And though he missed,
he was still able to cap off his run with a buzzer,
and the second-fastest time so far.
Then it was the Dream Chaser,
Atlanta barista Tyler Gillett,
who took the opposite approach,
going much slower than normal.
- Feel good? - Yeah, bro. I feel good.
- All because he was saving himself for the Mega Wall.
- You going for 10K, buddy?
- Yeah! - Gillett came close.
- Dream Chaser. - Oh!
- Just an inch.
- [groans]
- And then recovered to join our growing list
of finishers.
- Good work!
- I touched it.
- Well, we've got another southern ninja
stepping up to the plate.
This is Brett Hernandez Strong.
He's swinging a baseball bat
because he dreamed of being a big leaguer.
But he spends his summers as the coolest camp counselor
in North Carolina.
- Here we are at Camp Durant.
Camp Durant has an amazing lake,
an awesome climbing tower, a grand lodge,
a huge activity field,
and most importantly,
a phenomenal staff.
- Like myself.
When I first came here as a 12-year-old Boy Scout,
and I've been coming here every summer since.
And now, I am a mountain biking instructor.
All right, are you guys ready to ride?
all: Yeah! - All right. Let's do it.
- * Here I am again *
* Here I am tonight *
* Here I am again *
- On a mountain bike, you need to have good balance,
you need to anticipate,
and you need to have visual awareness.
And I think, on a "Ninja" course,
having visual awareness and good balance
is very important.
Mountain biking and "Ninja" are both passions in my life.
I've been watching this show since nine years old,
and now I'm finally getting a shot,
and it just means the absolute world to me.
I'm on cloud nine right now.
I have worked tirelessly for the past 10 years.
I want to show these campers that they can achieve any goal
that they set their minds to.
- He calls himself B.Strong. - Whoo!
- And he's got a lot of energy.
- I love you guys! I'm so happy to be here!
- Come on, Brett!
- Oh! He is fired up. - Whoo!
- He's got lots of fans,
including his mom, sister, and grandpa,
plus lots of ninjas where he trains in North Carolina.
[countdown clock beeping]
- B.Strong, very confident.
Despite not being that well-known,
he says he's gonna be Rookie of the Year.
- Well, with all the impressive teenagers
we've seen this season, that may be hard to do.
But this kid's only 19 himself.
Makes the catch on Overpass. - Nice.
- B.Strong, a student at Wingate University.
Said he's trying out for the baseball team in the fall.
Now, Split Decision.
- Okay. Looks like he's trying
to pick off the runner on first base here.
- Yes, Brett. - He trains back
in North Carolina with Devin Harrelson.
Dougie Fresh will get him going.
- As a mountain biker, you expect him
to have great balance on these dominoes.
- Yes! - That was smooth.
B.Strong has some wheels on him.
[cheering]
- And it looks like, if you get through
this next obstacle, Air Surfer,
you'll be safely in the top 30
and move on to the semifinals.
Four-foot gap here.
Only 5'6", 140 pounds. - Ooh.
- You could see, almost overshot it with that board.
- Yes. And you see, he's starting to get uneven.
He's gotta watch out there.
- You can see that bar shifting a little bit.
- And that's a small platform right there.
This is a bigger platform.
Nice.
- Makes the dismount there.
[cheering]
- Matt, he wants to be Rookie of the Year.
That's his goal. He says he wants to hit that buzzer,
and he wants to make his mark known.
- Can Brett Hernandez Strong survive the Pretzel Twist?
Lots of good ninjas have fallen here tonight already.
We've seen many of the talented teenagers
from this season on "Ninja Junior,"
but 19-year-old Brett Hernandez Strong
wasn't really on our radar.
But, Akbar, he's putting together a strong run.
- Matt, I love his confidence.
- Working his way across Pretzel Twist.
Only five ninjas have conquered
this new obstacle tonight.
- Come on! There it is! - You got it!
- And you see him. He's grabbing from the inside.
