Levi ruined the show for me.

Levi seemed like a cool respectful guy and everything, but if you ask me he kind of ruined the show. And I'm not saying it's his fault either - if anyone it's the show's producers.

The whole mystique of Ninja Warrior was that it was this incredibly hard obstacle course that has regular joes and weekend warriors competing on it for their shot at fame and glory (the only people to beat it are two fishermen afterall). This thing was so hard that even former Olympians could not complete it.

Then Levi comes on and DESTROYS the "brutal new course" on his first try, almost completing the third level when 97 couldn't past the first and 99 couldn't get past the second. It is inevitable that he will eventually beat the entire thing in his next few tries. The kicker is that he showed hardly any sign of strain - the thing was a breeze for him.

That domination broke the magic for me. The whole fun of the show was that the course was kind of an "equalizer."

But when you think about it Levi's profession is "Free Runner" - So in a sense his PROFESSION is getting past obstacles. How can regular joes compete against a professional obstacle course runner.

I mean sure, somebody like Yamada and Shiratori have built Ninja Course obstacles at their home and train on them, but it's not the same. Firstly, they don't have the ability to improvise against new obstacles like a free runner can. Secondly, they are starting training at a way older age than Levi. Levi has been free running for years and is only like 20-something. Shiratori may have been training on his course for years but he is damn near 50.

So hopefully Ninja Warrior will get some decent competition to match Levi's ability, but I doubt it. They cling painfully to their aging "all-stars" who aren't getting any better despite the course getting harder (let's face it - Yamada is never gonna clear it, he missed the boat).

Of course the show needs to keep it's quota of "losers" who are basically on the show to wipe out on the first obstacle, but if you ask me it seriously needs to purge itself of some of these guys who aren't really there for gag-value and really have no chance of ever really clearing and give some new blood a shot.