Jessie Graff (2024)

Jessie Graff (ジェシー・グラフ) is a stuntwoman, a notable competitor on American Ninja Warrior, and one of the most successful female competitors in SASUKE.

American Ninja Warrior[]

American Ninja Warrior 5[]

Graff's first appearance was American Ninja Warrior 5 when she competed in the Venice Beach region. She managed to make her way through most of the obstacles but was one of many to fail on the Flying Nunchucks. However, her result was good enough for 30th place. As such, Graff became the first woman to advance to the City Finals. In the Venice finals, she became the second woman to reach the Warped Wall, after Nika Muckelroy in the Denver Qualifiers. However, like Muckelroy, Graff failed the obstacle. She advanced to the Las Vegas Finals as a wildcard and became one of the two women, the other being Joyce Shahboz, to reach the Jumping Spider, but she didn't get a good enough jump and failed.

American Ninja Warrior 7[]

Jessie was unable to compete in American Ninja Warrior 6 due to a tear in her ACL, MCL, and meniscus. However, Jessie made her triumphant return in American Ninja Warrior 7 and competed in the Venice Beach qualifying course. On the course, Jessie flew past the first four obstacles. On the Hourglass Drop, Jessie was able to transverse through the first board. However, she had a poor jump on the trampoline and failed to get her hands on the other board. Once again, Jessie qualified for the Venice Finals, this time in 28th place.

In the Venice finals, Jessie put on an outstanding performance. She was able to get her revenge on the Hourglass Drop and even topped that by completing the Warped Wall. In the second half of the course, Jessie was able to destroy the Salmon Ladder and the Rumbling Dice. She also became the first person to reach the brand new obstacle, the Clear Climb. Due to her lack of knowledge of the obstacle, she took the lower route and wasn't able to maneuver through the wall, causing her to fail. However, she achieved 6th place in the finals, earning her ticket to Vegas. By doing so, she became the second woman, after Kacy Catanzaro, to qualify for the Vegas finals.

In the National Finals, Jessie came in as one of the favorite female competitors to complete Stage One. On the course, she completed the first three obstacles with finesse. Then, on the Jumping Spider, Jessie got her revenge from two years prior and completed the obstacle. She then cleared the next obstacle, the Sonic Curve, becoming the second woman only behind Meagan Martin to reach the Warped Wall in the Vegas finals. Sadly, Jessie had trouble building up speed and momentum to scale the wall and ended up timing out. In her post-interview, Jessie stated she hasn't done a lot of speed workouts and that she would love to compete again.

American Ninja Warrior 8[]

In American Ninja Warrior 8, Jessie competed in the 2016 Los Angeles Qualifying Round at Universal Studios. On the Qualifying Course, blazed through all six obstacles, scaled the newly modified 14.5-foot Warped Wall, and hit her first buzzer. She became not only the first woman this season to complete the qualifying course, but also the first woman to complete the newly modified 14.5-foot Warped Wall. She finished the course in 11th place with 4:27.84.

Jessie put on a phenomenal performance in the city finals. She tackled the first three obstacles with finesse. At the Ring Jump, though, she attempted the obstacle with a new technique rather than facing the side and hopping up the first ring one stopper at a time, she faced the obstacle backward and used her hips to generate a lot of momentum, jumping up several stoppers. After this new innovative technique, she took on the next three obstacles with poise. She even became the first competitor to complete the new and drastic The Wedge. She was only one of two competitors to complete that obstacle. She ultimately failed the 9th obstacle, Double Helix, feet from the finish. However, she was second on the leaderboard behind Josh Levin and clinched her spot in Vegas for the second consecutive year.

In the National Finals, Jessie put on a historic performance and became the first woman in American Ninja Warrior history to complete the upgraded Warped Wall. Not only did she conquer the Wall, but she became the first woman to conquer Stage One of the finals in American Ninja Warrior history. In Stage Two, she took too much time on the Giant Ring Swing, which wore her out before the Wave Runner. Despite soldiering through the obstacle, her left hand slipped on the transition to the second board, and she ended up falling into the water. Despite not completing Stage Two, Jessie put up not only one of the best runs of her life but one of the best runs by a female competitor.