That's what I call the grandma-steering-wheel hold.
- It seems to be working for him.
- Oh! - Oh, my!
- That was an elite move by B.Strong!
Okay! Okay!
- Look at this rookie! - Oh!
- Oh, man! - Go!
- Bottom of the ninth, the bases are loaded.
He's going for the Mega Wall!
- Money. - Mega Wall time.
[cheering]
- This is crazy. - B.Strong.
- Only ninja great Joe Marovsky has made it up
the 18-foot wall this season.
Strong would be the shortest person ever
to beat it, at 5'6".
- If B.Strong gets this, this would put you
in the conversation for Rookie of the Year.
- He's looking to steal home, Akbar.
- Here he goes. - He's looking to ceiling.
This is as big as the Green Monster in Fenway!
- Oh, boy. Here he goes! - Here goes B.Strong!
both: Oh! - Oh, my!
- What? - [screams]
Yes! [buzzer blares]
Whoo!
[cheering]
- A grand slam home run for the rookie.
You got $10,000, buddy!
- Where did you come from?
[cheering]
- Thank you!
- Well, you said you wanted to be the Rookie of the Year.
You just put your name in the conversation.
You really are B.Strong.
- I've been watching this show for the last 10 years,
and I've just been dreaming of this moment
for nights and nights and nights.
And finally, we're here.
And that was just amazing.
[cheering]
- His "Ninja" debut was definitely a home run.
This unknown rookie is just the second athlete all season
to take down the 18-foot Mega Wall,
and he's $10,000 richer.
* *
- * Show 'em what you're made of *
- Hit that big buzzer one more time.
- Whoo! - The unknown rookie,
Brett Hernandez Strong.
I guess we could say he is The Natural.
- Whoo-hoo-hoo!
- Coming up,
she took her family off the grid
and onto a boat.
This ninja mom's mermaid adventure,
when "American Ninja Warrior" returns.
- We are keeping it fresh tonight here
on "American Ninja Warrior."
- Get ready. Let's go.
- Moments ago, Devin Harrelson,
better known as Dougie Fresh,
continued his flavorful start line traditions,
taking a selfie...
- Oh, there's the start line selfie.
- And then lighting up his shoes.
- The whole thing lights up. - Wow.
- Look at them. Them clean.
I want some of those.
- The tattoo artist from North Carolina
always brings some flair to the course.
- He's got the swag. He's got the shimmy.
- And though he didn't get the buzzer he was looking for...
- Oh, man! Salty on the pretzel.
- He still made it far enough, fast enough,
to move on to the semifinals.
- Are they still lighting up?
- Max Feinberg is another one of our talented teenagers...
[playing "William Tell Overture Final"]
Who's also a member of his school's marching band.
* *
This self-proclaimed band geek from Arlington
marched right through the course.
- Boy, it's so good to be young.
- This is so much fun!
- The 16-year-old wore pink on his shirt
to honor his mother, who's fighting breast cancer.
And he made it all the way to the buzzer.
- That's for you, Mom. That's for you.
- "That's for you, Mom."
- What a beautiful moment.
- You a mama's boy?
- 100%.
- I love you, buddy.
- Well, we are down to the last woman of the night.
And believe it or not, she's a mermaid.
This is Charity LeBlanc.
She's a social media sensation
with almost a million followers.
She adopted the mermaid persona
for her fitness and beauty videos
and started competing as the Mermaid Ninja.
And now, she's taking the mermaid life even further.
She and her family are gonna be spending more time at sea.
- This year, we decided to sell our house,
get rid of most of our belongings,
and live on a boat.
I think living on a sailboat is the closest I can get
to being a real-life mermaid.
You guys ready to sail today?
- Yeah. - Yeah!
- Where do you think we should go?
- Australia. - Ooh, that's a big sail.
I don't know if we're gonna make that today.
Me and my husband just wanted to slow down
and live a little closer to nature,
and set out on a huge adventure with our family.
