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Wall Lifting (ウォールリフティング), called Wall Lift in English broadcasts, is the final obstacle of Second Stage since the first tournament, appearing on every tournament since, with only three exceptions: SASUKE 18 (replaced by Shoulder Walk), and SASUKE 28 and 29 (both replaced by Passing Wall). Initially, the obstacle used Latin alphabet for its naming (it was named and stylized WALL LIFTING and WALL LIFTING RUN in the first three tournaments), Katakana naming was ultimately adopted, which still stands today.

Its function is simple: competitors must lift three walls of increasing weight and press a red buzzer (running through a set of open gates before SASUKE 8) before time runs out. The walls weigh 30 kg (66 lbs), 40 kg (88 lbs), and 50 kg (110 lbs), respectively. In addition, the walls are 2.4 meters (7.87 feet) apart. While the obstacle was simple in theory, actual runs proved otherwise. Many competitors timed out here due to a combination of the heavy walls, rushing to finish the stage, and fatigue.

Wall Lifting Run

The Wall Lifting was named WALL LIFTING RUN in SASUKE 2.

Development[]

For the first seven tournaments, competitors needed to pass through the open gates in order to clear Second Stage. If they failed to do so, the gates closed, signifying a failure.

However, starting with SASUKE 8, a button was added to the end, and the gates were closed. Competitors were required to press it in order to stop the clock, open the gates, and advance to the Third Stage. If competitors went through the gates without pressing the button, they would be disqualified- this happened to Paul Hamm in SASUKE 14.

After Levi Meeuwenberg injured his foot on this obstacle in SASUKE 20, the walls were raised approximately 50 cm off the ground- in previous tournaments, the walls were raised in varying heights off the ground. This made the obstacle slightly easier, as competitors could reach under the walls instead of lifting them from the sides. The walls were lowered to their pre-SASUKE 20 heights in SASUKE 32.

The Passing Wall, which replaced the Wall Lifting in SASUKE 28 and 29, was a modification of this obstacle; the most notable change was that the second wall had to be pushed apart instead of lifted up.

From SASUKE 30 onwards, many competitors had problems lifting the walls with wet hands. This was due to it being placed right after Backstream, without a chance for competitors to dry off.

In some instances, the walls would not go down when the competitors lifted them due to high humidity. This happened on two occasions: SASUKE 3 (during Ōmori Akira's run, where wall #2 and #3 were stuck midway) and SASUKE 31 (during Drew Drechsel's run, where wall #3 was stuck all the way up). This, combining with trying to prevent injury, prompted production to install a counterweight mechanism starting from SASUKE 32. This allowed the walls to drop slower, while making things easier for competitors as they could had more time to dive below the walls.

Visual Design[]

  • For the first 12 SASUKE tournaments, the walls were metal, painted with black and yellow diagonal stripes, and featured the Hindu-Arabic numerals 1, 2, and 3 in the center of each wall.
  • From SASUKE 13 to SASUKE 17, the stripes were black and silver, and the numbers were replaced with Roman numerals I, II, and III.
  • From SASUKE 19 to SASUKE 27, the metal walls were replaced with plain wooden walls.
  • From SASUKE 30 to SASUKE 34, the walls were changed back to metal and painted silver, featured the Japanese daiji numerals (accounting numbers) 壱, 弐, and 参 inside a circle in the center of each wall.
  • In SASUKE 35, the walls added yellow lines on the top. In addition, the daiji numerals were replaced with the numbering system used during the first 12 SASUKE tournaments, and were located to the lower right corner of the walls. Black outlines were added in SASUKE 36.


KUNOICHI Appearance[]

Wall Lifting (ウォールリフティング) appeared in KUNOICHI 2017 Summer as the fifth and final obstacle of the BLUE Stage (Second Stage). The weight of the walls were reduced to 10 kg (22 lbs), 15 kg (33 lbs), and 20 kg (44 lbs) respectively, to make the obstacle easier. in addition, screen walls were added on the top of the walls.

Coincidentally, its first appearance has the same clear rate as its first appearance in SASUKE; three out of four competitors completed the obstacle in KUNOICHI 2017 Summer, while in SASUKE 1, six out of eight competitors completed the obstacle. Both competitions had a 75% clear rate.

Visual Design[]

The walls were blue with yellow borders, featured increasing amounts of foam ball within them that served as their weights, and used the numerical scheme from SASUKE 1 to SASUKE 12.