USA Vs. The World 3[]

After Jessie Graff's wonderful performances throughout American Ninja Warrior 8, Jessie Graff got to compete in American Ninja Warrior: USA vs. The World 3, making history as the first woman ever to do so. She competed in Heat 3 of Stage One, against Team Europe's Alexander Mars and Team Latin America's Danee Marmolejo. Hopes for her to complete Stage One again were high. However, she shockingly failed Snake Run during her run on Stage One when she lost her balance (despite beating it in the regular season). However, team captain Drew Drechsel gave up his spot on Stage Two to her.

Jessie competed again on Heat 3 of Stage Two against Team Europe's Bjarke Tønnesen and Team Latin America's David Saikin. She redeemed herself by clearing the Giant Ring Swing faster than both men, winning two points for Team USA. She also got her revenge on the Wave Runner, narrowly beat the Double Wedge, and made history as the first woman ever to hit the buzzer on Stage Two. She was granted POM Run Of The Night. Team USA eventually won the competition.

American Ninja Warrior 9[]

Jessie returned to compete in Daytona Beach in American Ninja Warrior 9. She looked strong, clearing the first four obstacles with ease. However, she failed the Rolling Thunder inches to the landing pad. She did place 26th overall and moved on to the city finals. In the city finals, she got her revenge on the Rolling Thunder and used yet another innovative technique on the course- rather than making a 180-degree jump to each cube on the Giant Cubes (similar to American Ninja Warrior 5's Ledge Jump), she used the splits to transition to each cube (similar to Michelle Warnky on American Ninja Warrior 7's Wind Chimes). She made it to the Elevator Climb before gassing out, and she placed 4th overall, making it the third year in a row that she qualified for the national finals. This was her best performance in a city finals round to date.

In the National Finals, it looked like Jessie was on her way to completing Stage One for the second straight year but shockingly fell on the Flying Squirrel when she lost her grip on the cargo net. In her post-run interview, Jessie stated that she should've made one more swing to firmly grip the cargo net.

American Ninja Warrior 10[]

Jessie returned to compete in Miami in American Ninja Warrior 10. She looked very strong, clearing the first four obstacles and even becoming the first woman that night to complete the Slippery Summit. She went on to scale the Warped Wall and become the first woman that season to complete a city qualifying course.

In the city finals, she had a scare on Cannonball Drop, nearly falling on the dismount, but continued and eventually fell on the Stair Hopper. However, she still placed 5th overall and became one of two women to make the top 15 that night.

However, Jessie Graff didn't compete in Vegas due to a secret project she was being part of. It was revealed on the second night of the Vegas finals that she is stunting for the new film, Wonder Woman 1984, at the Canary Islands in Spain. She was replaced by Emily Durham, the best female competitor who did not qualify, instead during the national finals.

American Ninja Warrior 11[]

Jessie returned home to compete in Seattle/Tacoma for American Ninja Warrior 11, after being unable to compete in Las Vegas last season. Although she revealed that she hasn't been able to train as much this year, she breezed through the course. Even after a scare on the Lightning Bolts, she hit yet another qualifying buzzer, placing 8th and being the 2nd female that season to complete the qualifying course, just behind Sandy Zimmerman. It is also noted that this buzzer means that she currently has the record for most buzzers hit by a female competitor, at four. (This was later beaten by Jesse Labreck, but one episode later, Graff re-tied it)

In the city finals, Jessie Graff was the final competitor to run the course, hoping to break her 10th obstacle course. In the front half of the course, she had a slow but steady run. After getting up the Warped Wall, she easily got up the Salmon Ladder and despite missing a couple of times on the Floating Monkey Bars, managed to correct it and beat the obstacle. However, history repeated itself as she fell on the 9th obstacle for the second straight year, this time on Northwest Passage, when she suddenly gassed out at the top of the second panel and lost grip, placing 3rd and moving on to Vegas, just missing out on the Power Tower (as Karson Voiles ultimately placed 2nd overall).

