Tonight on NBC their obstacle course competition American Ninja Warrior returns with an all-new Monday, June 10, 2023, episode and we have your American Ninja Warrior recap below!
In tonight’s American Ninja Warrior season 16 episode 2 called, “Qualifiers 3 & 4,”as per the NBC synopsis, “The qualifying rounds continue in L.A. with ninjas from across the country taking on the world’s most challenging obstacle course. The competition is bigger than ever with two new qualifying courses and a chance at the Mega Warped Wall.”
Tonight’s episode looks like it is going to be a great season 16, 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 a double episode of the Qualifiers tonight. The contestants have a chance at the Mega Warped Wall if they complete the obstacle course in under a minute and twenty seconds. It earns them an extra twenty grand this season. They also raised the height of the Mega this season. It was now harder to do. Many tried it on night one and two but only one person managed to make it up that wall. Proving how much has changed. There were new obstacles. They brought back the Ring Chaser and that was notoriously difficult. They really did everything they could to trip up the ninjas this season.
The first to run the course was Tommy Rutter. He was a demolition foreman. He’s been married for a few years now and his wife’s health hasn’t always been the best. She struggled with leukemia. Only she still made the trip to support him on the sidelines tonight. As for Tommy, he didn’t go for speed tonight. He tried to take his time. He wasn’t aiming for the Mega Warped Wall. He was just doing his best to survive the course when the newest obstacle took him out. He fell on Heavy Metal. He has to wait till the end of the episode to find out if he makes it into the next round.
Next up was Emily Keener. She was a sixteen year old high school student. She also has a condition that makes her see colors when she hears words or music. Her parents encouraged her to draw what she sees. It brought out an artistic side to her. She got to show her family what she sees even when she’s hearing their names. Emily was lucky with the supportive family she has. They were there to support her on her rookie run tonight. Emily surprised everyone with how far she went. She made it to Heavy Metal.
Emilly got to the Cubes. It was the second to last obstacle. She was so close to hitting a buzzer on her rookie run and then she falls. She will probably end up in the next round, but she really wanted that buzzer. Nathan Greene knows exactly how she feels. Nathan competes with his twin brother, Marquez. His brother hit a buzzer during their rookie season. Nathan on the other hand fell on the second obstacle. They were both track stars. Plus, they were twins. Nathan felt he should have done as well as his brother and so he came back tonight for redemption.
Nathan made it past the Cubes. He went up the Warped Wall. He hit his first buzzer and now he wants more. He wants to hit another buzzer in the next round too. Marquez however fell on the Cubes. The brothers have practically switched places tonight. Speaking of brothers, there was Seth Lambert. He ran next. He wore a shirt tonight to honor his brother, Caleb. Caleb struggles with an extreme version of epilepsy. He can’t do much on his own. He also has to be watch constantly because he stops breathing during his seizures and there’s a chance he might die after a bad one.
Seth has a huge amount of support. His brother was also there. Seth wanted to make everyone proud and he did well. He fell on Heavy Metal only he might still make it into the next round. Next up was Eric Middleton. He was known as the Bug Ninja. He thinks bugs are the future of food. He brings along treats made of bugs for the hosts to taste. He had deep friend tarantula one year. He had crickets cookies another year. He brought along fried South American weevil this year. The hosts took turns with eating it after every obstacle that Eric finished.
They were praying for Eric to fall. Just their luck, his fall didn’t matter. He fell on the Cubes except they still had to eat the last weevils because Eric finally showed them how to eat it. The only one that got out of it was Zuri. She watched as Matt and Akbar became disgusted with their “meal”. Bugs will never be the future of food because everyone won’t be able to deal with the aftertaste. Next up was Maddy Howard. She took time off for the birth of her son and it’s been hard to get back to hitting buzzers. She keeps getting tripped up on the fifth obstacle.