Other Appearances[]

American Ninja Warrior[]

ANW4 Wall Lift (NE & SE)

American Ninja Warrior 4's Wall Lift in Northeast and Southeast regions

On American Ninja Warrior 4, the Wall Lifting (called the Wall Lift) first appeared as the sixth obstacle in Northeast and Southeast regions. As such, the number of obstacles during Northeast and Southeast region qualifiers was seven, while that number in the finals became ten. This became an anomaly compared to the other four regions (Southwest, Midsouth, Northwest, and Midwest), which featured six obstacles in the qualifiers and nine in the finals. It is likely that this obstacle appeared to balance out the course difficulties, as the Jumping Bars in the Northeast region and the Swing Circle in the Southeast region were considered too easy.

The walls weighed less than SASUKE's Second Stage version (45 lbs, 55 lbs, and 65 lbs, roughly 20kg, 25kg, and 30kg). Since the region qualifiers and finals didn't have a time limit to complete the course, the obstacle served as a time and energy waster.

ANW4 Wall Lift

American Ninja Warrior 4's Wall Lift in Stage Two

ANW5 Wall Lift

American Ninja Warrior 5's Wall Lift in Stage Two

ANW6 Wall Lift

American Ninja Warrior 6's Wall Lift in Stage Two

ANW7 Wall Lift

American Ninja Warrior 7's Wall Lift in Stage Two

Furthermore, the Wall Lift appeared as the sixth and final obstacle in Stage Two from American Ninja Warrior 4 to American Ninja Warrior 7, with the walls weighing the same as their SASUKE version. However, the walls were raised and had an alternate counterweight-based system to prevent what happened to Levi Meeuwenberg in SASUKE 20 from happening again.

In American Ninja Warrior 4, no one could complete the obstacle. However, as the producers wanted someone to attempt Stage Three, the only person to reach the obstacle, Brent Steffensen, moved on despite timing out on the obstacle. While the official results state that he did complete the obstacle and finished with 0:00.03 on the clock, he had actually timed out a split-second outside of the time limit- had he actually hit the buzzer in time, the lights at the end of Stage Two would have turned blue rather than stayed red. Since then, no one has failed the obstacle.

Due to the 100% clear rate, the obstacle was replaced with the Wall Flip on American Ninja Warrior 8.


Ninja Warrior UK[]

NWUK4 Wall Lift

Ninja Warrior UK 4's Wall Lift

The Wall Lift appeared as the fifth obstacle in the finals' Stage 2 from Ninja Warrior UK until Ninja Warrior UK 5. With the walls weighing 30, 40 and 50 kg. On Ninja Warrior UK, only Timothy Shieff was able to reach the obstacle, but his time ran out while lifting the third wall. On Ninja Warrior UK 2, the obstacle was unattempted. On Ninja Warrior UK 3, the obstacle was finally completed by Cain Clarke and Jonny Urszuly, with both of them becoming the first two competitors to advance to Stage 3.

From Ninja Warrior UK 3 to Ninja Warrior UK 5, the walls were made of Plexiglas (similar to the Wall Lift on American Ninja Warrior 7).


Australian Ninja Warrior[]

-39- Wall Lift

Australian Ninja Warrior's Wall Lift

The same version of the Wall Lift from American Ninja Warrior 7 appeared as the fifth and final obstacle of timed portion in Stage Two on Australian Ninja Warrior. With the Stage Two redesign on Australian Ninja Warrior 2, the obstacle was moved to the eighth and final obstacle. As part of another course redesign, the Wall Lift was then moved to the sixth and final obstacle on Australian Ninja Warrior 3 and Australian Ninja Warrior 4. The walls were toned down to 20, 30, and 40 kg respectively.

During the first two seasons, the obstacle was unattempted. On Australian Ninja Warrior 3, five competitors were able to reach and complete the obstacle within the time limit and advance to Stage Three. on Australian Ninja Warrior 4, four competitors reached and cleared the obstacle.


Ninja Warrior Poland[]

NWP4 Wall Lift

Ninja Warrior Poland 4's Wall Lift

On Ninja Warrior Poland, the Wall Lifting (Ściany Herkulesa, literally Walls of Hercules) appeared as the fifth obstacle of the first half of Stage Two.

During the first season, Jakub Zawistowski managed to complete the obstacle, while Ivan Kohut timed out on the third wall.

In Ninja Warrior Poland 2 and Ninja Warrior Poland 3, every competitor who attempted the obstacle managed to complete it.

During Ninja Warrior Poland 4, a unusual disqualification occurred on Wojciech Borkowski's run. He had violated the rule of touching the floor using his hands— on Ninja Warrior Poland, competitors must walk between the walls, never touching the floor with their hands. This rule was never seen in other international formats, as competitors were allowed to crawl on the floor in those competitions.

