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The Wedge ANW8

American Ninja Warrior 8's The Wedge in Los Angeles

Levin wedge anw8

Josh Levin attempting The Wedge in American Ninja Warrior 8

The Wedge is an obstacle, firstly introduced as the eighth obstacle in Los Angeles finals on American Ninja Warrior 8. It is known for being one of the toughest city finals obstacles in American Ninja Warrior history.

Competitors must hop a bar across a wedge-shaped gap between two 10-foot (3.048-meter) Plexiglas walls, somewhat similar to the Flying Bar or Pipe Slider, then make the dismount the same distance as the gap. However, the dismount is made harder, by the fact the bar would roll as they swung, because it had a lacrosse ball on both ends of the bar.

The obstacle was proven to be incredibly difficult, as many competitors fell either from tiring out, keeping the bar even, or attempting to make the dismount. Several top competitors (e.g., Flip Rodriguez, Kevin Bull, Ben Melick, Nicholas Coolridge, Grant McCartney, Nick Hanson, Jackson Meyer, Adam Rayl, Chris Workman, Liam Buell, and Justin Hillsten) fell on the obstacle.

Only two competitors, Jessie Graff and Josh Levin, were able to get past the obstacle entirely.

Other Season Appearances[]

American Ninja Warrior 9[]

ANW9 The Wedge

American Ninja Warrior 9's The Wedge in Denver

The Wedge returned on American Ninja Warrior 9, once again as the eighth obstacle during Denver finals.

Similar to what happened during Los Angeles finals on the previous season, The Wedge once again became a ninja killer obstacle, as among the 16 competitors who attempted the obstacle, only three of them could complete it (Ian Dory, Lorin Ball, and Jesse Lucero).

During Denver finals, The Wedge had taken out a total of 13 competitors, including Karson Voiles, Michael Silenzi, Meagan Martin, Yancey Quezada, Dan Yager, Bart Copeland, Drew Knapp, Ben Antoine, Nick Kostreski, Ryan Souter, Craig Richard, and Luke Chambers. Most notably, it took out Brian Arnold, who fell on its doubled variant (the Double Wedge) twice before (during American Ninja Warrior 8's Stage Two and USA vs. The World 3).

Double Wedge[]

ANW8 Double Wedge

American Ninja Warrior 8's Double Wedge in Stage Two

The Wedge returned in Stage Two on American Ninja Warrior 8, as the Double Wedge, replacing the Roulette Row from the previous season.

This iteration of The Wedge was 22 feet (6.71 meters) across, and it worked similarly to its single wall set counterpart, with each set of walls being 10 feet long, but competitors had to make a minimum 2-foot (0.61-meter) laché transition to the second set of walls at the end of the first set (although, this depended on where on the first wall set the competitor decides to transition from, as host Matt Iseman referred to the gap as being 3 feet to 4 feet/0.91 meters to 1.22 meters wide).

Of the six competitors who attempted this obstacle, four of them failed to complete it: Chris Wilczewski, Brian Arnold, Jake Murray, and Josh Levin. Only Drew Drechsel and Daniel Gil were able to complete this obstacle and later finished Stage Two.

During USA vs. The World 3, three competitors could complete the obstacle (Sean McColl, Stefano Ghisolfi, and Jessie Graff), while two members of Team USA failed to complete the obstacle: Brian Arnold (who fell out at the obstacle for the second time) and Daniel Gil.

This obstacle was replaced in favor of the harder Wingnut Alley on the next season.

Other Appearances[]

The Wedge[]

Ninja Warrior France[]

Nwfr4 wedge

Ninja Warrior France 4's The Wedge

On Ninja Warrior France 4, The Wedge, locally called La Traversée D'Ulysse (literally The Crossing of Ulysses) appeared as the fourth and final obstacle of the untimed part of Stage Two, replacing Flying Bar. It was preceded by two lache bars. At the end of the obstacle, there was a red frame (akin to the third frame from ANW6's Swinging Frames) set at an angle, of which the contestants can grab on and swing to the finish platform.