While the city finals course ended up with no finishers overall, Jessie technically went the farthest out of any competitor attempting the course, as she made it as far as the top part of the second board. There was some minor confusion on her ranking as 3rd overall, but this was counted based on her time to the obstacle, not how far she got on it.

In the national finals, Jessie shockingly failed the Double Dipper (an obstacle that she had no trouble clearing in American Ninja Warrior 9.) when she completely missed the transition from the first bar to the second bar. As she was the last female to run the stage, her fall meant that no woman was able to clear Stage 1 for the second straight year.

American Ninja Warrior 12[]

Jessie was invited to compete on American Ninja Warrior 12, bringing along Davyon Hancox and Jenn Debellis. In qualifiers, Jessie had a close call when dismounting off Lunatic Ledges, and stumbled on the Spinning Bridge, but completed both obstacles. She took the lower route for both wheels on the Ferris Wheel, but cleared that as well, and then went on to hit her third straight qualifying buzzer.

In the semifinals, Jessie looked good on the first part of the course. On the Corkscrew, she survived the first two spins, but she was very tired at that point and came up well short when attempting to transition to the third corkscrew. This broke her five-year streak of completing the eighth obstacle on an extended course. Still, she was the only woman to make it to the back half, so she advanced as the top woman. (She was shown to be 12th overall, but this was only done for editing reasons. Jessie confirmed that she did not make the overall leaderboard.)

In the finals, Jessie was hoping to clear a ten-obstacle course for the first time. However, in a huge shock, she slipped off the transition to the second shelf on Falling Shelves and injured her shoulder in doing so.

American Ninja Warrior: Women's Championship[]

Jessie competed alongside 11 other women in the first ever Women's Championship. She cleared all six obstacles in the first round, but she shockingly fell on Sideways in the second round, placing 6th & not moving on.

Before the airing of Season 12, Jessie had already shared on Instagram that she was undergoing shoulder surgery, but had not disclosed how she was injured at the time. Later, she announced that due to ongoing rehab, she would not compete on American Ninja Warrior 13. Jessie was seen on the virtual sideline during Kyle Schulze's qualifying run.

American Ninja Warrior 14[]

After a season recovery period, Jessie made her return in American Ninja Warrior 14 on Night 2 of San Antonio Qualifying. Despite high expectations and a great start as she cleared the first two obstacles, her return shockingly ended on the Split Decision obstacle, Serpent. This was her very first fail on a balance obstacle in her ANW career, as well as her earliest.

American Ninja Warrior: Women's Championship 3[]

Jessie returned for the third Women's Championship, this time taking place on the Vegas course. She made it through the first three obstacles but shockingly fell on Jumping Spider, eliminating her from the championship.

American Ninja Warrior 15[]

Jessie returned in the fourth round of qualifying wearing an updated version of her Wonder Woman costume, and she also competed with her mom, Ginny MacColl. She got past the obstacle, Greased Lightning, that knocked out her mom and even got revenge on a balance obstacle, one that ended her season last year. She later made it to the fifth obstacle, The Cubes, where she missed the reach to the back half of the cube and the swing back made her lose her grip. Fortunately, this was enough for her to place 1st among the women and move on to the Semifinals.

She later competed in the last round of the semifinals, where she raced against her inspirator Jaleesa Himka. Jessie was behind for most of the race, and shockingly fell on Sideways, giving Jaleesa the win. As such, Jessie did not advance to Vegas for the second year in a row, and her season ended on a devastating note.

American Ninja Warrior: Women's Championship 4[]

Jessie returned for the fourth Women's Championship, once again taking place on the Vegas course. She got revenge on the Jumping Spider that knocked her out in the previous championship, and then made it to the final obstacle, Thread the Needle in a time that placed her 5th overall. She then raced against Mady Howard on Stage Two. Both of them failed on Jawbreakers, but Jessie got there first and advanced to the final round. Unfortunately, she lost to eventual champion Addy Herman in the first round.

