American Ninja Warrior
Team U.S.A. (From left; Elet Hall, Joe Moravsky, Paul Kasemir, Travis Rosen, and Brian Arnold) made history on "American Ninja Warrior" with Arnold completing Stage 3 and Rosen completing Stage 4. NBC

Fans of "American Ninja Warrior" were happy to get one last dose of action in 2014 as fans were treated to the show's version of the World Championships. With the National Finals completed last week, NBC debuted the "U.S.A. vs. The World" special on Monday, Sept. 15. The competition featured three all-star teams; one from America, one from Japan and one from Europe. When the three-hour special concluded, the newcomer, Team Europe (last year's special only featured American and Japanese teams), walked away from Mount Midoriyama as world champions.

Each team consisted of five players. The American team was stacked with "American Ninja Warrior" vets, including Brian Arnold, Elet Hall, Travis Rosen, Paul Kasemir, and this season's star, "Weatherman" Joe Moravsky. The teams returned to the Mount Midoriyama course in Las Vegas that hosted the National Finals. The format of the competition featured three players from each team taking each of the first three stages of the course in heats against the other teams. Winning a heat earned points for the winner's team (a Stage 1 heat was worth one point, a Stage 2 heat was worth two points, etc.).

After Stage 1, the Americans had the lead, taking two of the three heats (Joe Moravsky and Paul Kasemir), despite Tim Shieff of Team Europe winning the second heat with the fastest Stage 1 time in "American Ninja Warrior" history. The Americans again took two of the three heats in Stage 2 with Brian Arnold and Travis Rosen finishing with the fastest times to give Team U.S.A. a commanding lead over Team Europe, 6-3 (Japan had zero points after the first two stages).

However, Team Europe charged back in Stage 3, winning the first two heats to take the lead. It took Brian Arnold to keep Team U.S.A. alive. Arnold became the first American ever to complete Stage 3 to win the third heat and force a tie with Team Europe, 9-9.

Watch Brian Arnold make history and clear Stage 3:

With a tie after Stage 3, fans of "American Ninja Warrior" were given their first glimpse of Stage 4 in the history of the show. Travis Rosen of Team U.S.A. and Sean McColl of Team Europe faced off on the 77-foot rope climb to determine a winner, where McColl, the 27-year-old rock climber, bested Rosen by less than a second to give Team Europe the win.

Watch Travis Rosen become the first American to attempt and complete Stage 4:

With the conclusion of "U.S.A. vs. the World," fans have had their last taste of "American Ninja Warrior" for 2014. However, viewers can look forward to the show returning in 2015 and can even try out to compete themselves. "U.S.A. vs. the World" will re-air on Esquire Tuesday, Sept. 16, at 8 p.m. EDT.

What did you think of "U.S.A. vs. The World?" Tweet your thoughts to @Ja9GarofaloTV.

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