On Ninja Warrior Poland 5, both competitors who made it to Stage Two cleared this obstacle.

After five seasons, it was replaced by Cat Grab on the sixth season.

Ninja Warrior Germany[]

NWG2 Wall Lift

Ninja Warrior Germany 2's Wall Lift

On Ninja Warrior Germany, the Wall Lifting (Hebebrücken, literally Lifting Bridges) appeared as the fifth obstacle of Stage Two.

During the first season, no one managed to reach this obstacle.

In Ninja Warrior Germany 2, three competitors managed to reach this obstacle, and all of them completed.

The obstacle was replaced by Wall Flip in the next season.

Ninja Israel[]

NWI Wall lift

Ninja Israel's Wall Lift

On Ninja Warrior Israel, the Wall Lift, called locally הדלתות הכבדות (literally The Heavy Doors) appeared as the final obstacle in the Finals' Stage Two, which was very similar to the one used in American Ninja Warrior 7. The obstacle was very easy, as all four competitors that attempted it(Matan Bello, Yiftach Kushnir, Yuval Shemla and Alex Khazanov) cleared it.

The obstacle was removed on the next season as part of Stage Two's redesign.

Ninja Warrior Arabia[]

NWA Wall Lift

Ninja Warrior Arabia's Wall Lift

On Ninja Warrior Arabia, the Wall Lift appeared as the sixth and final obstacle in Stage Two, which was very similar to the one used in American Ninja Warrior 7.

SASUKE Ninja Warrior Mongolia[]

SNWMongolia2019 Wall Lift

SASUKE Ninja Warrior Mongolia's Wall Lift

The Wall Lift appeared as the sixth obstacle of Stage Two in SASUKE Ninja Warrior Mongolia. Compared to its other appearances, a pulley system was present on the right side of the walls with sandbags as weights. They were also operated by the production staff as a manual counter-weight.

The obstacle served as a time and energy waster.

Visual Design in Other Appearances[]

American Ninja Warrior[]

Ninja Warrior UK[]

Australian Ninja Warrior[]

SASUKE Ninja Warrior Mongolia[]

  • In SASUKE Ninja Warrior Mongolia, the walls were painted silver. The numbers indicating their weights were yellow and positioned at the top right of each wall, with the logo placed at the middle of the wall.

European formats[]

Ninja Israel and Ninja Warrior Arabia[]

Trivia[]

  • Wall Lifting was supposed to appear in SASUKE Vietnam as the final obstacle of Second Stage. However, according to a VTV magazine that revealed some behind-the-scenes information about SASUKE Vietnam 2, Wall Lifting was deemed too dangerous for Vietnamese competitors to attempt. Instead, it was replaced by the Ni Ren Soritatsu Kabe.

Competitors' Success Rate[]

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

SASUKE[]

SASUKE Clears Attempts Percentage
1 6 8 75%
2 9 14 64.29%
3 6 8 75%
4 11 12 91.67%
5 1 1 100%
6 5 5 100%
7 5 5 100%
8 4 5 80%
9 4 6 66.67%
10 4 4 100%
11 7 9 77.78%
12 10 10 100%
13 5 8 62.5%
14 10 12 83.33%
15 6 6 100%
16 8 8 100%
17 8 8 100%
19 0 0 N/A
20 1 1 100%
21 3 4 75%
22 4 4 100%
23 7 7 100%
24 7 7 100%
25 5 5 100%
26 6 6 100%
27 10 10 100%
30 9 13 69.23%
31 8 10 80%
32 8 8 100%
33 5 5 100%
34 9 10 90%
35 5 6 83.33%
36 10 11 90.91%
37 8 8 100%
38 5 8 62.5%
39 9 10 90%
40 12 14 85.71%
41 15 16 93.75%
Total 255 292 87.32%

KUNOICHI[]

KUNOICHI Clears Attempts Percentage
2017 Summer 3 4 75%
2018 4 7 57.14%
Total 7 11 63.64%

American Ninja Warrior[]

ANW Clears Attempts Percentage
ANW4 1 1 100%
ANW5 7 7 100%
ANW6 2 2 100%
ANW7 8 8 100%
USA vs. Japan 2 2 100%
USA vs. The World 4 4 100%
USA vs. The World 2 3 3 100%
Total 27 27 100%

Ninja Warrior Poland[]

NWP Clears Attempts Percentage
NWP 1 2 50%
NWP2 4 4 100%
NWP3 5 5 100%
NWP4 3 4 75%
NWP5 2 2 100%
Total 15 17 88.24%

Ninja Israel[]

NWI Clears Attempts Percentage
NWI1 4 4 100%
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