Ninja Warrior Worldwide 3

'''A reminder that the following article was finalised and completed before August 2020. This reminder is necessary, due to controversies in the Ninja community.'''

Ninja Warrior Worldwide 3 is the third competition of Ninja Warrior Worldwide. It first aired on TBS (Japan) on January 21st, 2018, then airing on NBC (USA) and Channel 9 (Australia) on February 28th the same year. It's the first NWW tournament of 2018.

Intro
The 3rd competition, official name: SASUKE2018世界的に (literally: SASUKE 2018 Globally) is the third tournament of the spin-off series. The tournament was recorded on December 26th, 2017 and aired on January 21st, 2018.

The number of competitors has been increased from 60 to 75 competitors. Most of the competitors from the last tournament, including Drew Drechsel and Kawaguchi Tomohiro return, while also including new ones. The course was, again, redesigned, with the producers confirming that only iconic and difficult obstacles will be featured.

For the first time, returning competitors are ranked based from their appearances and also a first, the competition features 6 wildcards from the three main countries (USA, Japan and Australia). With the new ranking system, many star competitors were placed low on the list and also included many countries into a continent (with Mexico, Argetina and Venezuela combining to Latin America and many European countries that host a Ninja competition represent Europe as a whole, though will still represent their own country). This tournament also marks the return of Isaac Caldiero, America's second Grand Champion.

Stage 1
The First Stage has been reduced to 8 obstacles, with the Snake Run and Tackle being removed. The Broken Pipes replaced the Spinning Bridge and was moved to third position, while the Sonic Curve replaced the Half-Pipe Attack. The time limit was decreased by 5 seconds, due to a lot of quick-fire obstacles.

Ultimately, a total of 24 people cleared Stage 1, though when put into a clear rate, this is the worst performance yet. The clearing and failure batch were more diverse, with competitors such as Karl Fow, Lê Văn Thực (SASUKE Vietnam's Champion) and Sato Jun (who normally makes it to Stage 3) clear Stage 1 for the first time in NWW. While on the other hand, stars like Kevin Bull, Tim Shieff and James McGrath (who made it to Stage 3 in NWW2) fell on Stage 1.

Stage 2
The Second Stage went back to 7 obstacles and most of them were replaced by others, with the Reverse Conveyor being added before the Wall Lift. The Triple Salmon Ladder, Spinball Wizard and Cargo Crossing were replaced with the Slanting Salmon Ladder, Helix Hang and Wingnut Alley, respectively. With the Wingnut Alley and Triple Salmon Ladder, being 40 seconds each, the time limit has been increased by 15 seconds.

The results have reached a new low, with a total of 8 people clearing. Despite this, competitors such as Drew Drechsel and Jessie Graff continue to protect their 100% clear rate of Stage 2, with Morimoto Yusuke returning to Stage 3 and Lê Văn Thực facing Stage 2 for the first time in NWW and cleared it. On the other hand, David Campbell, Travis Rosen and Ben Polson (who had the strangest exit) all failed on Stage 2.

Stage 3 & Final Stage
The Third Stage was overhauled entirely, reducing to 6 obstacles, removing two obstacles (the Switching Keylock and Battering Ram) and replacing three obstacles (the Psycho Chainsaw, Double Wedge and Logging Spike) with three new ones (the Rolling Thunder, Planet Bridge and Crank It Up).

This proved to be a challenge, as 6 out of 8 competitors failed. While the Rolling Thunder and Ultra Crazy Cliffhanger eliminated nobody, they tired out the best competitors. The Rolling Thunder caused Lê Văn Thực and Anastase Ragivaru to fail at the Planet Bridge, while the Ultra Crazy Cliffhanger tired out Kawaguchi Tomohiro and Danee Marmolejo, as they failed on the Vertical Limit Tri. However, Jessie Graff and Drew Drechsel, who were on their second and third Stage 3 attempt, respectively, cleared Stage 3.

The Final Stage was unchanged from last time. While Jessie Graff was unable to climb the tower, Drew Drechsel eventually cleared the Final Stage and achieved Kanzenseiha, being the first in NWW to do so. And so ends an era...

Obstacles
① Rolling Hill (ローリングヒル) ② ^Slik Slider (シルクスライダー) ③ *Broken Pipes (壊れたパイプ) ④ Jumping Spider (ジャンピングスパイダー) ⑤ *Sonic Curve (ソニックカーブ) ⑥ Warped Wall (そり立つ壁) ⑦ Flying Squirrel (むささび) ⑧ Rope Ladder (ロープラダー)

Time Limit: 115 seconds * - Denotes New Obstacle ^ - Denotes Modified Obstacle

Obstacles
① Giant Ring Swing (ジャイアントリングスイング) ② ^Tilted Salmon Ladder (傾斜サーモンラダー) ③ *Helix Hang (ヘリックスハング) ④ Pipe Runner (パイプランナー) ⑤ *Wingnut Alley (ウィングナットアリー) ⑥ *Reverse Conveyor (リバースコンベア) ⑦ Wall Lift (ウォールリフティング)

Time Limit: 150 seconds * - Denotes New Obstacle ^ - Denotes Modified Obstacle

Obstacles
① *Rolling Thunder (ローリング・サンダー) ② ^Planet Bridge (プラネットブリッジ) ③ Ultra Crazy Cliffhanger (ウルトラクレイジークリフハンガー) ④ ^Vertical Limit Tri (垂直リミットトライ) ⑤ *Crank It Up (クランク・イット・アップ) ⑥ Flying Bar (フライングバー)

* - Denotes New Obstacle ^ - Denotes Modified Obstacle

Obstacles
① Spider Climb (スパイダークライム) (8m) ② Salmon Ladder (サーモンラダー) (7m) ③ Tsuna Nobori (綱登り) (10m)

Time Limit: 50 seconds