American Ninja Warrior: Ninja vs. Ninja (formerly Team Ninja Warrior) is an American reality television obstacle racing team competition series and a spin-off of American Ninja Warrior. The series features ANW alumni racing in teams of three against each other, with the winners receiving a cash prize.
History On October 9, 2015, Esquire Network announced a spin-off of American Ninja Warrior which would feature twenty-four 3-person teams (two men and one woman) of popular ANW alumni. The teams competed head-to-head against each other, running the course simultaneously, thus creating a new live duel dynamic. The two teams with the fastest times advance to the finale where one team will be crowned the winners and receive a cash prize. Matt Iseman and Akbar Gbaja-Biamila host alongside actor and journalist, Alex Curry. The series is Esquire Network's most-watched program in the channel's history.
On May 31, 2016, Esquire Network announced a sixteen-episode second season that will also include a five-episode special college edition that will have college-aged competitors go head-to-head against rival schools.
On March 6, 2017, it was announced that Team Ninja Warrior would be moving to sibling cable channel USA Network as Esquire Network wound down its linear channel operations and relaunched as an online-only service. The show's second season premiered on April 18.‘Team Ninja Warrior’ Moving To USA As Sibling Esquire Shuts Down Linear Service - Deadline Hollywood (published March 6, 2017)
On October 5, 2017, it was announced by USA Network that the show would be retitled American Ninja Warrior: Ninja vs Ninja starting with the show's third season, which premiered on March 1, 2018.USA Network announces ‘American Ninja Warrior: Ninja vs Ninja’ - American Ninja Warrior Nation (published December 21, 2017)
Format Each first-round episode consists of five matches: two seeding-round matches, two elimination matches (always pitting a seeding-round winner against a seeding-round loser), and the championship relay race. The four standard rounds features three heats, with the captains selecting opponents (men vs. men only), with the women racing against each other. The third heat is worth double points, with an extra race as a tiebreaker in the event of a 2-2 tie, while the relay race takes place on an extended course.
Once the contestant reaches the Dancing Stones, a contestant who fails any of the next obstacles (which alternate) or the Warped Wall (three-attempt rule in play) automatically loses. The player who advanced the furthest wins the heat, with whoever reached the previous obstacle the fastest being the tie-breaker. A ten-second penalty applies for failure to clear obstacles in the relay race, assessed to the next player on the team. In the relay final, the course's additional obstacles are the Salmon Ladder, Tilting Ladder, and conclude with a 30-foot spider climb leading to a 10-foot rope climb.
In contrast to the ANW rules, but like ANW Junior, which state that touching the water is not allowed, competitors are permitted to make contact with the water, but are disqualified if they completely fall or completely lose their grip on the obstacle. For instance, competitors can drag their feet through the pool on the Sonic Swing, but if they fall completely off the rope, they are disqualified. Often competitors will brush the water in an effort to catch up, but their slick feet most commonly hurt them later on obstacles such as the Warped Wall.
The newest season in 2018 has 36 teams of three competitors each, with major rule changes to the elimination rounds.
Each race will now be worth one point, again with the only restriction that the women must race each other. A team must will all three heats to win the round. If neither team sweeps the heats, the heats will be settled with a relay. Teams will assign competitors to one of three points, the start, after the second, and after the fourth obstacles. To win the match, the team up 2-1 must win one heat to win. If the team down 1-2 wins the heat, the two teams will conduct one sudden death relay to determine the winner. The winners of the two matches will play in the final, now nine obstacles, using the format except in the relay (used in the fourth and fifth heats if necessary), the exchange points will be after the third and sixth obstacles, respectively. Also, there are no more sudden death matches.
