Awesome / Gladiators (1992)

In General...

• Any time a Gladiator was defeated in their "specialty" event, such as Shadow in Duel, or Cobra, Jet, and Lightning in Hang Tough (all of which happened at least once).
• Whenever a contender scores double digits in any of the "scoring" events (Atlaspheres, Swingshot, Powerball, Hit & Run), especially if they do any of the following in the process...
  • In Swingshot, grabbing a red ball.
  • In Powerball, scoring a goal in the centre basket.

Series 1 (1992)

Semifinal 1

• Kym Dalton's performance, but most notably in Swingshot and Hang Tough. In the former, he became the first contender in the UK version to grab a red ball. In the latter event, he was the first to reach the Gladiator's platform, defeating Cobra. He ultimately had a 45‒4 lead over his opponent, Tony Bayford, before the Eliminator.

Series 2 (1993-94)

Heat 3

• The men's Swingshot, which had the two contenders—Stephen Robinson and Roddy MacCay—score a combined 20 points (Roddy—11, Stephen—9), with both men getting a red on their first swings.

Semifinal 1

• The Eliminator between Deane Hart and Phil Norman. Phil had a 2.5 second head start, but Deano had the fastest Eliminator time of the season up to that point. The resulting race would make Phil into a Gladiators legend.
  • Phil's greatness may have been foreshadowed, no pun intended, in this Duel against Shadow.

Semifinal 2

• Helen Williams coming back to compete on the Suspension Bridge against Scorpio after a bad landing in Hang Tough against Lightning...and she beat the Gladiator!

Battle of the Gladiators

• John Fashanu trading in his microphone for a contender's uniform and ultimately winning the competition. His 45 points are also a record for all special episodes.^note (For the record, the Top 5 after Fash are Steve Redgrave from the Series 5 special at #2 with 44 points, Derek Redmond {then Gladiators timekeeper} from the Series 3 special at #3 with 43 points, the Jockeys team from the Series 6 "Celebrities vs. Jockeys" special at #4 with 42 points, and Gladiator Hunter in the Series 8 "Battle of the Giants" at #5 with 41 points.)

Grand Final

• Jean Klenk winning the ladies' final against Georgina Berger. While anyone winning the Gladiators final is awesome in its own right, Jean's is especially noteworthy for two reasons. One, she was the oldest contender to win the final, at 36 years of age (compared to her opponent, who was only 19). And two, she was originally a standby who came on in Heat 5 after Lisa Thompson was injured in Powerball.

Series 3 (1994-95), incl. International Gladiators 1

Heat 6

• Katie Budd and Melissa Spackman opening up the heat by scoring a combined 23 points (Katie—11, Melissa—12) against the Glads in Powerball.
• While Ian Simpson ultimately lost to Paul Beswick, he still did what no other contender had done before that show...defeat Shadow in the Duel.

Quarterfinal 3

• Kerryn Sampey and Melissa Spackman, after being shut out in Atlaspheres, completely embarrass the Gladiators in Powerball, scoring a combined 24 points (Kerryn—13, Melissa—11). Kerryn, incidentally, broke the record for most points in a single Women's Powerball, which had been shared by four contenders (Pauline Oliver in the first heat of Series 2, Rachel Culwick in Heat 2, Melissa Spackman in Heat 6, and Lisa Gibbs in Heat 8, each scored 12 points) before this event.

Grand Final

• Eunice Huthart and Kerryn Sampey's nailbiting Eliminator. Eunice starts out with a decent lead which she maintains right up until the Travelator where she slips twice, allowing Kerryn to catch up to her. Kerryn also stumbles on her first attempt. Both women try again and Eunice manages to pull herself ahead by her fingertips to secure a win. There's a reason it's considered one of the best finales in the entire series.

International Gladiators Heat 2

• Phil Norman's (GBR) performance during the entire heat, such as...
  • Scoring a perfect 10 on four events—Gauntlet (which he had never done before), Pursuit (which didn't even exist when he originally competed), Pyramid (reaching the top in less than 10 seconds), and Duel—plus an extra six points in Powerball.
  • He also managed to finish the Eliminator course despite slipping off the zipline and falling nearly thirty feet.
  • Oh, and he proposed to his girlfriend after he won. She said "yes".

