American Ninja Warrior is full of colorful personalities who go by Ninja-nicknames and
have become sports celebrities in their own right.
As of 2019, only three contestants have achieved Total Victory since the show launched back
in 2009.
If you've ever wondered, "How do these people make money?," here's what some of the most
famous American Ninja Warrior athletes do to pay the bills.
Drew Drechsel is one of the most successful competitors in the history of American Ninja
Warrior, becoming in 2019 only the second person to win the show's ultimate million
dollar prize.
Drechsel gained the nickname "Real Life Ninja" as a teenager by impressing his friends with
parkour tricks, and his accomplishments stand up to that reputation, as he holds multiple
speed records for American Ninja Warrior and is one of the relatively few American competitors
to have appeared on the original Japanese version of the course, where he made it to
the third stage an impressive six times.
As USA Today points out, he's a ninja as his day job, too.
Although in the earliest seasons of Ninja Warrior Drechsel was listed as a used car
salesman, he, as several other veterans of the show have done, opened his own gym, which
he uses to train others in the arts necessary to do the world's most extra obstacle course.
While Drechsel's original gym is in Connecticut, he told USA Today in 2019 he intended to use
the prize money he had won by attaining Total Victory to move to Florida, where he planned
to open more ninja gyms.
Joe Moravsky is known as one of the most consistent competitors on American Ninja Warrior, having
cleared stage one faster than any other rookie and ultimately making it to stage three in
his debut season in 2013, and making it to the third stage all but twice as of 2019's
season 11.
He's also known as "the Weatherman," and it turns out that's not just a cute nickname.
He actually is a meteorologist for News 12 Connecticut.
A native of Sherman, Connecticut, Moravsky received a degree in meteorology from Western
Connecticut State University in 2012.
Moravsky told Men's Journal he doesn't find his interests in ninja sports and weather
to be conflicting, both jumping off tiny trampolines and standing next to lightning strikes feed
his hunger for adrenaline.
Additionally, he claims the best weather for doing jumping spiders and warped walls is
warm with low humidity, in case that's the kind of thing you wonder about.
"Thunder and lightning here in Las Vegas, courtesy of that man, the Weather Man!"
It might seem as if every other American Ninja Warrior entrant is a youth pastor or worship
leader, and Daniel Gil is one of the show's most successful examples.
The self-proclaimed "Kingdom Ninja" ran the course in his first eligible season in 2015.
Since then, Gil has been known for his explosive performances, and his long, curly hair.
In 2019, he was the only competitor besides Drew Drechsel to make it to the final stage
but became the first person ever to time out on that stage as he failed to beat Drechsel's
pace, leaving Total Victory just out of reach.
As Gil himself explains on his homepage, in addition to being a five-time Ninja Warrior
finalist, he has also worked as a worship leader, singing and playing bass in the worship
band at his home church in Houston, Texas.
Since appearing on the show, though, he has also begun traveling as a motivational speaker.
Jesse Labreck, perhaps better known as "Flex" Labreck, made her debut
on American Ninja Warrior in 2016 and has since gone on to be one of the most dominant
female competitors on the show, advancing to the national finals every time she's competed,
and having been the last woman standing in two different seasons as of 2019.
In the 2019 season, Labreck performed better than her fiance, fellow Ninja Warrior competitor
Chris DiGangi, finishing sixth on the qualifying course and tying Meagan Martin for the record
for the most consecutive qualifying buzzers.
As Labreck told ESPN in 2016, during her early appearances on the show, she was working as
a live-in caregiver for a 20-year-old woman with cerebral palsy, who can often be seen
cheering on Labreck from the sidelines during her Ninja Warrior runs.
However, since becoming engaged to DiGangi in 2019, the two have opened and run the Ultimate
Ninja Gym in Illinois, as the Chicago Tribune reports.
Labreck's official title is "General Manager of Course Operations," meaning she oversees
safety, curriculum, course development, and more.
Debuting in 2013's season five, Jessie Graff is one of American Ninja Warrior's biggest
stars, being the first woman to attempt a city finals course, the second woman to qualify
for the national finals, the first woman to clear stage one of the final course, the first
woman to clear stage two of the final course, and the highest ranking ever of any woman
in a city final, among many other achievements.
Despite all of these accomplishments, American Ninja Warrior is probably not where most people
in the world have seen Jessie Graff, even if they didn't actually know they were seeing
her.
Graff's day job is as a stuntwoman, and as she explains on her homepage, she's worked
on a number of incredibly well-known projects, including Wonder Woman, Transformers, and
Agents of SHIELD, among others.
Her many projects in the superhero genre have been reflected in her tendency to wear superhero-themed
costumes while running the Ninja Warrior course.
Her work on Wonder Woman 1984 caused her to miss running the national finals course in
season 10.
"Getting to work on Wonder Woman 1984 is more than a dream come true.
The bad news is that it means I can't compete in Vegas this year."
But she returned for season 11, again qualifying for the national finals.
Additionally, Graff has black belts in Taekwondo and Kung Fu, as well as degrees in theater,
and, yes, you guessed it, aerospace engineering.
