American Gladiators: Season Premiere – New Gladiators, New Events
This week was the season premiere of American Gladiators. There were many new things – two new gladiators – Monica (Jet) and Evan (Rocket), the winners from last year, new events, and even the Eliminator got spruced up for the new season.
It was a two-hour event, so there were four competitors. The first two men were Randee (a construction worker) and Jay (a S.W.A.T. officer). Neither did well at Hang Tough, but faired better on the Gauntlet. They went into the Eliminator almost even, but Randall, being younger, pulled away. The new Eliminator requires more swimming and has a tight rope, a spinning barrel, and a teeter-totter. Oh yeah, the Travelator is longer too. Randee won in 2:06.
The first women were Melissa (a martial arts instructor) and Elena (a firefighter). Neither girl could beat Crush on the Joust, but it was funny when doing the Assault, Elena almost shot the camera guy! At the Eliminator, Elena had a 5 second lead, but both had a lot of trouble with the Travelator. Melissa finally finished at 9:42 (you know that time is not going to hold up!) after many, many attempts.
The second hour guys were Gerry (a teacher) and John (an amputee). I really appreciate that John wanted to do this, but it was almost painful to watch him compete. I know he can do a lot of things with this prosthetic leg and he was inspirational in just finishing, but this competition is so tough on most people. Despite his limitations (he took a nasty fall trying to walk down the barrel), he did finish, but Gerry beat him for the win.
The second hour women were Vanessa (an Air Force major) and Nikki (a bartender). Poor Nikki twisted her ankle on the first event and had to be replaced…by another Nikki. The second Nikki was also a teacher. Vanessa (who got on my nerves with her hyperactivity) proved to be too much though, as she beat Nikki on the Eliminator with a time of 3:24.
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