Robots, activate.
♪♪
Welcome to "battlebots."
hope you cracked open
a cold beverage at home
and you're ready
for some carnage.
We've seen some extreme robot
warfare already this year,
but tonight the stakes
are raised.
That's right, chris.
In the battlebots world,
the season gets late
pretty quickly.
If you've already lost one bout
this season, it's make or break.
It's do or die.
It's go big or go home.
Alright, okay, okay, okay,
we got it now, pal.
Sorry, I just...
I love this sport.
Alright. I'm going to tell
you who else loves it.
End game, malice,
all the other teams
that are looking to go
to 2-0 tonight.
If you come out
of this one undefeated,
you're sitting pretty
when it comes
to cracking that tournament
field of 32.
Yeah, it's time for some bots
to establish dominance
and others to be pushed
to the brink.
It's put up or shut up time.
Managed to sneak one more in,
huh, didn't you?
Sorry. Listen,
there's a lot
on the line tonight,
so let's take a look
at the fight card.
After a year away from the
battlebox, the game-changing
zoe stephenson is back
with a much bigger
and badder chomp.
At a massive 500 pounds,
it's one of the biggest bots
we have ever seen.
And for their lifter opponent,
gamma 9,
let's just hope they've been
seriously hitting the gym.
The kids from wpi, ribbot,
hope to leapfrog madcatter
to go to 2-0.
And kenny, both of these teams
may not be getting the respect
that they deserve.
I think so, chris,
david jin and martin mason
have both been here before.
They both have experience
in the box.
And yet, if vegas
was putting down odds,
both of these guys
would probably be underdogs.
And in tonight's main event,
after shocking the bot world
with a knockout win
over tombstone,
the k*ller kiwis, end game,
are looking for
a repeat performance.
Chris, it's a tough act
to follow against
yet another deadly horizontal
spinner in bloodsport.
Fresh off of a convincing
knockout,
the whirling warrior looks to do
what tombstone couldn't
on the path to 2-0.
And speaking of tombstone,
we're kicking this party off
with a bang
because the man himself,
ray billings,
is about to storm the box
and attempt to avenge
his 0-1 start, kenny.
That's right.
Ray is coming for blood
against rookie bot slap box
and for brave young builder
bryce yankauskas,
he has the chance to open
his battlebots career
by sending tombstone
to a shallow 0-2 grave.
Alright, enough talking.
Let's watch some robot fighting.
Faruq!
Ladies and gentlemen,
it's robot-fighting time!
♪♪
♪♪
In the blue square,
a tisket, a tasket,
he'll put you in a casket.
One by one,
he has broken his foes,
one question about
that coffin...
You want it open or closed?
It's tombstone!
♪♪
The king of chaos himself,
ray billings and tombstone,
backs against the wall
early after a loss to end game.
I'm not sure what's scarier,
kenny, ray right now
or when you miss out on lunch.
Chris, missing lunch
is no laughing matter.
But you're absolutely right.
When you get a guy like ray
billings behind the eight ball,
you have to imagine he's
coming out with g*ns ablazing.
He knows he can't drop to 0-2.
So it's gonna be trouble for
anyone who stands in his way.
In the red square, from indiana,
in a small town called knox,
this bot has the power of
a bear and the speed of a fox.
It's time for punishment.
So set back your clocks,
it's slap box.
♪♪
and his brand-new bot slap box,
his dad, dominic, there
is also a member of team gemini,
and his little sister,
onika, drives the mini-bot.
The whole family is here.
It's definitely a family affair.
As you can see,
the bot is decorated
with the slapped-on handprints
of the whole yankauskas family.
With that lifter
as his primary weapon,
bryce is looking to get around
the blade of tombstone
and flip it on to its side.
♪♪
This next fight is important
since I started out with a loss,
I have to get wins
from this point forward
to get into the tournament.
So I absolutely have to come
away from this with a victory.
The way slap box is built
with the exposed tires
on the outside,
I'm hoping to get a hold
of one of the tires
and see if I can yank it off.
That'll be my strategy.
When I found out I was
facing ray billings,
I was thinking, "why me?"
my first fight ever
with this bot,
still trying to get used to
it, and ray's a veteran.
He knows what he's doing.
My strategy just dominate
the whole time.
Get him from the beginning.
Don't let him go.
Even if we win our next fight,
we still have to dominate
into the bracket of 32
to show that we're here
for a reason.
Robots, activate.
[ cheers and applause ]
and now time to bring in
former-botbuilder-turned-analyst
pete abrahamson,
the bot whisperer.
Pete, how worried is ray
going into this one tonight?
Well, ray was having
a pretty good look at slap box.
He was noticing things
like the armor is rubber mounted
but not bolted through.
So he's pretty sure there's
going to be quite a few pieces
scattering about this arena.
So we may want to be ready
to dive behind our desks
because I have a feeling
slap box is not
going to be duck durable
like they believe it is.
Blue team, ready.
[ cheers and applause ]
♪♪
Red team, ready.
♪♪
♪♪
[ audience chanting "fight" ]
ray billings licking his chops
as he looks to make a meal
out of the rookie.
Can young bryce shock the world
in his "battlebots" debut?
[ audience chanting "fight" ]
let the bot battle begin!
Here comes slap box... oh!
He's underneath tombstone!
Keeping the pressure on!
Oh!
Slap box sends tombstone flying!
This crew is showing
absolutely no fear.
Yeah, but both of its wedges
are gone right now.
All that remains is the lifter,
but it's still working.
That's a good sign.
Yeah, but bryce yankauskas
now has a problem.
He's made tombstone
very, very mad,
and as you can see,
his mom is definitely concerned
for the well-being
of her little baby
against ray billings.
He is literally tearing apart
that box piece by piece.
Yeah, well, he's got
one tire left.
Kid, can you still move?
Bryce, how many fingers
am I holding up?
Oh, my goodness. Dr. Billings'
just surgical out there.
Heads up. Whoa! Whoa!
That's what I was after.
Ray does love to play
with his food.
Slap box trying to show it
still has some mobility left.
He's doing everything possible
to move and tombstone
just kind of watching him die.
The countdown has started.
Oh, no, look at this,
tombstone's
going after the mini-bot!
Please, no, please,
no, please, no!
Ah, the grim reaper backs off.
Referee: ...1, knockout!
And tombstone is headed
for win number one.
Now, who's going to
clean up that mess?
I say we make
the teenagers do it.
Cynthia:
You did such a good job.
That was awesome, that
was an awesome fight.
Was a good match,
it was a good match.
I'll give team slap box
some credit,
they weren't afraid,
kenny florian.
Florian: Yeah, absolutely.
They went right at tombstone,
were aggressive
right from the get go
and got off to
a great start there,
getting underneath tombstone
and tried to get tombstone
to essentially
k*ll itself there.
We have seen that before
where tombstone has
so much kinetic energy built up
that it just knocked itself out.
So you can't blame him
for the strategy,
especially from
a 14-year-old kid
who's driving this sort of bot
for the very first time.
Peter, what'd you think?
Abrahamson: Watch this as ray
just completely removes
tire after tire after tire.
I mean, that was rough
for your very first fight.
I mean, I would definitely
not want to have
been that guy doing that.
But, wow, this was unbelievable
with how powerful
ray's weapon is here.
So team slap box had one
of its four tires remaining,
it could just spin
in place pretty much.
And then ray,
we're sending you a bill.
Why? Because you did that...
Oh! ...To one of our cameras.
You understand we're on
a budget here, billings.
Shame on you.
Ray.
Okay, do I have to be charming?
[ laughter ]
don't make me be charming, okay?
You're always charming.
What do you mean?
Hey, it feels good
after the last match,
this one feels a lot better.
Ray, that was some impressive
open-bot surgery there.
Can you take us
through that fight?
[ laughs ]
well, that sloped armor
they had in the front
did have me worried.
I knew I could slide up
that and whatnot,
but I managed to get
a hold of one and yank it off.
And as soon as you
can get that armor off,
then at that point in time,
then it's just a matter
of getting the right hit
at the right time
to pull wheels off.
It's sloppy work there, doctor.