Maddy was back this year to break the curse. She wanted to hit a buzzer as a mom. She would have been the second mom to have done so and unfortunately she didn’t make it that far. She once again fell on the fifth obstacle. She will still be moving onto the next round. The buzzer was more of a personal mission rather than a professional one. Next up was the Dipping Birds. They fell on the Dipping Birds obstacle in Las Vegas last year. It’s how they got the nickname. That obstacle has been haunting them ever since then. Levi Enright was one of the Dipping Birds. He was also an Iowa ninja.
Levi said all the chickens on the farm reminds him of the Dipping Birds obstacle. He now wants justice. He wants to make it back to Stage 2. He raced through the course. He finished with the fastest time of the third night. He also had a chance at the Mega Warped Wall. He was about to get married and an extra twenty grand would be helpful, but he didn’t get it this time. He has to try for another time. Or hopefully win Stage 4. Then there was the Runoffs. It was Sam Lambert vs Tyler Yamauchi.
One was a veteran. The other a rookie. They raced against each other in the Runoffs. Tyler one by a mere second. It was the closest Runoff ever. Now, it was the women’s turn. Rysann Clark vs Violet Capo’o. One was an Air Force recruit. The other was a teen with anxiety. Rysann fell. Violet went on to hit a buzzer in spite of her anxiety. She was a monster on the course. She showed that tonight and she’ll show it again in the next round. The second hour of ANW was just as good as the first hour. First up was Ace Goodson. He arrived in a three piece suit that he quickly tore off.
Ace wanted to show his muscles. He was a real life Hulk. This time he added a comb he had in his hair for luck. He also fell on the balance obstacle. The Spinning Bridge wasn’t for everyone. Next up was Ben Kooper. He was a knife salesman. He calls himself the Sharp Ninja. He sold over a million of knives this year and it paid for college. He was now ready to slice and dice on the obstacle course. He was such a good salesman that his boss showed up to cheer him on tonight. And everyone watched him get cut down by Jawbreakers.
Casey Rothschild was on next. She was an LGBT+ ally. She always highlight their charities. Casey was doing well until she got to Heavy Metal. She fell on that obstacle. Next up was Najee Richardson. He was a nine year veteran. This season was also going to be his last on ANW. Najee was retiring his ninja duties. He wants to pursue acting instead. He may be known as the Phoenix because of the way he flies through the course, but he wants to burn brighter than a phoenix when he finally gets on tv as an actor.
Najee was fast enough to hit a buzzer in under a minute and twenty seconds. Only he slipped on his first run up the Warped Wall. It cost him time and so he missed out on the Mega Warped Wall because of it. Next up was Jacob Arnstein. He waves the Guatemalan flag because he was born there. His first home there was the orphanage. He got adopted at eighteen months. He now lives with his family in the States. Only he still looks out for that orphanage. He visits them. He’s been raising a lot of money and awareness of the orphanage.
He’s raised over ten grand for them. He hopes to raise more by selling his ninja shirts to fans. Jacob ran the course in the shirts he’ll and he had one of his best nights to date. He went on to hit a buzzer. It wasn’t fast enough to get the Mega Warped Wall. It was just long enough to show t-shirt recognition. Next up was the Papal Ninja. His real name was Sean Bryan. He works for the church and was very spiritual. He also had a great following. They had flags made to encourage him. They couldn’t wait for him to hit a buzzer.
Which he did. He got a buzzer. He finished the course in such a short amount of time that he could go after the Mega Warped Wall and he sadly couldn’t reach the new height. Next up Addy Herrman. She recently won the Women Championship. She was rewarded fifty thousand dollars. She wanted to use that money to travel. She wanted to see more of the world. She probably would have wanted the extra grand as well but she fell on Heavy Metal. Then came the Runoffs. Ellie Hart vs JoJo Grubesic. Jojo ended up winning that one.
Ben Kooper vs Guang Cui was the second Runoff. They were about the same height and weight. And Guang went on to win.
THE END!
