Is This The Closest Finish Ever? | American Gladiators

[@RaginRonic]

This is THE SINGLE GREATEST moment in the ENTIRE history of the worldwide Gladiators franchise. NO moment supersedes this one. Thank you Larry Thompson. Thank you Larry Csonka. Thank you Mike Adamle. Thank you Joseph Mauro. Thank you Mark Ortega. Thank you Gladiators. Thank you Samuel Goldwyn Television. For this awesome piece of television. =)

[@lakerskid2013]

In the newer version they had from 2008 to 2009 there was a very similar finish that I recall. Granted the newer version had some differences with the games and obstacle course at the end but I remember a lady named Venus that was a substitute for somebody that got injured and her opponent had a 10 second head start on her, Venus even started off slow, then out of nowhere at the very end she came all the way back and barely beat her opponent. Watching this clip reminds me of that finish

[@jeffk1722]

This is what I remembered, and KZbin search delivered.

[@PBEcotaku]

Mark launching himself over the last hurdle was amazing. One fluid movement to decide it. Bam Bam had several wasted movements.

[@Jerzybred908]

I watched this as a kid on Saturday morning.. what a lineup this and wrestling, the late 80s early 90s were amazing, so glad I lived and experienced them

[@nmahangu]

Me too 😊

[@skippythealien9627]

man these contestants make the eliminator look so easy, but holy fuck...i remember trying to climb a cargo net recently and i was gassed after going nowhere for a solid minute lmao

[@DOGFACESOLDIER0708]

For the people complaining about the ball not touching Ortega. Dont forgot if it wasn't for bam bam missing his first attempt on the first wall jump and clumsy tripping before jumping over the second wall jump and lastly having a 4 second head start shows the superiority on Ortega's flawless run.

[@jonathanmyers2867]

2:19 "Oh, my goodness! Oh, my goodness! This is a photo finish! This is a photo finish!"

[@amcgarvin4life30]

Simply the best! Should’ve kept this eliminator format for the following season..

[@jimmyboyzable]

I remember watching this when it was airing on ESPN Classic all those years ago and even now, watching it on KZbin, I get chills...

[@johnanderson9765]

Shoot, I watched it as it originally aired!

[@stevenmorrison4692]

Same. Originally airing

[@adriananderson76]

Same.

[@Harrywood630]

But did you cry?

[@juliansmith1951]

Greatest Eliminator course race ever

[@gladfan1989]

100% facts!

[@lamontpeanutmillerjr]

I remember this Eliminator. What a great time it was back in these days. I was a Kid back then and I was on the edge of my seat. When Ortega launched himself on that last wall, that Shit was Crazy, Good Times.

[@MechaTailsMK2]

What a finish!!

[@buddyward3686]

Oh man I remember watching this race when I was a kid. This was an exciting race to watch

[@rolirolster]

Man I fucking LOVE SPORT! Moments like this are just golden.

[@TripSoul10]

This season had lots of special moments: new gladiators introduced, bad injury to Turbo (my favorite male gladiator), Nitro giving someone “the business” in hang tough causing a contender to get a new uniform, one competitor winning four eliminators trailing each time, a classic conquer moment between nitro & a competitor towards end of season, the maze, slingshot, & gladiators answering fan mail.

[@jimmyboyzable]

In addition to the debuts of Storm, Viper & Tower (replacing the injured Turbo)... this season marked the very last for Gemini, Blaze, Lace, Gold, Nitro (until the 1994-'95 season) & Ice (until the 1993-'94 season)

[@gladfan1989]

And it wasn't just Mark & Bamm Bamm. So many close finishes that year in the Eliminator.

[@TripSoul10]

@@jimmyboyzable when Gemini, lace, & gold left, did not seem as interested in following future seasons despite new talent bringing the heat to the contenders.

[@scottvasquez1401]

@@gladfan1989 Yes, the Coz Worthington and Tim Goldrick eliminator from the semi finals was almost as close.

[@gladfan1989]

@@scottvasquez1401 By the hair of his chinny chin chin.

[@jnadle1]

Ah, the moment from 1991-1992 that everyone was talking about, Ortega vs. Mauro in an almost dead heat, but just by a hair, Ortega won.