Series overview
Season First aired Last aired Champion Runner-up Third Place Fourth Place HostsSideline reporter 1 January 19, 2016 March 8, 2016 Party Time Team TNTTeam RoninExpendabulls Matt Iseman Akbar Gbaja-Biamila Alex Curry College MadnessNovember 22, 2016 December 20, 2016 Wisconsin MIT Georgia UCLA Kacy Catanzaro 2 April 18, 2017 June 27, 2017 Storm TeamTeam TNT Iron Grip Real Life Beasts Alex Curry 3 March 1, 2018 June 18, 2018 Labreckfast Club Team Ronin Party Time
Seasons Season 1 (2016)
The first season of American Team Ninja Warrior occurred in the 2015-2016 TV season. The season was taped from October 21–23, 2015, in Long Beach, California. Of the competing teams, only one team was captained by a woman, that of Jessie Graff's, the "G-Force". Premiering on January 19, 2016, the season consisted of eight, hour-long episodes, exclusively on Esquire Network. The season ended with "Party Time", consisting of members Brian Arnold, Jake Murray, and Jennifer Tavernier crowned Team Ninja Warrior Champions, winning over "TNT", which included members Travis Rosen, Adam Arnold, and Joyce Shahboz.
Results Notes Refs Team Alpha Brent Steffensen Evan Dollard Kacy Catanzaro Eliminated Qualifying Episode 3 Average Jo Jos Jo Jo Bynum Jimmy Bogle Jr. Caitlin Shukwit Eliminated Qualifying Episode 1 Elet-trikz Elet Hall Dillon Gates Cassie Craig Eliminated Qualifying Episode 5 Expendabulls Kevin Bull Alan Connealy Luci Romberg Finalist Episode 3 Eliminated during qualifying in Finals Episode 2 G-Force Nicholas Coolridge Travis Brewer Eliminated Qualifying Episode 1 Only team with a female captain Golden Hearts Neil Craver Grant McCartney Natalie Duran Eliminated Qualifying Episode 2 Invincabels Abel Gonzalez Nathan Jasso Jeri D'Aurelio Eliminated Qualifying Episode 6 Iron Grip Daniel Gil Sam Sann Richelle Hepler Eliminated in Relay Showdown Episode 5 Karsonic Boom Karson Voiles Brandon Berrett Beth Higginbotham Eliminated Qualifying Episode 4 Lab Rats Brian Wilczewski Chris Wilczewski Michelle Warnky Finalist Episode 5 Eliminated during the Relay Showdown in Finals Episode 2 Team Midoryama Ian Dory Dan Yager Meagan Martin Finalist Episode 2 Eliminated during qualifying in Finals Episode 1 Ninja Brittens Geoff Britten Dustin McKinney Jessica Britten Eliminated Qualifying Episode 5 NorCal Ninjas David Campbell Sean Noble Rachel Mulvaney Eliminated Qualifying Episode 2 Party Time Brian Arnold / Jennifer Tavernier Jake Murray suffered a leg injury during qualifying and was replaced by Travis Weinand for the Relay Showdown on Qualifying Episode 6 Rahnaways Jamie Rahn Adam Grossman Courtney Venuti Eliminated Qualifying Episode 6 Real Life Beasts Drew Drechsel James McGrath Erica Cook Eliminated in Relay Showdown Episode 6 Team Ronin Flip Rodriguez JJ Woods Tiana Webberley Finalist Episode 4 Eliminated during qualifying in Finals Episode 1 Storm Team Moravsky Joe Moravsky Rob Moravsky Marybeth Wang Finalist Episode 1 Originally eliminated in the Relay Showdown in Episode 1 but were brought back as a Wildcard in the Finals; Eliminated during qualifying in Finals Episode 2 Stratis Faction Ryan Stratis Mike Bernardo Grace Jones Finalist Episode 3 Originally eliminated in the Relay Showdown in Episode 3 but were brought back as a Wildcard in the Finals; Eliminated during the Relay Showdown in Finals Episode 1 Think Tank Noah Kaufman Matt Wilder Asya Grechka Eliminated in Relay Showdown Episode 4 Team TNT Travis Rosen Adam Arnold Joyce Shahboz Towers of Power Brandon Mears Dan Polizzi / Eliminated in Relay Showdown Episode 2 Selena Laniel suffered a shoulder injury during qualifying and was replaced by Traci Dinwiddie for the Relay Showdown on Qualifying Episode 2 Tré Amigoz Tremayne Dortch Andrew Lowes Cassandra Dortch Eliminated Qualifying Episode 3 Wild Bunch Lance Pekus Ben Melick Rose Wetzel Eliminated Qualifying Episode 4