International Gladiators Heat 3

• Kyler Storm's (USA) high-scoring Swingshot, getting three reds in one swing, and four blues in another. For those unaware, in Swingshot, yellow balls are worth 1 point, blue balls are worth 2, and red balls worth 3. In addition, Kyler also scored 10 in Skytrak, 7 in Powerball, plus 10 in Hit & Run for a total of 44 points. He almost got another five in Joust, but fell off the skybike at the last second.

International Gladiators Heat 4

• Adrienne Sullivan (USA) racking up 45 points to her opponent Riika Hartikainen's (FIN) eight points, including 10 points in Powerball, 10 in Pursuit, 10 in Pyramid, a hard-fought draw in Hang Tough against Jet, and she became the first contender to defeat Nightshade in the Duel (albeit by disqualification c/o an Adamle Jinx^Explanation (An "Adamle Jinx" is when presenter Mike Adamle praises a contender or Gladiator on commentary, only for them to lose immediately afterwards.)).

International Gladiators Grand Final

• Wesley "Two Scoops" Berry (USA) getting by Sabre (USA), Trojan (GBR), Terminator (FIN), Hawk (USA), and Saracen (GBR) in the Gauntlet in 9.8 seconds.
• Incidentally, both Two Scoops and his opponent, Paul Field (GBR), scored a combined 89 points in five events—43 for Paul and 46 for Wesley. For Paul Field, 14 of those points came after he sustained a rib injury in Powerball.
  • Speaking of Powerball, Two Scoops scored 16 points, which included FOUR goals in the centre basket, setting a single game Powerball record.

Series 4 (1995-96), incl. The Ashes 1, Battle of the Champions, and International Gladiators 2

Heat 2

• Despite ultimately losing to eventual grand champion Janet Allen, Diane Thomas does have the distinction of being the first female contender in UK Gladiators to make it to the Gladiator's platform in Hang Tough, which she did against Falcon. Janet, incidentally, overcame an 8.5 second head start deficit in the Eliminator to win the heat.

Heat 6

• In the final regular event of the show, Swingshot, Lawrence Jean-Baptiste scored an incredible 13 points, with 10 of them coming on a single swing (2 reds and 2 blues).

Ashes Heat 1

• While she ultimately lost to Britain's Kerryn Sampey, Australia's Kerry Warman does have the pleasure of being the first contender to defeat Lightning in Hang Tough. She also managed to outrun Jet on the Wall.

Battle of the Champions

• Wesley "Two Scoops" Berry (International Champion) overcoming a five-second head start deficit to win the Battle of the Champions, setting an Eliminator record in the process. He also handed Hunter his first and only loss in the Duel^note (Just to make it even more awesome for Two Scoops, it was a must-win situation for him, as he would have been eliminated from the competition had he lost.).
• One of Two Scoops' opponents, Shane Saltmarsh (Australian Series 2 Champion) tied a record for Hit & Run, scoring 14 points in the event. Eunice Huthart and Bernie Withers (Ladies International Champion and Australian Series 1 Champion, respectively) also did well in Hit & Run, scoring 12 points apiece.

International Gladiators Semifinal 1

• Peggy Odita's (USA) performance, which included a perfect 10 points in Skytrak, The Wall, Gauntlet, and Duel, plus an astounding 15 points in Swingshot (which was a record at the time), giving her 55 points and an 18.5 second head start over her opponent (initially British champion Janet Allen, who was replaced by quarterfinalist Jackie Kinsella after being injured in the Gauntlet) in the Eliminator. Not even a few Travelator stumbles could stop her from moving on to the grand final.
• In that same semifinal, Australian champion Andrew Halliday accumulated 45 points, including a perfect 10 in Swingshot, The Wall, and Gauntlet (due to a holding foul on German Gladiator Flash which prevented Andrew from completing the event in under 20 seconds), plus an additional 15 points in Swingshot.

International Gladiators Grand Final

• After being shut out in Pole-Axe, all four contenders came back with a vengeance in Powerball. In the women's match, Australian champion (and future Gladiator) Lourene Bevaart scored 15 points, while American champion Peggy Odita scored 23 (breaking Kerryn Sampey's single-game record). As for the boys, American champion Pat Csizmazia scored 14 points, while Australian champion Andrew Halliday scored 18 (which broke Two Scoops' single-game record) despite sustaining a shoulder injury during the event (which would ultimately force him to pull out of the competition after worsening the injury in Hang Tough). Both games, incidentally, were records for their respective genders.
  • Just to show you how dominant the Women's game was—at the point Lourene and Peggy broke the previous Powerball record (24 points), the event was only halfway over.
• Speaking of Peggy, she later became the first and only contender to defeat Jet in Hang Tough. She also defeated Australian Gladiator Flame in the Duel (prior to that Duel, Flame had only lost once before...to Lourene in the Australian Series 2 Grand Final).
• While not part of the competition itself, previous year's International champion Wesley "Two Scoops" Berry does his famous car jump live in the arena during an interview segment.

