American Ninja Warrior: All Stars Special

American Ninja Warrior: All-Stars is the second postseason tournament of American Ninja Warrior 7. It aired on May 29th, 2016 as a two-hour special.

Synopsis:

The All Star Special took place at Mt Midoriyama in Las Vegas, Nevada between the events of Season 7 and Season 8. during the first hour of the all-stars was the Team Competition and during the second hour was the Skills Competition.

Team Competition:

The team competition consisted of two five person teams picked by the hosts of American Ninja Warrior, Matt Iseman and Akbar Gbaja-Biamila. Each team has three veterans, one rookie and one female competitor.

TEAM	COMPETITOR
	VETERANS			ROOKIE	WOMAN
Matt Iseman	Joe Moravsky	Lance Pekus	JJ Woods	Grant McCartney	Jessie Graff
Akbar Gbaja-Biamila	David Rodriguez	Brent Steffensen	Jamie Rahn	Daniel Gil	Meagan Martin

The competition began on the same Second Stage that was used in American Ninja Warrior 7, the obstacles were the same from the original season.

Second Stage Obstacles

1. Rope Jungle
2. Double Salmon Ladder
3. Unstable Bridge
4. Butterfly Wall
5. Roulette Row
6. Wall Lift

There were three head to head matchups/heats on Stage 2 each heat was worth one point.

First Heat

Team	Competitor	Result	Notes
Team Matt	Joe Moravsky	Clear (1:08.52)	Joe was the first to run.
Team Akbar	Brent Steffensen	Failed Double Salmon Ladder	First wall.

By that point Team Matt was leading 1-0

Second Heat

Team	Competitor	Result	Notes
Team Matt	Lance Pekus	Clear
Team Akbar	Jamie Rahn	Failed Roulette Row	First Hoop. Jamie was the first to run.

So now the score was Team Matt: 2 Team Akbar: 0

Third Heat

Team
Team Matt	Grant McCartney	Failed Unstable Bridge	Transition to second board. Grant was the first to run.
Team Akbar	Daniel Gil	Clear

So the score was Team Matt: 2 and Team Akbar: 1

The competition continued on the Third Stage that was used in that same competition.

Third Stage Obstacles

1. Psycho Chainsaw
2. Doorknob Grasper
3. Floating Boards
4. Ultimate Cliffhanger
5. Pole Grasper
6. Hang Climb
7. Area 51
8. Flying Bar

There were two head to head matchups/heats on Stage 3 each heat was also worth one point.

First Heat

Team	Competitor	Result	Note
Team Matt	JJ Woods	Failed Floating Boards	JJ was the first to attempt
Team Akbar	David Rodriguez	Failed Ultimate Cliffhanger	Transition to final ledge.

Since David went farther than JJ, Team Akbar won the heat and now both teams were tied 2-2.

Second Heat

Team	Competitor	Result	Note
Team Matt	Jessie Graff	Failed Ultimate Cliffhanger	She cleared the first three obstacles faster the Meagan.
Team Akbar	Meagan Martin	Failed Ultimate Cliffhanger	Meagan was the first to attempt. She finished the first three obstacles in 3:19.

By now the score was Team Matt: 3 and Team Akbar: 2

As the competition was now moving on to Stage 4 where there was going to be a side by side climb off on the 75 ft tower for the first time ever. This heat on stage 4 was worth 3 points.

Final Stage Obstacle

1. Rope Climb (75 ft)

Final Heat

Team	Competitor	Result	Note
Team Matt	Lance Pekus	Clear
Team Akbar	David Rodriguez	Clear (30.23)	David finished first.

The Final Score was Team Akbar: 5 points and Team Matt: 3 Points making Team Akbar the winners in the competition.

Skills Competition:

The Skills Competition was when some of the most iconic obstacles were supersized to the max.

Giant Peg Board

The First part of the skills competition consisted of a Giant Peg Board where each of the four athletes chosen to take on this obstacle, would have one minute to clear as many sections on the peg board as possible while moving clockwise around it. The Giant Peg Board was shaped like a giant clock that was divided into 12 sections.

Results

Competitor	Segments Cleared
Ben Melick	12
Jessie Graff	10
David Campbell	13
Brian Arnold	15

Therefore Brian Arnold won the Giant Peg Board competition and he won a medal as a reward.

