American Gladiators - Gladiators Zone

LATEST NEWS

THE AMERICAN GLADIATORS ARE BACK!

NBC is reinventing the classic competition series American Gladiators. Hulk Hogan and Laila Ali have been announced as new hosts. The upcoming premiere season is due to broadcast on 6th January 2008 on NBC.

Find out more about the Next Generation of American Gladiators and to watch the brand new TV commercial please click here .

INFORMATION

The 1990-91 first-half Series Champion, Rico Constantino, went on to become a well-known professional wrestler in the WWE, under the name of 'Rico'. He was challenged by Gemini to find out if "he had what it took" to be a Contender for the show. He ended up defeating Gemini in his best event Joust (Duel).

One of the most dramatic finishes in AG history came during the men's Eliminator in the final of Series 3. Runner-up Joe Mauro held a 4 second lead over champion Mark Ortega. Both Contenders crossed the finish line at the same time, causing officials to review the finish. It was determined that Mark's hand crossed the finish line a split second before Joe and he was crowned Champion.

Series 4 was probably one of the most injury-plagued seasons in American Gladiators history. Many Contenders were put out due to injury, including at least three winners who were unable to advance into their next show. Gladiator Elektra also broke her nose during Hang Tough in the Grand Championship.

American Gladiators held 3 alumni shows for past Contenders. The first was during Series 2 for four Series 1 Contenders. The second took place in Series 6, featuring all six Grand Champions crowned in Gladiator Arena in seasons 3 through to 5. The final alumni show took place in the final series, pitting the Grand Champions from Series 5 and 6 against each other.

In the 'Battle of the Best', a famous moment took place when Series 6 Grand Champion Kyler Storm performed a somersault leap over Turbo in Breakthrough to score. The two would clash again in Swingshot, when Turbo caught Kyler in mid-air and got into a fight after Kyler had faked two earlier leaps from his platform, a violation of the rules. Both were disqualified, although Kyler did receive some of the points he has scored.

For the final series of American Gladiators, female Gladiators Zap and Dallas faced each other as Contenders in a special show. Dallas proved victorious in The Eliminator.

As well as a successful television run, the Amercian Gladiators also had a live dinner show in Florida. American Gladiators Orlando Live! ran from 1996 until 1998.