David "Flip" Rodriguez is one of American Ninja Warrior's standout competitors, known
for the blazing speed with which he finishes courses, often taking the fastest time of
any night on which he competes.
He first competed in season four in 2012, and he has competed in every season since,
making the national finals in all but one season as of 2019.
In his first several seasons, in addition to his dynamic speed, Rodriguez was known
for the trademark mask he would wear while running the course.
As PAVE explains, he eventually removed the mask, explaining it represented the pain he
bore from being abused as a child.
Now he works as an ambassador for PAVE, advocating for victims' rights and educating others.
He also works as a Hollywood stuntman, appearing in such films as Star Trek Beyond and the
Transformers franchise.
And if all that weren't enough, he's also a competitor and instructor in the art of
freerunning, which is basically like parkour except when you pull off a wicked cool stunt,
you shout "freerunning!" instead of "parkour!"
Despite not wearing a flashy costume or having a silly nickname, Allyssa Beird has become
a breakout star on American Ninja Warrior, thanks to her stellar and reliable performances.
In her debut season she managed to advance to the city finals, earning her spot as one
of the "Fantastic Four" women to do so.
In 2017, she became the second woman ever to hit a buzzer on stage one after Jessie
Graff, as well as being the first woman, along with Flex Labreck, to complete a city qualifying
course, and the first woman to be the first overall finisher of any course.
As of 2019, she has been to the national finals every time she's run the course.
While such accomplishments might be expected from other competitors who are pro rock climbers
or free-runners or pole vaulters or what have you, you might be surprised to hear of them
coming from an otherwise unassuming fifth grade teacher.
As she told ESPN in 2017, every day Beird commutes an hour to her job as a teacher in
Massachusetts, stays after school to do administrative work, then hits the ninja gym, balancing five
hours of training with five hours of sleep.
And if that's not enough to keep her busy, according to her homepage, she also does web
development work for her dad's company.
Despite being a native of Knoxville, Tennessee, Grant McCartney is known as "The Island Ninja"
thanks to his current home of Honolulu, Hawaii, a location which seems to fit his bombastic
personality and laid-back attitude.
It has certainly influenced his sense of fashion, which includes many tropical-themed tank tops
and fanny packs.
He's also known for dancing his way through the course, though according to Knox News,
a letter from a 4-year-old fan inspired him to take the competition more seriously.
As of 2019, McCartney has made the national finals three times, being eliminated on the
second stage each time.
His colorful performance style and unique sense of showmanship saw him invited to compete
on Ninja Warrior Germany's celebrity edition, where he came in first place.
In his earliest appearances on American Ninja Warrior, McCartney was working as a flight
attendant for Hawaiian Airlines, but as with many other top-level competitors, his success
on the show has allowed him to branch out into other avenues, and he has since been
working as a trainer, motivational speaker, and professional runner of obstacle courses.
He also told Knox News he's writing a children's book called Everyone Knows Flamingos Like
to Party about bears, and presumably, flamingos, having a party.
For its first nine seasons, the minimum age for competitors on American Ninja Warrior
was 21, but in season 10 it was dropped to 19, which allowed then-19-year-old Mathis
"Kid" Owhadi to make a run for Mount Midoriyama.
However, by then, Owhadi had already competed on a college version of the show and as a
member of Daniel Gil's crew on a team competition version of the course.
Because of his experience, Owhadi has been able to dominate the course since 2018, despite
the fact that it was technically his rookie season.
He finished his rookie season by qualifying for the national finals in fifth place and
becoming the second-youngest person ever to clear stage one of the final course before
failing on stage two.
In season 11, Owhadi defeated his mentor Daniel Gil on the Power Tower and made his way to
stage three of the final course.
As he is one of American Ninja Warrior's youngest competitors, it won't surprise most people
to learn Owhadi is still in college as of 2019.
As reported by American Ninja Warrior Nation, he studies at the University of Houston's
Bauer College of Business, where he studies, well, business.
When he graduates, perhaps he'll start some kind of ninja-related business?
In 2019, Michelle Warnky made American Ninja Warrior history as the second woman ever to
hit a buzzer on a city finals course after Kacy Catanzaro's landmark run in 2014.
That season was also notable for being the one in which Warnky was smashed in the face
on the Ring Swing during her qualifying run.
"And she just wipes the blood away and soldiers on."
But she still finished the course, with blood streaming down her face.
She's also tied for the record for most city finals qualifications for a woman with Meagan
Martin and held the record for most wildcard appearances in the Vegas finals, before the
wildcard rule was abolished.
Warnky has competed in all but one national final since season five, as she was outpaced
by other female competitors in season nine.
She has nevertheless remained one of the most dominant women in American Ninja Warrior.
As reported by NBC 4 News in Columbus, Ohio, Warnky is the co-owner of Movement Lab Ohio,
a gym in Columbus where she also works as an event coordinator.
The gym, which Warnky co-owns with fellow American Ninja Warrior competitors, is described
as:
"An elite training facility for Parkour, Ninja Warrior, Obstacle Course Racing and general
fitness."
Warnky is also advertised as being available for hire as a motivational speaker.
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