Jessie Graff (ジェシー・グラフ) is a stuntwoman and competitor on American Ninja Warrior.
American Ninja Warrior Appearances
American Ninja Warrior 5
Jessie Graff in the Chicken costume she wore in American Ninja Warrior 5
In American Ninja Warrior 5, she managed to make her way through most of the obstacles, but was one of many to fail on the Flying Nunchucks, however her result was good enough for 30th place as she is in the Venice finals, the first time to happen on American Ninja Warrior. In the Venice finals, she became the second woman to reach the Warped Wall only to fail it. She came to the Las Vegas Finals as a wildcard and became one of the 2 women to reach the Jumping Spider but she didn't get a good enough jump and failed.
American Ninja Warrior 7
Jessie attempting the Hourglass Drop in the Venice Qualifying
In American Ninja Warrior 6, Jessie was unable to compete due to a tear in her ACL, MCL, and meniscus. However, Jessie made her triumphant return in American Ninja Warrior 7 and competed in the Venice qualifying course. On the course, Jessie flew past the first four obstacles. On the Hourglass Drop, Jessie was able to transverse through the first board. However, she had a poor jump on the trampoline and failed to get her hands on the other board. But once again, Jessie finished in 28th place and managed to qualify for the Venice finals. By doing so, she becomes the fifth woman to qualify to a city finals.
In the Venice finals, Jessie put on an outstanding performance. She was able to get her revenge on the Hourglass Drop and even topped that by completing the Warped Wall. On the second half of the course, Jessie was able to destroy the Salmon Ladder and the Rumbling Dice and became the first person to reach the brand new obstacle, the Clear Climb. Due to her lack of knowledge on the obstacle, she took the lower route of the obstacle and wasn't able to maneuver through the wall causing her to fail. However, she clinched 6th place in the finals earning her ticket to Vegas. By doing so, Jessie becomes the second woman behind Kacy Catanzaro in American Ninja Warrior history to qualify for the Vegas finals.
Jessie Graff at 2015 Venice Finals - American Ninja Warrior
In the National Finals in Las Vegas, Jessie came in as one of the favorites of the females to complete Stage One. On the course, she completed the first three obstacles with finesse. Then, on the Jumping Spider, Jessie got her revenge from two years prior and completed the obstacle. She then cleared the next obstacle, the Sonic Curve becoming the second woman only behind Meagan Martin to reach the Warped Wall in the Vegas finals. On the Warped Wall, Jessie had trouble building up speed and momentum to scale up the wall. Unfortunately, she ended up timing out. In the post-interview, Jessie stated she hasn't done a lot of speed workouts and that she would love to compete again.
American Ninja Warrior 8
In American Ninja Warrior 8, Jessie competed in the 2016 Los Angeles Qualifying Round at Universal Studios. On the Qualifying Course, she made history as she blazed through all six obstacles and making her not only the first woman this season to complete the qualifying course, but the first woman to complete the newly modified 14.5-foot Warped Wall as she finished the course in 11th place with 4:27.84.
Jessie Graff at the Los Angeles Finals - American Ninja Warrior 2016
Jessie put on a phenomenal performance in the city finals. She was able to transverse through the first seven obstacles with finesse and even became the first competitor to complete the new and drastic The Wedge. Matter of fact, she was only one of two competitors to complete that obstacle. She ultimately failed the 9th obstacle, Double Helix inches to the finish. However, she was second on the leader board behind Josh Levin, and clinched her spot to Vegas for the second consecutive year.
Jessie Graff at the National Finals- Stage 1 - American Ninja Warrior 2016
Jessie Graff at the National Finals- Stage 2 - American Ninja Warrior 2016
Jessie Graff attempting the Giant Ring Swing in stage 2 of the National Finals.
In the National Finals, Jessie put on a historic performance and became the first woman in American Ninja Warrior history to complete the upgraded (14'6") Warped Wall. Not only did she conquer the Wall, but she became the first woman to conquer Stage One of the finals in American Ninja Warrior history. In Stage Two, she took too much time on the Giant Ring Swing and Down Up Salmon Ladder which caused her to be fatigued to attempt the Wave Runner.
Jessie Graff’s Record-Breaking Run - American Ninja Warrior- USA vs. The World
USA Vs. The World 2017
Jessie Graff got to compete in the USA vs. the World competition in 2017 making history as the first woman ever to do so. She shockingly failed Snake Run during her run on Stage One when she lost her balance (despite beating it in the regular season). However, The Team Captain, Drew Drechsel gave up his spot on Stage Two to Jessie, During her run on Stage Two, Jessie redeemed herself by clearing the Giant Ring Swing in a fast enough time and won two points for Team USA she also got her revenge on the Wave Runner and made history as the first woman ever to hit the buzzer on Stage Two and was granted POM Run Of The Night. The USA Team eventually won the competition.