You didn't do any sewing.
But anyways,
are you happy now that
you got your win back?
I know you were real frustrated
after that last loss.
Yeah. You know,
the last match was...
It happens.
It happens to everybody.
You know, we're okay from it.
It's good to see the robot
working like it's supposed to.
And so now we're ready
to charge forward
and get that giant nut.
Ray, does the rest of the pit
still fear you and tombstone?
They'd be silly not to.
I mean, you know,
it is the big hitter.
So, yeah, obviously
I'm still the guy
that everybody's gunning for.
Ray billings, congratulations.
I'm sure we will see you
down the road.
And you were very charming,
just for the record.
[ laughs ]
so are you guys. So are you.
Whew! Ray killings is not
going to go winless this season.
I was worried. [ laughs ]
I was not.
You know, his bot is still
an absolute beast.
Sometimes you see ray
as the hammer out there,
he just kind
of smashes everything.
But he was more of a scalpel
this time out.
And, man, was he surgical.
You know, team slap box,
I actually loved their strategy.
You talked about it
during the replays
that ray is sometimes
his own worst enemy.
And if you are stout enough,
if you are well-built,
you can go in there
and take that chance
by going face to face, right?
Yes. No easy feat.
You better be well-built.
But even then,
you could still get destroyed.
Did you end up leading
with your nose in a few fights?
Yeah, got hit. I didn't notice.
Alright, coming up, two bots
making their season debuts.
It's pain train facing slammow!
And buckle up for tonight's
main event,
tombstone-k*ller end game
squares up with bloodsport.
That's later tonight
on "battlebots".
♪♪
We are back on "battlebots
fight night,"
where we've already
checked one expl*sive
fight off the list
on tonight's fight card.
Up next, it's a veteran
against a newbie.
Let's start with the vet,
craig danby,
who is bringing with him
his third different robot
in the last three years,
and he admitted to us, kenny,
that foxtrot and predator,
they were, "pieces of crap."
he feels differently
about slammow!
Florian: He's very optimistic
and he's pretty fearless
as a botbuilder,
and he likes his chances.
I'm curious to see
what he brought this season.
Alright. In the meantime,
let's focus on the rookie
and all aboard a...
Hoo hoo! Pain train
brought to you by evan arias.
And if there's a guy who's
train you want to hop on,
it's him because he's
an amazing feel-good story.
He grew up in the projects
in new york city,
always loved robotics,
but his single mom
didn't have the financial
wherewithal to get him
into a club to get him started.
So that's what
he wants to do here.
He wants to raise
the awareness of robotics
back in new york city
and give all those kids
the opportunity that
he didn't have as a child.
That's somebody
you can root for.
Yeah, absolutely.
A former marine as well.
This guy, he just came across
as just the biggest
"battlebots" fan ever.
He so excited to be here.
I think this is a perfect
kind of measurement
to see what kind of bots
we have here.
Let's check them out
inside the box.
Faruq, do your thing.
In the blue square,
from new york city,
watch out for the closing doors,
it's pain train.
[ cheers and applause ]
so what sort of bot is
pain train, kenny florian?
Well, it's a vertical spinner
with that eggbeater style weapon
that will spin at
What's the strategy for it?
Well, he believes he has
an incredibly intense robot,
wants to go right at them,
very aggressive driving style,
and take them apart
piece by piece.
In the red square,
it's the weed-whacking,
whip-cracking slammow!
♪♪
There we are, the third
different design for craig danby
in the last three years.
Why should we believe in him
this time, kenny florian?
Well, it's a slick design,
it looks very solid.
And, you know,
it's a grapper lifter bot,
so, well, that's
always exciting.
Says he can lift 1,000 pounds.
He might have to prove it to us.
♪♪
What makes my weapon different
from every other robot
is that it's a hybrid between
a beater bar and a drum spinner.
The weapon spins
at 250 miles per hour.
So I'm going to go after his
wheels, go after his back.
I'm going to rip that
robot piece by piece.
The main strategy is going to be
box him into a corner,
pin him against the wall,
get it to the point
where I can turn him over
where his weapon
is less dangerous
and get that grip on him
so that I can suplex him.
I need to prove really
that I am a good builder.
If I don't win this year
even at least once,
then all of the effort,
all of the money,
all of the time
that we put into it
is absolutely useless.
♪♪
Robots, activate.
♪♪
♪♪
Blue team, ready.
♪♪
Bring the pain!
♪♪
Red team, ready.
Do it.
♪♪
♪♪
I'm taking those wheels, baby.
[ audience chanting "fight" ]
let the bot battle begin!
Pain train having some trouble,
slammow!'s all over it, delivers
them into the screws.
This is exactly what
he wanted, chris.
Yeah, trying to lift pain train
and he flips him.
Almost had a hold of him.
Pain train manages to escape,
but some less than stellar
driving by evan arias here
to start this match,
can't seem to get any traction.
Oh! Oh!
It's slammow! Taking advantage.
He's got a bend.
Slammow! Doing a nice job
lifting, remember
craig danby told us
it can lift 1,000 pounds,
so a 250-pound robot
should be no problem.
Get out of there, evan.
Uh-oh.
You can feel slammow! Probing.
Just kind of looking for that
right grip point here
to take control.
Oh!
Some nice hits by pain train.
Yep, slammow! Backs off,
catching his breath now,
back into the action.
No question there's
a big problem
for evan arias and his crew.
This thing is not driving
the right way, kenny.
Well, you know what?
The design of it is kind of
making it very wobbly.
It's not getting
very good stability
to the floor right now.
Uh-oh.
There's a pick-up suplex.
Oh!
Aw, yeah!
Slammow! Looking like hulk hogan
in wrestlemania iii, kenny.
Living up to its name.
That is officially
one of the coolest things
I've ever seen a robot do.
Pain train fired up now,
but can't seem to get
a good bite on slammow!
Who is suddenly lying on
its back.
Might be struggling
a little bit himself.
Oh, there are some nice shots.
I think pain train
needs to attack the sides.
He's going right
up the wedge of slammow!
And that's playing right into
craig danby's game plan.
Oh, here goes slammow!
Oh, wow! And all of a sudden,
I don't hear that weapon
anymore on pain train.
You ate the belt.
You can see a belt right
there on the floor, chris.
I think that just disabled
that eggbeater style weapon
from pain train,
and it's not moving.
That's not good.
Under a minute
to go, pain train,
which has has trouble
moving throughout the match,
now is immobile.
You got to imagine the countdown
is going to start
any minute.
Now pain train's moving
a little bit.
That stops, at least
momentarily,
the countdown.
Get him in the corner.
And now slammow!,
only one of those forky arms,
not to get too technical on you,
is working.
[ laughs ] forky arms.
Nice, chris. Thank you.
has started...8
and this time it could be doa
for the pain train
in its first fight.
Well done, slammow!
Pain train is knocked out!
[ cheers and applause ]
♪♪
Good job.
That was rough.
That was rough.
Rose: Kenny, what an impressive
performance by slammow!
In its "battlebots" debut.
Yeah, a brilliant start there
from craig danby
and team slammow! Attacking
the back side of pain train.
Excellent control there from the
grappler staying on pain train
and asserting its dominance.
And of course,
craig danby dropping the suplex,
executing his game
plan to perfection
in truly one of the
most impressive moves
I've seen of the battlebox.
Evan arias and pain train
on the receiving end
of that vicious suplex.
A tough first outing for the bot
from the big apple.
But the story tonight
is craig danby
and slammow! Flat out
getting it done.
Rose: Craig danby,
over here, bud.
Hey, man!
Yeah, craig,
the previous two years
you told us
that you brought with you robots
that were "crappy."
yeah.
So how frustrating has it been
and how do you feel now
in comparison?
So I've been doing this
for like 20 years.
It's my third year here.
I always come here
hoping that there's going
to be something new.
I'm going to do
something different.
But at the end of the day,
it's always... something
little goes wrong.
And this year, I brought a
really good team with me,
with the new team
and with mowbot, the sponsor.
Without them,
I couldn't be here.
I couldn't have
built this robot.