All right, guys, you ready to go wash the deck?
- Yep. - All right.
Don't forget to put your life jackets on.
My kids are really adjusting well to boat life.
They really like being able to contribute,
and it teaches them hard work and good work ethic.
Living on a sailboat has really helped me
with my "Ninja" training.
Pulling ropes and hoisting sails
is a lot of arm strength.
And I've also figured out
how to get a little better at balance.
I really think that a lot of people get into this mindset
that once you're a mom, you do mom things.
But I want to show people you could be a mom
and you can still have fun hair,
and you can live on a boat,
you can be a "Ninja" athlete.
I really hope that people see me
and feel encouraged to do the same.
- Lots of family and friends cheering for her
back in Florida,
including her sailboat crew,
her husband and two kids.
- I miss you guys.
[countdown clock beeping]
- It's her third season competing.
Trying to get beyond qualifying for the first time.
- It's all you, Charity. Come on. You got it.
- The top five women advance to the semifinals,
and if she can reach the fourth obstacle,
she'll be one of them.
Let's see if she can catch this moving bar.
Yes! Timed that perfectly.
- Ooh, that mermaid can fly! A flying mermaid!
- You got it. Come on!
[cheering]
- Going with a switch grip. Secure that rod.
Nice. - Here we go.
- Just needs the dismount.
- Yes, Charity!
Got it.
[cheering]
And she's reached Split Decision.
What is she gonna choose?
- Dominoes. Dominoes. - Left, Charity.
- Her sister says go with Domino Effect.
5'2", 115.
- Yes! Let's go.
- Maybe not comfortable with her feet.
A little more comfortable in the water.
we're gonna see, Akbar. - Here we go. Nice.
- Oh, there it is! - Yeah.
Yeah! Okay, Charity! [cheering]
- And with that, Charity LeBlanc can set sail
for Los Angeles.
She's going to the semifinals.
- All right. Let's see if the mermaid can surf.
- Well, the Air Surfer has taken out
more ninjas tonight than any other obstacle.
[overlapping chatter] - There you go.
- She's taking nice little measured hops.
- Only one woman, Alyssa Varsalona, survived it.
- This is a big jump, Matt. This is a big jump.
Nice. - Look at that.
- So, she was able to absorb that.
- Who knew it? Akbar, this mermaid can fly.
- Whoa! Okay! - Oh, my!
- I told you. This is not a fairytale story.
- Long transition here. - Mermaids really can fly.
- Oh, my! I'm not sure how she held on.
That right hand almost slipped off.
- The left fingers barely having purchase.
She is eyeing the landing pad.
But this is gonna be a long dismount.
- Oh, no! Oh, she's barely hanging on!
She saves it!
- [laughs] Unbelievable! - Wow!
- Okay, Charity!
[cheering]
- And now, staring up at the fifth obstacle,
Pretzel Twist.
- Oh, that's a big jump.
- Says that's a big jump. - You got it.
- You got this. You got this, hon.
You can do it. You can do it.
- She's 5'2".
Needs to really hit the springboard.
both: Oh!
[buzzer blares]
[all groan]
- Charity LeBlanc comes up short.
But it's her best run ever.
And she's going to the semifinals.
- I thought it was all over on Air Surfer.
She barely got to the pad.
But she dug in her fingers and gave it everything she had
to save herself.
But at Pretzel Twist, she was spent,
and just didn't get a good enough jump
to grab the first handle.
- I was really hungry and wanted that pretzel,
but I also really like the water, so
mermaid problems, I guess.
- Coming up, they've done some crazy things before...
- Whoo!
But wait till you see Grant McCartney
and Nick Hanson's latest adventure.
- Know your limits.
- When "American Ninja Warrior" returns.
- The Tacoma Dome is known
for epic rock concerts,
and we just had two runs that brought the house down.
Vermont's 20-year-old Amir Malik
was last year's top rookie,
and he showed he hasn't lost a step.