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American Ninja Warrior 9
Jessie returned to compete in Daytona Beach in American Ninja Warrior 9. she looked strong, clearing the first four obstacles but she failed the Rolling Thunder inches to the landing pad. However, she placed 26th overall in the top 30 and moved onto the city finals. In the city finals, she got her revenge on the Rolling Thunder and did the splits to complete the Giant Cubes, she made it all the way to the Elevator Climb before falling, and she placed 4th overall, making it the third year in a row that she qualified for the national finals. In the National Finals, it looked like Jessie was on her way to completing Stage One for the second straight year but made a shocking fall on the Flying Squirrel when she lost her grip on the cargo net, barely missing out on the buzzer. In her post-run interview, she stated that she should've made one more swing to firmly grip the cargo net, where in comparison to last season, she swung more to gather better distance.
Jessie Graff at the Daytona Beach City Finals - American Ninja Warrior 2017
American Ninja Warrior 10
Jessie returned to compete in Miami in American Ninja Warrior 10. She looked very strong early on, clearing the first four obstacles and even becoming the first woman that night to complete the Slippery Summit. She went on to scale the Warped Wall and become the first woman that season to complete a city qualifying course.
In the city finals, she had a scare on Cannonball Drop, nearly falling on the dismount, but continued and eventually fell on the Stair Hopper. However, she still placed 5th overall, and became one of two women to make the top 15 that night.
However, Jessie Graff didn't compete in Vegas due to a secret project she was being apart of. It was revealed in the second night of the Vegas finals that she is stunting for the new film, Wonder Woman 1984, at the Canary Islands in Spain. She was replaced by Emily Durham, instead during the national finals.
American Ninja Warrior 11
Jessie returned to compete in Seattle/Tacoma for American Ninja Warrior 11, after not being able to compete in Las Vegas last season. Although she revealed that she hasn't been able to train as much this year, she breezed through the course. Even after a scare on the Lightning Bolts, she hit yet another qualifying buzzer, placing 8th. It is also noted that this buzzer means that she currently has the record for most buzzers hit by a female competitor, at four.
In the city finals, Jessie Graff was the final competitor to run the course. In the front half of the course, she had a slow but steady run. After getting up the Warped Wall, she easily got up the Salmon Ladder and despite missing a couple times on the Floating Monkey Bars, managed to correct it and beat the obstacle. However, on Northwest Passage, she suddenly gassed out at the top of the second panel and lost grip, placing 3rd and moving on to Vegas.
While the city finals course ended up with no finishers overall, Jessie technically went the farthest out of any competitor attempting the course, as she made it as far as the top part of the second board. There was some minor confusion on her ranking as 3rd overall, but this was counted based on her time to the obstacle, not how far she got on it.
In the national finals, Jessie shockingly failed the Double Dipper (an obstacle that she had no trouble clearing in American Ninja Warrior 9.) when she completely missed the transition from the first bar to the second bar. She was the last female to run the stage and her fall meant that no woman were able to clear the first stage for the second year in a row.
SASUKE Appearances
According to the official website of SASUKE, Jessie Graff is included in the 100 competitors who competed in SASUKE 34, with her having #87.
In the First Stage, she breezed through the First Stage and became the second woman to clear the stage in SASUKE history since Tanabe Chie in SASUKE 2, and became the first woman in SASUKE history to complete the First Stage ever since the debut of the Soritatsu Kabe in SASUKE 5.
With added confidence because of her advancing to the Second Stage, she did the unthinkable, clearing all of the obstacles of the Second Stage with 4.44 seconds remaining, became the first ever woman to do so in SASUKE history, and the only time that a woman has cleared Stage 1 and Stage 2 in the same tournament (excluding KUNOICHI as the only competitors are women)
Even with her lack of experience in the Third Stage, she completed the first half of the stage with ease, including the Flying Bar and Sidewinder Kai. Unfortunately, her strength ran out on the Ultra Crazy Cliffhanger, in which she did not generate enough swing and momentum to transit to the second ledge. With her failing the obstacle, it has become the furthest point a woman made in SASUKE history.
