12 episodes that will make anyone a Ninja Warrior fan

Readers suggested episode that will hook new viewers in a heartbeat.

By Nikki Lee@anwnation Dec 1, 2021, 12:38pm PST

Have you ever been talking to someone about the fine details of American Ninja Warrior and realized they have no clue what you’re going on about? (That can’t happen to just us, right?) Well, regardless, the natural next step is to convert that person into a Ninja Warrior fan ASAP.

But where to begin? With 13 seasons of action behind us already, what would lock in a new viewer? We put that question out on Instagram, and have created a guide of 12 suggested episodes below!

The question was: You want to introduce a friend to American Ninja Warrior. You can pick three (and only three) episodes to show them. Which three are you selecting?

We received a lot of really thoughtful answers that had us going, “Oooh! That’s a great one!” It was hard to find full episodes to include in this article, so we included runs from those episodes as examples of the content. (The odds of us finding clips from season three that won’t be soon deleted are slim. Sorry.)

Here we go!

The Stage One Trifecta

Season eight - Jessie Graff

Season nine - Allyssa Beird

Season 13 - Jesse Labreck

Someone suggested watching the Baltimore City Finals three times in a row which sounds... painful. And repetitive. You’ll watch Ninjas go plunk from the Angry Birds over and over and over. But it will teach you how hard this show can be.

Season 11 - Baltimore City Finals
Najee Richardson