| Year Introduced | 1989 |
|---|---|
| Country of Origin | United States |
| Used In | United States Finland United Kingdom(untelevised) |
| Last Used | 1996 |
| Number of Contenders | 1 |
| Number of Gladiators | 1 in Breakthrough 1 in Conquer |
| Time Limit | Breakthrough: None Conquer: 10-15 seconds |
Breakthrough & Conquer was an event played in several incarnations of the television series Gladiators. In this two-part event, a contender faces two Gladiators across two separate challenges based upon American football and freestyle wrestling.
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The first part of the event is 'Breakthrough' in which one contender faces one Gladiator on a field twenty six feet wide and twenty yards long with the Gladiator stood at the five yard mark. On the whistle, the contender (carrying an American football) had to try to run past the Gladiator and score a 'touchdown' at the end of the playing field without getting tackled by a Gladiator. 5 points would be awarded should the contender win.
On the whistle, the contender had to move forward and the Gladiator had to bring the contender down to the ground for a successful win. There is no time limit to the 'Breakthrough' part.
The second part of the event is 'Conquer' in which the contender faces a different Gladiator in a circular wrestling ring, fourteen feet in diameter. The contender had 10 seconds to remove any part of the Gladiator's body from the circle by pushing, pulling and wrestling. The contender was allowed to remove themselves and re-enter the ring as many times as needed. 5 points would be awarded should the contender be successful.
In the UK, the 'Conquer' part of the event lasted for 15 seconds.
The event was also played in Finland.
Years active: 1989-1996
Breakthrough and conquer debuted in the very first series of American Gladiators and was one of only six events to be played in every series of the shows initial run. In the first half season, 30 (later 40) points were awarded for each successful part. Should a contender win both parts of the event, then they would receive 100 points. The standard points system was introduced in the second half of the first series.
For part of the first half series, only the men played Breakthrough & Conquer with the women playing an untelevised game of Swingshot. This was the only time in Gladiators history that a played event was not televised yet acknowledged on screen.
For a small part of the third season (1991), 3 points were awarded for each successful part before being reverted back to 5 points.
In the fourth series (1992), the 'Conquer' part of the event was extended to fifteen seconds.
Despite it being played in every season of the original American Gladiators run. the event was not brought back for the American 2008 revival, with the 'Conquer' element forming the concept for new event Earthquake.
Years active: 1993 Wembley Live (not televised)
Breakthrough & Conquer was roadtested during the 1993 Wembley live shows, yet was not added to the event pool for the televised series, the only time an event had failed its roadtest.
Elements of the event were present in Powerball (which debuted in the 1993 season) and later events Whiplash (1995) and Earthquake (2008).
Although it was not introduced into the televised series, clips from the event were televised in the 1993 'Gladiators Return' preview show.
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