Who is Captain NBC?
Captain NBC is the Super Hero Athlete created and fulfilled by Jamie Rahn. Jamie grew up in NJ, studied Architecture and graduated in 2011 with a BA in Fine Arts. As a child, Jamie admired Jackie Chan and has always sought out different ways to challenge his body. Initially he played team sports such as football and later took up skateboarding, but his true passion would emerge after finding Parkour. He joined up with Pinnacle Parkour "PPK" in its infancy and helped grow it to the multi-state entity it is today. His ninja career began on American Ninja Warrior's Season 2! He would decline the invite for Season 3 due to injury, but would go on to compete in every season since! Now a regular on the show, he has hit a total of 15 buzzers in his career! Jamie has stood out amongst the crowd for not only his unique look, but also for his incredible achievements on the show, his camaraderie amongst the other athletes and his positive impact on the community. Below is a brief overview of Jamie's Ninja Warrior career so far.
Season 2: Venice Beach
Failed: Quad Steps
Season 2 originally aired on the G4 Network and it was where we saw the introduction of Captain G4, the predecessor of Captain NBC - an identity created from that year's Halloween costume of 'Captain Planet'. The original outfit consisted of body paint and hair spray. To be on the show, Jamie flew out to Venice Beach, California for a week, and after waiting around all day getting sunburnt, it was finally his turn. As a childhood fan of Jackie Chan, MXC, and then eventually Sasuke this opportunity to compete was mind blowing to the 21-year old. Athletic as he might have been, nerves got the better of him, and failing to be present on the course caused an early exit, and a big lesson learned.
Season 5: Baltimore
Cleared: City Qualifiers
Cleared: City Finals
Cleared: Vegas Stage 1
Failed: Double Salmon Ladder
Season 5 was one of Jamie's stand out seasons. This was his 1st time making it to the Vegas Finals, doing so by clearing very grueling and VERY COLD Baltimore courses. Jamie continued to compete in body paint this season, but due to the low temperatures on set he decided to don a pair of sweatpants to stay warm. In National Finals, Jamie did well (hitting his first Vegas buzzer), but slipped off the Double Salmon Ladder on Stage 2. Having the strength, coordination and endurance all became useless when he underestimated the slick surfaces due to the desert's dust.
Season 7: Pittsburgh
Cleared: City Qualifiers
Failed: Invisible Ladder
Cleared: Vegas Stage 1
Failed: Roulette Row
Season 7 is when Jamie unveiled his hand sewn costume that we still see today. Based on the design from the previous year, this new outfit was light, flexible and gave our Captain NBC the look we know and love. This was a tough year for Jamie, being the first time he had to compete with a migraine, a condition he has dealt with since childhood. In this state, he was unable to clear the final obstacle, yet he still placed top 3 and made it back to the Vegas Finals. He got his redemption in Stage 1 by clearing the Spider Jump, he moved back onto Stage 2. Once again he failed to clear Stage 2, this time on the second to last obstacle - Roulette Row.
Season 9: Cleveland
Cleared: City Qualifiers
Cleared: City Finals
Cleared: Vegas Stage 1
Failed: Wingnut Alley
Season 9 was Jamie's strongest performance to date. After clearing both Cleveland courses, he moved onto Stage 1 of the Vegas Finals, once again getting his redemption and making it to Stage 2 for the third time. After an incredible one-handed save on Wingnut Alley (the second to last obstacle of Stage 2) he lacked the remaining grip strength necessary to throw full power for the landing platform,and sadly bounced off and into the water. This was an important moment in his career, because he had two choices, go for a full power swing and make it to the landing platform with no remaining energy and risk flying into the support truss, or use everything he had to remain in control on path and hope it was enough to not peel out. He did not make it through to Stage 3, but he also did not sacrifice control for success, and walked away unharmed ready to train for another shot at Total Victory.
Skills Competition
American Ninja Warrior
Season 4: Miami
Cleared: City Qualifiers
Failed: Jumping Bars
Season 4 was a big deal in many ways. Jamie had to give up his spot to compete in Season 3 due to an injury, so it had been two years of training before getting back on the course. This was the 1st buzzer Jamie ever hit and was the first time the world met Captain NBC! While the City Qualifiers were still being aired on the G4 Network with Captain G4, the City Finals would be shown on NBC, a transition that continues to present day. This was the 1st, and currently the ONLY time Jamie has failed an obstacle in Finals that he cleared in Qualifiers - the Tramp Jump to the Jumping Bars. Trampolines were still rarely used in Ninja Warrior, and Jamie had not practiced enough. He ended up in 16th place, 1 spot away from making the Vegas Finals! This would also be the last time we would see Captain NBC compete in a "man-kini".
Season 6: St. Louis
Cleared: City Qualifiers
Cleared: City Finals
Failed: Jumping Spider
Season 6 was when we begin to see the Captain NBC you know today. A fan had reached out and offered to turn Captain NBC into a REAL superhero, and using their experience in the WWE, made Jamie an outfit. Due to unexpected difficulties, Jamie was forced to improvise with an incomplete suit and hand designed and made the chest armor you see above. Even though Jamie would clear both St. Louis courses this year, he would fail the Jumping Spider in Stage 1 of the Vegas Finals. This was the first time that Jamie did worse in a season than he did the previous year.
