Last night was the two-hour season finale of 'American Gladiators,' the competition that would finally decide the two grand champions. As previously thought, the two definite favorites pulled through and won the $100,000 grand prize and the chance to become a Gladiator next season, which begins this Summer.

This time around, there was more insight into the competitors and their life at home. Everyone in their perspective home towns greeted the contenders as they came home, and then there was an explanation of how their accomplishments on TV affected them thus far. We weren't really given any more information on their personal lives, just a bit of extra fluff on how much American Gladiators means to them and their family.

There was also a smattering of "best of" highlights showcasing moments of the season and a countdown to the best overall. While I personally would have voted for Wolf's crazy lunge across the pyramid to neck-whip Evan to the ground in the preliminaries, they gave the number one spot to Venus and her comeback in her preliminary Eliminator event – helped along by the fact that her opponent Koya totally failed on the travelator.

Wolf: the wild fan favorite. Click for the entire American Gladiators gallery.

The events for the finale were augmented by the fact that the best Gladiators for each event were chosen to go up against the competitors - to an extent. They gave Militia a chance to do The Wall and Helga on Assault, even though neither of them were very good on any event this season. Militia, in particular, was a rare sight and it wouldn’t surprise me if he was replaced by the champion.

Highlights from the finale included Monica winning Assault on the first weapon the slingshot), Wolf demolishing both competitors in Hang Tough, Evan practically running up The Wall and then being pummeled off the Joust platform by Titan in about three seconds, and finally Evan setting a new record in the Eliminator with an astonishing time of 1 minute, 19 seconds.

Yes, the two grand champions were Evan and Monica – the strongest competitors by far. While it wasn't unveiled whether both of them would join the Gladiators next season, I really hope that Evan does. His ridiculous Wall times would make him a perfect match to go up against the competitors. Monica was just average in all of the events but phenomenal in the Eliminator, so I'm not sure if she can become a Gladiator.

Crush: mixed martial artist turned Gladiator. Click for the entire American Gladiators gallery.

All in all, it was a rather interesting season, but there is plenty of work for NBC to do to make it a great show. They need to stop making weird cuts during the events, give us more interviews with the Gladiators (especially Wolf), and coach Laila and Hulk a bit to improve their interviewing and hyping skills. Also, how about some freaking time penalties in the Eliminator for falling off the handbike, or bringing back the Gladiator portions of the Eliminator? It'd be awesome to have the ending of the classic show, with four doors and the possibility of a Gladiator being behind one of them.

American Gladiators returns this Summer for its second season – the Finale didn’t preview the next season at all, so we will have to wait and see what changes are made. See you then!

By Casey "Squints" Johnson
Starpulse.com Staff Writer