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ANW9 Nail Clipper

American Ninja Warrior 9's Nail Clipper in Cleveland

The Nail Clipper is an obstacle, firstly introduced as the eighth obstacle during Cleveland finals on American Ninja Warrior 9.

Competitors must traverse four cylinders that rolled back and forth, with six ledges in each cylinder.

This obstacle was proven to be brutal, due to being difficult to maneuver around and the grip either slipping or giving out. It took out top competitors like:

Only Jamie Rahn and Joe Moravsky could complete this obstacle.

This obstacle set the second highest knockout record in American Ninja Warrior history, taking out 20 of the 22 competitors who attempted it and giving it almost a 91% knockout rate, moving The Wedge during American Ninja Warrior 8's Los Angeles finals to the third highest knockout record (behind the Unstable Bridge during semifinal on American Ninja Warrior 3 and the Angry Birds during Baltimore finals on American Ninja Warrior 11).

ANW9 Nail Clipper (S3)

American Ninja Warrior 9's Nail Clipper in Stage Three

Later on the same season, the Nail Clipper reappeared as the third obstacle in Stage Three, moving the Ultimate Cliffhanger to the fourth obstacle.

However, the number of cylinders was reduced to three. Also, the obstacle was not preceded by any obstacle with no rest. As the result, no competitor failed on this obstacle.

Interestingly, among the 3 competitors who attempted the Nail Clipper in Stage Three (Sean Bryan, Najee Richardson, and Joe Moravsky), two of them (Najee Richardson and Joe Moravsky) had attempted the obstacle before (during Cleveland finals).

On American Ninja Warrior 10, the obstacle was replaced by the Crazy Clocks.

Other Season Appearances[]

American Ninja Warrior 10[]

ANW10 Nail Clipper

American Ninja Warrior 10's Nail Clipper in Dallas

On American Ninja Warrior 10, the Nail Clipper appeared as the eighth obstacle during Dallas finals, which was the same as the one during Cleveland finals on the previous season, albeit a waiting bar was placed in between the Salmon Ladder and the first cylinder. The gap between cylinders is 3 feet (0.91 meters).

This time, 7 competitors (Daniel Gil, Jeremiah Morgan, Abel Gonzalez, Thomas Stillings, Josh Salinas, Mathis Owhadi, and Matthew Day) made it past the obstacle, but the obstacle was still proven to be difficult, as it knocked out top competitiors like Brent Steffensen, Karsten Williams, Brian Burkhardt, Barclay Stockett, Andrew Swinghamer, Jon Stewart, Josh Norton, Kevin Jordan, Mike Murray, Elliott Jolivette, and Erik Brown.

Other Appearances[]

Ninja Warrior France[]

Nwfr4 nail clipper

Ninja Warrior France 4's Nail Clipper

On Ninja Warrior France 4, Nail Clipper appeared as the second obstacle of Stage 1. It featured four cylinders, each with six 5-cm deep ledges. A rope was present at the end of the obstacle.

Ninja Warrior Germany[]

Nwgr4 nail clipper

Ninja Warrior Germany 4's Nail Clipper

On Ninja Warrior Germany 4, the Nail Clipper appeared as the fourth obstacle in the second semi-finals qualification with a similar configuration to its appearance on American Ninja Warrior 9, with four cylinders and Salmon Ladder as the previous obstacle. A lache bar was also added at the end of the obstacle. Similar to its appearance in American Ninja Warrior 9, the obstacle turned out to be brutal, with only four competitors completing it.

Nwgr5 nail clipper

Ninja Warrior Germany 5's Nail Clipper

Later, in Ninja Warrior Germany 5, the Nail Clipper, locally called Hangel-Trommeln (literally Hanging Drums) appeared as the fourth obstacle in the second Semi-finals, with its function being similar to the one used in the Third Stage on American Ninja Warrior 9. However, due to more competitors attempting it in Semifinal 2, the obstacle was more brutal than the used in American Ninja Warrior 9, as it eliminated 7 out of 42 competitors who attempted it.