I won. I got a fight. I won!
By knockout!
Guys, congratulations
on win number one.
Thanks for
an entertaining fight.
Thank you.
Kenny, I think sometimes we lose
a little perspective, you know,
we focus on witch doctor
and whiplash and tombstone
and hydra and these great bots
and it seems so easy for them.
Then there's a botbuilder
like craig danby who pours his
heart and soul
for two decades into this.
It means so much to him,
and he finally gets a win.
We have to look at it, I think,
from a different perspective.
Absolutely.
I feel great for him.
You know, so much goes into
this, so much goes into this.
There's a lot of hard work
and a lot of trial and error.
He's certainly experienced a lot
of adversity here at battlebots.
But finally getting a win
and getting a quality win
has to feel good for them
and their team.
Is he going to impress
the selection committee enough
to make it into the top 32?
Who knows?
But this is a brilliant
first step for him.
Alright.
Coming up, it's going to end
like some kind of greek tragedy.
Perfect phoenix, skorpios,
their legendary w*r is next.
♪♪
Rose: We are back on
"battlebots"
and we are off to the races
with two fights
already in the books.
And up next, zach lytle
looks to avoid an 0-2 start.
Standing in his way
It is perfect phoenix
and skorpios.
Faruq, let's roll.
In the blue square, bring
'em out, perfect phoenix.
Back again with his buddy
sawyer on the left there,
it is whiz kid
tyler nguyen, and kenny,
he made a serious statement
in his first fight.
Florian: He sure did. It was
a relatively quick knockout,
but the field is well aware of
how skilled a driver tyler is.
And now they know
his bot works, too.
It'll be interesting
to see how he does here.
In the red square,
get ready for skorpios!
♪♪
Oh, okay. Show-offs.
Skorpios knocked out
by bloodsport
in its first round match,
and kenny, zach told us he knows
he has to be the bad guy here.
He's either about
to beat an 11-year-old
or lose to an 11-year-old.
Well, something tells me
he'll go with the former.
At 0-1, zach knows he'll be
in far worse shape at 0-2.
He also knows how good
of a driver tyler is
and plans to use skorpios'
infamous wedge
to disable the blade
of perfect phoenix.
♪♪
I know everyone at home is like,
"oh, look,
a little kid is driving,"
but the truth is
he is a monster.
A monster behind the radio.
Already witnessed him beat
so many adults.
I do not want to be added
to that list.
I'm pretty confident since I
worked on a strategy for him.
Attack when he does a wheelie
and destroy tires.
If I beat skorpios,
there's actually a good chance
that I'll make it
to the round of 32.
That's really good.
♪♪
Robots, activate.
Well, you heard zach
say it, tyler nguyen,
no slouch when it comes to
punching above his weight class.
He has medaled
at other top robot
competitions such as bugglebots
and robogames.
♪♪
[ audience chanting "fight" ]
♪♪
Let the bot battle begin!
And skorpios out of the box,
rushing nguyen.
Oh! And he got
perfect phoenix in the air,
perfect phoenix up
to full speed,
does a nice hit on skorpios.
Skorpios has him right
where he wants him,
see if he can slow down that
blade of perfect phoenix.
Tyler nguyen,
he's only 11 years old,
but he knows he has
to stay in space,
uh-oh, he has started this.
This is terrible.
You're far too young, tyler,
quit it while you can, buddy.
No! Ugh!
Zach lytle's getting
nasty over here.
Kenny, skorpios is inflicting
all sorts of damage here.
Yeah, he's trying to go
for that primary weapon.
The question is does perfect
phoenix have enough power
to get away. It does.
My motor's smoking!
Still with the smoking?
Seriously, tyler!
Most importantly,
that weapon ain't working.
Oh! Skorpios,
the veteran driver,
zach lytle, taking advantage
of the youngster.
But tyler showing tremendous
courage under fire, kenny.
Incredible driving skills
from the youngster, chris.
A minute in.
Zach lytle doing a great job
of just staying
right on top of perfect phoenix,
and obviously perfect phoenix
in a tough spot.
Their weapon is down, skorpios's
primary weapon is not.
Whew!
And skorpios doing a great job
getting to the side
of perfect phoenix
so he can get under the bonnet
and he's on the screws!
This is the danger zone
for tyler nguyen!
Little shoeshine
for perfect phoenix.
Ow, perfect phoenix
is back on the ground,
but it seems like
it might be stuck on the screws.
Whoo! And it might be the wedge
underneath, chris, that's stuck
underneath the screws. I can't
really tell from this angle.
Well, either way, tyler
nguyen and perfect phoenix
is getting counted out!
...5, 4...
This is going to do it!
The little man is done.
Knockout!
[ cheers and applause ]
a valiant effort
from the 11 year old,
but zach lytle
with a resounding victory
as skorpios picks up
win number one on the season.
Let's go.
You know, kenny,
we know that tyler nguyen
has experience
in robot fighting,
but zach lytle and his team
obviously had a game plan
and stuck to it.
No doubt about it.
I mean, they tried
to box rush him
right from the start
of the match
and you could see
their aggressive game plan
really paid off.
Skorpios kept on top.
And even though that weapon
was not as effective
as they would have liked,
it did enough damage
to wear down their opponent.
Disabled the weapon
and eventually put them up
in the screws.
And that was it
for 11-year-old tyler nguyen.
♪♪
[ cheers and applause ]
congratulations.
Thank you. Thank you.
Put it down. Oh.
My bad!
- Zach lytle!
- Yes.
Over here, bud.
Oh, here? No, there you go.
Alright. Hi there.
Well, you told us before
the fight that either way
you're going to be
kind of the bad guy
if you, you know,
beat up an 11-year-old
and everybody's going to
look at you like you're a jerk.
Do you feel like a jerk?
Well, we decided,
this is a bennett funk,
he's one of the kids
from my summer camp program.
He's worked his way up
to be here on the team.
And we thought
we'd go kid to kid.
Were you guys nervous
for this matchup a little bit
based on tyler's driving skills?
We were incredibly nervous.
We've been talking about it and
sweating about it for two days.
He's won robogames.
He's won so many competitions,
I can't even list them all.
I was the judge the year
he showed up
and won the junior league,
and then he brought a little
stepstool to get up on to
so he could then
win the adult league as well.
Zach and bennett,
congratulations.
Bennett, is this like
the best day of your life?
This is a great day.
I'm loving it.
Go celebrate
with the rest of your team.
Congratulations, guys.
[ cheers and applause ]
♪♪
Alright, coming up,
it's a torrid affair
between cat and frog,
it's ribbot and madcatter.
But first, let's check in
with jenny taft,
who caught up with ribbot
earlier tonight.
Something really interesting
we have learned
about ribbot this season,
you guys are doing
some diagnostic testing.
Take me through it, nick.
Yeah. So on top
of our weapons control,
we have a seven-inch
touch screen
that communicates with the robot
back and forth.
It displays during the match
all of the information
that's important for david and I
to diagnose all the motors,
all the speed controllers,
and we get temperature of
voltage current,
the things we want
to know in real time.
It's been huge
for our confidence.
We know we can get through
every match
without blowing up
our electronics.
Last year we had tons of issues
where drive motors and drive
vscs were cooking themselves.
He can quickly
glance down at the tablet
and know whether or not
we're like seconds away
from blowing up. Wow.
It's also nice to know
what happens in these machines
as they're competing.
So we can spin the weapon.
You'll be able to see
that the graphics are moving.
Oh!
♪♪
Hits it every time!
It's really cool, guys.
It's a big advantage
in a lot of ways.
I can drive as hard as I want
pretty much for the entire match
without worrying.
It's more so that the weapon,
after continuous hard spin ups
will start to overheat.
It will go from green to yellow
during the middle of the match
and then red if we're
spinning up for a long time.
And what about your fight
specifically against tracer,
how was this technology
able to kind of help you?
Florian: Big head on collision
out of the gate!
We lost the wheel early on
and our weapon
was actually driving
on the ground.
I asked nick, like how
we're doing on temps,
and he was able to determine
exactly how much current
we were pulling with our weapon
dragging on the ground.
