The Wedge

The Wedge is an obstacle, firstly introduced as the eighth obstacle in Los Angeles finals on American Ninja Warrior 8. It is known for being one of the toughest city finals obstacle in American Ninja Warrior history.

Competitors must hop a bar across a wedge-shaped gap, somewhat similar to the Flying Bar, then make the dismount the same distance as the gap. However, the dismount is made harder, by the fact the bar would roll as they swung, because it had a lacrosse ball on both ends of the bar.

The obstacle was proven to be incredibly difficult, as many competitors fell either from tiring out, keeping the bar even, or attempting to make the dismount. Several top competitors (e.g.  Flip Rodriguez, Kevin Bull, Ben Melick, Nicholas Coolridge, Grant McCartney, Nick Hanson, Jackson Meyer, Adam Rayl, Chris Workman, Liam Buell, and Justin Hillsten) fell on the obstacle.

Only two competitors, Jessie Graff and Josh Levin, were able to get past the obstacle entirely.

American Ninja Warrior 9
The Wedge returned on American Ninja Warrior 9, once again as the eighth obstacle during Denver finals.

Similar to what happened during Los Angeles finals on the previous season, The Wedge once again became a ninja killer obstacle, as among the 16 competitors who attempted the obstacle, only 3 of them could complete it (Ian Dory, Lorin Ball, and Jesse Lucero).

During Denver finals, The Wedge had taken out a total of 13 competitors, including Brian Arnold, Karson Voiles, Michael Silenzi, Meagan Martin, Yancey Quezada, Dan Yager, Bart Copeland, Drew Knapp, Ben Antoine, Nick Kostreski, Ryan Souter, Craig Richard, and Luke Chambers. Most notably, it took out Brian Arnold, who fell on its doubled variant (the Double Wedge) twice before (during American Ninja Warrior 8's Stage Two and USA vs. The World 3).

Double Wedge
The Wedge returned in Stage Two on American Ninja Warrior 8, as the Double Wedge, replacing the Roulette Row from the previous season.

This iteration of The Wedge was 22 feet across and it worked similarly to its single-wall set counterpart, but competitors had to make a laché transition to the second set of walls at the end of the first set.

Of the six competitors who attempted this obstacle, four of them failed to complete it: Chris Wilczewski, Brian Arnold, Jake Murray, and Josh Levin. Only Drew Drechsel and Daniel Gil were able to complete this obstacle and later finished Stage Two.

During USA vs. The World 3, 3 competitors could complete the obstacle (Sean McColl, Stefano Ghisolfi, and Jessie Graff), while two members of Team USA failed to complete the obstacle: Brian Arnold (who fell out at the obstacle for the second time) and Daniel Gil.

This obstacle was replaced in favor of the Wingnut Alley on the next season.

Competitors' Success Rate

 * All results based on the NBC broadcast and external information found

Trivia

 * The Wedge was the fourth hardest known city finals obstacle in American Ninja Warrior history, taking out 16 of the 18 competitors who attempted it in American Ninja Warrior 8's Los Angeles finals, giving it a 88.89% knockout rate. To date, this is beaten by the Nail Clipper during Cleveland finals on American Ninja Warrior 9's Cleveland finals (taking out 20 of the 22 competitors who attempted it, giving a 90.91% knockout rate), the Unstable Bridge during American Ninja Warrior 3's semifinal (which took out 13 out of 14 competitors who attempted it, giving a 92.86% knockout rate) and the Angry Birds in American Ninja Warrior 11's Baltimore finals (in which zero competitors completed it, giving a 100% knockout rate).
 * However, The Wedge in American Ninja Warrior 8 has the third lowest nonzero completion rate, behind the Nail Clipper during ANW 9's Cleveland Finals and the Unstable Bridge in ANW 3's semifinal, having a 10% completion rate,
 * The first two competitors to get past The Wedge from their respective city finals (Jessie Graff during Los Angeles finals and Lorin Ball during Denver finals), both finished in second place among the other competitors. Coincidentally, this was the highest both of them have personally ranked in a city finals course to date.
 * During Denver finals, all 16 competitors who attempted this obstacle advanced to Las Vegas national finals (with Meagan Martin, who finished in 16th place, advanced through the top 2 among the female competitors).
 * The obstacle originally was going to have separate walls to make it feel more inspired by the Flying Bar. However, no tester could succeed in getting past that version, so it was scrapped.
 * The Wedge is named after a surfing spot of the same name in Newport Beach, California.
 * This obstacle is very similar to the Pipe Slider, with a dismount at the end of the obstacle to the landing platform. However, due to a larger gap to the landing platform, the dismount from The Wedge is far more difficult than from the Pipe Slider.
 * For the second straight season, the fifth obstacle of Stage Two is a modified obstacle from the city qualifiers/city finals course, as:
 * the Spin Cycle is modified to Roulette Row on American Ninja Warrior 7, and
 * the Wedge is modified to Double Wedge on American Ninja Warrior 8.
 * Jessie Graff is the first (and so far, the only) competitor to beat two versions of The Wedge (the original version during American Ninja Warrior 8's Los Angeles finals and the Double Wedge during USA vs. The World 3).