Supersonic Shelf Grab

The Second part of the skills competition consisted of the Supersonic Shelf Grab where each of the four athletes chosen to take on this obstacle, would jump off a mini-tramp catch themselves on a small shelf that has just a two-inch ledge and then lache a certain distance and catch themselves on a second shelf that also has a two-inch ledge with just their fingertips. Each of them had one attempt they would get eliminated if they came up short. The competition began with the distance between the two shelves at 9 ½ feet compared to the actual Flying Shelf Grab's distance which is 8 ft and it will increase each time two or more competitors finish the jump.

Competitors

1. Meagan Martin
2. Kevin Bull
3. Drew Drechsel
4. Isaac Caldiero

Results

9 ½ ft Gap

Competitor	Result
Meagan Martin	Clear
Kevin Bull	Clear
Drew Drechsel	Clear
Isaac Caldiero	Clear

10 ½ ft Gap

Competitor	Result
Meagan Martin	Failed
Kevin Bull	Clear
Drew Drechsel	Clear
Isaac Caldiero	Clear

12 ft. Gap

Competitor	Result
Kevin Bull	Failed
Drew Drechsel	Clear
Isaac Caldiero	Clear

13 ft. Gap

Competitor	Result
Drew Drechsel	Clear
Isaac Caldiero	Clear

14 ft. Gap (Maximum Distance)

Competitor	Result
Drew Drechsel	Clear
Isaac Caldiero	Clear

With that they reached the max, for safety reasons the gap couldn’t be any greater than 14 feet. Since they both cleared the maximum distance, they both were deemed co-champions and both earned medals.

Super Salmon Ladder

The third part of the skills competition consisted of the Super Salmon Ladder where each of the four athletes chosen to take on this obstacle, would use their upper body strength to hoist themselves up the rungs. There were 35 rungs in all equaling the obstacle to be 4 stories tall.

Competitors

1. Dustin McKinney
2. Kacy Catanzaro
3. Lance Pekus
4. Michael Bernardo

Results

Competitor	Result
Dustin McKinney	22 rungs
Kacy Catanzaro	11 rungs
Lance Pekus	28 rungs
Michael Bernardo	35 rungs

With Michael Bernardo cleared all 35 rungs, he won the Super Salmon Ladder competition and he won a medal as a reward.

Giant Jump Hang

The fourth part of the skills competition consisted of the Giant Jump Hang where each of the four athletes chosen to take on this obstacle, would jump off a mini tramp and leap from a great distance and grab the hanging cargo net. The competition began with the mini-tramp 16 feet away from the cargo net and its distance will increase each time two or more competitors clear it. This event was digested.

Competitors

1. Abel Gonzalez
2. Brent Steffensen
3. JJ Woods
4. Nicholas Coolridge

Results

16 ft. Gap

Competitor	Result
Abel Gonzalez	Clear
Brent Steffensen	Clear
JJ Woods	Clear
Nicholas Coolridge	Clear

17 ft. Gap

Competitor	Result
Abel Gonzalez	Failed
Brent Steffensen	Failed
JJ Woods	Clear
Nicholas Coolridge	Clear

17 ½ ft. Gap

Competitor	Result
JJ Woods	Failed
Nicholas Coolridge	Failed

When both JJ and Nicholas came up short therefore both of them were declared co-champions and were each given a medal.

Mega Wall

The fifth and final part of the skills competition consisted of the Mega Wall which was the Warped Wall taken to a whole new level. Each of the four athletes chosen to take on this obstacle, would sprint down the runway and scale the wall with one attempt each person, if they came up short they would be eliminated. Whomever scales the wall would move on to the next round. The Mega Wall started out at 16 feet tall and will increase its height if two or more competitors advance.

Competitors

1. Alan Connealy
2. Jamie Rahn
3. Joe Moravsky
4. David Rodriguez

Results

16 ft. Warped Wall

Competitor	Result
Alan Connealy	Clear
Jamie Rahn	Clear
Joe Moravsky	Clear
David Rodriguez	Clear

18 ft. Warped Wall

Competitor	Result
Alan Connealy	Failed
Jamie Rahn	Clear
Joe Moravsky	Clear
David Rodriguez	Clear

18 ½ ft. Warped Wall

Competitor	Result
Jamie Rahn	Clear
Joe Moravsky	Clear
David Rodriguez	Clear

18'9 ft. Warped Wall

Competitor	Result
Jamie Rahn	Failed
Joe Moravsky	Clear
David Rodriguez	Clear

The sun was already rising at this point of the competition.

19 ft. Warped Wall

Competitor	Result
Joe Moravsky	Failed
David Rodriguez	Clear

David Rodriguez became the champion for this final event, winning another medal.