The second we determined
that we were all good,
we decided keep hitting him.
Rose: Tracer on its back!
[ cheers and applause ]
well, clearly, no shortage
of technological advancements.
This is impressive,
really pushing this sport
in a new direction.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
The innovation here
at battlebots
never ceases to amaze.
Good stuff, jenny taft.
We'll see ribbot
taking on madcatter.
And it's coming your way next.
♪♪
We are back on "battlebots,"
and up next,
a pair of robots
with impressive knockouts
in their first fights
of the season.
Let's start with madcatter.
They are captained
by the energetic,
entertaining martin mason.
This was his reaction
after they pulled off the win.
- Oh!
- Yeah!
Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah!
Ooh, okay, brother,
I'm with you.
Now, kenny, he's got
the whole schtick thing down,
but this is a very
impressive bot.
Florian:
It's a very impressive bot
and this guy really is coming
in here with a chip
on his shoulder.
He wants to face
all the best teams
and really prove a point here.
He's got one from wpi.
Of course, they're
the leaders of ribbot.
And you know what?
They're playing
some interesting mind games.
And so it goes
with two modular bots,
both teams trying to peek
at the other's configuration
to get an upper hand
in this one.
That's right. Where two bots
have multiple weapons,
both are always going
to look to outmatch
the other, vertical bar spinner,
horizontal spinner, hammer?
We're about to find out.
But you never did the
gamesmanship thing
as you were getting ready
to go into the octagon, did you?
Not really. I always brought
the same body to my fights.
Oh, I thought you were
like mr. Potato head.
You'd put on a different nose,
different ears.
I wish. It'd be nice.
If so, you picked
the wrong ones.
Just gonna let you know.
Alright, faruq, take it away.
In the blue square
from worcester, mass,
the felonious frog, ribbot!
Alright.
Oh, look at this, kenny.
They are still holding out on
everybody, including madcatter.
Wouldn't it be hilarious
if they take that dropcloth off
and all of a sudden it's
a kangaroo instead of a frog?
[ laughs ]
and, oh! There we go.
So if you played the vertical
disk game at home,
congratulations,
you're a winner.
Well, we're all winners, chris,
because that vertical spinner
packs a wallop.
They've also got these wedgelets
on the front of ribbot
to help feed madcatter
right into their weapon.
In the red square
from pomona, california,
here to make 'em say "me-ow!"
it's madcatter!
♪♪
Plug your ears,
it's mr. Showtime,
matin mason and team madcatter
walking the catwalk with their
vertical disk there, kenny.
Yeah, lots of gamesmanship
between these two teams all day,
but they've also decided to go
with their very destructive
vertical weapon.
As a team
from a community college,
martin said he's excited
to show that his program
can go toe-to-toe with the kids
from the revered wpi.
♪♪
Let me tell you we're
going up against tonight.
We're going up against ribbot,
and I made up a nice
big bag of egg batter.
I tell you what, we're going
to be frying some frog legs.
We're going to see
what they're going to run.
And we're going to put in
what is best suited
to just make them
totally frog-gotten.
For madcatter, we're going to
prepare our vertical spinner
that we primarily used
last season.
Our strategy going
into this fight
is we want to use
our newfound speed and mobility.
If we can start
this tournament going 2-0,
I think that puts us
in a really,
really good position
going into the bracket.
I'm expecting to see
some fireworks.
♪♪
Robots, activate.
[ cheers and applause ]
and there's madcatter's
mini-bot toebiter,
they're hoping he can take out
the wheels of ribbot
and tee it up for a clean shot.
Blue team, ready.
♪♪
Red team, ready.
- Yeah!
- Yeah!
♪♪
♪♪
[ audience chanting "fight" ]
♪♪
Let the bot battle begin!
Oh! Oh!
Ribbot draws first blood
attacking from the side.
A standoff now and boom.
Another shot.
Ribbot on the offensive early,
he's lighting them up.
Oh! Ribbot dominating early, now
goes after the mini-bot!
Oh! What a hit by madcatter!
And in fact,
part of that prog's face
is deformed now
and it's smoking.
We're going to have
cooked toad here momentarily.
Yeah, ribbot is really
slowing down now, chris.
And I think the fact
that madcatter
is so low to the ground
is giving them
a huge advantage here!
And he puts ribbot on its head,
now, ribbot can still drive,
but look at this.
it's already smoking.
And oh, no!
The face of ribbot! It's gone!
Turn away at home!
Actually, don't, our ratings
will go down.
[ laughs ] madcatter is trying
to finish the job here.
I think their primary weapon
might be shut down.
Weapons. Weapons are down.
And you hear that, ribbot's
weapon is definitely toast.
And there are pieces of frog
all over the battlebox.
[ in deep voice ]
you know what they call this,
a good old-fashioned battlebox
pushing match.
That's right.
And it's challenging
to win a pushing match
when you're upside down like
ribbot is right now, chris.
The wpi boys
are at a disadvantage here.
[ normal voice ]
so much energy dished out
inside that battlebox
with a couple of huge hits
in the first 30 seconds.
Now, who can survive?
Uh-oh, now that primary weapon
of madcatter's
is starting to get going again.
This is not good for ribbot.
Here we go. Here we go.
This is it. Oh!
Big shot by madcatter
flips ribbot over.
Good news for ribbot, but no,
it is stuck on the mini-bot.
It looks like he's high centered
on that thing, chris.
He can't go anywhere.
He's a sitting duck now.
For the second time
of this fight,
that darn mini-bot
makes its presence known.
Madcatter's weapon up to speed.
Looking for a knockout.
Another nice shot there
by madcatter.
Yeah, madcatter's weapon
is working again.
We got fireworks over here!
Totally. Right in front of us.
And these two have locked horns.
And it looks like they might
actually be stuck together
with 30 seconds to go.
David, reverse!
Ribbot trying to dislodge itself
and does an outstanding job
of doing so.
Good pin, good pin.
Florian: Well,
as I see it right now,
these primary weapons shots
from madcatter
are going to be
a huge advantage for them.
That's exactly what
the judges are looking for.
Just the fact that it's working
is going to be
a big advantage for them.
Under 10 to go,
so this one will go
the distance as madcatter
looks to finish off
a very impressive
performance against ribbot.
[ buzzer ]
♪♪
One of these teams is about
to start their season 2-0.
It's decision time next.
♪♪
Rose: We are right back
into it on "battlebots"
as the judges decide
if ribbot or madcatter
get to celebrate
an all-important 2-0 start.
Peter, it certainly looks
like madcatter
had complete control
of that fight.
What did you see?
I'm looking at it
the same way you did.
I mean, there was that one pop
that basically nearly put
ribbot in my lap over here.
I mean, it was amazing.
That was, I think,
the one when the weapon died.
God, this was a tough,
brutal fight.
But I'm going to go
with the judges
and believe that they're going
to go with madcatter.
Well, the three judges are
scoring on an 11 point system.
They can award five points for
damage, three for aggression,
and three for control.
And they don't have to give
total point values
to a particular team.
They can split points
if they deem necessary.
We gave them a show. Yeah.
Rose: Kenny, ribbot
came flying out of the box
looking to attack.
Florian: That's right, chris,
ribbot landed a couple
of big shots
to the side of mattcatter
in the first 15 seconds.
And they looked dominant,
but a dangerous lapse
in judgment from team ribbot
as they turned
the bot's back to mattcatter
to focus their attention
on the mini-bot.
Yeah, this could have
cost them the fight.
You could see
mattcatter capitalized
and landed a monster shot
that almost knocked ribbot
out of the box.
And how about the little guy
high centering ribbot
later in the match?
What a performance
by the mini-bot.
And although madcatter
couldn't score the k.O.,
it finished the fight with
a functioning primary weapon
while ribbot's was fried.
Martin mason making a strong
case to the judges for the win.
The results from
the judges are in.
And your winner
by unanimous decision is...
Madcatter!
[ cheers and applause ]
♪♪
Alright, martin mason,
two matches, two wins,
where's your head at?
You know what? I tell you what,
we're feeling good.
I got some batter
back at the pit.
