Suspension Bridge

**Suspension Bridge** was an event played in several incarnations of the television series *Gladiators*. In this event, a contender and Gladiator engage in battle on a simple suspension bridge. The object for the contender is to reach the Gladiator's platform.

## Rules

One Gladiator faces one contender, and on the whistle engage in a 30 second battle using hammerheads. The Gladiator is tasked with trying to knock the contender off whilst the contender's aim is to reach the Gladiators platform either by knocking the Gladiator off or by bypassing the Gladiator. 10 points are awarded for a successful contender crossing, and 5 for a draw. Should a participant lose their hammerhead in combat, then they are disqualified. If the contender loses their hammerhead after passing the Gladiator, the game normally continues as it is assumed they no longer need it. Neither contender or Gladiator are allowed to return to their original platform. If a participant is knocked to their knees, they must return to their feet or face disqualification. Unlike Duel, a more significant amount of defensive work is tolerated due to the heavier and more unwieldy nature of the hammerheads compared to pugil sticks. However purely defending will result in disqualification. Contender and Gladiator can battle on any part of the bridge, other than the platforms, and are allowed to remain still and wait for their opponent to come to them. A grey area within the rules of Suspension Bridge is the use of the hammerhead to push the opponent off the Suspension Bridge. It was generally accepted that only a direct hit would be allowed in order to remove an opponent from the bridge. However from 1995, it was stated that using the hammerhead to push was allowed in order to make the game more physical and exciting. In one case a contender was allowed to wrap their arms round a Gladiator to get past them. However in the following season, a contender was disqualified for pushing a Gladiator off the bridge. Further matches appeared to advocate the use of pushing. In the Swedish version of Gladiators, pushing seemed to be allowed - in several occasions Gladiators would charge at the contenders pushing them almost all the way back to their platform and off the bridge. In the 2008 Australian revival, the pushing rule came back into force with both a challenger and later a Gladiator being disqualified for pushing their opponent off. A further grey area within the rules of Suspension Bridge is the need to reach the other side. Both the British and Australian referees were haphazard in making sure this rule was followed, even though this was, rules-wise, the most distinguishing feature between Suspension Bridge and Duel. Sometimes the whistle would be blown as soon as the Gladiator was knocked off as it was assumed that the contender would make it to the other side. In 1994, when British contender Paul Field knocked Wolf off, the final whistle was not blown until the contender actually crossed onto the Gladiators platform, and Paul spent a few seconds running back and forth across the bridge in victory, at one point actually returning to his platform which technically should have resulted in a disqualification. In 2008, the event card for Suspension Bridge clearly stated that in order to collect 10 points, the challenger had to reach the other side, yet challenger Phillip Breslin was awarded 10 points after knocking Gladiator Tank off even though the challenger fell off the bridge seconds later before the game ended. Even more confusing is whether or not the contender is supposed to reach the other side with their hammerhead. Whilst the general rule appeared to be no and that once a contender passed a Gladiator they no longer needed their hammerhead and could dispose of it, one Australian challenger was penalised after throwing her hammerhead away after knocking off the Gladiator and crossing over to the Gladiators platform unarmed, only collecting 5 points.

## International differences

In Sweden, contenders and Gladiators wore body armour and shoulder pads, and the event was renamed Hangbron. The hammerheads used for the South African series differed in design to those used in Britain, Australia and Sweden. In International Gladiators 2, challenger Lourene Bevaart was awarded 5 points when she knocked Gladiator Panther off, only to fall down herself before the time expired.

## Event History

### United Kingdom

* Years active: 1993-1998, 2009

The concept for Suspension Bridge was first introduced in the first half of the first American Gladiators series when The Joust was played on a wooden bridge. Suspension Bridge was first road tested during the 1993 Wembley Live shows and made its first televised appearance in the second series. For the 1993 Wembley Live shows, pugil sticks were used, before being changed to hammerheads for the televised series which provided padding for the closer nature of the battle. The event appeared frequently during its debut season but its appearances declined from series three onwards. From 1994, the bridge was modified to include a barrier at the end of each platform. This was due to the event being used for Hit & Run to stop contenders from running off the end of the bridge. Suspension Bridge originally lasted for sixty seconds during the 1993 and 1994 series, before being reduced to thirty seconds from 1995 onwards. The music for the event was not edited however. The event was reduced in time due to battles often lasting less than 10 seconds. In fact during its six year run, there were only three draws recorded on Suspension Bridge. During the sixth series, filming of Suspension Bridge swapped sides with the camera facing away from The Wall and into the audience, the only time in the original British series in which the direction of an event was changed without there being any event modifications. A contender loss on this event was marked by the music 'Another one bites the dust' by Queen being played. Although a suspension bridge was being used as part of the equipment, Suspension Bridge did not return for the first series of the 2008 revival. The event returned for the second series, as all the apparatus needed was available from other events. Ram rods were used instead of Hammerheads and both contender and Gladiator started out mid way on the bridge on opposite ends of a 'fighting zone'. In order to reach the other side, the contender must knock the Gladiator off the bridge rather than simply trying to bypass them. Should either participant get pushed outside the fighting zone then the game is stopped and the combatants re-engage. The time limit for the revival version is once again 30 seconds. Due to a different kind of weapon being used, pushing is allowed, with combatants preferring to push their opponent off the bridge rather than land a direct hit. As the event was a 'quick fix', being made up of other apparatus rather than a proper attempt at a new event, the event only got played twice by both gender.

### Australia

* Years active: 1995-1996, 2008

The event originally lasted sixty seconds for the first half of series one, before being cut to 30 seconds. The event remained at thirty seconds for the 2008 revival. In 2008 quarter finals, Amazon was disqualified for not making any attempt to attack her challenger. In the same episode, Destiny was disqualified for letting go of her hammerhead on one hand and holding onto the challenger's hammerhead to maintain her balance. In the semi-finals, challenger Natasha Haines and Gladiator Thunder were both disqualified for pushing the opponent. Thunder complained that he couldn't help it if his hammerhead got stuck to the challenger's head. More notably, challenger Phillip Breslin defeated Gladiator Tank yet did not need to reach the other side in order to receive 10 points, with the challenger actually falling off the bridge shortly after Tank. Not only that, Breslin was on his knees when he pushed Tank off the bridge. Despite Tank complaining to the referee, Breslin earned himself 10 points.