[@EGarrett01]

He saw that he was behind and instead of trying to land and run across he just dove. As Bill Walton said, if you really want it, get down on the ground for it.

[@mikesilva3868]

Best episode 😊

[@amcgarvin4life30]

This and Coz Worthington vs Tim Goldrick made this season simply the best!!

[@Watchinwheel]

Truth be told I think that race was closer than that one

[@kevinjwhite334]

What An incredible finish mark ortega is the best in season 3

[@letsssgooo4618]

Bam bam getting drunk on those walls lol

[@dlopezdlo11]

Gotta feel for bam bam but damn that was one hell of a race at the end props to but oretga and bam bam for a great competitive war

[@TheQuarterGuy]

The greatest Eliminator of all time.

[@jorgeandrew]

2:02 the exact moment that Joseph Mauro loss the Grand Championchip 😖🤦🏻‍♂️

[@bruceli9094]

2:15 bad luck costed him.

[@l-wolverine2211]

Sometimes I wonder how these guys would’ve done in the Revamped Eliminator, especially with the Reverse Treadmill at the very end.

[@lojosol]

Putting the Travellators at the end of the course was the best decision they did with revamping the eliminator, but in the original run of the show, there was a flaw in letting the contenders run up the side if they couldn't do it after 2 bonafide attempts. they should have done it like they did in the UK and make getting up the belt a requirement before swinging through the paper finish line no matter what. it would have allowed for a lot more exciting come from behind races.

[@letsssgooo4618]

Hated it. You’d get people to tired to get up the damn thing. Especially the women. Plus swinging through paper sucked. Lol

[@stevenmorrison4692]

Bam Bam lmao

[@letsssgooo4618]

This was the eliminator at its best other than having to run through a gladiator behind a piece of paper being replaced by balls.

[@SweeturKraut]

Bam Bam was my favorite most memorable competitor.

[@Itaty-hu1cm]

Why one of them started first at the beginning? I'm sorry, I just discovered this clip a few minutes ago :)

[@gordo6366]

They first compete in ~6 different event earning them points. The point differential gives the leading competitor a head start. You can see the score at the beginning 0:04

[@Tubewings]

This ending, along with another close call earlier in the season, is why they revamped the final leg of the Eliminator for the following season.

[@lordbaethan]

What did they change?

[@TripSoul10]

@@lordbaethan medicine balls replaced with moving padded dummies operated by gladiators.

[@Tubewings]

@@lordbaethan They replaced the second wall and final straightaway (where the Gladiators toss a medicine ball from above) with the moving blocking dummies (activated by two Gladiators). Also, there was a longer run to the finish line after the last hurdle.

[@amcgarvin4life30]

And I hated that they changed it!! Those two endings were awesome and was at the time the reason ratings was so high..they changed the eliminator and it was so blahhh!

[@lakerskid2013]

I’ve only seen a couple episodes of this version on ESPN Classic but I remember the newer version had this substitute girl named Venus who was only there because someone got hurt (forgot the original contestant’s name) but the other side was this lady that had around a 10 second head start but Venus came all the way back and barely won. This clip reminds me of that finish, granted the obstacle course obviously having some differences in the newer version from 2008-2009

[@mrbow50001]

It was actually Venus who had the 0.5 sec headstart against Koya, but that swim paired with the 30 foot cargo net absolutely zapped Venus, so Koya had a massive lead going into the travellator. Then Venus had the massive comeback and won

[@dkillalegend]

I can picture Mark Ortega facing Kyler Storm (who did an amazing somersault) in an Eliminator rematch!

[@letsssgooo4618]

Where can I find this entire episode?

[@mysticgirl916]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/gnqoiGiwndp7lbc

[@andrewojanen9167]

I believe Pluto TV has a few seasons on demand, i watched it on there a few weeks ago

[@Dim4323]

If this was a movie someone should make it about this.

[@ekujj13]

That treadmill looks like it’s running 70mph uphill.

[@GSPfan10]

Even though I know the outcome I'm still in shock how this ends with every rewatch.

[@billyprince4981]

August 30, 1992

[@thedailyruns6046]

00:50 Can we take a moment to appreciate just how gorgeous were women in the 90s

[@adamlorenz4748]

Gemini won this for Ortega by not throwing that medicine ball

[@TripSoul10]

Gemini didn’t time his drop. He drops it a few seconds earlier, Joe likely wins by a second or two.