Jessie made her second appearance in SASUKE 37, with number #98. Before her run, she was shown practicing on many obstacles including the Vertical Limit , she also cheered on other competitors including Tada Tatsuya . She cleared First Stage with the fastest time in this tournament, 31.5 seconds left and she became the only woman to complete the First Stage twice. She easily beat Second Stage with a time of 16.8 seconds left. On the Third Stage, she easily made it through the first three obstacles with little trouble, but ended up failing on the first transition of the Cliffhanger Dimension, where she fell in SASUKE 34.
Trivia
- Graff became the first woman to attempt a city finals course in American Ninja Warrior history in American Ninja Warrior 5.
- Graff became the second woman to qualify for the Las Vegas finals by being in the Top 15 in American Ninja Warrior 7.
- Graff became the fourth woman to ever complete a city qualifying course during the Los Angeles qualifiers in American Ninja Warrior 8.
- Graff was the first competitor to complete The Wedge.
- Graff has achieved the highest ranking of any woman in a city final, placing second in the Los Angeles City Finals of American Ninja Warrior 8.
- Graff became the first woman to complete Stage One in American Ninja Warrior history in American Ninja Warrior 8.
- Graff is, by far, the first and only competitor to complete both versions of The Wedge, as she completed the Double Wedge on American Ninja Warrior: USA vs The World 3.
- Graff became the first woman to complete Stage Two in American Ninja Warrior history during the USA vs The World 3 competition.
- Graff failed the Elevator Climb in the American Ninja Warrior 9 Daytona City Finals, making that the farthest point a woman had made in a city finals at the time since Kacy Catanzaro's completion of the Dallas city finals in American Ninja Warrior 6.
- In SASUKE, some of the obstacles there are toned down so that it would be easier for women competitors to clear. But in SASUKE 34, Graff requested to attempt the obstacles without any modification whatsoever, with only the time limit being retained for the women's version.
- Graff became the second woman to complete the First Stage in SASUKE history in SASUKE 34.
- Graff was the first woman in any SASUKE/Ninja Warrior international format to complete Stage One/First Stage since the introduction of the Warped Wall.
- Coincidentally, when Tanabe Chie completed the First Stage in SASUKE 2, the first woman to do so, her occupation was a stuntwoman (the same current occupation with Jessie)
- Graff became the first woman to complete the Second Stage in any SASUKE/Ninja Warrior international format in SASUKE 34.
- Graff became the first woman to attempt the Third Stage in any SASUKE/Ninja Warrior international format in SASUKE 34.
- With her fall on the Ultra Crazy Cliffhanger in SASUKE 34, this has become the farthest point a woman made in SASUKE history.
- Graff was also a contestant on the very first season of the ABC TV show Wipeout. She is one of five ANW competitors to also compete on Wipeout, along with Wilson Kennedy (who competed on season 4), Jeremy Rivette (who competed on season 5), Jim Klimek (who competed on season 6) and Scott Willson (who competed on season 7).
- Jessie's credits as stuntwoman include films like Wonder Woman, X-Men: First Class, and The Dark Knight.
- Graff and her stunt crew on Wonder Woman won a Screen Actors Guild award in 2018 for Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture.
- Jessie also made a guest appearance in the Nickelodeon series, Knight Squad, in which she starred as the character, Commander Amballa, in the episode "A Thief in the Knight".
- She and Brennan Mejia have both guest-starred in the Arrowverse series Supergirl (though not in the same episode). She guest-starred as Lisa Gold in the second season.
- Jessie owns a pet pig named Sammo Hog (named after martial artist Sammo Hung). Sammo currently has over 16,000 followers on Instagram and has even made appearances seeing Jessie Graff run.
- She is one of few SASUKE competitors to compete at least twice without failing the first two stages, making it to the third stage twice in SASUKE 34 and 37. This makes her the most consistent female competitor to date.
| ANW | Result | Notes |
| 5 | Failed Jumping Spider (First Stage) | |
| 7 | Failed Warped Wall (First Stage) | Timed out |
| 8 | Failed Wave Runner (Second Stage) | Second woman to attempt Stage Two in either SASUKE and American Ninja Warrior. |
| 9 | Failed Flying Squirrel (First Stage) | Transition to Rope Ladder |
| 11 | Failed Double Dipper (First Stage) |
| SASUKE | # | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 34 | 87 | Failed Ultra Crazy Cliffhanger (Third Stage) | First Transition. First woman to clear the Second Stage. First woman to attempt the Third Stage. |
| 37 | 98 | Failed Cliffhanger Dimension (Third Stage) | First Transition. |