Tonight on NBC their obstacle course competition American Ninja Warrior returns with an all-new Monday, June 3, 2023, episode and we have your American Ninja Warrior recap below!
In tonight’s American Ninja Warrior season 16 episode 1 premiere called, “Qualifiers 1 & 2,”as per the NBC synopsis, “The qualifying rounds begin in L.A. with ninjas from across the country taking on the world’s most challenging obstacle course.
The competition returns bigger than ever with two unique qualifying courses and a chance at the Mega Warped Wall.”
Tonight’s episode looks like it is going to be a great season 15, so be sure to tune in for our coverage of NBC’s American Ninja Warrior at 8 PM – 10 PM ET! While you wait for our American Ninja Warrior recap make sure to check out all our American Ninja Warrior news, spoilers, recaps & more!
Tonight’s American Ninja Warrior recap begins now – Refresh Page often to get the most current updates!
In tonight’s American Ninja Warrior episode, it was Night One of the Qualifiers. There were familiar faces. Matt Iseman, Akbar Gbaja-Biamila, and Zuri Hall were all back for the sixteenth season. Only there was a batch of younger kids out now. The age limit was lowered to fifteen if many of you remember.
They also doubled the prize money on the Mega Wall. The contestants had to compete the course under a short amount of time to qualify for that Mega Wall, but all the ninja were out there wanting to prove something. Take Karen Wiltin. She competed back in 2019. She made it up the Warped Wall. And then she injured herself at a local ninja gym.
She had a bad fall. She injured her neck. She’s been in recovery for that ever since. Tonight was the first night she was back on a ninja course and just being there was a win for her.
She wasn’t even sure if she’d be able to walk again. Much less running another ninja course. Karen still had her fire though. She was the first out on the course. She was the first to try out several new obstacles and she ended up falling on Duck Duck Goose. She might have gone far enough fast enough to qualify for the next round.
Next up Dillion Ruble. He was a ninja rookie. He does on the other hand hold a world record for paper airplanes. He was studying engineer when he fell into the habit. He was now considered the best in the world. Dillion figured if he could make a paper fly then surely he could also fly too.
Dillion frat brothers were out there to cheer him on and he wasn’t so bad for a rookie. He surpassed Reel to Reel like Karen did. He was the first to make it past Duck, Duck, Goose. It was actually Jawbreakers that tripped him up. He has to wait and see how others place tonight.
There were several ninjas over the commercial break. None of them made it to the Warped Walls. There was also one kid that brought along his mother’s spicy salsa and it left Matt and Akbar in tears. Next up was Tim Schnee. He came with his best bud. Bobby Micks.
Both of them were silver-haired grandfathers and self-professed adrenaline junkies. They went to Dubai for extreme sports. One of them even ended up injuring his knee on the way out of the mall with a ski resort inside. They were vets of ANW and they were back to run the course.
Tim was up first. He had a near miss on the first obstacle. He made it to Duck, Duck, Goose when he fell. Not bad for a fifty year old plus man. Next up was Kyle Schulze. He was the Deaf Ninja. He was the first deaf ninja to ever run the course. He’s never finished the course before and so he came back to finally get a win.
He’s been doing the show for eight years. He sometimes wonders why he still does the course. Then he remembers. He remembers all the other deaf kids that weren’t sure about the ninja world until Kyle became a part of it and showed them a way forward.
Kyle now runs his own ninja gym that has several deaf students. They were all watching him with pride tonight. Kyle was known to trip up on the fifth obstacle and it doesn’t help that it was a new one tonight. The infamous Jawbreakers. Kyle took his time with the newest obstacle.
It paid off for him because he went on to be the first to complete it. He was the first to make it to the Warped Wall. He was now the first deaf ninja to ever hit a buzzer tonight. If he keeps the same energy, he might be the first deaf ninja in the other rounds as well.
There were many throughout the rest of the commercial breaks, but none made it as far as Kyle. Isiah Thomas was first one up when they came back from the break. Isiah didn’t hesitate at all with attacking the course. He was going for speed. He was known as the Flyboy for a reason. Oh, how he flew tonight.
He did the course in under one minute and twenty seconds. He had a chance at the Mega Warped Wall. He naturally took the opportunity because the one thing he never lacked was confidence. He made it to the ledge when he just couldn’t hold on. And he missed out on the twenty grand.
Next up was Jonah Harmer. He was the tallest ninja on the course tonight. He ran the Couples Championship with his wife last year and they usually compete together.
Makayla couldn’t compete this year because she was pregnant with their first child. She had to stick to cheering Jonah on from the sidelines tonight. She watched as Jonas made it all the way to Duck, Duck, Goose when he fell. They were just glad it wasn’t the balance obstacle like last time. He was a tall guy and the balance obstacles were really the worst for the tall guys.
