Simon "Simi" Brunner (real/complete name: Simon Horst Brunner) is an Austrian (formerly German) Content Creator and Parkour & Freerunning
athlete who participated in almost every regular Ninja Warrior Germany season, except for Season 1, Team Ninja Warrior Germany 1 & 2 (both times as a part of Team Magic Monkeys) and Ninja Warrior Germany All-Stars 1 & 2. In Ninja Warrior Germany, Simon Brunner is one of the most experienced competitors (with 12 competitions in total), and is generally considered as one of the show's strongest and most successful individuals (especially in the regular competitions), who is most well-known for his speed and, similar his close friend René Casselly, for his ambition. And while he performed strong since the start of his career, he has never consistantly found his way past First Stage early on, and was prone to some unfortunate slip-ups. In the next few seasons however, Brunner has shown to become more consistent, and as proven to be a major threat to go far, especially in Ninja Warrior Germany 6, as he achieved the best clear time in both the First & the First Stage, making it all the way to the Third Stage. And while his struggles with the First Stage returned in the next two seasons, he has still shown that he has a lot of potential to be one of the strongest. Overall, Brunner reached the Finals in every regular Ninja Warrior Germany season he participated in, has reached the Second Stage twice (in Ninja Warrior Germany 4 & 6) and the Third Stage once. In addition to his successes in the regular seasons, he has shown a near flawless track record in both of the Team Ninja Warrior Germany seasons with his Team Magic Monkeys and both seasons of this spin-off.
Apart from his Ninja Warrior Germany career, Simon Brunner has achieved significant success in Ninja Warrior Austria 2 & 3, with him getting two 2nd place finishes in a row and getting very deep into the Third Stage both times. Following that, he also participated in the third season of Russia's unlicensed Ninja Warrior show, known as Super Ninja.
Outside of his performances in International Ninja shows, prior to his first participation in Ninja Warrior Germany respectively, Brunner also was a contender in Season 1 of Ultimate Beastmaster (2017), in which he made it all the way to Level 4 of Episode 1: Beast Nation, finishing in second just behind South Korea's Heeyong Park. And after that, he also participated in the German gameshow Big Bounce – Die Trampolin Show 2018, in which he as well finished in second.
Prior to his First Ninja Warrior Germany Appearance[]
Ninja Warrior Germany 1[]
In 2016, Simon Brunner had originally applied to participate in the very first season of Ninja Warrior Germany and got admitted to the Casting phase. However, a few days before he would have attended the season Casting in Munich, Germany, he sustained a torn ligament and subsequently had to sit out that season due to this injury.
Ninja Warrior Germany[]
Ninja Warrior Germany 2[]
His rookie appearance happened during the fifth Preliminary Round where he was one of twelve to conquer the course that round and had the fifth fastest time. In the Semi-finals qualification, he once again conquered the course with the slowest time, but placing third. In the Semi-finals, he went somewhat fast conquering the course again this time getting in 20th place and moving onto Stage One. On Stage One, he made it deep into the course making it all the way to the seventh obstacle, the Metal Spin where he failed the transition to the landing platform which ended his rookie season and he had the 13th best result of the season.
Ninja Warrior Germany 3[]
He returned for his second season, this time in the sixth preliminary round, where Simon lived up to the hype by once again conquering the course, this time once again in sixth place. In the Semi-finals qualification, after conquering the dangerous Floating Monkey Bars, once again conquered the course with a time of 01:27.48 getting 5th place and going back to the Semi-finals. In the Semifinals, he beat the dangerous Elevator Climb on his way to conquering the course once again in third place with a time of 04:01.94 going back to Stage One. On Stage One, he once again made it deep into the course making it back to the seventh obstacle, this time being the Tire Swing where he got disqualified for touching the third tire with his feet and got the 15th best of the season.
Ninja Warrior Germany 4[]
He returned this time being in the first Preliminary Round where his run was digested but Simon made it all the way to the Mega Wall but failed to complete it then completed the smaller wall with a time of 03:41.22 placing seventh and going back to the Semi-finals qualification. In the Semi-finals qualification, he made it deep into the course but shockingly failed the Baton Pass where he lost his grip and fell at the fourth row marking his first fail in the Semi-finals qualification. In the Semi-finals, he made it deep into the course once again making it to the eighth obstacle, the Stair Hopper where he shockingly failed it placing fifth (having the fastest time to the obstacle) moving onto Stage One. On Stage One, for the first time in his career he made it to the buzzer with over 44 seconds left moving onto Stage Two. On Stage Two he made it deep into the course once again where he made it to the next to last obstacle, Leaps of Faith where he failed the blind transition and placed 5th of the season, ending another great season.
Ninja Warrior Germany 5[]
He returned and competed in the fifth Preliminary Round where he once again conquered the qualifying course with the second fastest time, getting a shot at the Power Tower. On the Power Tower, he raced against Kim Marschner and lost the battle but still moved onto the Semi-finals. He competed in the second Semi-finals round, where unlike last season, he conquered the Mega Wall and won 2,500€ on his way to getting the second fastest time and going back to Stage One. On Stage One, he was looking to get back to Stage Two and made it deep into the course once again but on the Grim Sweeper into Cargo Net failed the transition to the Cargo Net and got 19th place of the season, ending another amazing season.
Ninja Warrior Germany 6[]
In the sixth preliminary round, he once again flew through the course to place with the second fastest time but also conquered the Mega Wall once again, winning another 2,500€ and got another shot at the Power Tower. In the first heat on the Power Tower, he raced against Malte Komm and lost the heat but still moved onto the Semi-finals. In the Semi-finals, Simon once again conquered the course with a time of 02:49.85 and placed 12th going back to Stage One. On Stage One, got his revenge from the previous season and conquered the course, this time with the fastest time of the season with over 34 seconds left. On Stage Two, even though he had a tad bit of trouble with Dragonback he was still able to conquer it, with a time of over 28 seconds left, the fastest time of Stage Two of this season and getting his first attempt at Stage Two. On Stage Three, he had the first attempt but shockingly failed the Floating Boards getting the 11th best of the season.
