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Forty men and women have come to Hollywood with one goal: to take on the next generation of American Gladiators for a shot at $100,000. Recaps by Joe Mello, GSNN FACT FILE: Hosts: Hulk Hogan & Laila Ali Gladiators: Gina Carano (Crush), Monica Carlson (Jet), Alex Castro (Militia), Robin Coleman (Hellga), Evan Dollard (Rocket), Beth Horn (Venom), Mike O'Hearn (Titan), Tanoai Reed (Toa), Justice Smith (Justice), Valerie Waugaman (Siren), Jennifer Widerstrom (Phoenix), Don "Hollywood" Yates (Wolf) Referee: Al Kaplon Announcer: Van Earl Wright Creators: Johnny Ferraro & Dan Carr EP: Howard T. Owens, Mark Koops, Johnny C. Ferraro, J. Rupert Thompson Origin: Gladiator Arena, LA Sports Arena, Los Angeles Packager: Reveille, Room 403 Productions, MGM Website: nbc.com/gladiators |
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Preliminaries 1 It’s Season 2 of American Gladiators! More events, more space, more contenders, more Glads, same old pounding. At the end, another $100K and a new car. Get ready, for this is Monday Night Gladiators. We start with the men in the new event of Rocket Ball. Think of it as either Swingshot done backwards or Powerball meets wire fu. The contenders take balls and fling themselves towards the center goal. Here are your contenders.
These two are against the loudmouthed duo of Toa and Wolf. Sixty seconds later and each contender end up with 2 one-point goals. It’s the double deuce after one. First up for the women is ye olde Pyramid. Here’s who we got.
They go against the classic combo of Crush and Venom. Both were undefeated heading into the event, and both are undefeated heading out of the event. The ladies start scoreless. It’s Round 2 time. We start with the men and the new 46-ring Hang Tough, which means Wolf is the Gladiator to beat. He’s able to pull down Randee, but it’s at the 60.3-second mark, which means it’s 5 points to the contender. Jay isn’t so lucky. He lasts only 23 seconds to fall behind 7-2. Game 2 for the ladies is the Joust, and the never-been-beaten Crush. Elena was surprisingly resilient, but the bout was too one-sided and she goes down. Melissa……lasted 7 seconds. It’s still a shutout on the ladies side at the half. Men’s Round 3 is the rough and tough Gauntlet. In the contenders’ path are Titan, Toa, Militia, and Justice. Jay gets through in 16 seconds for the full 10. Randee gets a heapin’ helpin’ of Justice to the face and only comes up with 6, but still keeps a 13-12 advantage. Back to the women for the Assault, now with no load times. Hellga mans the gun here. Melissa manages the Slingshot, Turret Gun, Bazooka (where the arrow was), and Crossbow before getting picked off; that’s four points. Elena fires the Slingshot (poorly), Turret, Bazooka (backwards?!) and Crossbow before time expired. Both girls are on the board and it’s still tied 4-4. We return to the Pyramid for the men’s last event. Justice and Titan man the mountain. The contenders get close—Jay even gets a knee up—but neither one is able to score, which means it’s 13-12 in Randee’s favor heading into the Eliminator. Our last event for the women is the bigger, badder, 50-foot Wall. On the chase is Venom and the new AG-champ-turned-Glad Jet. It’s a long haul, and both Glads get their shots in, but it’s Elena who gets up to the top in 52 seconds for 10 big points. Melissa fell off of her own volition, which means the tie is broken and Elena has a big 14-4 advantage. We end the night with the Eliminator, also bigger and badder. We start with a swim across two columns of fire, then the 30-foot cargo net. Next is the rope swing, tightrope (commando lines from the old old show), and hand bike. Then, a declining spinning log, up the Pyramid and back down the zip line. Finally, it’s a see-saw, that damned Travellator, and the classic rope swing through the paper to finish. We lead with the men and Randee’s half-second advantage. It’s even after swim, but Randee takes the lead at the cargo net. He never looks back and wins in 2:06. Elena’s 5-second lead evaporates on the cargo net, and it’s dead even through the tight rope. Elena starts to pull away again, but falls off the hand bike, making it back even. Melissa starts to pull away and reaches the Travellator at the 3:50 mark. However, it’s slow going for both contenders. After more than 5 and a half minutes, we finally get a breakthrough. Melissa makes it up and survives after 9:42.4 of torture. Thank god for the night cap. Ladies’ first this time with the Pyramid.
It’s more Venom, and newbie Jet. The new Glad may have lost on the Wall, but she had zero problem with Pyramid. Venom had no issues, either, so it’s 0-0 after one. Time for the men’s first event, and we have a surprise.
John’s also a client. He’s playing with a prosthetic leg. However, that’s not really an issue for Hang Tough. Gerry doesn’t last too long against Justice, and John is pretty much a deer in headlights. He loses his momentum and drops fast. No score all around. Round 2 for the women equals the Gauntlet. In the track is Venom, Crush, Jet, and Hellga. Vanessa takes a major licking from Hellga, but is able to break through with 1/5 seconds left for the full 10. On the other side, there’s an injury update. During one of her falls, Nikki’s leg clipped the side of the pad, rolling her ankle. She has to drop out, so we get a new Nikki.
She gets through the Gauntlet 3 seconds faster, so it’s 10-10 at the half. Round 2 for the men is Rocket Ball. On the defense are Titan and Wolf. John still looks a little skittish and only manages 1 point. Gerry was able to get a couple of 2-point baskets for a total of 5 and the lead. Round 3 for the women is NEW NEW NEW! The event is our first untimed event of Vertigo. Pulled straight from the UK is Vertigo, a race across 30-foot poles. It’s 5 points for the contender if they make it half way, 10 for a win. However, they have to go against another new Gladiator. It’s not the video game’s final boss, they just market her that way—it’s Phoenix. Nikki has a fear of heights, Vanessa flies choppers for a living. Both are no match for the new Glad, as it’s no points for either and it’s still tied. Men’s round 3 is Power Ball. Alas, it’s harder to score and points are reduced to 1 for the outer and 2 for the center, and Toa, Titan, and Militia are making sure neither contestant has a leg to stand on. Only one goal is scored in the minute, but it belongs to John. In this pitcher’s duel, Gerry only has a 5-2 lead. The last event for the women is also Power Ball. Jet, Hellga, and Venom are tonight’s obstacles. Nikki breaks the tie 2-1 for a narrow 1-point advantage heading into the final round. On the men’s side, it’s time for the Wall. This round it’s Wolf, and the other champ-turned-Glad Rocket. For fairness, both contenders start at the base of the Wall for this round. However, Rocket is able to fully cut his teeth with his victory over Gerry. Wolf gets John, so it’s 5-2 Gerry after 4. It’s Eliminator time. Nikki’s half-second head start is nothing, but she leads by a length after the cargo net. However, she takes a header off the rope swing and Vanessa takes the lead. Both fall off the hand bike and into the ball pit below. Nikki’s the first one out and takes a wicked hit off the cylinder. It’s still too close down the zip line, and see-saw, but Vanessa uses her momentum going down to go up the Travellator in one go to win in a time of 3:24.5. The men’s race is, alas, anticlimactic. It’s close at the base of the cargo net, but Jon’s leg serves as too big of a handicap. Gerry wins going away with a time of 3:03. John does finish, though, to a roaring ovation from everyone. |
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