MovieChat Forums > American Gladiators (1989) Discussion > To clear up the exits of some gladiators

To clear up the exits of some gladiators

posted 13 years ago by zombihntr
3 replies | jump to latest

I've followed this show since I was a kid in the early 90's. I've sought out various magazine articles, interviews, and (credible) online info since then.

I want to create this thread to get to the bottom of why some of the gladiators didn't return as there is a lot of misinformation out there. Hopefully others can fill in the blanks.

This what I've heard so far (not all hard facts of course):

SUNNY (True?) - Injured in the conquer ring, was hesitant of future injuries as she was an Olympic hopeful. Unless I'm confusing her Olympic hopes with Gold, this is true.

MALIBU (Rumor) - Wasn't up to snuff (fired). This seems unlikely because, although he had the lowest W/L stats, he was asked to (and did) return for the Live tour in '92.

BRONCO/JADE (True?) - Back-up injury replacements. Never considered for full-time positions.

TITAN (True) - Intimidated the referee after a bad call. Wasn't asked to return for Season 2.

LACE: Exit #1 (True) - Unspecified injury. Replaced by Diamond.

NITRO: Exit #1/GEMINI/ICE/LACE: Exit #2/BLAZE/THUNDER/GOLD (True?) - Part of a dispute over merchandising royalties as the Gladiators received no compensation for them. This is true (and the reason for the massive turnover between Seasons 3 and 4) though not the case for every Gladiator mentioned.

GOLD (True?) - Not part of the merchandising dispute. Was replaced by Storm before the end of Season 3 due to an unspecified injury.

BLAZE (True?) - Not part of the merchandising dispute. Fired for dating someone involved in a rival show.

LACE: Exit #2 (True?) - Not part of the merchandising dispute. Was scheduled for Season 4 but held out for a pay raise. A replacement being hired as "Lace" was a deliberate dig at her.

LACE #2 (Rumor #1, False?) - Fan backlash. Unlikely as she seems to have participated in only one day of filming. Was likely let go before the first episode of Season 4 ever aired.

(Rumor #2, False) - Fell from the Sky Track during practice. Again, unlikely. Considering the popularity of the show at the time, something like this would've warranted a mention on mainstream news and I don't recall hearing a word about it before 'net rumors.

(Rumor #3, False?) - Wasn't up to snuff. Unlikely. Many of the Gladiators had unspectacular debuts and I'm sure it's a rough process to get hired in the first place. Losing in some of the events on your first day would not get you fired. If that was the case Viper never would've lasted an entire season.

(Rumor #4, True?) - Leg injury. You can see her thigh bandaged up in Breakthru. In a magazine interview Siren mentioned only being guaranteed a few episodes while Lace #2 would be the full-time Gladiator. Siren then replaced Lace. I believe Siren mentioned poor performance on Lace's part as the reason but this may be revisionist history or misinformation on Siren's part. The injury seems to be the most likely reason.

ZAP: Exit #1 (True) - Left due to pregnancy. Later returned.

ZAP: Exit #2 (Rumor?) - Wasn't up to snuff (quit?). She did seem to be struggling during her final season so this seems likely. The question is did she bow out or was she let go?

TURBO: Exit #1 (True) - Hyper-extended knee. Later returned.

DIAMOND: Exit #1 (No info) - I've heard nothing on why she didn't return for Season 3 but she did eventually return as a replacement when Lace was sidelined and she continued through Season 4.

DIAMOND: Exit #2 (No info) - I've heard of a fight with Storm but never that it may be a reason why she (and Storm) didn't return.

STORM (No info) - see above.

ELEKTRA (No info) - While she did break her nose in the Season 4 Championship she still appeared sporadically in later seasons. Considering her popularity and above-average performance overall, it's unclear why she was relegated to part-time status.

VIPER (Rumor) - Fan backlash.

CYCLONE (True) - Bicep injury.

HAVOC (Rumor) - Let go in favor of Sabre's return. Unlikely as he can be seen on the sidelines (in plain clothes) during Women's Powerball in the Season 4 Championship. If he was there and not Sabre, then why didn't he compete? Some kind of injury seems more likely but it's hard to tell since nobody even seems to know what his real name is!

SABRE/TURBO: Exit #2/TOWER: Exit #1/LASER (No info) - With the revolving-door rotation of Gladiators in Season 4, few seem to notice that these guys were MIA at various points during the season. Was it just to try out the new potential Gladiators, or were one or two of them possibly being replaced? (This seemed to be the case with Havoc replacing Sabre)

ALL SEASON 4 MAIN FEMALE GLADIATORS (No info) - Same as above, but more complicated. Siren, Zap, Elektra, Storm, Sky, and Diamond seemed to compete in different combinations of 5 Gladiators during the season. Due to the show being filmed in a different order than it's aired, it's hard to tell if anyone was being replaced at all.

TOWER: Exit #2 (No info)

NITRO: Exit #2 (True?) - Returned for one season on the condition that he could continue as an announcer there-after.

TANK/DALLAS/REBEL (True?) - Backup injury replacements. Never considered for full-time positions.

[–] American_Gladiator_Outlaw 13 years ago

I have done a lot of research on the Gladiators, and I also work for the Gladiators Zone helping Paul keep up the international section. Heck, I probably wrote a lot of the information you find online... After all, I wrote the bios in the booklet that came with season one of AG! No lie!

