01x03 - Heat 3

[bunniefuu]

[theme music]

The Atlas flame burns,
and the games have begun.

Gladiator Arena is
electrified tonight.

The crowd is ready to go.

Also in the crowd,
some of our other contenders.

And there is a look at Dr. Ayonna Proctor.

She's already punched
her ticket to the semis

and is joined by Janelle Schaefer,

who had a come-from-behind win
to beat Sierra Dawn,

and Evan Barr joins Tavares Chambliss
in the men's semifinals

and will be closely studying
his competition tonight.

Which man and which woman
will be joining them in the semifinals?

Our gladiators will have
something to say about that.

[rock music]

These people are fired up.

They're ready for action.

Give it up
for your master of ceremonies, The Miz.

[cheering]

Come on!

Let's go!

Gladiator Arena,

this is American Gladiators.

Let's kick off the men's heat.

Let's meet Jaquez and Michael.

[cheering]

Welcome to Gladiator Arena.

Tell us a little bit
about yourself, Jaquez.

I'm Jaquez Jones.

I'm from Jacksonville, Florida,
and I'm a firefighter paramedic.

Oh, we got a hero in the house.

Firefighter, man. You run towards danger.

But what happens when a gladiator
runs straight at you?

The gladiator should be
shaking in their boots,

because I'm gonna give them a hard time.

-All right.
-[Mayhem] He's joking.

Are you kidding me? Him?

Southeast versus Southwest.

My name's Michael Moralia.

I'm 33 years old.

and check this, I'm from the City of Sin,
Las Vegas, y'all.

[cheering]

You're used to the bright lights,

so you're used to stuff
like American Gladiators, right?

What the arena does not have is
that party aspect,

and I'm gonna bring you that party aspect.

I like it!

And, Michael, are you scared
of any of the gladiators?

Honestly, I'm gonna say
this one thing for the gladiators.

And it's, I'm coming for your job.

[crowd gasps]

Ooh...

Michael, on fire.

It's time to see what you're made of.

Jaquez, good luck.

Michael, good luck.

Go sh**t it up, guys.

[cheering]

This is gonna be good, baby.

You guys hear that?
Do you guys hear that back there?

Do you hear them?

They're already talking smack to you.

They're ready. They're not afraid of you.

This is your house, gladiators.

Your house, and they're stepping into it.

Listen to them.

Listen to them up there.

We got business to take care of.

Listen. Come on, baby.

We should go.

Give me a "dominate" on three.
One, two, three.

[all] Dominate!

Let's get it.

♪I'm the one in the arena♪

♪I'm the one, remember my name♪

Are you guys ready
to get these gladiator games going?

[cheering]

As always, I'm joined
by my partner in carnage, Rocsi Diaz.

Are you guys pumped up or what?

[cheering]

Rocsi, tell us
about our first event, The Wall.

[Rocsi] Thanks, Miz.

Behold, The Wall.

A 60-second vertical pursuit
of pure panic.

Contenders climb for their lives

while a gladiator,
released six seconds later,

is hot on their heels.

First contender to the top
earns ten points.

Five points for second place.

Get caught by a gladiator,
and it's a fast drop back to reality.

Now, for the scoring breakdown,

let's toss it over
to Chris Rose at the desk.

Rosie.

All right, thanks, Rocsi.

Three events, one Eliminator.

A total of 30 points up for grabs tonight.

Ten points each for The Wall,
The Gauntlet,

and in our new big event, The Edge.

Come Eliminator time,

the leading contender will earn
a half-second advantage

for every point they're ahead.

And in an event like The Eliminator,
that can make all the difference.

At the end of the night,

one man and one woman
will emerge as victors

and move on to the semifinals.

[The Miz] With ten points
up for grabs in this first event,

let's check the tale of the tape
to see who's got the upper hand.

[Rocsi] One puts out fires in Florida
and the other lights up the Vegas Strip.

At 5'11" and a lean 195 pounds,

Jaquez is hoping the gladiators
don't extinguish his chances at 100K.

And Michael's 5'9", 200 pounds,
a bona fide party boy.

But I'd bet the house that he's never met
a bouncer like our gladiators.

[Michael] Las Vegas, Nevada,
the City of Sin.

Honestly, everything
you see in the movies is true.

High energy, lights in your face.
And I'm open to almost everything.

Full marathon, brand-new cowboy boots,
let's break these bad boys in.

I'm a YouTuber,
also considering myself an artist,

because the way I create fitness
is an art form.

I build the most extreme stunts
and fitness events

that you can absolutely fathom.

