ANW14 | Qualifiers [Ep 2] - June 13th

[Ninja Warrior Ryan]

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[Ninja Warrior Ryan]

Preview
www.instagram.com/tv/CeolAwcBInG/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

[DeAndre]

Idk if I'm even bothering to watch the qualifiers any more lol. I go through the SasukePedia post with 1st place as a fast forward and I'm like yeah nah they're probably showing some third-rate ninjas with terrible backstories. I feel like I have not really felt this strongly towards the backstories until this season when they started just decimating the high-tier old guard and the highly skilled young rookies that don't have stories with fast forwards and all-cuts.

Reusing the obstacles is kinda getting on my nerves too though from a logistical perspective I understand for the ATS crew it's not easy, though part of what kept the qualis fresh is seeing something new. Somehow Carnival, despite being a very cool obstacle idea, has already gotten stale because people just keep spamming 3 and calling it a day with the nunchuck, not even finding it remotely to be an issue.

Serpent also for some reason just... doesn't really work. Like I swear I don't know why this obstacle has like a 75% failure rate (and I also don't know why people choose this right off the bat compared to Domino Effect). It seems almost borderline impossible to not miss the final or second-to-last move on the damn thing. From the side it looks cool, but from the top it looks quite awkward as well

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}
Plus, Jessie's out and that was a huge part of this season for me. Bloody sad that she fell so early though I had a feeling when all she was shown to do in the promo was like Overpass (being the second obstacle). Quite a** honestly I was pushing for her to get back to Vegas again though Idk if she has that in her still.. hoping for the best

[anime boy]

Jun 14, 2022 9:55:08 GMT -5 DeAndre said:

Idk if I'm even bothering to watch the qualifiers any more lol. 

I don't think you'll have to worry about watching ANW because I'm 80% sure it's not going to be on television in a year from now. Or at least not on NBC. It's doing record low ratings every episode, bleeding in the demo, and not making any money. They can't sell tickets when they're priced at $0 and are renting out arenas that can hold 15,000 people just to have 300 there. They're paying people to just watch and cheer. They're spending money on building the course and payouts for ninjas. Last week was the lowest ANW Debut in a decade. They've lost half their audience in under five years. The teenagers are scaring viewers away. Their YouTube channel is totally dead. Its depressing because I used to care so much about ANW but it's at the rock bottom right now. When NBC drops it, I don't know who will buy it. Most broadcast stations see it as a fad that only lasted 3-4 years. It doesn't turn a profit like other "Sports Entertainment" programs like wrestling through Ticket Sales, Merchandise, and PPVs. At least NNL exists right? Sasuke was in a similar dire position and turned it around through tight budgeting and great outreach. Sadly for ANW they've had since 2017 to fix the falling ratings and done nothing. That's why we're where we are. One last thing that's killing the interest is that the skill ceiling has gotten way too high. The original appeal was normal people doing supernatural things. You need jobbers so the ones who aren't shine even more. When everyone can do cliffhangers, huge laches, vertical limits, it makes every ninja replaceable. If everyone is a "star" then no one is. 

[sasukewarrior333]

I thought it was fun, but I understand the complaints. Had no idea things were so dire, shame since this is my first season actually watching ANW as it's released.

[Messup434]

Oh wow I didn’t know it was that bad that fast. I’ll be honest, I’m not watching because I don’t agree with their new policy. I wonder if there is a bit of that involved in other peoples’ decision not to watch too. Like I NEVER would’ve imagined not watching ANW to the bitter end as I always watched every episode live, but now I can’t be bothered.

It’s also true the show itself has declined, and I always thought the new “twists” (teenagers and such) could end up being the show’s downfall.

[ninja1985]

Didn;t they do a editing error, where there 31 people who qualified?

[tyler]

I think I'm more forgiving than most are. I don't mind reusing some obstacles. I don't mind the teens. I do get that sometimes stories matter and will get more attention at the expense of some veterans and rookies. I don't mind the womans rule but at this level I'm questioning the point anymore.

What I can't get behind is not showing the fastest run in its entirety. Looking back at the data it looks like they did that with episode 3 last season also. Somehow this bothers me more. Joe looked like he was crushing it. The fact people were faster, would have been impressive to watch.

[gamer2k4]

Jun 14, 2022 9:55:08 GMT -5 DeAndre said:

Idk if I'm even bothering to watch the qualifiers any more lol. I go through the SasukePedia post with 1st place as a fast forward and I'm like yeah nah they're probably showing some third-rate ninjas with terrible backstories. I feel like I have not really felt this strongly towards the backstories until this season when they started just decimating the high-tier old guard and the highly skilled young rookies that don't have stories with fast forwards and all-cuts.

Another thing is that no one is really a standout anymore. When the thing that separates you from your competitors is your particular sob story or esoteric interest, the show's not really about the obstacles anymore. I get that personalities are what draw casual viewers in, but long-time viewers of the show appreciate runners because of how well they run the course, not what their job is or what sort of cancer their pet has. The excitement and interest comes from the competition, not the gimmicks.

[sasukewarrior333]

Jun 14, 2022 15:17:34 GMT -5 tyler said:

I think I'm more forgiving than most are. I don't mind reusing some obstacles. I don't mind the teens. I do get that sometimes stories matter and will get more attention at the expense of some veterans and rookies. I don't mind the womans rule but at this level I'm questioning the point anymore.

What I can't get behind is not showing the fastest run in its entirety. Looking back at the data it looks like they did that with episode 3 last season also. Somehow this bothers me more. Joe looked like he was crushing it. The fact people were faster, would have been impressive to watch.