- He'll blow the fastest time away.
- Malik's only 5'6" and 120 pounds.
- There's no sophomore slump for him, Matt.
- But he came up big for the second year in a row.
[cheering]
- Look at that! He's walking in the air!
- Last season, Malik broke the buzzer.
He broke the buzzer!
So he was extra careful tonight,
as he put up the fastest time by more than 30 seconds.
- Come on, baby!
- Then it was time for RJ Roman to rock the dome.
- Hello, Tacoma!
- The heavy metal bass player is known for going fast,
and he was ready to shred the course once again.
- It's like a straight sprint.
- The 24-year-old rocker cut his long hair,
and he seemed to be even more aerodynamic than last season.
- This is a head-banging performance.
- He even had time to attempt the Mega Wall,
miss it, and still get the fastest time of the night.
- Thank you, Tacoma! [cheering]
Let's go!
- RJ Roman is a tough act to follow.
But the Island Ninja
is strutting his way to the start line.
- Don't tease us, Grant McCartney.
Let's see the moves. Come on. Ah, ah, ah.
There we go. Get it, get it.
- And his buddy from Alaska, Nick Hanson,
is shaking it on the sideline.
These two do everything together,
including going to extremes.
[energetic music]
- Grant and I met in our very first season
on "American Ninja Warrior."
We just became bros.
[growls]
- Me and Nick both believe that you should go
at your full commitment towards something.
Going for it, full send.
- This is what we do in Hawaii, apparently.
- We have had a ton of adventures together.
We did cliff jumps. [both scream]
We swam with sharks.
Who does that?
We full-on built an igloo.
Took four hours, and it was freezing cold.
Come on in.
So this last year, I guess I've really decided
to just take things to the extreme.
Bro, this is so gnarly.
Since I was a kid, I've always just had the desire
to swim under ice.
- Any Alaskan native, of course, is gonna go,
"You're an idiot, but I'm gonna watch you do this,
because I want to see what happens."
[dramatic music]
Stay under control.
Know your breathes.
Know your breathing.
Know your limits.
- I swam down and around, and then I thought,
"Uh-oh."
* *
"Where's the hole I came in from?"
- It was the longest 30 seconds of my life.
I'm looking through three feet of water.
And he comes up, and he looks right at me,
and he just goes...
Oh, he's here.
Yo, what the freak, dude?
This freaking guy.
Grant and I push each other to the next level.
- [shuddering] Whoo.
Whoo!
Tonight, me and Nick are gonna go full-send.
- Yeah, I tried to polar plunge once.
So I'll pass. - [laughs] Yeah, me too.
- You got this, boy. - Nick will run next.
He'll be on the sideline,
along with Michelle Warnky Buurma.
And Grant's got his sister and her kids watching.
- Hi. We love you. - Say, "Go, Uncle Grant."
- You can do it!
- Yeah, you can do it! [countdown clock beeping]
- Oh, here we go!
- Grant actually spent months preparing for that swim,
using ice baths to train his body to relax in the cold.
- Yeah, Matt, and I think he even suffered
from a little hypothermia.
- Well, he said he's learning
to push beyond his limitations.
- Get it. Go get it. - Nice.
- And we've seen Grant doesn't have many limitations.
- You can see he's coming in a little bit more swole.
He's been doing a lot of power lifting.
He can deadlift 450 pounds now.
[cheering]
- A little dance at Split Decision.
And he's going with the Domino Effect.
- Go lightning fast. Lightning fast.
- He's one of our heaviest competitors, at 205 pounds,
so really needs to be light on his feet.
- You go cold-water plunging up in Alaska,
this should be easy. Nice.
- That's impressive. He danced across it.
[cheering]
- But this is gonna be a challenge, Akbar.
These next two obstacles-- at 205 pounds,
he is carrying a lot of mass through the air,
starting right here, on the Air Surfer.
