Venom sat perched atop a three foot wide platform, glaring at her opponent, a professional bull rider, on Monday's edition of "American Gladiators."
The five-foot-eight-inch tall blonde gladiator held her jousting stick in anticipation of the referee's signal to begin "Joust."
With the whistle, the 142-pound Venom began pounding the contestant in red, knocking her off balance. Before Venom could knock the contender off her perch, the contestant stepped across to Venom's platform and knocked her into the water 10 feet below.
Though she fell off her platform, Venom won the event because the contender disqualified herself by stepping onto Venom's platform.
Standing pool side after the event, Venom let the contender know about her superiority.
"Venom is lethal," she said.
Venom's real name is Beth Horn, a 1995 graduate of Ball State University with a degree in exercise physiology. She also spent two years as a gymnast for the Cardinals.
More than a decade after donning the Cardinal red, Horn now wears a silver spandex of the gladiators.
"I am an American Gladiator, which is awesome" she said.
The show is the revival of the original "American Gladiators," which aired from 1989 to 1996. It features two men and two women competing against 12 gladiators in a series of physical challenges.
The most challenging event is "Joust," she said.
She said her favorites are the "Wall" and "Hang Tough." In the "Wall," the contenders try to race up a climbing wall while gladiators pursue them and try to pull them off. In "Hang Tough," the contender tries to swing across rings to reach the opposite side while the gladiator comes from the opposite direction and tries to pull them off.
"It was very cool," Horn said. "I had a blast doing it. It was very challenging physically and mentally."
Bruce Butler, Horn's husband and manager, said he is proud of his wife for earning a spot on the show.
"It is fabulous," Butler said. "We both are just so excited and feel grateful and blessed."
While Horn is used to competing in gymnastics and fitness competitions, she said she never competed in a combat game like "American Gladiators."
"Everyone definitely got beat up physically," Horn said. "Not too bad, but we did."
Horn's friend and former roommate and teammate on the Ball State gymnastics team Heather DeCook said she enjoys watching Horn compete on the show. She said she watches the show with her twin four-year-old daughters, who are Horn's goddaughters. The girls do not understand every part of the show, DeCook said.
"'Why is Beth hitting that lady?' That's what I hear," DeCook said.
Horn began taking a battering the first day she began working on the show, she said. During a dress rehearsal, Horn said, she sprained her neck while competing in "Gauntlet," a competition in which contestant tries to get through a tunnel while four gladiators equipped with pads block their path and hit them, against a stunt man.
"You don't worry about the injuries," Butler said. "The minute you worry about them is when you get hurt."
Throughout the next two and a half weeks, Horn said, she filmed the show while dealing with her sprained neck. Because of the injury, she wore a neck brace during the competition.
However, she said she really didn't suffer until after the show was done. Now, more than a month later, Horn said, she is still getting treated for the injury.
"I was very fortunate," she said. "No serious injuries for me."
Dealing with injuries is nothing new for Horn as she blew out her knee twice while competing as a gymnast, once in high school and once during her freshman season at Ball State.
Even without the injuries, Horn had the disadvantage of competing on the team as a walk-on while most of her teammates were on athletics scholarships.
"I was definitely one of the worst gymnasts on the team," she said.
After her two years as a gymnast, Horn said, she quit the team to take try new things and take a break after years of competition as a gymnast.
A new venture for Horn was the 1994 and 1995 Miss Ball State competitions, in which Horn finished third both times.
While she finished third both times, Horn said she did not know how to properly train for the competition.
After college, she said, she learned to properly train, which led to her winning the National Fitness Championship in 2000. The win led to her becoming a professional in the International Federation of Body Building and Fitness.
"Anything she's ever wanted she's got because she works so hard," DeCook said.
Last year, Horn set her sights on the goal of becoming a gladiator on the revival of "American Gladiators."
Butler, said she was completely focused on being a gladiator and not trying out as a contender.
Horn, who had cheered for the gladiators on the original show said, she was finally chosen to be on the show after a long interview process that began in September.
Executive Producer David Hurwitz said NBC chose Horn because of her dedication, her ability as a multi-skilled athlete and her physical attractiveness.
"Venom is fantastic," he said. "She is the complete package."
DeCook said she thought Horn would be perfect for the role.
"I wasn't shocked," she said. "I was like 'this doesn't surprise me at all.'"
In addition to having a great body and having the skills of a gymnast, DeCook said, Horn was also a good choice as a gladiator because she is pretty.
On the NBC Web site, fans posted comments about how "hot" Horn is.
Horn said she is flattered that people find her attractive.
Butler said fans should realize that she is not just a pretty face and she is an even more beautiful person inside. It is something that has to be taken with a grain of salt, he said, and a compliment.
"Venom mania is taking off," Bulter said.
The notoriety Horn is gaining from the show has presented a lot of opportunities for her future, Butler said.
"It's too early to say where it's going to go," he said.
Currently, Horn said she is training for a second season of the show, which was picked up by NBC Monday.
She also said she has her personal trainer business and is working on her Web site, bethhorn.com.
Horn, who was on the list for medical school at the University of Chicago before beginning her career in fitness, is also the author of the 2004 book "The Natural Way: The Holistic Guide to Total Mind-Body Health & Fitness."
Horn said she is also a believer in making your dreams come true and the exposure from the show will help her help others.
"I want to be a role model for everyone," she said.
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