Awesome / American Ninja Warrior

• Kacy Catanzaro. She not only became the first woman to conquer the Warped Wall but also the first woman to clear a City Finals Course, despite being 5'1" and 100 lbs.
• Joe Moravsky took the Rumbling Dice obstacle so hard that he actually managed to knock it off its rails. Despite this, he managed to make enough of a jump to complete the obstacle and went on to have the fastest run of the course that day.
  • Crosses over into Funny with the clip. Joe starts yelling at the COURSE, telling the broken die to 'Get out of here.' Also, his cousin Rob's Oh, Crap! face during that part is PRICELESS!
• Jon Stewart (not THAT one) had no less than three moments in the Denver Finals. He finally conquered the Warped Wall. He got stuck on the Arm rings, so he decided to swing his way out from a fair distance away AND succeeded. And he became the first ANW contestant in history over the age of 50 to complete a City Finals course.
• Kevin Bull, a rookie in the 2014 season, became the first person to defeat the obstacle Cannonball Alley in the Venice Finals. It's not entirely impressive in and of itself, but the WAY he did it had spectators going through the roof. He wrapped his legs around the final cannonball and swung UPSIDE DOWN for several swings before releasing his hold and nearly face-planting on the mat. For reference, there were five people left by the time he ran, and only four people made it past that obstacle, counting Kevin. Also, only Kevin and one other person were able to complete the course.
• After having a drought of victories on Stage 3, the 2014 USA vs. The World special saw a record of four people completing Stage 3. Of the four people, Brian Arnold is one of them, avenging his Stage 3 loss from 2013 (on both ANW season 5 and the USA vs. Japan special).
  • It's worth noting that, despite their rather surprisingly poor performance in international competitions, two of the four men to complete Stage 3 were on Team Japan.
  • In the following 2015 competition, Stage 3 was beaten every single time during the Heat 3 between Yusuke Morimoto (Team Japan), Sean McColl (Team Europe), and Isaac Caldiero (Team USA) - with Caldiero being the fastest finisher.
• Flip Rodriguez earns MAJOR redemption in his Orlando 2015 qualifying run. Instead of attacking the course and trying to get a ridiculously fast time, he easily clears the qualifying course as though he's taking a casual stroll through it and still puts up the 3rd fastest time. No grandstanding through the entire run, he didn't even celebrate his finish opting instead to save that for when he hit ALL SIX buzzers. Mount Midoriyama is probably quaking in fear right now because Flip has reinvented himself and he is LETHAL. And it was only made clearer by him taking off the mask.
  • It really seems to have paid off too, as in a great run he almost beats the mountain...but right as he manages to get his foot on the floor of the final platform containing the Mount's level-end button, the Invisible Ladder manages to claim him as his hands give out before he can get a good foothold, sending him into the cushion below.
• It's finally happened. After 7 seasons and thousands of people, not only did someone complete Stage 3 in the official competition...Mt. Midoryama was finally conquered on American soil. The kicker? It was done by TWO PEOPLE! Geoff Britten became the first man to beat Mt. Midoryama (and is also the first competitor to have a perfect season, hitting all the buzzers in all the courses), and Issac Caldiero completely destroyed both Stages 3 and 4 to not only become the second American Ninja Warrior but (because he finished 3 seconds faster than Britten) win the $1 million. Fellow ninjas were weeping in the crowd. In the words of Matt Iseman: "HISTORY HAS BEEN MADE!"
• In American Ninja Warrior USA vs. The World 2016, Drew Dreschel has 2 of these. First, he slips on Sonic Curve, but catches himself and is able to make it to the end where he gets the fastest time on Stage 1. Second is where he clears the entire Double Salmon Ladder in only 3 hops.
• Josh Levin and Jessie Graff both deserve major credit for completing The Wedge in Season 8, an absolutely devastating new addition to the course. Especially amazing that Levin was a rookie. Graff's success put her in second place, the highest rank a woman achieved at the end of a City Finals course.
• Crossing over with Funny Moment. Jake Murray is as known for his trollish antics on the course as he is for being a speed demon. He posts the fastest finish of the night for a Stage 1 Finals course while wearing a fanny pack. He hits the buzzer, takes out a pair of swim goggles and a corndog from the pack puts on the goggles, takes a bite of the corndog, and cannonballs into the water below.