- Yeah, there's one thing to push weight around,
but it's something totally different
when you got to pull your own weight.
- Now, granted, the mechanics are different here,
but he's had problems in the past with the Salmon Ladder,
using a bar. Here, he's got a bar--oh!
[buzzer blares]
He just overshot the landing.
And this is the shortest run he's ever had in qualifying.
- Grant, my man, what went wrong here?
- I think I strong-armed it.
I think I went a little too hard.
- Yeah? - I think I went past it.
- Mm-hmm. - Just too strong.
I think I over-hopped it. I got to get my finesse back.
- All right, well, we'll see if you went far enough,
fast enough. - We'll see.
- All right, Grant. - Thanks, you guys.
- And Grant McCartney is in
real danger of not advancing.
Right now,
he's in 28th position,
with four good athletes
still to come.
If he gets pushed out
of the top 30,
his season is over.
And one of those final four is his buddy, Nick Hanson.
Now, Nick's already had an eventful year.
He got engaged.
He's pointing to the ring on his finger.
Nick popped the question to his longtime girlfriend,
Joanne, who's watching from up in Alaska.
- And the irony is, if he does well
on this run, he's pushing his buddy, Grant,
further down the leaderboard.
- One obstacle at a time, bro.
- But G-Mac already out of the water
and on the sideline to show support his buddy.
[countdown clock beeping]
You know there isn't a second's hesitation.
G-Mac will be cheering for his friend.
- Come on, Nick. Attaboy. - You got this, Nick!
- Quick and smooth.
- Nick and Grant, fire and ice.
One from the frozen tundra of Alaska,
Grant McCartney from Hawaii, the Island Ninja.
But these two, what a bond they have.
- Well, Nick trying to shake it off
after seeing Grant's early exit.
- Well, we've seen Nick get up the Mega Wall.
This guy has some great power.
He competes in a lot of the Native sports up in Alaska,
and is in the Hall of Fame,
so this dude is a legit athlete.
[cheering]
- Little ice-hopping, bro. Light feet.
- Matt, he does this all the time in Alaska,
floating over these little icebergs,
these mini-icebergs. Look at this.
- He does ice flow running. Perfect balance.
[cheering] - There you go, Nick.
- And now, Air Surfer.
Conquer this, and he's going to the semifinals.
both: You got it. - No problem.
- This one has already taken out nine ninjas tonight,
including G-Mac.
- Gonna come down to technique and accuracy.
- This first drop is where Grant went down.
Perfect. [cheering]
- This next one, a smaller target though.
- That first drop is such--oh, shoot!
- Nick Hanson missed! - Oh, my goodness!
- Oh, no.
- Shoot.
- Dang it. Too far.
- And now both of these best friends
are in danger of going home.
It would be the first time ever
they haven't gotten past qualifying.
- These guys do everything together,
including falling at the same obstacle.
First, Grant overshot the first landing pad
with his left side.
Then Nick came up and overshot the second pad
with his left side.
- You can't be too strong too. - Dude, we went too far, dude.
- Went too big. - Way too big, bro.
- We over-sended it. - We full-sended it.
- We over-sent it. - It's not full.
It's full-send, not over-send. - It's all good.
- Dude, here's the deal, okay? - Here's the deal.
- Tell me the deal.
- Hold on a second. Here's the deal.
- Should we go to commercial? - I think we're gonna go.
This-- - This is going on forever.
- Up next, he won it all twice on "Ninja Junior."
[dramatic musical sting] - Oh, my goodness.
He is the greatest of all time.
- Now it's the moment 16-year-old Vance Walker
has been dreaming of, as this heralded rookie
makes his debut, on "American Ninja Warrior."
- Oh, my God!
- We're wrapping up our third night of qualifying,
and the runs continue to be absolutely electric.
Minutes ago, our youngest competitor ever,
Enzo Deferrari Wilson, AKA Electric Enzo,
lit up this course.
- I like it! [cheering]
- The high school freshman turned 15
just a few weeks ago...
