*Season 11 of “American Ninja Warrior” has crowned its new champion. Drew Drechsel, is the third contestant ever to complete all the stages on American Ninja Warrior and is $1 million richer.
EURweb associate TK Trinidad sat down with host, Akbar Gbajabiamila to discuss the season finale and why “American Ninja Warrior” is so impactful.
“The show is not about just being a ‘Ninja,’ Gbajabiamila says. “The show is about overcoming obstacles.”
The “ANW” host believes that not only is the show for the whole family, it is a testament to human will power.
The show itself had a slow rise. The American version of “ANW” debuted in 2009 and has been evolving ever since. Gbajabiamila talked about the early stages of the show.
“Here is a show that started off on a small cable TV channel called “G4” that got turned into the Esquire Network but eventually made it to NBC and it was its own niche little thing. You kind of heard about it, but didn’t know about it and it wasn’t until season 6, that it blew up. A lot of it had to do with Kacy Catanzaro and her success on the show; becoming the first woman to go to the semi-finals.”
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Not only did the show overcome a rocky start, but the ninjas themselves also took the experience on “ANW” and created a whole community that supports one another. Even though Gbajabiamila, is about lifting weights on a daily basis, he sees how “ANW” has become something more.
“It’s a lifestyle now. We’ve seen it with CrossFit. It’s a movement and you see the show has produced so many owners now. You thought Magic Johnson was the only guy going from sports to business owner; you should check out the ninja community. I feel like there are at least 20 or 30 of them that own gyms now,” he said.
There is so much to becoming a ninja warrior, but the common factor is determination. The former NFL player said he has a lot of respect for the ninjas, “For the longest time, I thought the NFL was baddest sport on the planet, like, nothing tops the NFL. So, to my surprise,I was amazed by the athleticism on the show. To this day, I’m still very amazed at how the athletes evolve on the show. Because as our course gets harder and harder, they get better and better and you just don’t see that anywhere else.”
Akbar Gbajabiamila has a front-row seat to witness what grit and determination gets ninjas like Drew Drechsel, who are not only great athletes, but have amazing stories on how they defy the odds in their personal life and how they inspire us to awaken our inner ninja to go out and accomplish our goals.
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