USA Network Debuts ‘Cannonball’

While it’s no Wipeout, Cannonball just might be the second best thing. Last week, NBC previewed the new competition series ahead of the show’s debut Thursday on the USA Network. The show features a variety of contestants as they face-off in a series of increasingly difficult water obstacles in one of the “biggest, wettest, slippery-est water sports competition ever created,” say the press release. From sliding off a 100-foot waterslide to rocketing off one of the world’s fastest drop towers, Cannonball contestants will battle a variety of water obstacles to win a $10,000 cash prize. It’s silly and wacky, but it’s not as much fun as ABC’s Holey Moley. But hey, you can’t have everything.

Rocsi Diaz, Mike Mizanin and Simon Gibson. (Eddy Chen/USA Network)

Cannonball is hosted by Mike Mizanin, aka WWE’s “The Miz” and Rocsi Diaz who give the play-by-play on the contestants, the task at hand and the players’ performances. The two work well together, however them shouting out “Cannonball!” before every contestants’ feat becomes old pretty quick. Simon Gibson appears as well working as a sideline reporter.

At first, the obstacles appear simple enough, even though the contestants shoot down a waterslide that is 100-feet long before getting launched out toward a series of markers. From there, the tasks only get harder and clever-er.

For one task, the players step on a surfboard that is hanging high above the water and then they must “ride” it as it shoots across the pool. Another task involves the players to stand on a large ball attached to a water hose and they must hang on for as long as they can while it wiggles around like a bucking bronco.