Series 5 (1996-97), incl. The Ashes 2

Ashes Heat 2

• Mark Everitt, the UK champion from Series 4, dominates his heat, earning 10 points in Skytrak, Gauntlet, and Hang Tough, as well as adding another 5 for a well-earned draw against Condor in Duel, plus an incredible 18 points in Powerball (tying a male Powerball record set by Andrew Halliday the previous year). His 53 overall points are the most for any male contender during the original UK series, and second only to Peggy Odita's 55 points from the previous year. It should also be noted that he was the only British contender to win his heat during the second Ashes series.

Ashes Grand Final

• Australian Series 3 Champion Paul Reynolds becoming the first contender to outright defeat Saracen in Hang Tough (Sara had been disqualified on a couple of occasions beforehand), ultimately culminating in him defeating UK Series 4 Champion Mark Everitt (the lone British contender to win his heat as mentioned above) in the Eliminator to claim the Ashes for Australia.
• In Australia's season 3 Grand Final, Catherine Arlove was injured just before the Eliminator, meaning that rival Marissa Heuttner ran unopposed and won by default. Catherine and Marissa won their Ashes heats and finally got to have their Eliminator face-off in the final, where Marissa upheld her victory.

Series 6 (1997-98), incl. Springbok Challenge

Springbok Challenge Grand Final

• British contenders Mark Mottram (also the Series 5 grand champion) and Brian Whittle (whose daughter, Carla, would go on to compete in the first episode of the 2008 revival) each scoring 44 points against the Springbok Gladiators. Brian scored in every event (10 apiece in Duel, Pendulum, Tightrope, and Hang Tough, as well as 4 in Powerball), while Mark scored the maximum in Pendulum, Tightrope, and Hang Tough, plus an incredible 14 points in Powerball, with 12 of those points coming from the centre basket.

Series 7 (1998)

Quarterfinal 1

• Dave Walter's performance, earning 49 points against his opponent Cassius Frankson (who wasn't that bad himself, as shown below), the second highest score for male contenders in regular competition. He earned 9 points in Atlaspheres, 8 in Swingshot, 12 in Powerball (against Wolf), and a perfect 10 in both Hang Tough (against Cobra) and Gauntlet.
  • His opponent, Cassius Frankson, also earned 10 points in Powerball (against former Aussie Gladiator Vulcan), as well as another 10 in Hang Tough against the Wolfman (all Wolf got was a piece of Cassius' shirt and one of his shoes). Speaking of Hang Tough, co-presenter Jeremy Guscott earns an MOA as well, giving Wolf a rugby tackle after the Gladiator shoved the contender off the platform during the post-event interview.

Series 8 (1999-2000)

• Bringing back John Fashanu and previous champions for the final abbreviated series.
• Gladiator Lightning competing just three weeks after giving birth to son Lexus. True, she was limited to the Wall during this series, but she's still the only female Gladiator to appear during the entire original run.

Heat 2

• Heat 2 for the boys (Series 6 champion Piers Bryant v. Series 5 and Springbok Champion Mark Mottram) opened with Powerball. The combined score? 33 points (16 for Piers, 17 for Mark {which include FIVE balls in the centre basket}). Incidentally, in the girls' Powerball that same show, Series 6 champion Audrey Garland scored 14 points to Andreya Wharry's (Series 5 and Springbok Champion) 2 points.^note (For the record, Audrey's 29 total points scored in this heat was more than all of the points she scored during her entire Series 6 run {8—7—7—2, for a total of 24 points}.)

Battle of the Giants

• The Battle of the Giants, where the male Gladiators faced off against each other in the various events.

Grand Final

• In what also doubles a Heartwarming Moment, men's Supreme Champion Dave Walter offering to share a portion of his prize money with Piers Bryant, whom he replaced in the second heat after Piers was injured in the Gauntlet.

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