It only eliminated one competitor out of the four who attempted it. It was replaced by Snap Back in the following tournament.

Ninja Israel[]

NWI3 The Wedge

Ninja Israel 3's Salmon Ladder to The Wedge

On Ninja Warrior Israel 3, The Wedge, locally called הקירות השקופים (literally The Transparent Walls) was combined with the Salmon Ladder as the fifth obstacle in Semifinals 1 and 3. Compared to the one used in American Ninja Warrior 8, the number of laché bars in front of the bar were increased to two, and the gap to the landing platform was smaller. This made the dismount easier, as it only eliminated five out of 22 competitors who attempted it.

Trivia[]

  • The Wedge is named after a surfing spot of the same name in Newport Beach, California.
  • The Wedge was the fourth hardest known city finals obstacle in American Ninja Warrior history, taking out 16 of the 18 competitors who attempted it in American Ninja Warrior 8's Los Angeles finals, giving it an 88.89% knockout rate. To date, this is beaten by the Nail Clipper during Cleveland finals on American Ninja Warrior 9's Cleveland finals (taking out 20 of the 22 competitors who attempted it, giving a 90.91% knockout rate), the Unstable Bridge during American Ninja Warrior 3's semifinal (which took out 13 out of 14 competitors who attempted it, giving a 92.86% knockout rate) and the Angry Birds in American Ninja Warrior 11's Baltimore finals (in which zero competitors completed it, giving a 100% knockout rate).
  • However, The Wedge in American Ninja Warrior 8 has the third lowest nonzero completion rate, behind the Nail Clipper during ANW 9's Cleveland Finals and the Unstable Bridge in ANW 3's semifinal, having a 10% completion rate,
  • The first two competitors to get past The Wedge from their respective city finals (Jessie Graff during Los Angeles finals and Lorin Ball during Denver finals), both finished in second place among the other competitors. Coincidentally, this was the highest both of them have personally ranked in a city finals course to date.
  • During Denver finals, all 16 competitors who attempted this obstacle advanced to Las Vegas national finals (with Meagan Martin, who finished in 16th place, advanced through the top 2 among the female competitors).
  • The obstacle originally was going to have separate walls to make it feel more inspired by the Flying Bar. However, no tester could succeed in getting past that version, so it was scrapped.
  • This obstacle is very similar to the Pipe Slider, with a dismount at the end of the obstacle to the landing platform. However, due to a larger gap to the landing platform, the dismount from The Wedge is far more difficult than from the Pipe Slider.
  • For the second consecutive season, the fifth obstacle of Stage Two is a modified obstacle from the city qualifiers/city finals course, as:
  • Jessie Graff is the first (and so far, the only) competitor to beat two versions of The Wedge: the original version during American Ninja Warrior 8's Los Angeles finals and the Double Wedge during USA vs. The World 3.

Competitors' Success Rate[]

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

American Ninja Warrior[]

The Wedge
ANW Clears Attempts Percentage
ANW8 2 18 11.11%
ANW9 3 16 18.75%
Total 5 34 14.71%
Double Wedge
ANW Clears Attempts Percentage
ANW8 2 6 33.33%
USA vs. The World 3 3 5 60%
Total 5 11 45.45%

Ninja Israel[]

The Wedge
NWI Clears Attempts Percentage
NWI3 (Semifinal 1) 5 9 55.56%
NWI3 (Semifinal 3) 12 13 92.31%
Total 17 22 77.27%

External Links[]

American_Ninja_Warrior_-_Crashing_the_Course-_Los_Angeles_Finals_(Digital_Exclusive)

American Ninja Warrior - Crashing the Course- Los Angeles Finals (Digital Exclusive)

The Wedge was revealed during American Ninja Warrior 8's "Crashing the Course" series as the obstacle featured in Los Angeles course

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