The Spider Drop (スパイダードロップ) is a Second Stage obstacle that first appeared in SASUKE 30 as part of the Spider Walk. The function of the obstacle was to drop from the end of the Spider Walk down to a lower set of panels and dismount the obstacle. The distance between the two panels is 1.8 meters. In SASUKE 30, the obstacle had black mats separating the two sets of panels to prevent injury and a screen wall consists the black mesh with spinning fan to prevent competitors from skipping the obstacle. Despite that, Satō Jun became the first competitor to do so in SASUKE 41 and René Casselly followed suit after Jun's attempt.
In SASUKE 31, the obstacle was modified to have a curved wall instead of the black mats and was made into its own individual obstacle instead of being part of the Spider Walk. An aesthetic change occurs in SASUKE 37, the screen wall was replaced to an opaque yellow wall with the SASUKE Ninja Warrior logo. Possibly due to the wall blocking the competitors' view, the screen wall was reverted back to the original and the spinning fan was replaced with the logo since SASUKE 38.
The obstacle took out notable competitors with the likes of Yamamoto Keitaro and Nagasaki Shunsuke in SASUKE 35, as well as Saikawa Kōji in SASUKE 38 and Oshima Ayano in SASUKE 40. In addition, Nagasaki Shunsuke failed it twice which occurred in SASUKE 40. Drew Drechsel came close to fail in SASUKE 30, as he slipped on the left side of the panel. However, he was able to correct himself and clear the obstacle. Hioki Masashi likewise came very close to failing the obstacle in SASUKE 40 when he slipped on the dismount, but was able to hold onto the frame and recover and just failed the obstacle right after this obstacle, the Backstream.
A promotional video revealed that both Sato and Rene expressed interest to skip the obstacle as a challenge during the demonstration of the Second Stage which gained the approval from Inui Masato, the director of SASUKE. Some prominent competitors indicate their doubts as it is considered too risky to do so. Nevertheless, both competitors tried and succeeded, Rene’s attempt especially sparking a reaction from some of the other competitors.
In SASUKE 42, perhaps due to Sato and Rene’s attempt from the previous tournament, seven more competitors have joined in and skipped the obstacle: Imoto Yasuhito, Kajihara Hayate, Tada Tatsuya, Iliann Cherif (who nearly failed by doing so), Daniel Gil, Kawaguchi Tomohiro, and Urushihara Yuuji.
Comparison of Hioki Masashi attempting both versions of the Spider Drop
The new screen wall of SASUKE 37, as seen during Jessie Graff's run (Left),
The screen wall used since SASUKE 38 (Right)
Competitors' Success Rate[]
- All results based on the TBS broadcast and external information found.
| SASUKE | Clears | Attempts | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | 10 | 10 | 100% |
| 32 | 8 | 8 | 100% |
| 33 | 7 | 7 | 100% |
| 34 | 16 | 16 | 100% |
| 35 | 6 | 8 | 75% |
| 36 | 14 | 14 | 100% |
| 37 | 8 | 8 | 100% |
| 38 | 9 | 10 | 90% |
| 39 | 12 | 12 | 100% |
| 40 | 20 | 22 | 90.90% |
| 41 | 17 | 17 | 100% |
| 42 | 20 | 20 | 100% |
| Total | 147 | 152 | 96.71% |
- Based on the recent documentary video as of SASUKE 42, the completion rate including the Spider Walk was said to be 342 clears out of 385 attempts for a percentage of 88.83% and ranked as the fourth most difficult obstacle in the Second Stage. It was unknown how competitors did in each specific tournament. Therefore, these numbers were not included in the tables above.