I plan on being
one of the largest creators on YouTube,

and that's why I'm here.

I wanna make it to the finals,
I wanna win this thing,

and that's what's gonna
go viral in itself.

[cheering]

[The Miz] Ten possible points
ready for the taking on the wall.

But who are the gladiators, hell-bent,
on yanking our contenders down?

Ready to chase down Michael
at the speed of light,

it's Neon!

[Rocsi] This is Neon's
first time on The Wall.

And he's looking to use
all of his 6' 2" frame to his advantage.

[The Miz] Neon Nation
came out strong tonight.

Well, if Neon brings the charm,
this one brings the harm.

Being let loose on Jaquez, it's Mayhem.

[Rocsi] Mayhem's used
to making touchdowns in college,

but today he's looking
for a tear-down on the wall.

It's over, it's over. This is my wall.

All right, Thomas, let's get our wall on.

[laughs]

[fanfare]

On my first whistle, contenders will go.

Don't slip, don't slip.

Telling you right now, don't slip up.

Six seconds later on my second whistle,
gladiators will go.

[cheering]

Contenders, ready!

[cheering]

Gladiators, ready!

[growling] Oh, yeah!

-[Thomas and crowd] Three, two, one!
-[whistle blows]

[Chris] We are underway on The Wall,
Jaquez in the red on the left,

Michael in the blue on the right,

-nice start by both contenders.
-[whistle blows]

Release the hounds.

Mayhem and Neon are on their way.

Mayhem right on the heels
of the firefighter.

He's about to grab hold of him.

Jaquez is saying,
"Hey, get off my draws, man.

You're stretching my spandex.

Mayhem, stop doing that to me!"

Neon well behind Vegas party boy Michael,
who's nearly to the top.

In just over 30 seconds, Michael has
the ten points as he smashes the button.

In the meantime, the firefighter
is gonna have to call in for backup.

And Jaquez is down for the count
and gets zero points.

Yeah, yeah, welcome to the show, boy.

Welcome to the show, boy.

It's over!

It was over before it even started!

[growls]

Michael, when the gladiator started
coming up after you... little nervous?

Tunnel vision, didn't even see him.

What's his name, Blaze?

-Ooh!
-Ooh!

Ooh.

Ooh.

Did he just?

Damn.

Neon.

Do you hear that, Neon?

He's talking smack.

It's all good.

We'll get it back!

We'll get it back!

All right, well, ten points for you.

Congratulations.

Let's go down to Rocsi.

All right, we're here with Jaquez.

You just took a giant fall off the wall.

I mean, you're used to being able to carry
several bodies out of a burning building.

Was The Wall more difficult than that?

No, the wall wasn't
more difficult than that.

I just couldn't get a chance
to get my bearings.

But you just gotta know how to adapt
and adjust and just move forward.

Forget about it.

Well, at the end of the day, you're still
a hometown hero for a lot of us.

So thank you for everything that you do.

Give it up one more time for Jaquez.

[cheering]

[Rocsi] All right, Mayhem.

Hey, and listen, he talking
about perseverance and all that.

I respect it.

But listen, you a lot smaller than me.

You supposed to get up that wall
a lot faster than me, all right?

There's a lot of trash talking right now.

Hey, Mayhem came to play.

Give it up one more time
for Jaquez, Michael, Neon, and Mayhem.

The contenders have been
talking smack to the gladiators,

and the gladiators are all fired up.

After The Wall,
Michael leading Jaquez 10-0.

That amounts to a five-second head start
for Michael going into the Eliminator.

But Jaquez, don't panic,

still a couple of events remaining
before the Eliminator.

[cheering]

And here comes tonight's female contenders
entering Gladiator Arena.

In the red, Bailey is
a grown-up goth girl,

gym owner, wife,
and mother of a young son.

[cheering]

And in the blue, Karizma is
a New York City bartender

and dancing is her cardio.

[cheering]

[tense music]

My name is Karizma Lockhart.

I just turned 30 years old.

So I used to be a bartender
at Coyote Ugly in New York City.

It was a mix
of the two things I love to do.

I love to bartend
and interact with the crowd,

and I got to dance at the same time.

Handstands, headstands, some splits.

The other activities
that I do to keep me fit,

I do tennis, pole fitness,
gymnastics, going to the gym.

With the 100K, I definitely want
to expedite my nonprofit

to help less fortunate women.

These gladiators are gonna look at me
and see this little, tiny dancer,

but I'm gonna k*ll it and do cartwheels
and pirouettes all around them.

[cheering]

[The Miz] All right, our female contenders
are ready to race.