SASUKE[]

According to the official website of SASUKE, Jessie Graff is included in the 100 competitors who competed in SASUKE 34, with her having #87.

In the First Stage, she breezed through the First Stage and became the second woman to clear the stage in SASUKE history since Tanabe Chie in SASUKE 2, and became the first woman in SASUKE history to complete the First Stage ever since the debut of the Soritatsu Kabe in SASUKE 5.

With added confidence because of her advancing to the Second Stage, she did the unthinkable, clearing all of the obstacles of the Second Stage with 4.44 seconds remaining, becoming the first ever woman to do so in SASUKE history, and the only time that a woman has cleared the two stages in the same tournament.

Even with her lack of experience in the Third Stage, she completed the first half of the stage with ease, including the Flying Bar and Sidewinder Kai. Unfortunately, her strength ran out on the Ultra Crazy Cliffhanger, in which she did not generate enough swing and momentum to transit to the second ledge. Her failing the obstacle, has become the furthest point a woman made in SASUKE history.

Jessie made her second appearance in SASUKE 37, with number #98. She cleared the First Stage with 31.5 seconds left and she became the only woman to complete the First Stage twice, even though the timer showed zero seconds (because production had forgotten to tune the timer to its correct value). She easily beat Second Stage with a time of 16.8 seconds left. On the Third Stage, she easily made it through the first three obstacles with little trouble, but ended up failing on the first transition of the Cliffhanger Dimension, a similar fall to her attempt at its predecessor, the Ultra Crazy Cliffhanger in SASUKE 34. This time though, she managed to grab the second ledge but was unable to hold on.

After missing the next two tournaments, likely due to COVID-19 restrictions and then later due to an injury, Jessie returned for SASUKE 40, wearing #3985. Her First Stage run was digested, but she once again cleared the course with over 34 seconds left, being the last of three women to clear the First Stage that tournament. Her Second Stage run was also digested, but she surprisingly timed out on the Second Stage, this time around as the Reverse Conveyor, marking her first Second Stage failure in SASUKE.

Trivia[]

• Graff became the first woman to attempt a city finals course in American Ninja Warrior history in American Ninja Warrior 5.
• Graff became the second woman to qualify for the Las Vegas finals by being in the Top 15 in American Ninja Warrior 7.
• Graff became the fourth woman to ever complete a city qualifying course during the Los Angeles qualifiers in American Ninja Warrior 8.
• Graff was the first competitor to complete The Wedge.
• Graff has achieved the highest ranking of any woman in a city final, placing second in the Los Angeles City Finals of American Ninja Warrior 8.
• Graff became the first woman to complete Stage One in American Ninja Warrior history in American Ninja Warrior 8.
• Graff is, by far, the first and only competitor to complete both versions of The Wedge, as she completed the Double Wedge on American Ninja Warrior: USA vs The World 3.
• Graff was the only person in American Ninja Warrior 8 to compete on Stage One three times (Regular Season, USA vs the World, and with Team Kristine in the All-Stars.)
• Graff became the first woman to complete Stage Two in American Ninja Warrior history during the USA vs The World 3 competition.
• Graff failed the Elevator Climb in the American Ninja Warrior 9 Daytona City Finals, which at the time was the farthest point a woman had made in a city finals since Kacy Catanzaro's completion of the Dallas city finals in American Ninja Warrior 6.
• In SASUKE, some of the obstacles are toned down so that it would be easier for women competitors to clear. But in SASUKE 34, Graff requested to attempt the obstacles without any modification whatsoever, with only the time limit being retained for the women's version.
• Graff became the second woman to complete the First Stage in SASUKE history in SASUKE 34.
• Graff was the first woman in any SASUKE/Ninja Warrior international format to complete Stage One/First Stage since the introduction of the Warped Wall.
• With her clear of the Soritatsu Kabe in SASUKE 34, she became the second female competitor (Kacy Catanzaro being the first) to clear the Soritatsu Kabe in multiple SASUKE/Ninja Warrior international formats.
• Coincidentally, when Tanabe Chie completed the First Stage in SASUKE 2, the first woman to do so, her occupation was a stuntwoman (the same current occupation as Jessie).
• Graff became the first woman to complete the Second Stage in any SASUKE/Ninja Warrior international format in SASUKE 34.
• Graff became the first woman to clear the Spider Walk in SASUKE 34 and the only woman to clear the same version of the obstacle multiple times.
• Graff became the first woman to attempt the Third Stage in any SASUKE/Ninja Warrior international format in SASUKE 34.
• With her fall on the Ultra Crazy Cliffhanger in SASUKE 34, this has become the farthest point a woman made in SASUKE history.
  • Graff managed to match that point in SASUKE 37, as she managed to reach the Cliffhanger Dimension in that tournament.
• Graff is one of few SASUKE competitors to compete at least three times without failing the First Stage, making it to the Third Stage twice in both SASUKE 34 and 37 and the Second Stage in 40. This makes her the most consistent female competitor to date.
• With Graff wearing the number 98 in SASUKE 37, it would eventually be the highest number given to a woman in SASUKE history, beating Watanabe Mika as she wore the number 96 in SASUKE 13.
  • This also became the second highest number given to an American, as David Campbell and Drew Drechsel also wore the number 98 in SASUKE 27 and SASUKE 35 respectively. Levi Meeuwenberg still holds the record of receiving the highest number given to an American as he wore the number 99 in SASUKE 21.
• In SASUKE 34, Graff introduced a unique method in attempting the Sidewinder Kai as she locked her legs on the poles, thus allowing her to rest her arms in the process. This caught the attention of other competitors as they also wanted to try this method.
  • In SASUKE 37, she used this method once again in the Sidewinder Kai, with commentators and fellow competitors calling her method the "Jessie Style".