We we're going to cook up
some frog legs.
They're going to be so tasty.
I'll tell you what.
We're really looking
forward to that.
Man, I told you after this fight
they were going
to be frog-gotten.
Man, we're moving on.
We're hoping to get mit next!
We want uppercut. We're going
to take down that next goal.
You give them to us. We're going
to keep going up the ladder.
Is that your goal?
You want to take out
all the college teams,
huh, martin?
You know what?
We're going to prove
what a community college can do.
That's what we're here for.
These kids know how to build.
They know how to fight.
And we came right back
with a great robot
that could take it
to a tough competitor.
If you don't at least
make the final four,
are you going to be
disappointed?
You know what? Just being
here is a privilege.
I'll tell you that,
completely honestly.
So anything we can do to
show you what these kids can do,
we're going to bring that.
Very, very nice. By the way,
a quick show of hands...
All these people
are your former students,
is that correct?
That's right. Alright.
Raise your hand
if you think that you're former
or current teacher
is certifiably nuts.
Yeah!
Awesome.
Job well done. Team madchatter,
you guys are now 2-0,
congratulations.
Keep plugging along. Thank you.
You'll see us again!
Whoo!
Kenny, uh, my throat hurts
after interviewing him.
He's so much fun to interview.
And I tell you what,
that is a serious bot.
I mean, it's durable, it hits
hard. He could go very far.
And by the way, don't sleep
on the little fact
that they just beat the kids
from wpi, right?
Absolutely. The same school
that produced three-time
giant nut winner paul
ventimiglia and bite force.
Very impressive stuff.
It's a big deal.
That is a big deal. Absolutely.
Congratulations to all those
kids and to martin mason.
Alright, coming up later
tonight, throw on your scrubs,
because this one's
going to be messy.
It's end game versus bloodsport
in our main event.
But next. One of the most
innovative robots
in battlebots history...
Oh, my goodness!
...Returns to push the sport
to its outer limits.
That is it!
Chomp... Has... Evolved!
Zoe stephenson will walk chomp
into the battlebox
when we return.
That's next.
♪♪
We are back on "battlebots."
this is kenny florian,
it is chris rose.
Four fights down
in what's turned out
to be a scintillating
fight card so far.
And up next,
a pair of veteran botbuilders.
And welcome back to the party,
zoe stephenson.
Ever the innovator,
we last saw her
with a very different
looking chomp
in the 2018 season.
But this bot's been
hitting the gym.
Now, everybody at home,
you know the weight limit rule.
Unless you are
a verified walker.
Please explain
what we're about to see.
Listen, there is nothing easy
about building
a true walking robot
because of the additional
machinery required
and natural sacrifice of speed
automatically puts a walker
at a disadvantage.
It's only fair to reward
such impressive engineering
by leveling the playing field.
Can't wait to see what
kind of damage it does.
So it weighs 500 pounds.
And let me get this straight,
it doesn't walk very fast.
It weighs 500 pounds.
How are you doing?
Alright. It's going to be
taking on gamma 9.
And a veteran botbuilder
in curtis nemeth.
Haven't seen him in a few years,
didn't win a fight
a few years ago.
He's like, "I got to
win one of these
just for my confidence."
and now he's going to
take on a behemoth.
Well, he's totally
redesigned gamma 9
since we last saw bronco
tossing it into a dumpster
in 2018. Formerly a grappler,
curtis has decided to go
with a lifter here this time.
It's the new design's
first fight.
So we're going to see
what happens.
I'm going to take
my little legs, my heavy body,
and send it over
to my man, faruq.
In the blue square,
from burbank, california,
the vaporizer of the valley,
chomp!
Alright. Whoa.
Let's see this thing,
don't worry.
That's not a john deere
that's about to drive
inside the battlebox,
although, man, we've never
seen anything like this.
Yeah, you definitely don't want
to drive that around your lawn.
That thing is way more dangerous
than a tractor
unless, of course, your tractor
also has a weaponized hammer.
♪♪
In the red square,
from westminster, california,
the red and black attack,
it's gamma 9!
Alright, kenny, curtis nemeth
making his way to the box
for the first time since 2018.
His goal here is to lift
the giant,
terrifying robot that smarter
than the both of us.
Speak for yourself, chris.
But, uh, yes, he says that
lifting arm
is up to the challenge
and plans to get underneath
chomp in order to immobilize it.
Godspeed.
I'm going to fight
a 500-pound walker
that's made
by one of the best teams.
If the hammer was to hit me
in the wrong spot,
fight's over.
If he doesn't get a good shot,
I got a chance
of giving him a hard time.
This was built in a garage
by a couple of guys to beat
that beautiful,
big, expensive robot.
I mean, I would like to do that.
So gamma 9 is sort of a wedge
and lifter,
the thing that will be bad
for us
is if they get us
under one of the hammers
and hammer down on us.
We're not trying
to be the fastest.
We're not trying to outrun them.
Our goal is to be controlled
with our motion
and we can just focus
on hammering.
Are you ready? Weapons operate.
[ laughs ] and a flamethrower!
Spared no expense.
A flamethrower. Oh [bleep].
Robots, activate.
Alright, let's bring
in our bot whisperer, peter.
Uh, pete, you have to explain
to everybody at home
what we're going
to see with chomp.
I don't have an hour,
so that's going to be tough
because the engineering
complexity within this bot,
it's two bots, like the turret
itself is its own robot.
Then there's six full legs
of walking with,
I think three to four points
of articulation each.
We have an insane walker here
about at battlebots.
I mean, this is what
we've been dying for.
This thing's freaking me out,
I got to tell you.
Okay. Oh, my goodness.
Alright. I see you.
Oh, my goodness!
♪♪
♪♪
[ audience chanting "fight" ]
♪♪
Let the bot battle begin!
Gamma 9 taking a slow
strategic approach,
chomp only has one speed
and that's slow.
It's got those six walking legs.
Now, the question is, kenny,
can it get close enough
to gamma 9 to do some damage
with that hammer?
Well, at some point gamma 9's
got to try to get close
and get underneath it.
So that's when
chomp is going to strike.
You see that turret always
aligning itself up with gamma 9.
Whoa! Whoa!
Holy smokes, good job by gamma 9
getting under chomp.
Yeah, that was tremendous
timing there, chris.
Excellent driving by curtis.
And actually one of those forks
is stuck under chomp's lip.
And both bots get free.
Job well done
by both drivers there.
Right up a little bit.
Yeah, I think that patience
is paying off right now
for gamma 9.
Yeah, no rush against
the big bot.
Once again, weighs 500 pounds,
which is legal
if you are a full walking bot.
No wheels on this baby.
Oh, if you're this powerful,
why do you leave?
Chomp waiting for its strike,
and it just missed.
Now chomp has got to know
it's not going to get
too many swings in.
Ooh! Nice shot there by chomp!
And nice shot by gamma 9,
it got under it,
but couldn't quite
flip chomp over.
And gamma 9 able
to withstand so far.
Nice! And gamma 9
is taking chomp for a ride.
The question is,
does it have enough power
to push it around the battlebox?
Oh!
[ laughs ]
it just did some damage
to those forks, chris,
that lifter is in trouble.
Now in the damage category, the
judges do heavily value the...
Whoa! The damage done
by an active weapon,
so it's not just good enough for
gamma 9 to push chomp around,
as impressive as it
is to you at home.
There's another shot from chomp.
Did some damage
to the top of gamma 9.
See that armor
kind of hanging on there.
Can't lift him, dude.
Yeah, that armor is definitely
dented on top.
And now, uh-oh, chomp
is turned around,
but it's not at the right angle
to use that hammer.
Maybe it is! Yeah, chomp is
actually using the hammer
to try to jump off of gamma 9.
See if they could do it again.
Oh! Oh! Nice shot!
Gamma 9 putting chomp
in the screws.
Got it, hit him.
That's a great angle,
that's a great angle.
Oh, man, I'm hurting.
Florian: Great driving there
by curtis,
but that is a very heavy bot.
You can see chomp really
starting to eat away
and do some damage to
the top of gamma 9.
Under 30 seconds to go
in a very strategic
and interesting match.