Let's find out
which gladiators are giving them chase.

Coming after Bailey,

she's got a pull you can't deny
and she'll squash you if you try.

It's Crush.

[Rocsi] This is the first time ever
on The Wall for Crush.

Let's see if her CrossFit background
has prepared her.

Come on, come on, yeah!

And charging after Karizma,
she's got the urge to surge.

It's Voltage!

[Rocsi] On the rugby field,
she's used to chasing down her opponent.

On The Wall, she'll do the same thing,
only this time, vertically.

Let's go!

[The Miz] All right, let's toss it over
to our head referee,

Thomas Taylor, to get this show going.

-[Voltage] Yeah!
-[fanfare]

Contenders, ready!

You better go fast, you better go fast.

Come on, let's go, let's go!

Come on, come on!

[Chris] Getting a good look
at Karizma's aunt and mom Kimberly.

Bailey's husband Brian is here,
along with her son Enzo.

Gladiators, ready!

[yells]

[woman] Let's go!

[Thomas and crowd] Three, two, one!

-[whistle blows]
-[Chris] And we're off.

The 33-foot climb is underway.

Six-second head start for the contenders.

-[whistle blows]
-[Chris] And boy, that was short-lived.

Crush, Voltage,
off and running, or at least climbing.

And Crush already has
the left foot of Bailey.

That's a 170-pound Crush right on her.

Trying to shake loose.

Karizma,
two-thirds of the way up the wall.

Oh, and Voltage
almost loses her grip, but recovers.

She's gonna have to make a move here.

She grabs Karizma's ankle, but--
Oh, she can't hold on.

And now Bailey is off the wall.

Karizma gets to the top!

Hits the button and collects ten points!

-Yeah!
-[heroic music]

Let's go!

[The Miz] Whoa!

How do you feel?

Exhilarated.

Exhilarated?

Voltage was coming at you.

When you heard that whistle,
what was that like?

I heard her.

I felt her.

I smelt her.

But she was not
ready for me, like I told you.

You know what I'm saying?

Let's take it down to Rocsi.

[Rocsi] Bailey, oh, my goodness.

First of all, great attempt at the wall.

You gave it a good head start.

It seemed like you had
a great grip, but what happened?

Well, she just caught up to me
and then latched on.

And that's a lot of girl
to be latched off of, so.

[Rocsi] Well, I have to say,
it was quite impressive.

But at one point, you literally
were dangling off of her waist.

You gotta admit,
she's a pretty tough cookie

to be able to handle all your weight.

Yeah, for sure.

Strong women appreciate strong women.

So, like, I like a good fight.

That is such a great attitude to have.

Everybody give it up
for Bailey, Karizma, Crush, and Voltage.

[Chris] So, after The Wall,
Karizma leads Bailey 10-0.

That would equate to a five-second
head start for Karizma in the Eliminator.

But, of course, that could all change
with two events still to go.

Wow, this crowd is hyped up
and ready for our second event.

Rocsi, tell us about Gauntlet.

Contenders have 30 seconds
to charge through a narrow,

half-pipe packed to the gills
with four gladiators.

They'll earn two points per zone passed
and ten if they reach the end.

It's a high-impact collision course
where every inch counts.

[cheering]

Up next, Michael, and something tells me
that our Vegas wild child

has never crashed a party
quite like The Gauntlet.

Returning for this event
are Neon and Mayhem.

[rock music]

And joining them,

he's single-handedly putting
the demolition industry out of business,

the Bull!

[Rocsi] He's 285 pounds
and used to wrestling in a ring.

With the Gauntlet,
he's got a lot less space to defend.

That's good for the Bull,
but very bad for Michael.

You're in the Bull's eye, baby, yeah.

And he's got boy band looks...

and a fierce right hook, Ace!

[Rocsi] This former soccer player is ready
to kick some butt in The Gauntlet.

[Chris] This crowd is in a frenzy,
ready for round two

of this trash-talking party boy
versus the gladiators.

Contender, ready!

Gladiators, ready!

[cheering]

[Thomas and crowd] Three, two, one!

[whistle blows]

[Chris] Michael, weighing in
over 200 pounds,

gets stopped by Ace,
but still picks up two points.

He has got to let him go at some point,

blocks him into the side.

And Michael has picked up four points.

Mayhem, shoving him
into the side on the half pipe,

and now down on the ground.

Great job by Mayhem,

delivering a shot right to Michael's grill

-and that will do it.
-[whistle blows]

[Chris] An outstanding job
by the gladiator in the third zone.

-That's what I'm talking about!
-Who is your daddy?

