American Gladiators

The arena is live.

The turf is shaking.

And the greatest games on Earth are back

and bigger than ever.

This is American Gladiators.

And it's supercharged.

Eight elite men...

He drags him down. You ain't seen nothing yet.

Eight fierce women...

And there she goes!

That's right, baby! That's a hot cake! It's my half!

...here to defend their turf.

And trying to take it... 24 contenders from across the country.

Whoo!

What the heck is happening here?

He's bleeding!

This ain't choreography. It's combat.

The classic games are back.

You ain't never seen a fake man move this side.

Big new twist.

The Ring. Crash Course. The Edge.

Eagle closed him down.

Gripping rip take-downs...

Oh, no!

High-flying tackles...

- But he gets level. - Wow!

And photo-finish races.

Faster!

-Daddy's home! -

- - Kick the tires,

light the fires...

And hold on to your phone fingers, America.

This is American Gladiators.

From the one and only Gladiator Arena.

Get it going for our American Gladiators.

Whoo!

This is peak America, folks.

Now, give it up for your host, The Miz!

Yeah!

Let's go!

Good evening!

And welcome to the most All-American beat-down

ever seen on screen, American Gladiators.

This season, 24 contenders go head-to-head with the most jacked,

muscle machines on Earth,

your American Gladiators.

And all of our contenders are in the house tonight.

Joining me to keep track of all the wild action,

is our sideline extraordinaire and co-host, Rocsi Diaz.

-Whoo! - Listen to this crowd!

This is amazing!

Thank you so much, Miz. I am honored to help bring back

one of the best sporting events of all time.

This is absolutely wild!

Talk about dreams coming true. I mean, I know you were a huge fan

-growing up in Ohio. -Are... Are you kidding me?

-I used to play it... -Turbo, Nitro,

Malibu, Siren, Sky...

-Wow! -I can go on!

Wait a minute. The best one ever, Gemini!

Gemini!

-An American Gladiator. -

Hey, Gemini, love you!

But before we jump into the action,

I'm handing it over to our play-by-play commentator,

Chris Rose!

Thank you very much, Miz.

I'm a huge fan and fired up to be here to help carry on

the American Gladiator legacy. Now, let's talk points.

Our contenders are going to face off against the Gladiators in three events.

Whiplash, Joust and Powerball.

Every point they rack up over their opponents,

buys them a half-second head start in The Eliminator,

which decides who moves on and who goes home.

So, if you want the advantage, better start scoring early.

Let's get this party started!

What's first on the agenda?

After 30 years, the legend returns.

And it's more ruthless than ever.

Whiplash!

With 30 seconds on the clock, a contender and a Gladiator

grip onto the bone.

It's a brutal game of push and pull.

Toss a Gladiator out, that's ten points.

Survive the clock, five points.

Let go or get launched, enjoy the view from the mat.

We're kicking things off tonight with our women's heat.

Meet Francheska Martinez, who defied spinal injuries as a kid,

and now wants to help those who need it the most.

She's facing off against physical therapist, Ayonna Procter,

the first contender tonight to take on a Gladiator.

Let's get to know Ayonna.

My name is Dr. Ayonna Procter, from Elba, Alabama.

Basketball was my passion from a young age.

I thought I was going to go pro.

Elba, Alabama is a small place, but I was one of the top athletes,

I guess you can say. Out of high school,

I tried out for University of West Alabama,

and I made the team. However, I was more of a bench warmer.

My mom did sit me down, and she was like, "No, that's a hobby."

- -Ugh... And then, I cried, you know.

She said, "Well, if I were you, I'd be a doctor."

I'm like, every parent wants their kids to be a doctor, you know?

So, that's kind of what got me on the road to physical therapy,

and I love it. I love it.

Competing on American Gladiators ... this is like a reminder

of how much I wanted to be out there, and I didn't get that shot.

So, I'm gonna show her what I got. I just want her to be proud of me.

I am who I am because of her. So, yeah.

It's not... it's a fun show. Why are we crying? I'm not doing that.

Get the pull!

First up on Whiplash is Ayonna.

I'm pretty sure Whiplash isn't part of her usual treatment plan,

especially against this Gladiator.

Get ready for a weather beating. It's Hurricane!

5'10, 160 pounds, and spinning

straight out of the South, this climate disaster shows

no mercy to contenders.

Hurricane looks pumped up and ready to go.

The game-face is on.

Time to send it over to our head referee, Thomas Taylor,

joined by Robin DeLorenzo and Mike Sydara. Thomas!

Contender, ready?

Ayonna's banking on her quick reflexes

from her basketball days to give her an advantage here.

Gladiator, ready?

Yeah!

- -Whoo!

Three, two, one!

For the first time in nearly two decades, American Gladiators is back!

Hurricane trying to body her way in on the doctor.

Procter getting wheeled around. So strong in the legs. So tough.

About a 12-pound difference between the two.

Under 15 to go. Both Gladiator and competitor are down.

But not out. This has turned into a wrestling match.

- -

Oh! She gets thrown off!

With just seconds to go!

Winds are gusting.

That's a category five in my book.

Look at Hurricane in the crowd.

She's still going and going.

The crowd cheering her on.

Hurricane coming, baby. A hurricane!

With Dr. Procter shut out by Hurricane,

her opponent is hoping to put up some big points on the board.

Let's get to know Francheska.

My name is Francheska. I'm 31 years old.

And I'm from Miami.

My culture is everything.

It is my soul. It is my connection to my people.

My family is Cuban and Colombian.

A lot of strong women in my family.

Fiery and passionate. We love food.

And my best memories of growing up are dance parties.

When I was a kid, I used to love to dance, but one summer, I broke my back.

I had so much pain, I couldn't sit for long durations,

couldn't dance.

That injury has followed me my whole life.

People think that our life is over, or they're not able to...

This gets me emotional.

This injury was incredibly impactful for my life,

and I actually ended up studying exercise sports science.

It's really taught me to just overcome any challengers that you have.

To represent people that have had these injuries means the world.

I'm going against the best of the best, and that makes me feel so excited.

It makes me feel honored to be here, but they're gonna underestimate me,

and I'm gonna sneak attack them. I'm gonna win.

Francheska is looking to see if all that sports experience

can handle our next Gladiator.

She's fresh out of the furnace, and she wants all the smoke,

Blaze!

Coming in hot at 6'0 ft, 185 pounds.

This wildfire from the Ozarks is impossible to contain.

- -

Francheska earns some serious bravery points.

She's giving up nine inches and sixty pounds to Blaze.

Contender, ready?

Gladiator, ready?

Back in the old day, you can only use

one hand in this event. Now, you can use two.

There's a lot of pushing and pulling,

kind of like my marriage. Hi, honey.