'American Gladiator'

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Viewers, ready? The Gladiators sure are.

American Gladiators is back, again, and hoping to not reach the corporate Eliminator as swiftly as the two-season 2008 NBC reboot. The competition pits regular Joes and Janes who happen to be in unusually great shape (but are maybe short) against some truly incredible hulks.

The original American Gladiators created by Johnny Ferraro (and picked apart by the excellent Netflix docuseries Muscles & Mayhem) was a syndication sensation in the ’90s. A few attempts at updated the franchise fell flat, but Ferraro, like his competitors, is anything but a quitter. The latest attempt to revive the David vs. Goliath competition premieres Thursday on Amazon Prime Video.

Like the ’08 version, which was hosted by Hulk Hogan, American Gladiators (2026, MGM Television) will be emceed by a WWE Superstar, Mike “The Miz” Mizanin; pro wrestling is extra well-represented in the Gladiators locker room this time.

The new American Gladiators cast counts Jessie Godderz (“Steel” here, Mr. PEC-tacular in Impact Wrestling/TNA), Eric Bugenhagen (“Bull,” former WWE Superstar Rick Boogs), Kailey Latimer (“Hurricane,” Kamille in AEW), Jessica Roden (“Supernova,” J-Rod across the indies/AEW) and Michael Wardlow (“Fang,” Wardlow in AEW). Good luck with those guys (and women), contenders.

The 2008 Gladiators roster had a pair of pro wrestlers: Matt Morgan (“Beast” on Gladiators “The Blueprint” Matt Morgan in WWE) and Jessie “Justice” Smith Jr. (“Justice” on American Gladiators, Smith competed on season five of WWE Tough Enough). Fun fact: it also featured Gina Carano as “Crush.”

Godderz especially will not be camera shy. The Steel one, whose catchphrase is “Daddy’s Home,” competed on back-to-back season of CBS’ Big Brother. Godderz has since been brought back to the popular broadcast series about 10 times — his estimate — usually as his pro-wrestling character. Dude is built for this, and I am not just referring to his build.

Read our Q&A with Godderz below, and check out the first three episodes of American Gladiators, now available on Prime Video.

***

How do you get a Gladiator name? Is there a list? Do you pitch ideas?

They proposed a handful and I just pretty much gave the nod. Then they were just like, “Hey, we’ve got to narrow down these handful of final names,” and they came away with “Steel.” I couldn’t be more elated. I think it’s very, very fitting — I mean, the Man of Steel just fits. Cinderella is ready for the ball.

Were there other nicknames you liked just as much?

Well, I mean, they suggest everything. I’m assuming there’s a whole team of lawyers, if I had to guess, everything had to be approved and we couldn’t step on anybody’s toes. Nothing could be trademarked or registered, or any of that sort of thing. So, yeah, whatever they gave me, I was going to take the ball and run with. I’m definitely glad they landed on Steel, I think it’s awesome.

America is not exactly united right now. The red, white and blue is aesthetically toned down in this version. But it’s still very much American Gladiators. How hard did producers push the “American” part?

I mean, it’s American Gladiators. [Laughs] But yeah, that was the one thing that they wanted to drive home, like, this is Team USA. There’s a lot of pride and a lot of nationalism with this show. I don’t know of anyone who says they didn’t like (the original) American Gladiators. It has such strong a grip on Americana, like baseball and apple pie from Grandma’s house as far as I’m concerned. So they wanted to drive that home.

You’re not the only professional wrestler here. Miz hosts, there’s Rick Boogs — Wardlow gets the cool entrance…

It’s so sick.

…There’s a clear (pro-) wrestler-to-Gladiator pipeline. The skills transfer better than anything else I can think of.

Being a two-time tag team champion from TNA, there’s a lot that that encompasses, right? Like just being able to talk as soon as a competitive bout ends. What (American Gladiators showrunner) Daniel Calin tried to capture, is you literally go from 110 miles an hour — you step off the Joust, you get done with an event, like the Wall, or Hang Tough, or Atlasphere — and less than one minute later you’re standing there with Mike and Rocsi (Diaz), and they’re asking you, l

Why the New 'American Gladiators' Doubled Down on Pro Wrestlers