[cheering]
But didn't look intimidated at all.
- Whoo! - Yeah!
- When we first saw him on "Ninja Junior,"
he was only 4'11".
But he's grown 9 inches taller since then.
- He's all grown up, making big boy moves.
- Let's go! - Enzo!
- And Enzo made it all the way to the Warped Wall.
[cheering]
- Yeah, buddy! - Okay! Yeah!
- You got this, Enzo!
And at 15 years, 1 month, and 22 days,
became the youngest to ever hit a buzzer
on "American Ninja Warrior."
And it was emotional overload.
- I've put so much work into this,
and it's crazy to see it finally come true.
- Then it was a competitor almost 20 years older,
South Carolina's Brett Sims.
He first appeared in "Ninja's" inaugural season,
and he looked a little different back in those days.
The 34-year-old had a stripe on his arm
for each of the 10 seasons he's competed.
But he certainly didn't move like an old man.
- Boy, that was really fast. - Yeah. Easy.
- The 5'6" veteran made a big move to finish Pretzel Twist.
- Okay! That was a launch.
My knees would have buckled with that one.
- And even attempted the Mega Wall.
- Oh! - Ooh! I thought he had it!
- Good try. Good try. Good try.
- Before completing his fifth qualifying course in a row.
[buzzer blares] - Yeah!
[cheering]
- You got what it takes to compete
against these young cats coming in?
- You know, I started when some of these guys
were 1 years old. I'm still keeping up.
[laughter]
[buzzer blares]
- Now it's time for the final athlete of the night.
And there is a lot of excitement around this kid.
This is 16-year-old Vance Walker.
He's a two-time champion
on "American Ninja Warrior Junior,"
and a lot of people think he's ready
to dominate at this level too.
- Vance Walker is one of the strongest people
I've ever seen.
- You can do it. You can do it.
Whoo!
- Vance has ungodly strength.
[dramatic music]
- Vance Walker is absolutely incredible.
- I think I was around 10 years old
when I did my first "Ninja" competition.
[cheering] - Go, Vance.
- I got the call to compete
on "American Ninja Warrior Junior."
- Oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness.
He is the greatest of all time.
- And I did pretty well.
- He is 13, and, oh,
he has never lost a race on this course.
- I won both seasons
of "American Ninja Warrior Junior."
- The champ is here. The champ is here.
- Wow! With authority! - Walker does it again!
- I am very excited to take on the big course.
- Yes, Vance.
- People think that because I'm too young or too short,
that I can't do things like the Mega Wall.
And I've done a 23-foot wall in the past,
so I'm used to big walls.
- Let's go! [cheering]
- Of course, I'm going for the Mega Wall.
I'm here to prove that I'm not just one of the best teens,
but one of the best ninjas in general.
- Got a lot of supporters watching him,
including his dad, watching back in Georgia,
plus grandparents watching from Texas.
- Go! - On the sidelines,
his mom, Stacey, and lots of other ninjas.
- Let's go.
- Everyone wants to see what Vance Walker can do.
- Let's go! [countdown clock beeping]
- 5'5", 145.
What an improbable journey for him.
Born with cerebral palsy.
Had to have braces on his legs
from the time he could walk until first grade.
- Yeah, and he still has to do stretching exercises
every day, and before every competition.
- Let that bar go. - He's got it.
- He was planning for the lache.
Wasn't even looking for it.
- Matt, in two seasons of "Ninja Junior,"
he never lost a race, never fell on an obstacle.
- Well, he's coached by Michael "Greatness" Johnson
in Atlanta. - Same thing. Spot your feet.
- Michael says Vance may be a better ninja than him already.
- Matt, Vance can move, and he can go fast.
Watch this. He's a speed walker.
- Wow. - He is a speed walker.
- And you saw the perfect foot placements.
Dead center on those dominoes.
[cheering] - Let's go.
- He calls himself Walker Texas Ninja,
because he was born in Texas, and still considers it home.
