Michael "Mike" Silenzi is a gym manager from Chicago, Illinois.
American Ninja Warrior 4[]
Silenzi first competed in the Midwest region in American Ninja Warrior 4. He failed the Warped Wall in qualifying, but he advanced to the city finals, placing 24th. In the city finals, he was able to get up the Warped Wall this time around, cleared the entire course in 6th place, and moved on to the national finals. His run on Stage One was digested, but it was shown that he timed out on the Warped Wall.
American Ninja Warrior 5[]
Silenzi returned to compete for his sophomore season in Baltimore for American Ninja Warrior 5. This time, he cleared the qualifying course, placing 5th. He also completed the city finals course, placing 4th overall, earning him his second straight trip to the national finals. On Stage One, he failed the Jumping Spider, despite clearing it the season before.
American Ninja Warrior 6[]
He then competed in St. Louis in American Ninja Warrior 6. He cleared the first 4 obstacles with ease. However, he then went out on the Double Tilt Ladder and didn't make it into the city finals, for the first and only time in his career.
American Ninja Warrior 7[]
Silenzi returned to compete in Kansas City in American Ninja Warrior 7 where he finished the qualifying course placing 15th. In the city finals, his run was digested, but it was shown that he failed the Flying Shelf Grab which didn’t get him to the national finals this time around.
American Ninja Warrior 9[]
In American Ninja Warrior 9, he competed in Denver, as a walk-on this time around. In qualifying, his run was cut, but it was revealed that he failed the Rail Runner. He still placed 13th and moved on to the city finals. His run in the city finals was digested, but it was shown that he failed the 8th obstacle, The Wedge, but he placed 14th and moved on to the national finals again. His run on Stage One was cut, but he completed the stage for the first time ever, finishing with 19.44 seconds left on the clock. On Stage Two, his run was cut once again, but he failed the Giant Ring Swing.
American Ninja Warrior 10[]
He returned to compete on American Ninja Warrior 10 in Minneapolis, once again as a walk-on. His run in qualifying was cut, but it was known that he failed the Battering Ram. He still made the top 30 by placing 18th. His run in the city finals run was digested, but it was shown that he failed on the final board of The Hinge. Just like American Ninja Warrior 7, he didn't qualify for the national finals.
American Ninja Warrior 11[]
It was revealed on the Ultimate Ninjas Twitter page that he got a walk-on spot in Baltimore after once again not getting the call to compete. His run in qualifying was digested, but it was shown that he hit the buzzer for the first time in 4 years where he placed 8th. He had Jesse Labreck, Chris DiGangi, Grant McCartney, and Ethan Swanson galloping on fake horses to represent his nickname, “The Stallion”.
In the city finals, he went at a quick pace, getting all the way to the eighth obstacle, Angry Birds, before falling. However, due to his fast time, Silenzi placed 12th and moved on to Vegas for the 4th time.
His run on Stage One was cut, but it was revealed he went out on the Diving Boards.
American Ninja Warrior 13[]
After not getting selected for American Ninja Warrior 12 and having to walk on the previous 3 seasons, he got the call this time around to compete on American Ninja Warrior 13, making it the first time since American Ninja Warrior 7 that he got the call, where he participated in the last qualifying round. His run was briefly shown on Akbar’s Gbajabia-Moments, but it was shown that he completed the qualifying course once again, placing 13th. He also had fellow Chicago ninjas Jesse Labreck, Chris DiGangi, and Tyler Yamauchi galloping on fake horses once again to represent his nickname. He later competed in the final semifinals episode. His run was digested, where he finally got past the eighth obstacle after falling there in his three previous seasons and he managed to clear the semifinals course for the first time since ANW5 and placed 11th overall.
Mike then returned to compete on Stage One, though his run was cut but it was revealed that he had once again hit the Stage One buzzer, doing so for the first time since ANW9. In the finale, his run was digested where he got revenge on the first obstacle (this time being the Striding Steps) took the slow approach on the Stage Two course then made it to the final obstacle of Stage Two where five other ninjas failed the final grab on the Falling Shelves, ending his best season ever.
American Ninja Warrior 14[]
Mike returned for his ninth season in the third qualifying episode. His run was digested, but he once again cleared the course, doing so in 8th place. Mike later competed in the third semifinals episode. There, his run was shown in full as the first runner of the episode. He managed to clear the semifinals course for the second year in a row, being just the third competitor to clear a course as the first runner, and broke the streak of semifinals fails from the veteran competitors that started the previous episode. He placed 6th overall, being the slowest out of six finishers that episode, and he advanced to the national finals for his sixth time. His Stage One run was digested, but he saved himself on the Dipping Birds and he once again cleared the course with just 4 seconds left. His Stage Two run was also digested, but he failed on the third obstacle, going out on Piston Plunge, ending his season.
American Ninja Warrior 15[]
Silenzi returned for his tenth season, competing in the second qualifier. His run was once again digested, but he had a smooth run on the course. He flew through Ring the Bells and showed off his signature "Stallion" dance in between obstacles. Silenzi cleared the course, and by the end of the night, finished 6th.
During the semifinals, he raced against his fellow Chicago ninja, Chris DiGangi. While DiGangi failed Slingshot, Silenzi once again cleared the course, qualifying for the national finals.
On the National Finals, his run was digested, but he was cruising to the first four obstacles, but like so many other veterans, he spent much time saving himself on The Gambler, and in the end, he tried one last move to grab the card, but ended up falling in the water, ending his season, marking the first time since ANW11 that he failed Stage One.
American Ninja Warrior 16[]
Silenzi returned for his eleventh season during American Ninja Warrior 16. He cleared the qualifiers in a digested performance, placing 6th in the qualifier that he ran.
During the semifinals, he raced against David Tomassoni. The race was digested, but David was ahead for all of the race and cleared the course, while Silenzi failed on Spin Hopper and ended up not advancing to the national finals for the first time since season 10.
Mike announced on his Instagram that he didn't apply for American Ninja Warrior 17 and also said that season 16 could be his last season competing. [1]
Results[]
| ANW | # | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4. | Failed Warped Wall (Stage One) | Digest. Timed out. | |
| 5. | Failed Jumping Spider (Stage One) | ||
| 9. | Failed Giant Ring Swing (Stage Two) | All Cut. | |
| 11. | Failed Diving Boards (Stage One) | All Cut. | |
| 13. | Failed Falling Shelves (Stage Two) | Digest. | |
| 14. | Failed Piston Plunge (Stage Two) | Digest. | |
| 15 | Failed The Gambler (Stage One) | Digest. |