Took us 20 minutes to watch the 2 hour finale.

Yes, this show would be unwatchable without a DVR, way too much filler

Really enjoyed the finale and it worked out exactly like I wanted/expected. Evan and Monica were definitely the best of the bunch.

A few notes:

As others have said, I was totally irritated with Shanay for sitting out the joust event. She did that in the semis and I was outraged then too, but obviously she learned that as her "technique." Why is it that Gladiators get DQed for doing that, but not Contenders.

As for Monica, we pretty much settled our earlier debate here on her Jousting ability...she finally went up against Crush. She held her own, going toe to toe with her, but was knocked off in the end. I'd be willing to bet all the other female Gladiators would do the same. I'd even bet that Crush could take Evan out too.

Loved seeing Wolf get punked over and over. I noticed he had some type of glove device on the ring event and Evan didn't. How is that fair? Despite that, he still couldn't hang on...but like I said before, the ring event is probably the most physically taxing other than the eliminator, so I'll cut him some slack on that one.

I liked Evan (he does drink a little too much 180 energy drink though - MAN, that kid is WIRED) just fine, but I was really really pulling for Monica. What a woman...very fit, great attitude, good mom (by the looks of it), and a terrific competitor. Total package.

Btw, I saw both Evan and Monica on the Today show on Monday morning and Evan has already settled on his Gladiator name ("Riptide") whereas Monica said she's going to leave that to the public to vote upon. She didn't give any choices so maybe it's completely up for grabs. As for me, I like CPanther's "Pixie" or just what she's already using, "Mojo."

Really enjoyed the finale and it worked out exactly like I wanted/expected. Evan and Monica were definitely the best of the bunch.

A few notes:

As others have said, I was totally irritated with Shanay for sitting out the joust event. She did that in the semis and I was outraged then too, but obviously she learned that as her "technique." Why is it that Gladiators get DQed for doing that, but not Contenders.

As for Monica, we pretty much settled our earlier debate here on her Jousting ability...she finally went up against Crush. She held her own, going toe to toe with her, but was knocked off in the end. I'd be willing to bet all the other female Gladiators would do the same. I'd even bet that Crush could take Evan out too.

Loved seeing Wolf get punked over and over. I noticed he had some type of glove device on the ring event and Evan didn't. How is that fair? Despite that, he still couldn't hang on...but like I said before, the ring event is probably the most physically taxing other than the eliminator, so I'll cut him some slack on that one.

I liked Evan (he does drink a little too much 180 energy drink though - MAN, that kid is WIRED) just fine, but I was really really pulling for Monica. What a woman...very fit, great attitude, good mom (by the looks of it), and a terrific competitor. Total package.

Btw, I saw both Evan and Monica on the Today show on Monday morning and Evan has already settled on his Gladiator name ("Riptide") whereas Monica said she's going to leave that to the public to vote upon. She didn't give any choices so maybe it's completely up for grabs. As for me, I like CPanther's "Pixie" or just what she's already using, "Mojo."

I'd vote for Mojo. It's how we know her now, and she showed us she's got it.

Took us 20 minutes to watch the 2 hour finale.

me too!

That final group shot with winners and gladiators was pretty interesting. The winners looked scrawny compared to the gladiators.

Watch next year to see if the current winners have 'roided up to match the other gladiators in appearance.

I think the Hulkster asked the guy winner if he was ready to get together with him to get him bulked up.

My guesses on the names for the new Gladiators:

Evan: "Flash"
Monica: "Shark"

My guesses on the names for the new Gladiators:

Evan: "Flash"
Monica: "Shark"

Evan has already settled on "Riptide." He joked that he thought about "Malibu Jr" first (as a nod to the Gladiator on the original series, I guess).