And look at gamma 9
taking chomp for a spin.
Whoa!
And now chomp's hammer
is caught in gamma 9.
This is a real problem now.
They may need to be unstuck
and that may have
finished gamma 9.
I'll take your unstuck, kenny.
And deliver one more shot.
And that'll do it.
A historic event
as chomp and gamma 9
go the distance.
Give me that last one.
Well, we knew that speed
was not going to be
the name of the game
for chomp, but gamma 9,
I actually loved
its strategy, kenny.
Yeah, absolutely. I mean,
they were very strategic.
They were very patient.
They were kind of looking
for a vulnerability in chomp
and they did a great job
of getting underneath it.
You know, it started off
a little slow,
kind of built up to this
beautiful crescendo.
And man, there was a lot
of damage dealt out by chomp
at the end, though, gamma 9
does not look the same way
than when it started. You know,
with older versions of chomp,
they would utilize that hammer
and then chomp would just be
all over the place.
And in early seasons
it couldn't self-right.
This is a totally different bot.
It seems like they're on
to something here.
No doubt about it.
I think that extra weight
helped keep it way more stable
to the battlebox floor, chris.
And then the last few seconds,
we saw that hammer deliver
a crushing blow,
and look at the damage it did
to the cranium of gamma 9.
That disabled gamma 9.
I don't think it was moving
after that.
What a shot.
Let's go down to faruq
with the judges' decision.
[ cheers and applause ]
the results from
the judges are in.
The winner by unanimous
decision is...
♪♪
Chomp!
[ cheers and applause ]
♪♪
♪♪
Rose: Zoe, congratulations
to you and team chomp.
How exciting was it for you
to watch history unfold
right in front of your eyes?
That's so generous of you.
It was really great
to see this robot work.
This robot is actually
two robots that we have built.
Both of them are really,
really complicated.
And I have this big team,
some of whom you see here,
many of whom you actually
don't even see,
and everyone has worked so,
so hard to get to this point.
So even just to see the robot
walking and hammering
and working
is really validating.
But to get that win is special.
Zoe, I'm curious, was there
an animal or something
that you seen that kind
of inspired this design?
We've been interested
to make a walker,
especially my teammate,
jascha little,
who did a huge amount of really
hard engineering on those legs.
Early on when we were playing
with armor designs,
we thought about
the horseshoe crab.
And I do think it's still got
some of that when
it's going side to side.
I like that.
Can you do that for us again?
That was very good. [ laughs ]
I like that, everybody
on the team.
That's nice. That's nice.
Congratulations to you
and your entire team.
A job well done. Thanks
for the entertainment today.
♪♪
and chris rose, who wins?
[ laughs ] I don't know.
That's a good question.
Stop asking on twitter.
You're a little faster.
Stop asking on...
I'm getting k*lled
on social media right now.
A little faster.
Alright. Coming up,
bunny sauriol
takes on her former teammate,
adam wrigley,
one of this season's
newest rivalries.
It's malice versus shatter!
And that's next.
♪♪
♪♪
Welcome back to "battlebots"
as malice and shatter!
Get locked in
for their grudge match.
Let's take a look
at the k*ller main event
we have coming
your way later tonight.
Two very impressive bots
from the first round of battles
will be going head-to-head
as end game
and bloodsport
tear each other apart.
Tauheed: End game!
Tombstone!
The tombstone fight
pretty much went exactly
how we wanted it to.
And he's back for more.
What a shot by end game!
I think that might be the
highest I've ever seen tombstone
go under someone else's power.
Oh, my god,
it got thrown out of the arena?
And just slotted perfectly
in front of the judges.
End game has done
the unthinkable!
Mabey: It was clearly an amazing
feeling beating tombstone.
But there's still
a lot more to go,
bloodsport's not a pushover.
Marple: So in our fight
against skorpios...
Holy smokes. What just happened?
...We really showed
that the new bloodsport
is the real deal.
Tauheed: Bloodsport. Whoa!
So last year was our first year,
we really didn't know
what we're doing.
Team bloodsport.
Turns out when we got it
into the box,
it was actually really strong
and delivered a lot
of really powerful hits.
Oh! There it goes!
You guys have another win.
Feels so good.
It's way beyond anything
we could have ever imagined.
This year we come
with a different approach.
We have three new blades
that increases the stability
and the power of bloodsport
and this new bar that we have
is 77 pounds.
It hits harder than last year,
goes at 1,900 rpm.
Spin, spin, spin.
It should deliver huge hits.
Rose: Oh! Bloodsport
on the attack!
What concerns us
about bloodsport
is that his weapon is
just as big as tombstone,
but with tombstone,
there's an opening somewhere.
But with bloodsport,
he's all weapon.
Marple: End game,
on the other hand,
has this huge, huge
vertical disk,
it's one of the biggest ones
in the field.
Oh! Another big hit!
We want to avoid it
at all costs.
Oh, huge shot by end game!
I think the plan with bloodsport
is very similar
to the plan with tombstone.
Pop him into the air
and see what happens.
Marple: This is our
first main event.
This is our chance
to really prove
that we can be a real contender
with the other top bots.
Like, being 1-0 is
just the beginning.
Justin and I are good friends.
But once the doors
lock in the box,
there's no mercy.
Marple: One way or another...
This could be it!
...This is going to end
with a knockout.
Always exciting to see any bot
coming off a victory
over tombstone.
That one's going to be nuts.
But right now we turn
our attention
to a fight where the winner
not only achieves a 2-0 start,
but some all-important
bragging rights as well.
It's malice taking on shatter!
And let's start with malice.
In her first match
as captain of malice,
the unabashedly
emotional bunny sauriol
tallied 1 in the win column.
Nice shot by malice, which is
going right for the tires!
Oh, my gosh,
we have a huge bot flaming!
Whoa! Unbelievable!
That's how you do it!
And now for her next trick,
she's gunning to take down
her former team.
Oh! Big hit by shatter!
That's right, bunny spent
last season as a member of
team shatter!
Which you have to think
gives her an advantage
since she knows
her opponent so well.
And while her leaving
shatter wasn't on
bad terms, suffice to say
bunny has some serious incentive
to stick it to her old team.
And of course, there's
shatter! And adam wrigley
coming off a knockout win
over ghost raptor
in their first fight.
Shatter!
Everything looks all systems go
for the bot
from brooklyn, kenny.
It sure does, chris.
It looks like their
off-season adjustments
have paid off for them.
They have a bot that
they're very confident in,
and I can't wait
to see these guys battle.
Should be a good matchup.
Faruq, sound the battle cry.
In the blue square,
from san jose,
the bay area b*mber, malice.
Kenny, bunny sauriol,
so emotional after her first
battlebots win as captain.
I'll be curious to see if
she can channel those emotions
and get refocused for
her next fight.
That's the thing.
I mean, she had an amazing win
in her last fight. She's
going to have to get focused
and really get composed
so she can put out
her best effort
as a driver here.
Kenny, she's going
with her lighter weapon.
Tell us about it. That's right.
That's the 50 pound purple pain.
And so the idea of that is use
less weight with the weapon
to put more armor on top?
That's right. That's exactly
what she wants to do
against that hammer bot
in shatter!
In the red square,
from brooklyn, new york,
the brawler from bk, shatter!
Adam wrigley and team shatter!
K.O.'d ghost raptor
their first time out,
and if this is your first time
seeing this bot, it's shiny.
You might see that shiny
plastic break off as well.
Not going to be
a lot of damage to the bot.
That's just the way
it's designed.
Getting a good look at shatter!
Of course, the head of
the hammer is called old rusty.
They're going
with the shorter arm,
which is called a little stubs.
Yeah, that's correct.
And he's also adding magnets
as well to give it better
connection to the floor here.
♪♪
Tonight, we are fighting
against my old
teammate, shatter!
We're going to be putting
the purple pain weapon on,
which is lighter, which means
we can add more armor.
They go through titanium
like it's nothing.
And so we layered uhmw
over top of titanium.
Hopefully we can absorb
the shocks from those hits.