[indistinct yelling]

Catch this!

Selfie!

Now the gladiators celebrating
like it's picture day at school.

Michael's trash talk
coming back to haunt him

as he has held
only four points on The Gauntlet

by some very motivated gladiators.

Mayhem really living up to his name,
takes Michael down once,

then picks him down again
and again and again.

That was an amazing, amazing run.

What was it about Mayhem
that you just couldn't get through him?

I mean, he just catches you
off guard on that first hit.

But you know what, guaranteed,
I'm winning this next event.

Be ready Michael, 'cause these ain't
like them parties in Vegas.

Better be ready.

Give it up for Michael and our gladiators.

And now the next Gauntlet victim, Jaquez.

[Chris] Jaquez is down 14 points,

but as a firefighter,
he's used to working hard every day.

As a firefighter, I would say you need
critical thinking skills,

mental fortitude,
and you need to be physically fit.

I plan on adapting my firehouse training
to the gladiator defense,

but I'm basically working on my movement,
agility, speed, strength.

Winning American Gladiators would allow me
to invest in my future,

getting the rental property

or another investment property
that appreciates in value.

But I'm here because I wanna showcase
my ability to compete

and conquer the gladiators.

[cheering]

[Thomas] Contender, ready!

[fanfare]

Gladiators, ready!

[Chris] How about the last two lines
of defense in The Gauntlet?

Mayhem weighing in
at 240 pounds, the Bull, 285.

[Thomas and crowd] Three, two, one!

[whistle blows]

[Chris] Jaquez down, ten points.

Ace working him into the corner,
but finally lets him go.

Jaquez gets onto the board.

Now spinning,
spinning and getting past Neon.

Now dealing with some serious Mayhem,
doing a great job of throwing him down.

And how about the Bull?

You can't hold him down,
but you can push him back.

Gladiator release! Release, Gladiator!

[Chris] The Bull instructed to release,
always holding him.

You can't do that, Bull,
you gotta let him go.

[whistle blows]

[horn blowing]

And referee Thomas Taylor says, "No way."

[whistle blows]

That's a penalty on the Bull

for holding the contender down
for more than three seconds.

It's not my fault he couldn't get up!

Contender, you have five seconds
left on the clock to clear zone four.

[crowd cheering]

[Thomas] On my whistle.

Five seconds to get it done.

[whistle blows]

[Chris] Another spin...
Bull holding him in place...

-[whistle blows]
-Another whistle!

[repeated whistling]

Will that do it?

Bull holding for a second time,
he's disqualified.

My goodness!

[Thomas] Contender, winner.

[Chris] What the heck is happening here?

I think Thomas Taylor is getting paid
by the whistle today.

That's what happens
when you cheat.

That's what happens when you cheat.

I don't know
what else to say, nothing new.

It's a lot of bull crap.

I won, know the rules.

You don't know the rules.

[crowd cheering]

Jaquez, you juked him twice,
and then he ends up getting disqualified.

-So you get ten points.
-Yeah.

I mean, it feels good
to get ten points, you know.

First match I got ripped down
off the wall, so it's comeback season.

The Bull is bleeding.
You have blood coming down in your face.

[The Miz] Why are you bleeding?

'Cause that's what I bring to the table
every time you see the Bull.

You're gonna see blood, sweat...
I mean, some tears.

There's a lot of sweat
and there's a lot of spit.

-[speaking indistinctly]
-Okay, yep, yep.

Give it up for Jaquez and our gladiators.

Blood, sweat, and tears,
here, ladies and gentlemen.

[Chris] After Gauntlet,
it's Michael, 14, Jaquez, 10.

Michael with a mere two-second head start
going into the Eliminator.

The firefighter is back in the game
and hot on his heels.

And now, to the women's heat.

First up on Gauntlet, it's Bailey.

She's got a lot of work to do

after her disappointing performance
on The Wall.

Returning for this event is Voltage.

Let's go, come on.

And joining her, she's like
if Lady Liberty

traded her torch for a sledgehammer.

It's Empire!

[Rocsi] Empire,
with a background in bodybuilding,

the only thing she's building lately
is a reputation for being unstoppable.

[crowd cheering]

And she's all Southern
and no comfort, it's Hurricane.

[Rocsi] She's got a background
in pro wrestling,

and now, she's looking to go pro
in the third position of the Gauntlet.

And finally, you better pray
you don't become her prey,

Huntress.

[Rocsi] Huntress is the total package.

This track athlete has been
hitting the gym,

making her a double threat.

She's a runner and a fighter.

I'm on the hunt.