• 

  During her First Stage run in SASUKE 37, she finished the stage with 31.5 seconds remaining. However, upon close inspection, the timer shows that there are 0.00 seconds left on the clock, meaning she would have timed out. This may be because the timer during her run was set to the time limit corresponding to the male competitors' which is 88 seconds.
  • In this tournament, the time in which female competitors would attempt the First Stage is set at 120 seconds, which is a 32-second increment. However, she was declared to clear the First Stage, due to the error in the timer. This would also be noticeable with the gates initially did not open when she pressed the buzzer.
  • After she cleared, Jessie showed nervousness by blurting "Did I do it?" and screamed with joy upon realizing she had cleared the stage.
• Graff was also a contestant on the very first season of the ABC TV show Wipeout. She is one of five ANW competitors to also compete on Wipeout, along with Wilson Kennedy (who competed on season 4), Jeremy Rivette (who competed on season 5), Jim Klimek (who competed on season 6) and Scott Willson (who competed on season 7).
• Jessie's credits as a stuntwoman include films like Wonder Woman, X-Men: First Class, and The Dark Knight.
• Graff and her stunt crew on Wonder Woman won a Screen Actors Guild award in 2018 for Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture.
• Graff also made a guest appearance in the Nickelodeon series, Knight Squad, in which she starred as the character, Commander Amballa, in the episode "A Thief in the Knight".
• She and Brennan Mejia have both guest-starred in the Arrowverse series Supergirl (though not in the same episode). She guest-starred as Lisa Gold in the second season.
• Graff owns a pet pig named Sammo Hog (named after martial artist Sammo Hung). Sammo currently has over 16,000 followers on Instagram and has even made appearances seeing Jessie Graff run.
• Graff was the mentor for the 11-12-year-old division on American Ninja Warrior Junior 2.
• Graff was unable to compete in American Ninja Warrior 13 due to an injury.
• During the competitors' profile in American Ninja Warrior 14, her Stage One run when she hit the buzzer was incorrectly labeled as 2017, instead of 2016.
• Graff was the first competitor to clear the American Ninja Warrior's and SASUKE’s version of the Silk Slider.

Team Ninja Record[]

American Ninja Warrior Results[]

SASUKE Results[]