The Real Life Beasts were a team in American Ninja Warrior's team competition franchise. The team consisted of captain Drew Drechsel, James "The Beast" McGrath, and Erica Cook.
Team Ninja Warrior[]
The Real Life Beasts first competed in Episode 6 of Team Ninja Warrior where they first went up against the InvincAbels in Round 1:
- James won the first race against Nathan Jasso.
- Erica Cook fell on the Dancing Stones and lost the second race against Jeri D'Aurelio .
- Drew Drechsel won the anchor run against Abel Gonzalez.
Drew Drechsel vs. Abel Gonzalez - Team Ninja Warrior - American Ninja Warrior
In the knockout round, they went up against the Rahnaways:
- In the first race both Erica Cook and Courtney Venuti fell at the Dancing Stones but Erica was the first to reach the obstacle therefore she won the first race.
- James won the second race as his opponent Adam Grossman fell at the Sonic Swing.
- But Drew fell at the Dancing Stones and lost the anchor run against Jamie Rahn.
- This forced a sudden death race where Erica and Courtney had a rematch. But Erica won the race as she made it up the Warped Wall and hit the buzzer.
They went up against Party Time in the relay showdown, Erica fell at the Log Grip, which landed a 10 second penalty on the Real Life Beasts, and they unfortunately could catch up. They lost the relay and were eliminated from the competition.
Team Ninja Warrior 2[]
The Real Life Beasts returned to compete in Team Ninja Warrior 2 where they first competed in Episode 6. In Round 1 they went up against The Ballers:
- James McGrath won the first race against Lorin Ball.
- Erica Cook won the second race against Meiling Huang.
- Drew Drechsel won the anchor run against Paul Kasemir.
In the knockout round they went up against Team Stratis Faction:
- James won the first race against Mike Bernardo who fell at the Swing Jump.
- Erica won the second race against Grace Sims.
- But Drew Drechsel fell at the Spin Cycle and lost the anchor run against Ryan Stratis.
- Drew did run in the sudden death match and won against Mike Bernardo who fell on the Floating Tiles.
The Real Life Beasts then went up once again against The Ballers in the relay showdown. Fortunately the Real Life Beasts won the relay as Paul Kasemir fell on the Dueling Salmon Ladder on the back half of the course.
Season 2, Episode 16- Travis Rosen vs. Drew Drechsel - Team Ninja Warrior
The Real Life Beasts then competed in the finals in Episode 11 where they went up against Team TNT in Round 1:
- James won the first race against Brett Sims.
- In the second race, both Erica Cook and Marybeth Wang fell at the Floating Tiles but Erica lost the race as Marybeth was the first to reach the obstacle.
- Drew did however win the anchor run against Travis Rosen.
They went up against the NorCal Ninjas in Round 2:
- James won the first race against Sean Bryan,
- But in the second race, Erica injured her knee when landing from the Ring of Fire therefore she lost the race against Anna Shumaker,
- Drew did however win the anchor run against David Campbell.
They proceeded to the Relay showdown where they went up against Team TNT once again and Sarah Schoback came in as an alternate for Erica Cook. Unfortunately, Sarah fell at the Ring of Fire which landed a 10 second penalty on the Real Life Beasts and they unfortunately could catch up, they lost the relay and were eliminated from the competition.
Real Life Beasts did not regroup for year 3 of ANW's team competition, which saw Team Ninja Warrior rebranded and renamed as American Ninja Warrior: Ninja vs. Ninja, as captain Drew Dreschel opted not to participate due to participating in SASUKE. McGrath and Cook, however, continued on with a new incarnation of the team, calling themselves the Beasts from the East and selecting McGrath as the captain.
Team Ninja Record[]
Drew Drechsel[]
| Season | Episode | Round | Heat | Opponent Team | Opponent | Result | Notes | Individual Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 (Qualifying) | Round One | 3 (Anchor Run) | InvincAbels | Abel Gonzalez | Win | 1-0 | |
| 1 | 6 (Qualifying) | Round Two | 3 (Anchor Run) | Rahnaways | Jamie Rahn | Loss | Drew fell at the Dancing Stones. | 1-1 |
| 2 | 6 (Qualifying) | Round One | 3 (Anchor Run) | The Ballers | Paul Kasemir | Win | 2-1 | |
| 2 | 6 (Qualifying) | Round Two | 3 (Anchor Run) | Stratis Faction | Ryan Stratis | Loss | Drew fell at the Spin Cycle. | 2-2 |
| 2 | 6 (Qualifying) | Round Two | 4 (Sudden Death) | Stratis Faction | Mike Bernardo | Win | Mike fell at the Floating Tiles. | 3-2 |
| 2 | 11 (Finals) | Round One | 3 (Anchor Run) | Team TNT | Travis Rosen | Win | 4-2 | |
| 2 | 11 (Finals) | Round Two | 3 (Anchor Run) | NorCal Ninjas | David Campbell | Win | 5-2 |
James McGrath[]
| Season | Episode | Round | Heat | Opponent Team | Opponent | Result | Notes | Individual Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 (Qualifying) | Round One | 1 | InvincAbels | Nathan Jasso | Win | 1-0 | |
| 1 | 6 (Qualifying) | Round Two | 2 | Rahnaways | Adam Grossman | Win | Adam fell at the Sonic Swing. | 2-0 |
| 2 | 6 (Qualifying) | Round One | 1 | The Ballers | Lorin Ball | Win | 3-0 | |
| 2 | 6 (Qualifying) | Round Two | 1 | Stratis Faction | Mike Bernardo | Win | Mike fell at the Swing Jump. | 4-0 |
| 2 | 11 (Finals) | Round One | 1 | Team TNT | Brett Sims | Win | 5-0 | |
| 2 | 11 (Finals) | Round Two | 1 | NorCal Ninjas | Sean Bryan (alternate for Brian Kretsch) | Win | 6-0 |
Erica Cook[]
| Season | Episode | Round | Heat | Opponent Team | Opponent | Result | Notes | Individual Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 (Qualifying) | Round One | 2 | InvincAbels | Jeri D'Aurelio | Loss | Erica fell at the Dancing Stones. | 0-1 |
| 1 | 6 (Qualifying) | Round Two | 1 | Rahnaways | Courtney Venuti | Win | Both of them fell at the Dancing Stones. However, Erica reached the obstacle first. | 1-1 |
| 1 | 6 (Qualifying) | Round Two | 4 (Sudden Death) | Rahnaways | Courtney Venuti | Win | 2-1 | |
| 2 | 6 (Qualifying) | Round One | 2 | The Ballers | Meiling Huang | Loss | 2-2 | |
| 2 | 6 (Qualifying) | Round Two | 2 | Stratis Faction | Grace Sims | Win | 3-2 | |
| 2 | 11 (Finals) | Round One | 2 | Team TNT | Marybeth Wang | Loss | Both of them fell at the Floating Tiles. However, Marybeth reached the obstacle first. | 3-3 |
| 2 | 11 (Finals) | Round Two | 2 | NorCal Ninjas | Anna Shumaker | Loss | Erica injured her right knee while landing from the Ring of Fire. Sarah Schoback served as her alternate for the rest of the season. | 3-4 |