American Gladiators

American Gladiators is a test of speed, strength, and wits. Contestants compete against one another for points and better times while encountering human obstacles: The American Gladiators. The show ran from 1989 to 1996 and then was resurrected in 2008 for the USA network.

Each show contained four combatants, two male and two female. Since each season was a tournament, losing one match eliminated you from competition. There was the first round, a quarter-final, a semi-final, and a championship match, also knowns as the Grand Championship. For the first five seasons, there were "half-championships" where a championship match was held halfway through the season and one held at the end of the season. The surviving two winners would battle it out for the ultimate prize. The last two seasons included one championship game where there were no wildcards.

The events of American Gladiators were the actual stars of this reality show. There were a few games that were played in the first season, but the following six were kept through all seven seasons:

• The Eliminator: This multi-part obstacle course had it all:
  • A swinging rope
  • A hand bike
  • A balance beam
  • A reverse treadmill

At the end of the Eliminator the player had a split-second to go through one of two padded walls. Behind one was nothing and behind the other was an American Gladiator waiting to stop him or her.

• Powerball: In a small indoor field, contestants attempted to take balls from a container and put them in glass baskets for points. Three Gladiators stationed on the field were meant to halt contestants by any means. Contestants who fell or were taken down lost the current ball and had to go get another one.
• Joust: Standing on two pedestals was a contestant and an American Gladiator. Each had a jousting stick with a large hard foam end. The rules of this game were simple: the first person to knock the other off wins. The first incarnation of the show had the players fall onto padded mats. The new version has the players diving into water.
• Assault: A player starts at one end, avoiding a Gladiator shooting large darts from a powerful air cannon. The contestant's goal was to shoot a smaller dart from a smaller air gun at the bullseye located underneath podium the American Gladiator stood on. There were five protective stations, each getting closer to the Gladiator. There was only air gun and one dart loaded into each station.
• The Wall: Contestants climbed a rock wall ahead of a Gladiator, who wanted to make contestants fall from the wall.
• Breakthrough and Conquer: This was a two part event where the player had to score a touchdown on a Gladiator. If the player was forced out of bounds, tackled or fumbled the ball, that part was over. The second part then had the contestant going to a wrestling ring to try to get any part of the Gladiator's body out of bounds in 10 seconds.

Some of the more popular American Gladitors were:

• Malibu. Deron McBee was a professional racquetball player
• Lace. Marisa Pare
• Sunny. Cheryl Barldinger
• Nitro. Dan Clark played in the NFL for the Rams
• Zap. Raye Hollitt is an actress and bodybuilder
• Laser. Jim Starr managed to compete in all seven seasons
• Ice. Lori Fetrick
• Turbo. Galen Tomlinson

Many of the other Gladiators competed in only one season or competed in the first couple of seasons and returned later for the last one or two seasons. Some of the Gladitors, like Jade or Tank or Cyclone were replacements for another Gladiator and only appeared on one or two episodes.

The new version of this reality show is a revival. This time around, Hulk Hogan and Laila Ali host the show with a referee (the same referee from Dodgeball) handling scoring and disputes. Some of the original events remained while new games like "Vertigo" and "Snapback" challenged new contestants wishing to be a Grand Champion.

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