Ratings
No. Episode Air date Timeslot (ET) 18-49 rating Viewers Daily rank 1 "Qualifying Week 1" January 19, 2016 Tuesday 8:00 p.m. 0.09 0.281 105 2 "Qualifying Week 2" January 26, 2016 0.10 0.273 105 3 "Qualifying Week 3" February 2, 2016 0.07 0.217 143 4 "Qualifying Week 4" February 9, 2016 0.10 0.285 114 5 "Qualifying Week 5" February 16, 2016 0.07 0.200 141 6 "Qualifying Week 6" February 23, 2016 0.08 0.268 132 7 "Finals Week 1" March 1, 2016 >150 8 "Finals Week 2" March 8, 2016 0.12 0.295 115
College Madness (2016)
Team Ninja Warrior: College Madness was a five-episode special season that premiered on November 22, 2016, on Esquire Network. Each episode featured teams, each consisting of two men and one woman, competing against other teams from various colleges and universities across the United States. At the end of each episode, the top two teams faced each other in a relay race, with the winner advancing to the finals. Matt Iseman and Akbar Gbaja-Biamila hosted with ANW fan favorite Kacy Catanzaro as the sideline reporter. The tournament was ultimately won by the University of Wisconsin, with a team consisting of Zack Kemmerer, Andrew Philibeck, and Taylor Amann.
Results NotesRefs UCLA Bruins Carter Allen James Vaughn Amanda Adams Colorado Buffaloes Bobby Reedy Matt Normile Alexandra Regenold Eliminated Qualifying Episode 3 UConn Huskies Perry Madison Luke Adams Jade Sharkany Eliminated Qualifying Episode 2 Florida Gators Garrison Kalvin Dane Brooks Melissa Hill Eliminated Qualifying Episode 1 Georgia Bulldogs Doug Legg Bradley Schleicher Victoria Case Houston Cougars Mathis "The Kid" Owhadi Zach Tamayo Haley Houston Eliminated in Relay Showdown Week 1 Maryland Terrapins Marcos Colon-Pappaterra Kevin Merrick Delaney Jordan Eliminated in Relay Showdown Week 4 Michigan Wolverines Karl Berkemeier Joseph Craig Liv Lang Eliminated Qualifying Episode 4 MIT Engineers Tomas Cabrera Charlie Andrews Amelia Becker Ohio State Buckeyes CJ Raterman Clay Raterman Brynn Schlemitz Eliminated Qualifying Episode 4 Oklahoma Sooners Taylor Neitsch Reese Tomberlin Candace Caldwell Eliminated Qualifying Episode 2 USC Trojans Antonio Ayala Julian Olea Noelle Crowley Eliminated in Relay Showdown Week 3 Stanford Cardinal Nam Cuong Will Roderick Roshena MacPherson Eliminated Qualifying Episode 3 Texas A&M Aggies Will Smithee Collin Hummel Kaiti Haymaker Eliminated in Relay Showdown Week 2 TCU Horned Frogs Nolan Smith Alexander Parris Emma Beserra Eliminated Qualifying Episode 1 Wisconsin Badgers Zack Kemmerer Andrew Philibeck Taylor Amann
Season 2 (2017)
The second season of Team American Ninja Warrior premiered on USA Network on April 18, 2017, with the season finale airing June 27, 2017. There were 28 teams; unlike season 1, in which only one team was captained by a woman, season 2 featured 3 teams captained by women. The season ended with Storm Team, led by Joe Moravsky, being crowned as the new champions, with Travis Rosen's Team TNT finishing runner-up for the second year in a row.