[@SourcesSayMedia]

Noone told joe to reset on the wall stumble off the wall or try to juke the ball.. mark ran straight that why Gemini didnt have a good angle to hit him.. it still made him duck and joe pussy footed over the wall

[@deadpan80]

3:21 Red came awfully close to snapping the elbow in half coming down

[@EGarrett01]

His elbow was bent safely, though with that angle he could've hurt his shoulder a bit. But he was rolling forward so all good.

[@Harrywood630]

Not a dry eye in the building 🤦‍♂

[@ColinKennedy-q1y]

Win or lose, I would go shake the other guy's hand for being a great competitor.

[@billyprince4981]

30-Years Ago

[@chrisnotredfield662]

This episode will be shown in a few days lol

[@uc95nu51]

Man the 60s sure were a different time

[@zionkraze9965]

Wow, without the music like the UK version, it kinda feels a little flat.

[@SourcesSayMedia]

The music is the crowd

[@andrewojanen9167]

the music in the UK version (and the 08 US revival) made it feel more like a video game than a real competiton

[@mTwMarco]

such a shame. Joseph jumped over the walls before like it was nothing..and right in this moment he messed it up. felt really bad for him :(

[@scottvasquez1401]

I think the arm soreness he was going through messed him up a bit.

[@EGarrett01]

As Bill Walton said, if you want it, get on the ground for it. Red wins.

[@Matthew6418]

Unfortunately this was decided by the gladiators look at the medicine balls at the end. If marks actually hit him Joseph wins easily.

[@danielward8645]

Nah. Mauro choked on the walls. He had to jump at the first wall twice. Then he stumbled and fell in between wall 1 and 2. That’s where ortega made up all the time. Mauro actually went up the tread mill faster and the cargo net way faster(that’s where Mauro just killed guys in this event. he was phenomenal on the cargo net). By the time mauro got to the walls he had actually extended his lead. But he lost 6 or 7 seconds on the walls.

[@Matthew6418]

@@danielward8645 He did indeed stumble but at the end of the day-the gladiators decided the race. Didn't change anything.

[@cheapammo5502]

100 percent! The blue medicine ball was dropped after he was already by.

[@TippiGordon]

It's almost like the show is called "American Gladiators" and not "Obstacle Course".

[@Matthew6418]

@Tippi Gordon if you notice though the gladiators were almost completely removed in 4 and were removed in 5. That's not the part of the course they should be a factor in.

[@johnokeeffe8271]

1) this event 2) Cubs win World Series

[@supertarantatikataka3313]

JEFF HARVEY

[@Wokemindvirus-a12]

I miss the good old days before all this woke nonsense! Trump 2024 !! 🇺🇸🙏🏾

[@GSmashGaming]

Amen to that

[@davidmenke7552]

Joe Mauro is a bit of a drama queen TBH.

[@JA-yz9nm]

Extremely unfair, one guy had to dodge the red ball at the end and the other blue ball didn’t fall until he was way past it. Bullshit

[@poluticon]

you guys always with the excuses. the blue guy stumbled TWICE on the wall but yea it was the balls. whatever bro

[@DOGFACESOLDIER0708]

For the people complaining about the ball not touching Ortega. Dont forgot if it wasn't for bam bam missing his first attempt on the first wall jump and clumsy tripping before jumping over the second wall jump and lastly having a 4 second head start shows the superiority on Ortega's flawless run.

[@Adzcantsing]

No where near as good as uk gladiators.

[@NicholasFishel]

Bam bam was robbed

[@axesoccer7887]

It was the right call #DEALWITHIT

[@DOGFACESOLDIER0708]

How was he robbed when he had a 4 second head start and he messed up twice on the 2 walls? Stop crying the Hispanic causing panic won buster

[@forshootsandgiggles]

Shitty, he didn't break the tape. Shouldn't count.

[@axesoccer7887]

As Mike CLEARLY stated, it’s NOT the tape, it’s the yellow line on the bottom. It’s the right call.

[@peterwilliamskelhorn6675]

​@@axesoccer7887he did say that

[@Justin-oz3lw]

Fixed! Pony tail was taking his sweet time at the end.