• If Kacy set the bar for women by being the first woman to clear a Regional Stage, Jessie Graff raised it ten-fold by being the first woman to clear the Stage 1 Course at the NATIONAL FINALS and thus being the first woman to attempt Stage 2, and she was pretty damn impressive there falling prey to the Wave Runner, but not before conquering the new Down-Up Salmon Ladder. Just a reminder, Stage 1 of Season 8 was made to be much more DIFFICULT this year.
  • Jessie Graff raised it again in the following "USA vs. The World" special. After a bad fumble in Stage 1, the USA team captain made the decision to give her a shot at Stage 2. Team Europe had taken the lead by winning the two heats before hers, but her European and South American competitors both fumbled early on, so she only needed to complete the first obstacle. Not only did she easily do that, though, but after clinching her heat and tying the score with Team Europe, she went on to complete the rest of the stage (which had already taken down some very tough competitors) making herself the first woman to complete a Stage 2 course!
• David Campbell getting some very well-deserved revenge on Stage 1 after 4 years of failure, and not even making it to Stage 1 the previous year.
• Akbar Gbajabiamila himself gets on the course during Celebrity Ninja Warrior 2019 charity event, and he manages to pass it with flying colors. Despite skipping one obstacle (and letting his coach Kevin Bull do it), Akbar manages to hit the buzzer personally at the top of the Warped Wall.
• In Season 11, a new mechanic was added to the qualifiers. The two competitors getting the fastest time are given the opportunity to race each other on the new Power Tower for a guaranteed spot in the Vegas lineup. This is in addition to the optional Mega Wall at the end of the qualifying run, which gives a cash prize of up to $10,000 for anyone who completes it. In the Atlanta City qualifiers, Drew Dreschel not only tackled the Mega Wall on his first try, getting the full prize, but he blazed through the course quickly enough to get the second fastest time, then defeated his opponent on the Power Tower by a significant margin!
  • Later, in city finals, Dreschel went for the Trifecta: Beating the Mega Wall, and the Power Tower twice. After completing the Finals course in record time, he flew through the Power Tower again, and received a Safety Pass for Stage 1 or 2 on Mount Midoriyama.
  • Season 11 ended on one hell of a high note with Drew Dreschel, a.k.a. The "Real Life Ninja," becoming the next American Ninja Warrior & $1,000,000 prize winner. Also, he wasn't the only one to complete Stage 3 by himself as Daniel Gil finished it and Gil got to climb Mt. Midoriyama after Dreschel, although he couldn't reach the top in time. One amazing fact is that Dreschel & Gil were 2 among a record-setting 28 contestants to compete in Stage 3 (considering that only a couple of men went to Stage 3 the previous season & went only as far as that).
• After 5 seasons, we finally have another woman finish a City Finals Course. But not just one woman. Both Michelle Warnky AND Jesse 'Flex' Labreck were able to hit the buzzer in the Cincinnati City Finals!
• A massively-changed Season 12 crowned Daniel Gil as the winner of the season’s $100,000 prize. After being so close to summiting Mt. Midoriyama a year earlier, The Kingdom Ninja went all out by beating all 3 courses, advancing to the Power Tower Playoffs, and defeating every other competitor who went against him.
• With a change in the age requirement, the Invasion of the Teenagers in Season 13 showed a slew of potential future stars of the Ninja world - but special mention has to go to Vance Walker and Kaden Lebsack, both under 17 years old, and both making it to Stage 3, with Lebsack, in particular, becoming the youngest competitor ever to clear it and attempt Stage 4, at just 15 years old.
• A record amount of 5 people got the chance to climb Mount Midoriyama in Season 14. Although none of them managed to climb the tower in time to get the $1,000,000, Kaden Lebsack gloriously repeated his previous success by becoming the Last Man Standing again.
• Flip Rodriguez FINALLY CONQUERED STAGE 2, AFTER SO MUCH HEARTBREAK AND FAILURE from the past 12 years.
• VANCE WALKER MAKES AN INCREDIBLE RUN AND BECOMES THE NEWEST GRAND CHAMPION AND MILLION-DOLLAR WINNER OF AMERICAN NINJA WARRIOR. Also, A NEW RECORD of 8 people cleared Stage 3.

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