Pretty much where I'm at. I don't mind obstacles being re-used as long as they're effective and having the teens allows for a new fresh generation of competitors and the women's leaderboard is fine but honestly seeming unecessary given out of two episodes we've had this season so far only one woman has actually benefitted from it. Even the competitor profiles I can get behind as I like knowing more about the people I watch so it isn't "Qualifier fodder #21543543"

That said, the editing of the first two qualifiers so far are questionable at best. The episodes have been a blast to watch for me but what is it with notable runs being digested for seemingly no reason? Just not a fan of that.

[thebobmaster]

Sorry for the delay on these this week. Got pretty distracted yesterday, and completely blanked on watching this until now. And if you are wondering why there are 31 semi-finalists...good question. Somehow, the leaderboard shown at the end of the episode messed up the numbers, so I just did the best I could to correct for it.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Run 1 (Ace Goodson)}Obstacle 3 (Split Decision, Domino Effect)

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{Run 2 (Ryan Hermstein)}Obstacle 5 (Piston Plunge)

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{Montage 1}Mary Leighton: Obstacle 2 (Overpass)

Bryan "Muscle" Mendez: Split Decision, Serpent

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{Run 3 (Robert Moffitt)} Obstacle 4 (Carnival)

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{Run 4 (Lyndsey Littlefield)}Overpass

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{Montage 2}Josh Giles: Overpass

Zac Palazzo: Split Decision (Domino Effect)

Sophia Lavallee: Piston Plunge

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{Run 5 (Jacob Arnstein)}Cleared, 2:27.27

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{Montage 3}Quinn Nguyen: Split Decision (Domino Effect)

Wes Meador: Split Decision (Serpent)

Jenny Remack: Obstacle 1 (Shrinking Steps)

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{Run 6 (Stewart Mahler)}Piston Plunge

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{Run 7 (Sandy Zimmerman)}Carnival

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{Montage 4}Nick Roalef: Overpass

McKinley Pierce: Split Decision (Domino Effect)

Darion Bennett: Piston Plunge

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{Run 8 (Abraham Nova)}Shrinking Steps

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{Run 9 (Steve Donnelly)}Piston Plunge

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{Montage 5}Conor Galvin: Split Decision (Serpent)

Lucas Reale: Piston Plunge

Jay Lewis: Cleared, 2:25.98

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{Run 10 (Josiah Pippel)}Cleared Mega Wall, 2:21.88

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{Montage 6}Cara Mack: Piston Plunge

Rachel Degutz: Piston Plunge

Abby Clark: Piston Plunge

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{Run 11 (Jonas Harmer)}Split Decision (Serpent)

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{Run 12 (Jeremy Warters)}Cleared, 3:23.25

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{Montage 7}Anthony Eardley: Piston Plunge

Luke Dillon: Cleared, 2:07.71

Aly Merto: Split Decision (Domino Effect)

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{Run 13 (Najee Richardson)}Cleared, 3:41.18

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{Montage 8}Tyler Behrle: Piston Plunge

Branden McWilliams: Piston Plunge

Ryan Sanders: Cleared, 3:07.69

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{ Run 14 (Jennifer Stefano)}Piston Plunge

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{Montage 9}Josh Squire: Split Decision (Domino Effect)

James Sannella: Cleared, 2:22.01

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{Run 15 (Jessie Graff)}Split Decision (Serpent), WTF?!

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{Montage 10}Matt D'Amico: Cleared, 1:59.84

Matt Bradley: Cleared, 1:44.73

Daniel Novarro: Carnival

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{Run 16 (Joe Moravsky)}Cleared Mega Wall, 2:16.51

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{Semi-finalists}1. Matt Bradley: Cleared, 1:44.73

2. Matt D'Amico: Cleared, 1:59.84

3. Luke Dillon: Cleared, 2:07.71

4. Joe Moravsky: Mega Wall Clear, 2:16.51

5. Josiah Pippel: Mega Wall Clear, 2:21.88

6. James Sannella: Cleared, 2:22.01

7. Jay Lewis: Cleared, 2:25.98

8. Jacob Arnstein: Cleared, 2:27.27

9. Ryan Sanders: Cleared, 3:07.69

10. Jeremy Warters: Cleared, 3:23.25

11. Najee Richardson: Cleared, 3:41.18

12. Xavier Dantzler: Piston Plunge

13. Lucas Reale: Piston Plunge

14. Joe Capo: Piston Plunge

15. Dave Cavanaugh: Piston Plunge

16. Darion Bennett: Piston Plunge

17. Sophia Lavallee: Piston Plunge, 1:30.22

18. James Burns: Piston Plunge

19. Abby Clark: Piston Plunge, 1:34.17

20. Alex Begolly: Piston Plunge

21. Brandon McWilliams: Piston Plunge

22. Stewart Mahler: Piston Plunge

23. Cara Mack: Piston Plunge, 1:54.35

24. Tyler Behrle: Piston Plunge

25. Rachel Degutz: Piston Plunge, 2:05.30

26. John Uga: Piston Plunge

27. Steve Donnelly: Piston Plunge

28. Jennifer Stefano: Piston Plunge, 2:26.58

29. Anthony Eardley: Piston Plunge

30. Guang Chi: Piston Plunge

31. Ryan Hermstein: Piston Plunge

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{Akbar Moment results}Robbie Jimenez: Shrinking Steps

James Burns: Piston Plunge

Dave Kozak: Shrinking Steps