Ninja Warrior Germany 7[]
After having a heartbreaking end last season, returned in the fifth Preliminary Round where after struggling with Eyeglass Alley still conquered the course with the eighth fastest time, and hit his sixth straight qualifying buzzer moving onto the Semi-finals once again, making it the first time he wasn't able to conquer the Mega Wall nor attempt the Power Tower. In the Semi-finals, he flew through the course having no problems and finished the course with a time of 01:24.91 placing seventh place going back to Stage One. On Stage One, he made it deep into the course where after conquering the Swing Arm back in his preliminary round, he failed the Swing Arm To Ring after the transition to the ring and placed 28th of the season. In the post-run interview, Brunner was visibly frustrated and sad after this exit. In fact, it is known that he was so frustrated at the end (which was interestingly cut from the actual broadcast) that he considered retiring from Ninja altogether.
Ninja Warrior Germany 8[]
Despite his frustration about his heartbreaking exit in Ninja Warrior Germany 7, Simon didn't let that get him down totally, and deciced to return in the fifth Preliminary Round, in which he beat the dangerous Piston Plunge and made it to the Mega Wall but shockingly failed it to complete it but did conquer the course this time with the third fastest time and qualified for the Super Salmon Ladder and the race for the Speed Pass. On the race for the Speed Pass, he conquered the Super Salmon Ladder with the fastest time of his round (and the fastest time of the season.) winning the Speed Pass getting the guaranteed spot on Stage One. In the Semi-finals, he made it deep into the course but shockingly failed the dangerous Flipped Around. On Stage One, he failed another new obstacle, this time being Salmon Roll where he fell at the end of the track and had too much swing and he derailed the bar, ending another great season but he did help cheer Philipp Göthert on later in the season, especially on the Final Stage.
Ninja Warrior Germany 9[]
He has been announced to be competing in Ninja Warrior Germany 9.
Ninja Warrior Austria[]
Ninja Warrior Austria 2[]
He competed in the season season of Ninja Warrior Austria where Simon made it all the way to Stage Two, (along with friends, Stefanie Edelmann and Oliver Edelmann) but shockingly failed the Cliffhanger to the transition of the fourth and final ledge.
Ninja Warrior Austria 3[]
After an amazing season, he competed in the first Preliminary Round where he once again conquered the course with the third fastest time and he bettered his performance in the Semi-finals, where Simon conquered the course once again with the fastest time of 00:54.52 moving back to Stage One. On Stage One, he once again conquered the course and made it all the way back to Stage Three, making it to the final obstacle, Flying Bar where he failed the transition to the fifth and final cradle, getting the second best performance of the season.
Trivia[]
- Simon Brunner is very good friends with Philipp Göthert, and provided him with significant support during his Final Stage-specific coaching.
- He’s also one of the few on Ninja Warrior Germany to never fail a qualifying course and has hit the qualifying buzzer, a record seven times.
- Similar to his best friend René Casselly, Simon Brunner has also openly thought of retiring from Ninja after a failure. And while René did so after his Second Stage failure in Ninja Warrior Germany 4, Brunner thought of retiring after his Ninja Warrior Germany 7 failure.
- In 2024, Brunner appeared in the Italian talent show Tú Sí Que Vales along with David Eilenstein & Frank Schmidpeter as the Flying Ninjas. In the show, the trio had put up a 30-meter long Ninja course at an altitude of 20 meters above the ground and would look to see who of the three gets through the course the fastest (they attempted the course one after the other).
- At the end of the day, they got 5x yes from the jury and 97% of the public votes for this showact.
Ninja Warrior Germany Results:[]
Regular Competitions[]
| NWG | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Failed Metal Spin (First Stage) | Failed the transition to the dismount platform. 13th best of the season. |
| 3 | Failed Tire Swing (First Stage) | Got disqualified for touching the third tire with his feet. 15th best of the season. |
| 4 | Failed Leaps of Faith (Second Stage) | 5th best of the season. |
| 5 | Failed Grim Sweeper to Cargo (First Stage) | Failed the transition to the Cargo net. 19th best of the season. |
| 6 | Failed Floating Boards (Third Stage) | 11th best of the season. |
| 7 | Failed Swing Arm to Ring (First Stage) | Failed the transition to the ring. 28th best of the season. |
| 8 | Failed Salmon Roll (First Stage) | Fell at the end of the track. Took too much swing and derailed the bar. 22nd best of the season. |
| 9 | TBA | TBA |
Spin-Offs[]
Team Ninja Warrior Germany[]
| Season | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Team: Magic Monkeys (René Kaselowsky, Simon Brunner, Denise Pirnbacher) | ||
| 1 | Champion | |
| Team: Magic Monkeys (René Kaselowsky, Simon Brunner, Stefanie Noppinger) | ||
| 2 | Champion | |
Ninja Warrior Germany All-Stars[]
| Season | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Preliminary Round 1, First Duel-Round | Lost vs. Krister Kröll. |
| 2 | Preliminary Round 4, First Duel-Round | Lost vs. Dominique Karlin. |
Ninja Warrior Austria Results:[]
Regular Competitions[]
| NWA | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Failed Cliffhanger (Third Stage) | 2nd best of the season. |
| 3 | Failed Flying Bar (Third Stage) | Failed the transition to the fifth and final cradle. 2nd best of the season. |
Super Ninja Results:[]
Regular Competitions[]
| SN | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | TBA | TBA |
| |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||