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Here’s what happened on Celebrity American Ninja Warrior

The heart-warming special raised money for children around the globe!

Tyler Golden/NBC

After months of waiting, it was finally time for Celebrity Ninja Warrior! The special event was a benefit for Red Nose Day, a day of fundraising for children in need all over the globe.

For Celebrity Ninja Warrior, famous entertainers and athletes paired up with expert American Ninja Warrior trainers. For every obstacle they completed, M&M’s and the Rockefeller Foundation donated $5,000 to Red Nose Day.

The mission of Red Nose Day is to use warmth and humor to prove that everyone can change the lives of children. So while the course can be intimidating, the celebs tackled it with determination, knowing they were part of something greater.

Here’s how it all went down!

The Obstacles:

  • Floating Steps
  • Cannon Ball Drop
  • Block Run
  • Fly Wheels
  • Battering Ram
  • Warped Wall

Jennifer Garner kicked it off, reminding us that, while we’re all here to watch the fun, we have some important work to do.

Akbar Gbajabiamila and Matt Iseman each visited a location in LA that would benefit from Red Nose Day’s donations.

We met all of our celebs and got the runs going!

Natalie Morales and Grant McCartney

The journalist and news anchor was right at home with her fun loving coach.

She earned $20K for four obstacles, even though Grant helped her out a little on the Fly Wheels.

Nikki Glaser and Jessie Graff

Nikki is a comedian and almost a dead ringer for her coach, Jessie Graff!

When Nikki faced some trouble on the course, she improvised, even grabbing a boat to help her across the Fly Wheels pool!

She earned $10,000.

Jeff Dye and Meagan Martin

Comedian Jeff was a little intimidated by the Fly Wheels, but his coach Meagan Martin made them look like a breeze.

Together, they completed four obstacles to earn $20,000!

Nick Swisher and Drew Drechsel

The major league baseball player was the first celeb to complete the Fly Wheels, earning a cool $25k!

Erika Christensen and Flip Rodriguez

Actor Erika had a stand out run that had the internet screaming. She wanted to show her 8 month old daughter that anything is possible with hard work, and boy, did she deliver!

The new mom doggedly went after every obstacle!

When the Warped Wall looked a little tricky, her coach Flip and Grant McCartney cleared a path for her.

Her genuine determination had Twitter’s heart swelling!

She earned $25k!

Derek Hough and Daniel Gil

There was a lot of pressure on the dancer to do well on the course.

The Fly Wheels are a tough obstacle for any athlete, so there was no shame when he fell there.

But Derek wasn’t about to leave the job half done. He tried again, completed the Fly Wheels and made it to the buzzer!

That gave Red Nose Day another $30K from Derek!

Ashton Eaton and Kevin Bull

As an incredible Olympic Decathlete, this course didn’t stand much of a chance against Ashton.

He got one day of coaching from Kevin Bull and seemed to stroll through the obstacles.

Mena Suvari and Natalie Duran

Mena let us in on something not talked about much on American Ninja Warrior: The course is flipping scary! The actor had to really push through her fears to earn that money.

But her incredibly relatable run earned her a legion of supporters.

The Ninjas were there to make sure she had all the support she needed.

They even invented the “Ninja Ladder” to get her to the top of the Warped Wall!

Congrats on conquering your fears, Mena!

Stephen Amell and Kacy Catanzaro

Ah, the run the world had been waiting for!

The star of “Arrow” is in peak physical shape, which, along with his training, helped him beast the first part of the course.

When he reached the top of the Warped Wall, he had TECHNICALLY finished the whole course. But then he spotted the back half of the course saved for the City Finals...

There was no way he was letting a Salmon Ladder slip by!

Once he jumped on the Peg Board, he realized he’d given it his all. He bid the crowd a lovely adieu and hit the water!

But that still meant he earned $35,000 for Red Nose Day!

In the end, the Rockefeller Foundation kicked in an additional $100,000. Meaning Celebrity Ninja Warrior raised serious money for incredible charities around the world! What an awesome first special like this! Here’s to hoping for many more!