American Ninja Warrior 2018: National Finals Day 1 Results, Highlights

Winning $1 million in Las Vegas is always easier said than done, and those who advanced to the national finals of the 10th season of American Ninja Warrior were reminded of that during Monday's episode.

The best competitors from the city qualifiers and finals reached the national finals in Sin City, where the intensity was dialed up in the first of four stages. Len Melisurgo of NJ.com noted a mere two ninjas have finished every stage to win the $1 million grand prize in the show's 10-year history, underscoring just how difficult it is as the finals progress.

Monday's episode was the first of two covering Stage 1, and competitors were tested with a daunting course featuring the following obstacles and given just two minutes and 25 seconds to advance to Stage 2.

• Archer Alley—competitors reach a swinging rope by running up multiple triangle-shaped boards

• Propeller Bar—a trampoline leads to a bar and rope to get to the next step

• Double Dipper—the step the NBC broadcast said eliminated the most competitors last year, which features two bars swinging over water at rapid speeds and the ninjas going airborne between them

• Jumping Spider—a trampoline into widespread walls where competitors use their arms and legs to climb like a spider

• Jeep Run—new obstacle where ninjas run over tires and use swinging steering wheels to dismount onto a larger rotating tire

• Warped Wall—competitors run straight up a wall

• Razor Beams—new obstacle that forces ninjas to run across balance beams

• Twist and Fly—competitors use a trampoline to reach spinning handles they use to propel themselves onto the net they must climb to reach the buzzer

American Ninja Warrior often plays on the emotions of viewers, and the first one to qualify for Stage 2 fit the bill perfectly. Austin Gray reached the buzzer after he donated his kidney to save his friend merely months before Monday's episode was filmed.

Gray wasn't the only one with an emotional backstory, as the broadcast revealed Karson Voiles' wife Kami has a tumor in her head. What's more, his young daughter used a wand to give him magic while he competed, and it worked as advertised because he conquered the course as the second finisher.

Nick Hanson almost beat them there and was the first not to fall, but he ran out of time while climbing the net on the Twist and Fly in a heartbreaking defeat. He wasn't the only one to bow out at the net, as 6'6" Jon Alexis Jr. and a number of others went plunging into the water on the final step.

The agony of close defeat turned into physical pain when 43-year-old Travis Rosen slammed his leg at the end of the Double Dipper and broke his ankle.

There were fortunately some lighthearted moments for viewers as well, including when veteran competitor Jamie Rahn lost a shoe on the trampoline of the Propeller Bar and proceeded to remove his other shoe and complete the entire course in incredible fashion.

Rahn, otherwise known as Captain NBC, said it required "less thinking, more doing" to finish the course with his bare feet in one of the most memorable performances in American Ninja Warrior history.

It was particularly impressive since most of the challengers fell victim to the course's pitfalls with both shoes intact, including all of the "Fantastic Four" women who train together.

Allyssa Beird and Michelle Warnky lost in the opening steps of the Archer Alley boards, while Rachael Goldstein dropped out in the Double Dipper. Jesse Labreck made it farther than any of her training partners, but she lost her grip in the Twist and Fly and missed her chance in the final obstacle.

Even Joe Moravsky was reduced to tears when he fell before Stage 3 for the first time in his ninja career.

It wasn't all struggles, though, as Aurora, Illinois, firefighter Dan Polizzi, Bama Ninja Casey Suchocki, Ethan Swanson, Josh Levin, Sean Bryan, Tyler Gillett and Adam Rayl all advanced to Stage 2. Not even that group could match Daniel Gil and 19-year-old Mathis "Kid" Owhadi, who battled as the final two competitors in Monday's episode.

Gil hit the buzzer with 38.35 seconds remaining for the fastest time of the evening, but the mark stood for a mere one competitor as Owhadi finished with 40.29 seconds left.

Despite Owhadi's heroics, the majority of those who competed Monday were eliminated, but those who advanced will face history with the first-ever underwater obstacle during Stage 2. The national finals are difficult enough with the water looming for those who fall, but it will be a featured part of the next step on the way to $1 million.