I'm on the hunt!

[Chris] Long before
ever dreaming of gladiator glory,

teenage Bailey was running
her own emotional gauntlet of rebellion.

Growing up, I was a goth emo tomboy.

[heavy music]

I was never into sports.

I always wanted to do my own thing.

My dad played football,
my mom did gymnastics and cheerleading.

I was definitely a teenage girl who made
life very difficult for my parents.

As I got older, I have definitely
channeled my anger,

or sadness, or teenage angst,

and brought it into who I am now
in my fitness, in my training.

Winning the $100,000
would definitely prove

that my life right now is not a phase,

but I am bringing
a former goth girl into the arena.

She would be stunned to see
who I have become today.

[crowd cheering]

Contender, ready!

[Chris] Bailey is looking pretty calm
for someone down ten points.

Gladiators, ready!

[Chris] Empire, Voltage, Hurricane
and Huntress checking in

a combined 687 pounds.

[Voltage] Let's go!

[Thomas and crowd] Three, two, one...

-[whistle blows]
-[Chris] Thirty seconds to cover 45 feet.

She gets past Voltage!

And now she gets pushed
to the side!

Another two points!

Now working her way in a hurricane!

Gets past that!

She has six points!

One more gladiator stands in her way!

-Bailey...
-[yells]

-[whistle blows]
-[Chris] A perfect ten!

What a time to score it!

Oh, my gosh!

She's throwing helmets!

She's mean mugging!

And why not?

That perfect score
just got her back in the game.

Wow!

Bailey's certainly having no trouble
tapping into her inner angst.

Get out of her way.

[The Miz] Come on in, Bailey!

You just took down
four gladiators in Gauntlet.

That's gotta feel good.

Feels great.
Feels really good to take down people.

[Rocsi] Was she a tough cookie
this go-around?

I'll give it to you.

I think you turned it up a little bit,
but a Cat 5 still gonna hit you hard,

but I'll give you your props.
You did good.

I think you
really stepped it up this game.

[Rocsi] Let's give it up
for our gladiators!

Give it up for Bailey and your gladiators!

[cheering]

The next contender to face
the Gauntlet is Karizma.

[Chris] All right, so both Bailey
and Karizma now tied at ten.

After Bailey's perfect Gauntlet run,

let's see what this
New Yorker's state of mind is.

Contender, ready!

[fanfare playing]

Gladiators, ready!

Yeah!

-[Thomas and crowd] Three, two, one!
-[whistle blows]

[Chris] Karizma looking
to retake the lead.

Oh, she does a cartwheel there.

She's lost her shoe,
but she picks up two points.

Gets past Voltage.
Man, that's fire.

She's got four points.

Now she's working on Hurricane.

Having a tough time.

She's got no footing.

She's in socks, for God's sake,
or at least one shoe.

That's six points.

One more stop.

She gets through and clocks in
another ten points.

Here, you can have my other shoe.

She just does the splits.

I mean, talk about a celebration.

Literally socks it to the gladiators.

[whooping]

What is going on?

Voltage has her shoe...

Wow! Karizma, make your way
on over here, mama.

She's in a soul train.

[The Miz] I mean, she's back-flipping,
she's pirouetting,

she's splitting, she's high-kicking.

She's doing it all in the Gauntlet.

I don't think the Gauntlet's seen
this action ever.

[Rocsi] Wow.

Are you more tired
from the dancing you did

and the celebration
or going through the Gauntlet?

Definitely more tired from the dancing.

They don't want this smoke.

[cheering]

Listen, baby, this ain't choreography,
it's combat.

The next time you try to pirouette
your way by us, think again.

I know your name, Empire,
but I'm from the Empire State.

Get with it or get lost.

[whooping]

Where do you think I'm from?
Let's go.

-[The Miz] Okay.
-[Rocsi] Whoa, whoa, whoa.

[The Miz] Save it for the next event.

[Chris] Karizma reclaims the lead
and will take a ten-point lead

into the final event, The Edge,

as she's in the running
for a perfect score glory run.

[cheering]

Gladiator Arena!

For the first time ever
on American Gladiators,

we're unleashing a brand-new,
larger-than-life event.

And in honor of this milestone,

I want everyone in the arena
and at home to rise.

This... is The Edge.

[crowd cheering]

[playing "The Star-Spangled Banner"
in a heavy metal style]

[holding guitar note]

[crowd chanting] USA! USA!

Give it up for The Bull!

Land of the free
and the home of the brave.

[whooping]

Now, Rocsi,
introduce the people to The Edge.