Now facing Air Surfer.
- Ooh.
- Looked like that right side almost caught, Akbar.
Watch the placement. Watch the board control.
- Uh-oh. - That board uneven!
- Oh, it is uneven. Watch out.
- Great job correcting it.
That board still askew. - That's it!
- Nice. - He's got it.
Vance Walker, showing some vulnerability here
on Air Surfer, but going for the dismount.
- Let's go! - And he's pumped.
[cheering]
- So Vance Walker's spot is secure.
He's moving on to the semifinals.
But Walker, getting through Air Surfer,
pushes Grant McCartney out of the top 30.
Both he and Nick Hanson are not moving on.
But you know he's not done.
- He's going all out. He wants it all.
And I suppose he might even take a shot at that Mega Wall.
- I am! - Oh!
He just answered me in the middle of his run!
- Let's move. Let's move.
- Are you kidding me!? - Well, we were impressed
with him in "Ninja Junior."
- What? - You can see why.
- Oh, my goodness. - Easy work.
- Easy.
- It's amazing he's even thinking about
an 18-foot Mega Wall.
He's only 5'5".
- Come on. Let's go. Keep swinging.
- He is so focused, so dialed in.
- Pop and reach. - Come on.
- Pop and reach. Up and out.
- I like it, Akbar. He's not risking anything.
He's being methodical.
- And we don't have to guess. We know he's going straight
for it--he's going straight for the Mega Wall.
- Got it. - Let's go!
- And he's pumped!
Is he going for 10K?
Yes, he is!
- Let's go. Get that Mega Wall, baby!
- We saw Brett Hernandez Strong.
We haven't seen an under-19 athlete get that Mega Wall.
- Let's go. When you're ready, bro.
Eat. Long strides, bro.
- Matt, he'll be the shortest ever to get up the Mega Wall.
- 5'5".
Never underestimate this young man.
Went from wearing braces on his legs as a child to this.
- Come on! - Ooh, look at him.
He's going for it.
- Come on, Vance. - Look at this feet!
[cheering] - Vance Walker!
[buzzer blares] - Yo!
Let's go! Let's go!
[cheering]
- Vance Walker!
This kid is the real deal!
- Let's go!
- Oh, my goodness. - Yeah, buddy!
- You speed walker, you!
- Yeah, boy!
- I gotta say, Vance, man, we saw you at "Ninja Junior."
Not only did you never miss an obstacle,
you didn't lose a race.
You were perfect. The perfection continues.
- Yeah. - Great job, man.
- Thank you.
- And at just 5'5" and 16 years old,
Vance Walker just became the shortest
and youngest person to conquer the 18-foot Mega Wall
his very first time on the course.
- Let's go!
- Matt, it's gonna be interesting to see him
in the semifinals and see what he can do.
- You know what else is gonna be interesting?
Seeing what a 16-year-old does with $10,000!
- [laughs]
- You're so awesome.
- While we take a look at who's moving on
to the semifinals,
check out Akbar's Gbajabia-Moments.
Number three,
the Death Metal Ninja, Josh Wag,
had plenty of swag.
- I want to see that death metal head-banging.
Yeah!
I don't have any hair, but I'll do that.
And he rocked the course too.
Made it to the fifth obstacle.
Oh, no! [buzzer blares]
Number two,
Jessica Helmer rescues
abandoned rabbits.
And she let Zuri bunny-sit
during her run.
- Teeth. Oh, God, help.
- Turns out, bunnies can bite.
- Ah! [laughs]
- And number one,
professional poker player,
Tony Miles,
bet $75,000
that he'd hit the buzzer,
and when he didn't,
we got to make it rain
with all his cash.
- I'm rich.
- So that wraps up another thrilling night of competition.
For Akbar Gbajabiamila and Zuri Hall, I'm Matt Iseman.
We'll see you next week on "American Ninja Warrior."
[dramatic music]
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