The Gladiators are Back

Viewers; are you ready?! You had better be, because the American Gladiators are back. After a 12-year absence from the airwaves the heart pounding action has returned with new gladiators and new challenges that will hurt you just watching.

Hosted by Terry “Hulk” Hogan and Laila Ali the new “American Gladiators” features bigger Gladiators than the ones most of us may remember from childhood, such as Justice- a 6’ 8”, 290 lbs Goliath. Other new male Gladiators include Mayhem, Militia, Toa, Wolf, and Titan; a late addition to the show during it’s first run. The female Gladiators are Crush, Fury, Venom, Siren, Stealth and the 6’ 1” 200+ lbs "Viking Vixen" Hellga (no, that’s not a typo.)

The new Gladiator Arena hosts many classic challenges that you may remember like Assault, Gauntlet, Hang Tough, Power Ball, Pyramid, The Wall, the giant Q-tip duel: Joust, along with a new and very intense twist on the shows final head-to-head contest: the Eliminator. New games Hit and Run where contestants have to run across a 50-foot suspension bridge while four Gladiators hurl 100-lb “demolition” balls at them trying to knock the contestants off the bridge.

Many of the contenders have Oprah-esque stories to go along with the chance to win $100,000, and a chance to become a new Gladiator for the coming season. For example- contender Adam Levin an alleged victim of hurricane Wilma who is looking for a fresh start with his potential winnings.

Earthquake is another new game where contenders wrestle gladiators trying to shove them off a platform that is suspended four feet in the air. This event started off with a big twist when a contender and Venom were about to both tumble over and Venom grabbed one of the suspension wires holding up the platform and spun around while staying on the platform. Preventing the contender from gaining any points.

contenders must climb a damp cargo net, next comes the classic hand-bikes, then comes the barrel roll with a 30-foot climb up the pyramid immediately after, followed by the zip-line, then the excruciating reverse escalator, then a steep stair climb and finally The new Eliminator blows away its predecessor. The contestants start off by climbing an eight-foot wall, after a 20-foot under water swim with a flaming surface overhead the breaking through a wall of padded blocks to stop the clock.

Compared to its predecessor the new “American Gladiators” is on par for what could be a successful run. The biggest problem with the show is with the Gladiators looking and acting like players in a WWE wrestling-opera. One Gladiator who may not last to a potential second season: Wolf. With his long hair, styled facial hair and tired attempts at building a fan base by howling every time they say his name, and calling out for his “wolf pack” with the fans in the arena. Usually this turns out with little to no response. Another potential cast-off from the new team may be Toa, who acts like former WWE star Wild Man Mark Mero.

The show appears to be off to a good start, debuting on Sunday, January 6th to a Nielson Rating of 4.4/11, which was good enough for the highest rated non-NFL product on TV that night. The reprise did even better the next night-- in the show’s regular time-slot-- with 10.91 million viewers while going up against the BCS Championship Game between LSU and Ohio State. And in it’s second week ranked number one for its time slot.