[Rocsi] Contenders have 60 seconds
to navigate a treacherous maze

of narrow beams suspended


with a gladiator hot on their trail.

Each clean crossing
scores them two points.

If they reach ten, the chase is over.

But one wrong step
and they're free-falling, baby.

The first contender ever is on The Edge,

and it's Bailey!

[Chris] And waiting to take her down...

-[emergency siren wailing]
-You feel that?

-I do.
-Severe weather incoming.

It's Hurricane!

[Rocsi] Bailey's got to get real creative

with a gladiator like this
chasing her down.

Thomas, let's go.

[fanfare playing]

Contender, ready!

[Chris] Sixty seconds for Bailey
to score a maximum of ten points.

Gladiator, ready!

Ready!

-[Thomas and crowd] Three, two, one!
-[whistle blows]

[Chris] Sixty seconds of madness
starts right now.

Hurricane closing in quickly on Bailey.

Moving right.
Uh-oh, hand-to-hand.

Pop out, and there she goes.

-[grunts]
-[Chris] Into the safety net.

[horn blowing]

Come on!

That's right, baby!

There's a hurricane.
It's my house!

Let's go!

It was one last chance for Bailey to score
some points before The Eliminator.

She is going to be facing a huge deficit.

Take a look at that again.

Not Bailey's proudest moment.

Hey, it's okay to stare directly
into a hurricane,

but don't run right at it.

Bailey taken down in seconds
for her second goose egg of the day.

Up next is the contender who has proven

she can back up her trash-talking
with or without shoes.

Now stepping onto The Edge, it's Karizma!

[crowd cheering]

[The Miz] But waiting
to knock her off her rhythm,

forget Katniss Everdeen,

this gladiator is all hunger, zero games,

it's Huntress!

[roars]

Contender, ready!

[Chris] Karizma will have a lead heading
into The Eliminator.

The question is, how big will it be?

-Gladiator, ready!
-[roars]

[Chris] The Huntress ready
to become the hunter.

-[Thomas and crowd] Three, two, one!
-[whistle blows]

[Chris] The Edge,



Here comes the dancer,
and she gets two points quickly.

Karizma makes another break for it.

She's got Huntress spinning in circles.

Kind of calling a good move
from right to left.

And she gets six points.

Remember, the most you can get is ten.

Huntress has no clue
what Karizma's doing.

Making a move, making a move.

It's Barry Sanders-like.

-Make it a cool ten points.
-[whistle blows]

[Chris] Karizma, the first contender
of the season to finish

the three challenges
with a perfect 30 points.

And is now indeed headed
to our very first glory run.

Party on, Karizma!

[whooping]

[The Miz] Karizma, come on over.

Are you kidding me?

Congratulations.

Maximum points.

Now, that's a stage that you can command.

I really feel overwhelmed.

I feel like the energy that I had to win
that game was not just for me,

but for the people that I want to help
when I win this money.

I want to help young women
that are less fortunate,

that don't have opportunities like this,

that don't get
to reach their true potential.

-So this is what I'm doing it for.
-[crowd cheering]

[Karizma] I'm so grateful
to be here right now.

I feel so great.

[The Miz]
You've got to feel good.

Your mom, Kimberly, is in the audience.

What do you want to say to your mom?

To have my family here means the world,

and I'm happy they're here
to support me.

My mom has supported me since day one.

The reason why I'm athletic the way I am,

the reason why I can do
any of the things that I do is for my mom.

Thank you so much.
I love you, Ma.

[cheering]

[The Miz] We love you, Mom.

Congratulations.

[Chris] After The Edge, Karizma's got
a perfect score of 30 points.

She's got a 20-point lead over Bailey.

She'll get a ten-second head start going
into The Eliminator,

but more importantly,
she's the master of the Glory Run.

That's when a contender scores perfectly
in all three preliminary events.

All right, let's do it again
in the men's heat.

Jaquez is up first and ready for The Edge.

But is he ready for the gladiator
waiting to knock him off it?

The gladiator
with the million-dollar face.

It's Ace!

Diamond in the sky, baby.

Ace in that... shining bright.

...watching beautiful here.

[fanfare playing]

Contender, ready!

[Chris] The gladiators
and these male contenders

have been going back and forth
all night talking trash.

Too bad, in the Gladiator Arena,
you get zero points for smack talk.

Gladiator, ready!

[Chris] But the red, white, and blue
are thrown out there,

Ace in the hole to stop him.

[Thomas and crowd] Three, two, one!

[whistle blows]

[Chris] The Edge is underway.

An easy two right out of the gate
for the firefighter.

