<P> American Ninja Warrior ( sometimes abbreviated as ANW ) is an American sports entertainment competition that is a spin - off of the Japanese television series Sasuke . It features hundreds of competitors attempting to complete a series of obstacle courses of increasing difficulty , trying to make it to the national finals on the Las Vegas Strip , in hopes of becoming an `` American Ninja Warrior '' . To date only two competitors , rock - climbers Isaac Caldiero and Geoff Britten , have finished the course and achieved `` Total Victory '' . Caldiero is the only competitor to win the cash prize . The series premiered on December 12 , 2009 on the now - defunct cable channel G4 and now airs on NBC with encore episodes airing on USA Network and NBCSN . </P>
when is american ninja warrior filmed in las vegas
the national finals