While not a true obstacle, the Motivator is part of the Big Balls. If a contestant hesitates or takes too long before attempting the Big Balls, the Motivator will forcefully get them to move forward.
First introduced in season 2, the Motivator served as a giant red hammer looming above the contestants. If they stood on the platform for too long, the hammer would swing forward, knocking the contestants forward. In the Super Bowl special, a linebacker was used to push contestants.
In season 3, the Hammer Motivator returned alongside a new Hidden Motivator, in which part of the platform would launch upward, pushing the contestants forward.
In season 4, Wipeout was split into three parts, Winter, Spring, and Summer. Winter and Spring Wipeout both used the Snow-tivator and the Springivator respectively; these are dreadmills, which contestants had to ride on to the Big Balls. For Summer Wipeout, the Dreadmill returned, alongside two new motivators: the Ball Tapper, featuring two Big Balls rotating forward, in which contestants had to run fast enough to avoid it, and the Handlebar Motivator, featuring a large handrail that would push them forward if they took too much time. It is worth noting that the Dreadmill-style Motivators used the space for the mud pool that was used by the Sucker Punch. The Handlebar Motivator was also slightly ineffective as it sometimes shoves contestants off to their right side instead of towards the Big Balls.
In season 5, Wipeout was again split into Winter and Summer seasoned varieties. For the season premiere of Winter Wipeout, a special Ho-Ho-Ho-tivator was added, where Santa Claus stood by the contestants on the platform, pushing them if they took too much time. For the rest of Winter Wipeout, the Hidden Motivator returned, now more well hidden by the snow. For Summer Wipeout, two new motivators were introduced. The Rumble Bridge Motivator featured a platform that moves up and down, shaking the contestants off. In episode 19, it was covered in foam. The second motivator was dubbed the Multivator, which featured two motivating parts: a hydraulic arm hidden inside the ramp of the platform that would push contestants onto an upgraded Hidden Motivator, which launched them onto the Big Balls rather than pushing them off.
In season 7, the hydraulic arm plus rumble bridge combo returned for the Multivator with the rumble bridge now taking a larger part of the platform.
In the TBS revival, season 1 featured the same Multivator from ABC’s season 7 albeit themed differently. In season 2, the Hidden Motivator returned with an additional airbag hidden inside the platform, exploding when the platform was raised.