American Ninja Warrior Junior

American Ninja Warrior Junior is an American obstacle-course competition television series for children ages 9 to 14, spun off from the NBC series American Ninja Warrior, which itself is based on the Japanese program Sasuke. It premiered on October 13, 2018 on Universal Kids and ran for three seasons, ending with its finale on December 9, 2021 on Peacock.^{1 • 2}

Format

The series put children on scaled-down versions of the adult show's head-to-head courses. Nearly 200 boys and girls from across the United States faced off on the same courses in the three age brackets, with the first season bringing 192 competitors to Los Angeles over 20 weeks of competition.^{2 • 7} Contestants raced in pairs on obstacles adapted from the adult series, including the Sonic Swing, Tic Toc, Spin Cycle, Ring Toss, Fly Wheels, Devil Steps, and the Warped Wall, all adjusted to compensate for the children's stature and strength.^{2 • 3}

Competition ran as tournament-style elimination within each age group, ending with one semi-finalist per bracket who advanced to a final; each season crowned three champions, one per bracket.^{3 • 1} Each bracket was mentored by All Star Ninja Mentors, professional ninjas from the adult franchise including Drew Drechsel, Meagan Martin, Najee Richardson, Barclay Stockett, Kevin Bull, and Natalie Duran.⁷

Hosts and production

The show was fronted by the adult version's hosts, Matt Iseman and Akbar Gbajabiamila. Olympic gymnast Laurie Hernandez joined as sideline reporter for the first season; Victoria Arlen took over the role when the series returned for its second season on February 22, 2020.^{4 • 1}

The series was commissioned by Universal Kids, a NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment network, whose general manager Deirdre Brennan framed it as a response to young viewers wanting to see themselves on screen. It was executive produced by A. Smith & Co. Productions founders Arthur Smith and Kent Weed, along with Matt Cahoon; the same company produces American Ninja Warrior for NBC.⁴ The parent format traces to Sasuke, the Tokyo Broadcasting System sports entertainment program that has been broadcast in 165 countries and adapted in 23.⁵

Connection to the adult franchise

The junior series fed competitors into the adult show. When American Ninja Warrior lowered its minimum age limit, teenagers who had competed on the junior series were invited to participate in its season 13 casting.⁹ Two season 1 champions went on to win the adult series: Vance Walker took the American Ninja Warrior title in seasons 15 and 16, becoming a back-to-back million-dollar winner, and Kai Beckstrand won season 17 in 2025 at age 19, taking the $250,000 grand prize.^{10 • 11}

References

1. American Ninja Warrior Junior, TV Tango
2. American Ninja Warrior Junior, TVmaze
3. American Ninja Warrior Junior Parents' Guide, Common Sense Media
4. Universal Kids jumps for junior Ninja Warrior, A. Smith & Co. Productions
5. American Ninja Warrior Spinoff Nominated for 3 Daytime Emmys, TBS Program Catalog
6. American Ninja Warrior Junior, TV Insider
7. American Ninja Warrior Junior, Rotten Tomatoes
8. American Ninja Warrior Junior Season 3, TheTVDB
9. American Ninja Warrior season 13 questions, answered, reality blurred
10. American Ninja Warrior season 17 guide, What to Watch
11. American Ninja Warrior Season 17 finale recap, CinemaBlend

Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Unscripted, reality, and web-native series › Reality and competition franchise editions › Reality and competition franchises — overview and format history

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026

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