Season 8: Philadelphia
Cleared: City Qualifiers
Cleared: City Finals
Failed: Giant Log Grip
Season 8 introduced us to Ms. NBC (Jamie's eventual wife to be, Kim) and Doogie, his young Yorkshire Terrier with green hair and matching costume. Jamie was once again able to clear both of the city courses, but unfortunately fell victim to the Giant Log Drop on Stage 1 of the Vegas Finals. Since making it to the Vegas Finals in Season 5, this would be the worst performance he has ever had at the Vegas Finals. Jamie continues to despise any and all log obstacles in Ninja Warrior courses.
Season 10: Philadelphia
Cleared: City Qualifiers
Cleared: City Finals
Cleared: Vegas Stage 1
Failed: Wingnut Alley
Season 10 was one of Jamie's most memorable seasons. After a really bad concussion 6 months prior to filming and moving across the country only 1 month prior to filming Jamie felt under-prepared. None of that mattered once he walked up to the starting platform and heard the roaring cheers from the crowd and his fellow ninjas. Once again, he cleared both Philadelphia courses and moved onto the Vegas Finals. Quite possibly his most exciting moment of his season came at the second obstacle on Stage 1 of the Vegas Finals when his shoe fell off mid-run! Not to be deterred, he continued on, and completed the Spider Wall with only one shoe! Afterwards, he removed the remaining shoe doing the warped wall barefoot and rushing against the clock to make up lost time. He cleared the course with only a few seconds to spare. Sadly, Stage 2 continued to be Captain NBC's arch nemesis. This is the first time Jamie has failed an obstacle twice on the show. Not making it across the first Wingnut transfer, Captain NBC fell 20' to the familiar waters below Stage 2 of the Vegas Finals.
Mega Warped Wall:
Cleared: 18' 6"
Failed: 18' 9"
For Season 7, Ninja Warrior created a Skills Competition and Jamie was one of the lucky few to be selected for its very first year! Previously holding the un-official record for the tallest Warped Wall in the country at 18', Jamie was a clear choice for this event. Making it all the way to the 18' 6" ledge, he missed the 18' 9" mark and was eliminated. A new personal record for Jamie, but not enough to keep up with Flip Rodriguez and Joe Moravsky.
Lightening Bolt:
Cleared: Champion
Infinity Ladder:
Cleared: C. Wilczewski
Failed: J. McGrath
Lightning Bolt:
Cleared: B. Steffensen
Cleared: A. Rayl
After previously failing the Invisible Ladder in the Regional Finals, Jamie was surprised to find out he was selected to compete in the Infinity Ladder Skills Competition. He just barely beat out his buddy Chris Wilczewski in the first round. Exhausted, he took on the appropriately named James 'The Beast' McGrath, and lost terribly. Jamie got beat so bad, he barely had the energy to finish the obstacle.
Lucky enough to continue to participate in the Skills competition, Jamie was selected for the Peg Board event called the 'Lightning Bolt'! In his first round he beat out Ninja Veteran, Brent Steffensen and secured his place in the Finals. Adam Rayl is an incredibly powerful athlete and made a great match up for Jamie. In the end, Jamie was able to best Adam through endurance. Jamie was able to improve on his time from his first round, however, this was still slower than Adam's first round time.
All Stars Competition
Season 9: Team Matt
Failed: Stage 3
Jamie was reselected for the All Stars, this time with Team Matt for the 3rd installment of this series. Clearing Stage 1, but barely missing out of 1st place brought Team Matt to Stage 2. They were able to beat out Team Akbar, and moved onto Stage 3. Going first and clearing the entire stage, they unfortunately were too slow and Team Christine was crowned the champion.
Team Ninja Warrior
Season 2: Superhero Squad
Team Ninja Warrior returned and Jamie was once again chosen as a team captain. His previous teammates had become more focused on other things, and Jamie selected two new teammates to experience this show with. He selected his training buddy and member of the 'Fantastic Four' -Rachael Goldstein, and his hand heart hug brother - Sean Darling-Hammond. Even though the Superhero Squad did not make the finals, they tied every match and won every tiebreaker allowing them to run the course more the most teams on the show!
Season 7: Team Akbar
Cleared: Champions
The All-Stars Competition was an honor for Jamie to be selected for in its inaugural year. Even though he lost every match against Lance Pekus, his team prevailed and were crowned champions of the very first All Stars Competition!
Season 1: Rahn-Aways
2016 saw the birth of Team Ninja Warrior. Jamie was one of several Ninja veterans who were selected as team captains and asked to select their teams. Jamie chose his very first ninja training partner - Courtney Venuti, and his woogity brother - Adam "Megaman" Grossman! The Rahn-Aways were eliminated in the first round by Drew Drechsel's team after a tie-breaker run between by the two teams' female athletes.
Season 3: Superhero Squad
For the third season of the show, Team Ninja Warrior was rebranded as Ninja Vs. Ninja and moved from Esquire to USA Network. With a bigger budget and more teams than ever before, the show's new look was incredible. Jamie returned as captain of the Superhero Squad with his teammates Rachael Goldstein and Sean Darling Hammond from the previous season. Unfortunately, Jamie suffered a nasty concussion an few hours before filming, and his team was eliminated during the first round.