This fight specifically
is the most important
to me to bring home a win
because this is a real
competitive robot
that I personally worked on.
Bunny's coming for you.
You want to get in up close,
have the armor do its work,
and use the shorter arm
to be more precise
with close-in hits.
Bunny was on our team
last season.
You know if you lose
to your friend,
you're going to be hearing
about it for a long time.
So I think, you know,
we want to win.
So she'll be hearing about it
for a long time and not us.
Robots, activate.
♪♪
Two former teammates face off
for eternal bragging rights.
That's next on "battlebots
fight night."
♪♪
Rose: We are back on
"battlebots fight night."
two former teammates
getting ready to duke it out...
Right now.
♪♪
[ audience chanting "fight" ]
♪♪
Let the bot battle begin!
Malice says hello
with its spinner.
Fire it next time.
Those little pieces
of plastic on shatter!
Are supposed to fly.
Florian: Oh! Holy smokes!
Parts all over the battlebox!
Chris, the hammer head
on shatter! Is history.
One of the biggest
weapon on weapon hits
we've seen this year, kenny.
And malice looks like its weapon
might be history, too.
Yeah, I think they lost
a belt in that exchange.
Shatter!'s axe is swinging,
but the head is gone.
So this really has come down
to a driving contest
for adam wrigley
and team shatter!,
their weapon has been sprayed
all over the battlebox.
But still got to give
them credit, kenny,
they're trying with that arm.
Yeah, just staying aggressive.
I mean, both teams
here have to be thinking
try to survive
the next two minutes
and get it to the judges,
they're going to do anything
they can to score points.
So really, it might come down
to driving now
over the next two minutes.
Well, this is what happens
when you have two
very dangerous primary weapons.
Both took a lot of damage
on those collisions
and on those strikes.
This is going to be
a fascinating chess match
to watch unfold as both bots try
to score points in the control
and aggression categories,
kenny.
That's right. You can see malice
trying to use its drivetrain
to control shatter! Here.
Keep hitting it,
keep hitting it.
All that, said, chris,
how many fights have we seen
come down to what the judges
think of damage?
Who is able to do
dole out more damage,
it looks like shatter! Might be
burning up as well, chris.
Yeah, definitely
smoking a little bit.
Something to keep your eye on.
Oh, they're really burning out
those motors
trying to push malice
around the battlebox.
Well, that's what you have
to do at this point.
When you have lost
your primary weapon,
the only weapon you have
is the battlebox.
Can you get somebody
into the screws?
Can you get them into the corner
and drop a 100 pound
pulverizer on their head?
Shatter! Might be slowing
down a little bit here, chris.
Under a minute to go.
It's a test of wills
at this point.
Can both these bots make it
the full three minutes
and force a judges' decision?
Malice trying to get
around to the side
or the back of shatter!
Right now.
You've got him, rush,
you got him. k*ll him.
And right now, adam wrigley
isn't having it.
Doing a good job
with some defensive driving.
Rose: Adam wrigley trying to use
that little stubs arm.
But it's really not doing
much damage at all
as we are under
Bunny: Keep at him!
The pulverizer
are just missed shatter!
Slaughter him!
You can hear bunny coaching
her team to victory here.
We'll see.
Final few ticks and
this one's going to the judges.
[ buzzer ]
good job. Good job.
Rose:
And once again, the judges are
scoring on an 11 point scale.
They can divvy up the points
as they deem necessary
in three different categories,
five points awarded for damage,
three for aggression,
and three for control.
Your judges are all former
battlebots participants,
derek young, lisa winter,
jason bardis.
So let's show you exactly
how this whole thing unfolded.
It really was
one big hit early on.
Florian: There's that shot
right there.
You see the belt fly
off of malice.
And at the same time,
that hammer came off
and basically it became
a shoving match
for the remainder of this fight.
You see the damage done
to the front wedge of shatter!
It could come down to that.
Peter, how would you score it?
Abrahamson: Oh, I would not want
to be a judge for this one.
I would probably score
three points to malice
due to the fact that they
knocked the hammerhead
completely off.
Malice only really lost
the belt of their weapon,
so weren't as heavily damaged,
even though they did
incapacitate the weapon.
I see you, pete,
you are a tv veteran.
You want no part
of the judges' chambers.
I want no part of the internet
at this point.
Let's throw it down to faruq,
who has the decision.
The results from
the judges are in.
We have a split decision.
[ crowd shouting ]
judge lisa scored
the battle for malice.
Judge jason scored
the battle for shatter!
♪♪
Judge derek scored the battle
for the winner...
Malice!
[ cheers and applause ]
♪♪
Rose: Alright, bunny.
I'm sorry.
Bunny, can you take us
through the fight?
Yes, so we got out there
and that very first hit,
we're pretty sure his hammer
went right through
our belt that drives our weapon.
But we took out his head,
and that's exactly
what we're supposed to do.
And he just... after that
is what it is, you know?
And he's... look at rush,
drive amazing.
I mean, adam is
an amazing driver
with those omniwheels, it's a
lot harder than it looks, guys.
Trust me, I've been there.
So you kind of expected
that to happen?
You knew that was
a vulnerability of your robot.
That wasn't just a lucky shot
from shatter!?
Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah.
I mean, you can't protect
for everything, so.
Bunny, you started the year
and you didn't know
exactly what to expect.
You said you were
a bundle of nerves
and excited and emotional.
Don't tell these guys that.
Now you have two wins
through two matches.
Is the top 32
a real possibility?
I think so.
I think we're going to go
all the way to the top.
I think we're going to be,
you know, finals with tombstone.
Bring it. Bunny, you be you.
I'mma be me.
Congratulations on your
second win as team captain.
Thank you.
[ cheers and applause ]
adam wrigley and team shatter!
When you heard the announcement,
we have a split decision.
What was going
through your head?
Well, I mean, first off,
I just want to say
congrats to bunny for the win.
Great job on their part
to take it home.
When the split decision
was announced,
I was surprised because
I thought that we would get
a unanimous decision
in our favor.
And I was even more surprised
when it was
a split decision in their favor.
I'll have to go watch the tape
because maybe I watched
a different fight.
Alright. So why did you think
you should have won it
unanimously?
So as we set out to do, first
swing of the hammer,
we broke their weapon.
Their weapon didn't work
at all the rest of the fight
and ours did.
The hammerhead came off,
but the arm was still firing.
Weapon was still working.
Drive was still working.
We got him in the screws.
We toyed with him in the arena.
We got him where
we wanted him to be.
They couldn't push us where
they were trying to push us.
So I don't know how
the scorecard broke down.
I'd love to see it
so I can fix it next time.
You know,
we always want to improve.
So if the judges saw
something else,
we want to figure out
what it was
so we can go back and fix it.
Because we did exactly what we
wanted to do and it didn't work.
Adam wrigley, as always,
we appreciate the time
you guys fall to 1-1.
But you're still very much
in this thing
because the selection committee
is always watching.
[ laughs ] thanks, guys.
Alright, coming up...
Will blood spill
or will it be game over?
It's bloodsport versus end game.
It's our main event,
and it's next.
So the current situation is
ribbot is against madcatter
for our next matchup.
Yes. We have two robots
with two different weapon types.
They have two robots with two
different configurations.
They can set
themselves up for an advantage
on us, but we can
also set ourselves up
for an advantage over them,
right?
So we can't think of a nice,
fair way to decide who chooses
first and who can react
to the other choice.
Alright. So we're gonna do
a bicycle race, right?
We brought two
little mini bikes.
We're putting our champion
up against their champion.
Whoever wins the race
gets to choose second
to respond
to the other team's robot.
Alright?
Are you guys ready to race?
What are you waiting for?
Are you guys ready? Are you set?
[ indistinct shouting ]
♪♪
[ applause ]
good effort. Congratulations.
Mason: We'll see you out there!
Whoo!
Get to work! Get to work!
Go, go, go!
♪♪
We are back on "battlebots,"
and kenny florian,
a really fun one between
a pair of 20-somethings
to wrap up the night,
and for the second
straight time end game fights
in the main event.
And they are certainly worthy.