Breaking left, now making a move right.

Standing 30 feet in the air.

Oh, Ace has got him right in the middle.

Jaquez breaks right, now retreats left.

Remember, he cannot go back to home base.

He can't do it.
Oh, he stepped foot on it.

Now he's got to go
the entire other direction,

and this will not count.

He gets tangled with Ace.

No point! No point!

[Chris] No points because he stepped foot
on his original base,

but he does pick up two more points
right there.

Twenty seconds to go.

Jaquez has four points.

Making a move left.

Retreating a bit.

He's running out of time, under 15 to go.

Ace staring him out.

-[Jaquez grunts]
-[yelling]

[Chris] He's hanging on for dear life!

-[whistle blows]
-And... and... and... and he's down!

Four points for Jaquez Jones.

[crowd cheering]

[Chris] Oh, no.

It looks like Jaquez might have hurt
his shoulder there.

The medical team is definitely
gonna want to look at that.

All right, we need to take a look
at this takedown.

It looked like Jaquez fell,

but that shoulder looks like
it took the brunt of the impact.

Jaquez had to settle for four points
going into The Eliminator.

[The Miz] How you feeling?

I saw you rubbing your shoulder
or your bicep.

-You okay?
-I'm all right.

Saw you hanging on for dear life.

Did you pull anything?

No, I'm good.
I just knew the stakes were high.

I needed some points,
so I tried to give my best

to get as many points as I could.

Give it up for Jaquez!

Ace, you did absolutely amazing up there.

How do you stay balanced
with so many big biceps?

Oh, look, that's a great question, Rocsi.

The thing is, it's not my balance
I'm worried about with my biceps.

It's because when I flex like this,

it's everyone else who I see falling over.

-[cheering]
-[Rocsi] Everybody, please. Ace!

[The Miz] Next up is Michael on The Edge.

[Chris] Michael leading so far.

Fiancée Brooke
loving every moment of this.

[alarm blaring]

Those metal detectors
can only mean one thing.

This gladiator is in the house.

It's Steel!

[Rocsi] At 5'10 and 205 pounds,
Steel is used to wrestling on the floor.

Well, today, he's moving up


to wrestle his opponent off The Edge.

[The Miz] Let's see if Michael is up
for the task.

Thomas, take it away.

Contender, ready!

[Chris] It's time
for the trash talk to stop

and put these contenders
to start putting up points,

because talk is cheap
in the Gladiator Arena.

Gladiator, ready!

[growling]

[cheering]

-[Thomas and crowd] Three, two, one!
-[whistle blows]

[Chris] One last chance for Michael
to add points before The Eliminator.

Makes a move,
gets tackled, but that's two points.

[Thomas] Release, release, Gladiator!

Release, Gladiator!

[Chris] You gotta release him.

Oh, Steel giving up an easy two,

and now, another two for Michael.

And now, another two.

Steel a bit shaken with that move.

Thought he had him all wrapped up.

Michael now with eight points
as he throws him into the corner,

and now he's gonna make it a clear ten.

-[whistle blows]
-It's gonna be a shutout for Michael.

Wow, another amazing performance
by the party boy from Vegas.

Let's go, baby!

[Chris] Who'll take a huge lead
into The Eliminator.

[Michael] Whoo!

[The Miz] Michael!

You just went toe-to-toe
with the gladiator

and did not back down.

-Yeah!
-How do you feel?

I needed those points.

I couldn't lose them.

So when you see me at The Eliminator,

I'm going to dominate.

[cheering]

[Chris] So after The Edge,
Michael leads Jaquez 24-14.

That means he will have
a five-second head start

on The Eliminator.

A 20-point lead gives Karizma
a massive ten-second head start

in The Eliminator over Bailey.

Now the only thing standing
between Karizma and the semifinals

is The Eliminator.

Let's go to The Miz and Rocsi for more.

All right.

We're three rounds deep,

and the bartender's giving us
the stink eye.

So let's make this last one count.

It's Eliminator time, baby!

Rocsi, tell us what's on tap.

[Rocsi] The Eliminator, a brutal bar crawl
of pain and embarrassment.

Two contenders must conquer

grueling hurdles, scale ropes,
and monkey bars.

After a daring trapeze,
they'll climb up a tangled cargo net,

then careen down the zip line.

It's a sprint across the balance beam

before their final charge
up the legendary Travelator.

Then, one last rope swing to the finish.

The winner of each heat
moves on to the semifinals.

Hopefully, the hangover's gone by then.

[cheering]

Contenders, ready!

[Chris] Karizma has
a ten-second head start,

the biggest we've seen all season.