Ninja Israel[]

NWI4 Nail Clipper

Ninja Israel 4's Nail Clipper

On Ninja Warrior Israel 4, the Nail Clipper, literally translated קוצץ הציפורניים appeared as the fourth obstacle in Heat 13. Although the obstacle was not preceded directly by any obstacle without any rest, the obstacle featured four cylinders, making it very similar to the one used during Cleveland finals on American Ninja Warrior 9 and Dallas finals on American Ninja Warrior 10. However, the obstacle also featured two laché bars, with a laché in front of the first cylinder and a laché placed at the end of obstacle. Due to this, the obstacle was moderately difficult, as it eliminated four out of 15 competitors who attempted it.

Competitors' Success Rate[]

  • All results based on the NBC/RTL/Keshet 12 broadcast and external information found.

American Ninja Warrior[]

ANW Clears Attempts Percentage
ANW9 (Finals) 2 22 9.09%
ANW9 (Stage Three) 3 3 100%
ANW10 7 18 38.89%
USA vs. The World 4 5 5 100%
Total 17 48 35.42%

Ninja Warrior Germany[]

NWG Clears Attempts Percentage
NWG5 35 42 83.33%
Total 35 42 83.33%

Ninja Israel[]

NWI Clears Attempts Percentage
NWI4 11 15 73.33%
Total 11 15 73.33%

Trivia[]

  • The Nail Clipper was one of the eight obstacles that won the first edition American Ninja Warrior: Obstacle Design Challenge, and designed by Calvin Boyce.
  • The Nail Clipper on American Ninja Warrior 10 became the only eighth obstacle on a city finals course on that season to serve as the cutoff for competitors advancing to the National Finals.
  • This obstacle had a similar concept with the Ultra Crazy Cliffhanger, with the usage of moving ledge(s). However, the ledges of the Nail Clipper moved in an axis, while the ledge (the third ledge) of the Ultra Crazy Cliffhanger moved automatically.
    • The concept of this obstacle is also similar with a future obstacle in SASUKE 41, Vertical Limit Burst, since both obstacles involved ledges moving around an axis.
  • The Nail Clipper is the second obstacle in American Ninja Warrior history to have a success rate percentage in the single-digit (approximately at 9.10% rate), while the Unstable Bridge during American Ninja Warrior 3's semifinal had the lowest success rate (approximately at 7.14% rate).
  • The Nail Clipper during American Ninja Warrior 9's Cleveland finals shared several similarities with The Wedge during American Ninja Warrior 8's Los Angeles finals:
    • Both obstacles were on a city finals course that used the Ring Jump as the fourth obstacle and the I-Beam obstacle as the fifth obstacle (the I-Beam Cross during Los Angeles finals and I-Beam Gap during Cleveland finals).
    • Each of these two obstacles had only two competitors completed the obstacle (Jessie Graff and Josh Levin for The Wedge, Jamie Rahn and Joe Moravsky for the Nail Clipper). Coincidentally, all of these four competitors have the first name that started with the letter "J".
  • Joe Moravsky is currently the only competitor to complete both versions of the Nail Clipper, as he completed it during Cleveland finals and Stage Three on American Ninja Warrior 9.
    • Though he completed the obstacle twice in American Ninja Warrior 9, Joe Moravsky had even admitted on his Instagram account that the Nail Clipper was the toughest American Ninja Warrior obstacle he has ever faced.
  • During American Ninja Warrior 9's Cleveland finals, the Nail Clipper became the cut off for not only the top 15 competitors to advance to Las Vegas national finals, but also for the top 2 female competitors. 3 female competitors, Michelle Warnky, Jesse Labreck, and Allyssa Beird, reached the obstacle and failed to complete it. While Jesse Labreck's time was fast enough to reach the top 15 (as she finished in 15th place) and fill the first spot for the top 2 female competitors, the last spot for the top 2 female competitors was filled by Allyssa Beird. This meant Michelle Warnky became the only female competitor on American Ninja Warrior 9 to reach the back half of the city finals course (i.e. the obstacles after the Warped Wall), but didn't qualify to Las Vegas national finals.
    • During the past 4 American Ninja Warrior seasons (from American Ninja Warrior 5 to American Ninja Warrior 8), Michelle Warnky qualified to Las Vegas national finals as the wildcard. However, on American Ninja Warrior 9, with the implementation of new rules for female competitors (including the deletion of wildcards, meaning female competitors must qualify to Las Vegas national finals within top 15 or top 2 female competitors during city finals round), since Michelle's time was not fast enough to reach the top 15 or top 2 female competitors, she didn't qualify to Las Vegas national finals for the first time ever, despite it was also her best performance ever during city finals round at that time.
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