Isabella Wakeham was up next. She recently won the Couples Championship last week with her boyfriend. Her boyfriend ran during the commercial break and he fell on a obstacle he designed. Isabella learned from his mistakes. She easily defeated Duck, Duck, Goose.
She also broke a personal curse. She was known for falling on the fifth obstacle and she didn’t do that this time. She was able to defeat it. She was the third person to hit a buzzer tonight. And it was her first ever buzzer since she started training for this at age nine.
Daniel Gill went next. He keeps missing out on a million dollars. His time was beaten last time by Vance Walker. Therefore, Daniel really wanted that giant prize this season. He kicked off the night full of fire. He raced through course. He never lost his signature smile the whole time.
He’s an elite ninja for a reason. Daniel completed the course with time to spare. He was given the opportunity to go after the Mega Warped Wall and he missed it by a few inches. He still completed the course with one of the fastest times out there. And speed comes in handy.
The bottom two ninjas were given another chance at making it into the next round. They had to do the Runoffs. It was a race against each other. Jonas Harmer vs Caiden Mazledan.
It had a surprise fall when Caiden fell on the first obstacle. The win was automatically given to Jonas. Jonas will be making it to the next round. The women also had their Runoffs. Liv Hackman vs. Ixchel Valentino. One was a professional basketball player. The other was an engineer major at college. And it went to Ixchel when she pulled off an amazing save.
The second hour changed up a few of the obstacles.
Next up was Langdon Dinsdale. He was the first ever to run the course with no shoes. He does everything barefoot. He hasn’t worn shoes in years. He works barefoot, he attends funerals barefoot, and he even goes into stores barefoot. He thinks that gives him an edge because he toughens up the soles of his feet that way.
He unfortunately didn’t make it to the Warped Wall to test his theory only he might have kicked off a trend. Nacssa Garemore went next. He was the youngest ninja to ever make it to Stage 4.
He competes with his brother. They were both strong ninjas. Also, the younger generation just have a fearlessness about them. Nacssa didn’t hesitate at any moment on the obstacle course.
He just went after it and he showed off great style while doing so. He finished the obstacle course in less than a minute and twenty seconds. He got the opportunity to go after the Mega Warped Wall. He tried. He failed. The Mega Warped Wall was raised by a few inches lately and no one has been able to conquer the new height. And his brother didn’t make it that far this season.
Next up was Kyle McCreight. He stole a few hearts last year with his dog. He has a three legged dog named Tre. They were contacted by the Never Say Never Foundation.
They put Kyle and Tre in contact with a lot of kids that were missing a limb. Kyle helped train them for the ninja. Kyle was a great role model. Most people asked after his dog. This included his own family, but they were proud of Kyle because he made it all the way to the Ring the Bells when he fell. After him, it was Owen Dyer next for his third season.
Owen has his own business. He has a new girlfriend. He has his first ever car. Plus, this year his little brother Hayes got to watch from the sidelines. It was Hayes that got Owen interested in the ninja world. Hayes watched as Owen blazed through the course. He watched Owen get his buzzer.
Owen was so happy that he invited Hayes up on the stand to ring the buzzer another time for him. Hayes was so happy. He was a little too young to try out himself and so his brother giving him that meant the world to him.
Then there was Lisa Hair. She was a young mom that battled a rare and crimpling condition. She was battling ALS. She ignored it at first because she thought it would go away.
When it didn’t, that’s when she finally got herself checked out. She learned she has a condition that she has to live with for the rest of her life. It changed her marriage.
It changed her relationship with her toddler daughter because she couldn’t exactly run after a toddler. She still kept fighting on and she eventually tried out for ANW. She ended up falling on Duck, Duck, Goose. Only she still might make it to the next round.
Caleb Bergstrom next. He competes with his family members. His wife, his sister, and his brother-in-law. His father used to compete as well. Caleb had the best season of his life last year.
He made it to Stage 4. He missed out on the million dollar prize and he didn’t want a repeat. He finished the course with his fastest time to date. It was also the fastest of the night. Caleb had the option to go after the Mega Warped Wall and he was the first ever to earn that extra twenty grand when he defeated it. It was shaping up to be another great season for him.
Then the Runoffs was next. Roberto Garemore vs Elijah “the boss” Browning. They competed against each other last year and so this year was their redo. On the women’s side, it was Nikki Zink vs Lisa Hair.
Lisa was the winner of that battle. The winner of the men’s race was Elijah. Roberto had the edge, but then he tripped on the way to the buzzer and that gave Elijah enough time to hit it.
THE END!