While it feels monumental,
on this course, it's anything but.

[Thomas and crowd] Three, two, one!

-[whistle blows]
-[Chris] Karizma Lockhart off and running.

In the meantime, Bailey,
you can take a quick nap.

She can't go for ten seconds,
and Karizma already at the rope.

-Bailey said...
-[whistle blows]

..."I am ready for this Eliminator.

I can make up some serious time."

Karizma off to the monkey bars,
doing a nice job,

gets across, now to the trapeze.

We've got this in the bag!

[Chris] Bailey arrives safely
at the monkey bars,

has to make up some serious time.

On to the cargo net for Karizma,
the former dancer

and performer at Coyote Ugly,
trying to win ugly here today.

Come on, come on, come on!
She's coming!

[Chris] Two-thirds of the way
up the cargo net,

Bailey gets across
and gets to the cargo net.

Takes a big leap.

Let's see if her fitness training
pays off here.

Karizma gets to the top
and over to the zip line.

[cheering]

[Chris] And she's on her way down.

Bailey, about ten more feet to go
up the cargo net.

[crowd whooping]

Karizma gets to the balance beam
where you have to cross.

There's no delay if you fall off.

You have to start back at the beginning.

But her dancing background...

Oh, why don't you pirouette off that?

Oh-h*-h*! Now she's at the Travelator.

If you had one of those zip lines
in your backyard,

by the way, you're really rich.

Bailey down the zip line.

Karizma!

Push! Push! Push!

Oh, she goes face-first,
opening the door for Bailey.

Slow, steady, and perfect
as her nearly erasing

that ten-second deficit.

Still, Bailey's gonna need a little luck.

Come on!

[Chris] Who can toughen it out?

Karizma gives it another run!

And... And...

Karizma... Oh!

So close!

-[crowd roaring]
-[Chris] Bailey! Bailey moves on!

She has erased the ten-second deficit!

She is off to the semifinals!

What an upset!

[The Miz laughs]

Oh!

You just came back

from ten seconds to win.

How are you feeling in this moment?

I'm so [bleep] happy.

It's okay, it's okay.

It's all right.

[Chris] An exhausting adventure
for Karizma Lockhart,

who dominated the competition
until The Eliminator.

It's all right, baby. It's fine.

-Bailey, you're going to the semifinals.
-[whooping]

You have a chance at $100,000
and all that American Gladiator glory.

-Look at me now!
-[Rocsi laughs]

[The Miz] Yeah!

[Rocsi] Karizma!

Just, what do you think it was
about that Travelator that got you?

I don't know. It just was harder
than I anticipated it to be.

And I'm sorry that I didn't give y'all

that blue flame energy
that I anticipated on the door.

[The Miz] Give it up for Karizma
and Bailey!

[Chris] Well, the big show,
it ain't over just yet.

We're about to find out
who in the men's heat

is going to be moving on with Bailey.

And for more on that,
let's send things back down to The Miz.

[cheering]

[The Miz] What a night!

And it all leads up
to this men's Eliminator.

Michael, come on out here!

[rock music playing]

[whooping]

You've done an amazing job
in the Gladiator Arena,

but before we go any further,
we have a little bit of news for you.

We just saw Jaquez take that big,
big hit from Ace on The Edge.

Unfortunately, Jaquez suffered
a pectoral injury

and won't be able to run The Eliminator.

So there's a little twist here, Michael.

Once all the preliminary heats are over,
the eliminated contender

with the fastest time

will face you in a final showdown

with a spot in the semifinals
on the line.

[Michel] I like it.

And finally, you have earned
a five-second lead

against Jaquez,
so you will be able to keep that

no matter who your opponent will be.

Well, Michael will have to wait,
but not for long,

as this amazing new season
of American Gladiators continues.

For Chris Rose, I'm Rocsi Diaz.

And I'm The Miz.

See you next time on American Gladiators.

[fanfare playing]

[rock music]

♪Came and stomped it♪

♪Crowd shake the floor♪

♪You can't stop it♪

♪You already know♪

♪Ten feet tall when the lights go up♪

♪When you see my face,
say a prayer for a moment♪

♪No, you can't cage the beast♪

♪Yeah♪

♪There ain't no quitting me♪

♪Yeah♪

♪I put the thunder♪

♪In the throne♪

♪I'm the one in the arena♪

♪You'll remember the name♪

♪I'm coming to rise up♪

♪I'm putting it all in, all in♪

♪Oh-oh!♪

♪I'm the one in the arena♪

♪I'm the one, remember my name...♪