Here is, what I believe, the best source of information. My advice is to join the forum and start poking around. There is so much information to be had.

http://www.gladiatorszone.co.uk/international/america/

Maybe I can help you some here...

You are correct about Sunny.

You forgot about Laser's early exit from season one with a broken ankle. He was back, obviously, for season 2.

Titan literally chased the ref into the stands. However, that was only part of the problem. He also did not garner the fans that Gemini did.

Malibu was trying to work both a movie deal and a WWF developmental deal, which fell through....although Nitro said that the reason why they got rid of him was because of his chicken legs. According to Nitro, the guy was all upper body and nothing down below, which made him suck as a gladiator.

Thunder was not part of the merchandise dispute and his action figure was scrapped before ever being made (although you can see the prototypes for it on the internet). He broke his wrist and arm severely during season three and was let go due to a change in the trend of hiring Gladiators...you will notice that during season 4, the gladiators start slimming down and the "Super Muscle" look was dropped...this was also around the same time the WWF got into serious trouble with steroid use and the Gladiators "adopted" a steroid free environment. Nitro stated that this was a joke, but it also may have led to Thunder's early exit.

Blaze was dating a character from "Knights and Warriors," which was the rival show. When the producers found out about it, they canned her.

Lace #2 had two more rumors...one was that nude pictures of her were released and she was let go because it violated the morality clause in her contract. This may have also been Elektra's fate to a certain extent, as nude pictures of her also surfaced between season 4 and 5. What helped her case and possibly led to her demotion but not outright removal, though, was that she was a fan favorite and that the pictures were not published by a major magazine.

Lace #2 was also rumored to have sustained a thigh injury and left. This rumor is backed up by the tape she had on her thigh during the second day of filming.

Tower, Sabre, Turbo, and Laser were all injured at different points in season 4. Tower had the eye injury, Sabre had stitches in his face and a pulled quad, and Turbo was still nursing two bad knees. I have no info about Laser, other than he was injured.

Tower was let go the second time so that the producers could bring back the fan favorite Nitro for the sixth season. Tower came back for the Live Show in Orlando.

Tank was originally supposed to be a regular but left after having a falling out with several of the gladiators. According to Tank, he couldn't play by the rules of the show and got sick of kissing the veteran gladiator's butts. He said that certain gladiators were in charge and that you had to bow down to their will to get along with them. I personally think the guy realized that no one liked him so he quit.

Laser, along with Ice was MIA during a part of season 5 due to injuries.

Turbo injured his back in Tug-of-War in season five, leaving him to limited action that season. However, he was there the whole season.

Elektra had double duty doing AG and representing "The Firm."

Storm was let go, reportedly, because she lacked any kind of fan support and didn't get along with the other gladiators.

Gold's unspecified injury was a knee injury, although she was involved in the merchandising dispute.

Zap left the second time when she accepted the offer from Hugh Hefner to pose for Playboy. As it violated her morality clause, the producers probably would have fired her anyway.

Dallas did not leave the show, and participated in the Live Show in Orlando until she was offered a developmental deal with the WWF.

Hope this helps.

AG_Outlaw

Where the HELL is my PUGIL STICK? I mean, it isn't like I can stick it in a drawer or something.

[–] zombihntr 13 years ago

Hi AG Outlaw!

Thanks for your reply. I wasn't aware a lot of that (especially Elektra's nude pics!) but I did mention Lace #2's injury. I'm surprised the glads had to sign a morality clause. Wasn't Lace #2 a stripper before she was hired?

I have been on Gladiaorszone and was (still am I guess) a member of the forum. I kinda forgot about it to be perfectly honest but now I do remember first seeing much of what I posted on the site.

Which reminds me, any news on the identity of Havoc? Or the original International special and the possibility of a 3rd Lace?

Wish more of the glads were open to doing interviews. They could clear up so much.
Have you tried follow-ups with the ones that have been interviewed already? I'm especially interested in the details of Diamond vs. Storm!

Maybe hit up Tank too. He may have had a short career as a glad but it sounds like he'd be willing to take off the kid-gloves and dish out the dirt!

Still hoping for an E! True Hollywood Story on the show!

[–] jasonmaier 12 years ago

Yeah I remember on YouTube Nitro mentioning Titan chasing the ref (but it was not shown on camera; man that would be fun to see).

And yeah, Mailbu looked goofy with his not so muscular chicken legs compared to his well defined upper body (and AG Outlaw, I do recall he had a low W/L percentage in the events he competed in).

Sunny's injury . . . ok, who's not so brilliant idea was it to elevated the Conquer ring slightly for that episode?

Bronco and Jade . . well they only made one shot injury replacements, so can't say much for them.

Nitro did mention the merchandise dispute both on the AG youtube channel and in his book (and the trivia part here for AG mentions that the other Gladiators who walked out were Nitro, Gemini, Lace #1, Ice, Gold, Blaze, Thunder. Zap was part of the walkout but did change her mind). And I did recall noticing they all looked leaner in Season 4 . . .

I remember Viper running up to a fan and ripping up a sign saying "Viper needs a diaper!" Then again, the fans never seemed to like Viper in the first place . . . and it seemed his W/L percentage wasn't as high as the other Gladiators.