Now, last time they were
strictly along for the ride
or so we thought,
because the big bad bot
on the planet
tombstone was the headliner.
And what happened?
End game goes pow
in less than a minute.
But the big question for me,
was it one lucky punch
or is this
a sign of things to come?
Florian: You know, I don't
think it was a lucky punch.
I think, really, it was
the brilliant driving
of jack barker.
I think he's that good.
You could see he did
some amazing defensive driving,
hit a counter shot
just perfectly.
Yeah, I think these guys
are good
and I think both these teams
could be
the future of the sport.
So jack barker and nick mabey,
they came out and said,
"we're actually more worried
about tonight's fight
than we were about
the previous one."
I don't know if I'm buying it,
but when we saw bloodsport
k.O. Skorpios, we went,
"okay, this thing is for real."
well, listen, I think
they definitely have respect
for bloodsport,
no doubt about it.
But I also think they're
kind of feeling the pressure
of the fact that they just
knocked out tombstone.
But bloodsport
is a terrific bot.
They have a lot of options
with their blades.
These guys are for real.
Got your seatbelt?
Uh, I better...
I better get one.
I don't have one.
Buckle up. Let's go.
Let's do it.
Faruq, bring 'em in.
Ladies and gentlemen,
it's robot-fighting time!
[ cheers and applause ]
♪♪
In the blue square,
this next bot was born
in new zealand,
like the great russell crowe.
But tonight
he's an american gangster,
here to crush his foes.
His engineers
have a beautiful mind,
they dream of t*rture and pain.
Give the thumbs down,
and he'll k*ll the opponent.
Are you not entertained?
It's end game!
♪♪
For years, we've waited for
end game to take that next step.
Maybe they have, kenny florian.
They've always been missing
something here or there.
So far, so good for this team
from new zealand.
They are six and 6-6 and all 12
have ended in knockout.
These guys are still very young.
And look at that
big armor at the front.
In the red square,
this bot's bringing the action
like he's patrick swayze.
Like steven seagal,
some would say he's going crazy.
He's tougher than tough
like chuck norris's beard.
And like arnold as conan,
he's universally feared.
Like harrison ford
aboard air force one,
if you mess with this bot,
you'll be jean-claude van done.
It's bloodsport!
♪♪
Justin marple and his team
admitted, "a year ago
when we were rookies, we had no
idea what we were doing."
I think they've got
a grasp of things now.
Yeah, no doubt.
We get a look at the bar
that they're going with.
That is a 77 pound bar.
The limit, chris, is 80 pounds.
Wow. And any time you get
a high-energy horizontal weapon
going against a high-energy
vertical disk,
I mean, we're going
to have some epic hits.
We're in for a classic fight.
Alright, let's bring
in our bot whisperer.
Pete, what are you
keeping your eye on?
Well, bloodsport is using
two different tire compounds.
The front are soft and the rears
are a little harder
with a medium stickiness.
So they're kind of hoping to be
able to maybe slide the back end
around and kind of drift a bit.
The thing that is really
sort of interesting to me,
though, is on end game,
they've still got their old
self-righting mechanism.
They haven't been able
to upgrade yet
to the new one.
So what does that mean?
They won't be able
to get back over at all?
They might be able
to get one self-right over.
But if they get hit
on the self-righter
while it's up, it's done.
Basically,
it would be end of game.
Yes.
Robots, activate.
[ cheers and applause ]
♪♪
Blue team, ready.
[ cheers and applause ]
red team, ready.
[ cheers and applause ]
♪♪
♪♪
[ audience chanting "fight" ]
♪♪
Let the bot battle begin!
And here comes end game
on the chase game.
But bloodsport gets away,
it centers itself up.
Oh! Huge impact!
Weapon on weapon!
End game right back
on the attack,
trying to stop
bloodsport's blade.
And they're hunting bloodsport
like a cheetah
chasing a gazelle, kenny.
But end game
hung up on something, chris.
Bloodsport
firing up that weapon.
Whoa! Whoa!
Come on!
Bloodsport, they just missed it,
what they hit the wedge
instead of the side of end game.
Uh-oh, I see a belt
coming off end game.
That is not good, chris.
No, it is a sitting duck
at this point.
And so bloodsport's going to be
very measured in how it attacks.
Uh-oh, this patience is
paying off for bloodsport,
just kind of circling end game
like a shark right now.
Can you go in for the k*ll?
Bloodsport taking its time,
but if end game moves,
they will pounce.
And end game is smoking, chris.
They're burning out
their motors.
They've been counting down.
And now it's doa!
Knockout!
[ cheers and applause ]
♪♪
I have no idea what happened.
Is that our wheel?
It's our wheel, yeah,
that popped out.
[ cheering ]
kenny, you heard both drivers
talk about the importance
of bloodsport
getting out of the way to dodge
that huge hit at the onset.
Florian:
Yeah, I mean, look at that.
That's just brilliant driving
right there from justin marple.
Kind of really read
what end game was trying to do,
able to circle away
from that pressure,
not really allowing end game
to get a big hit on them.
Instead, it was them
with a very big hit.
And I think that was the shot
that really ended up disabling
that primary weapon of end game.
A lot of people at home
see that shot
and they see bloodsport
going the other way
because of the energy.
They don't realize
the sort of damage
it causes to the other robot.
Justin marple.
Justin marple,
I heard you asking your team
what just happened.
What did just happen?
I don't know.
There's a few hits,
our weapon was going great,
but then they just
started smoking
and it was just chaos.
Unbelievable fight there,
justin.
You know, I know you have
a lot of respect
for jack barker as a driver,
but, man, you're
being very humble.
You're an excellent
driver yourself.
That was unbelievable.
Thank you.
No, jack is by far the most
underrated driver of battlebots,
so it's just a pleasure to be
fighting against them for sure.
You know, you're an underdog
against skorpios.
Did you consider yourself
an underdog here?
before this match
that I was going to lose this
so, it's beyond me.
Well, the bad news is
I don't think anyone is going
to consider you
an underdog anymore.
You're 2-0, you're undefeated
in battlebots.
Thank you, chris. [ laughs ]
or kenny! That's alright.
Hey, listen,
your head's all over the place,
so I want to know
where your head is at.
By the way,
he's been called much worse.
I'm much better looking than
this guy. Come on!
I want to know where your head
is at in terms
of the selection committee.
You don't have a lot of matches
to prove yourself
during the regular season
before they pick the top 32.
You think you've done enough
now through two matches to say,
"hey, we're part of that party?"
yeah, for sure. I think
we're in the top 32.
I'm hoping
for top eight seeding.
We'll see.
Alright, justin.
Well, congratulations.
You've got a big old smile
on your face.
Well-deserved. Thank you.
♪♪
Rose: Alright, so,
kenny, as expected,
tombstone took care of business
upending slap box,
but the big story of tonight,
I think, was the unveiling
of that 500-pound monster,
chomp. It's unbelievable.
You know, we are basically
looking into the future.
The amount of genius,
the amount of manpower,
the amount of creativity
that goes into building
a bot like that
is just mind boggling.
Are they going to win
the whole thing? Probably not.
But that's a bot
that is just amazing.
I thought another huge storyline
in addition to chomp
was the fact that end game,
which knocked out
tombstone in its first match,
gets upended by bloodsport.
Now I don't know what to think
about end game.
I mean, again,
all of these bots are so good,
but who you match up against
and at the certain time,
you know,
in the season really matters.
Here's what we learned
about battlebots...
When do you think you know,
you really don't know.
So that'll do it for tonight.
For faruq and our
bot whisperer pete
and jenny taft back in the pits
and my man, kenny florian,
I am chris rose.
Will see you next time
on "battlebots."
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05x04 - Blood, Sweat and Gears
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Show is an adaptation of the American Robot Wars competitions hosted in the mid–late 1990s by Marc Thorpe, in which competitors design and operate remote-controlled armed and armored machines designed to fight in an arena combat elimination tournament.
Show is an adaptation of the American Robot Wars competitions hosted in the mid–late 1990s by Marc Thorpe, in which competitors design and operate remote-controlled armed and armored machines designed to fight in an arena combat elimination tournament.