♪♪
Tauheed: Can you feel it?
That rumble in the distance.
Like a freight train on a track.
An army this way marches,
ready for attack.
The ground, it shakes
beneath your feet.
Get ready to react.
Both big and small
will rise and fall.
The battlebots are back.
Rose: Let the bot...
Battle...
Begin!
Tauheed:
As the most elite tournament
in robot combat returns,
the sport's next generation
of builders has evolved.
- Oh!
- Oh!
Their modern masterpieces
are more powerful,
more ingenious...
- Oh, look at that!
...More dangerous than ever.
Mabey: If you're not ripping
the opponent apart...
Rose: Wow!
Oh! Oh!
...You're not really playing
battlebots in my opinion.
Oh [ buzzer ]
it's game time, fellas.
Tauheed: Can the legends who
shaped these rising stars
now hold them at bay?
Hammer him!
Or is it time for the torch
to be passed?
Keep going, keep going,
keep going!
Could the next champion
be lurking in the shadows...
Go and do it!
...Ready to prove
that all you need
is a garage and a dream?
Bite 'em, bite 'em!
Ladies and gentlemen,
boys and girls...
Aah!
Hit 'em again!
Ooh!
He died?
...This is...
- Whoa!
- That's how you do it!
..."battlebots."
robots, activate.
...[font color="#ffff00"] Captions by vitac[/font]...
[font color="#00ffff"]www.Vitac.Com[/font]
captions paid for by
discovery communications
♪♪
Number 5 is alive! Yes, sir!
We are back with
a fifth season of "battlebots,"
the hardest-hitting,
unremitting, robot-splitting
tournament of all time.
Hi, everybody.
I am chris rose, joined once
again by an all-time ufc legend,
the most feared beard
in the history of mma,
it's kenny florian.
Chris, thank you very much,
but conor mcgregor
might have something
to say about that.
[ laughs ] he might.
Now, I know both of you guys
are very tough,
but wait till you see
the army of mind-blowing bots
that have converged
for this season of "battlebots."
they'll each have a chance
to fight up to three times
during the regular season,
hoping to build a body
of work strong enough
to earn themselves a spot
in the top 32
for our winner take all
tournament.
In the end, only one will
take that title
and claim
the piece de resistance,
our aptly named trophy,
the giant nut.
[ cheers and applause ]
and the teams will see it all
from the best seats
in the house,
brand-new this season,
we've got these box-side suites
where for the very first time,
any one of our builders can get
a bot's-eye look at the action.
That means they'll have
an unprecedented chance to scout
or shout
for the rest of the field.
[ cheers and applause ]
alright, so let's
take a look at season five's
opening night fight card.
If this doesn't get
your gears spinning,
you're probably watching
the wrong sport.
Tonight, you'll see eight
heavyweight matchups
featuring deadly weapons
all designed to inflict
maximum damage.
We've got one of the most
decorated builders in the game,
donald hutson and his
legendary bot, lock-jaw,
taking on the full-body spinner,
captain shrederator,
this year, led once again
by the godfather himself,
brian nave.
We'll also see the return
of bloodsport,
who's out for blood against
the hammer saw of skorpios,
a team that posted an impressive
over the past
two regular seasons.
And I'll tell you right now,
who's gonna win?
Us. Mm-hmm.
Don't miss this fight.
Four of tonight's matchups also
feature "battlebots" rookies,
that's a group headlined
by fusion,
a potentially revolutionary
new machine
courtesy of team whyachi
and the ewert family dynasty.
And the cherry on top
of tonight's fight card is,
of course, our main event.
This is easily one of the
most anticipated fights
in the history of "battlebots,"
you got
the k*ller kiwi's end game.
They get the bout
they've been begging for,
taking on the spinning villain,
the emperor of doom,
ray billings and tombstone.
Over two years ago, after
just their second fight,
jack barker and nick
mabey of end game
laughed in the face of what
seemed like certain death,
saying, "bring on tombstone."
we thought they were just
these young pups,
but they proved they can run
with the big dogs, and tonight,
they get the chance to knock out
the biggest dog of all.
For more on this fight,
let's send it over
to our ultimate insider,
the robotic juggernaut,
we say good day once again
to jenny taft.
Jenny, what's the word
back in the pits?
Taft: Well, chris, kenny,
nick from end game
said he wanted
to fight tombstone.
He just didn't want it to be
the first fight of the season.
When you go up
against tombstone,
one of the most destructive bots
in battlebots,
there will be damage
and something
nick is concerned about,
they do not have
a spare self-righter.
When I caught up with ray,
he was cool, calm and collected.
This is ray billings.
He has been here before,
but he made sure
to point out to me that end game
is a bot that is built well.
He just didn't know
how long this fight
would actually go.
[ laughter ]
oh, that confident chuckle
of ray billings.
It can only mean
one thing, baby.
We are back!
And it all starts
with two veteran teams
that expect to make a run
at their first championship
this season... that sawblaze
taking on whiplash right now.
It is time for the words
we've all been waiting for
from the man himself, faruq,
tell 'em what time it is.
[ cheers and applause ]
ladies and gentlemen,
are you ready?
It's robot-fighting time!
[ cheers and applause ]
♪♪
In the blue square,
this bot comes fast,
its saws a-blazing,
bringing the heat,
it's temperature-raising,
putting you through punishment
like it was hazing,
and I also got to admit
the engineer's hair is amazing.
Give it up for sawblaze!
♪♪
There they are,
team sawblaze, led by mad man
from mit, jamison go, sporting
that deadly hammer saw.
Made it all the way to
the quarter finals last season,
looking to improve
on that mark this year.
And that journey begins tonight.
And jamison knows
how important this opening fight
will be for his team.
They believe they have one of
the top bots here in sawblaze,
and now it's time to prove it.
In the red square,
to quote dustin hoffman,
"he's an excellent driver,"
not many have left a match
with him a survivor,
but instead of rain man, he's
here to bring the pain, man.
It's definitely,
definitely whiplash!
♪♪
And there you see
the vasquez family
known to us as team whiplash.
Father jeff,
his two sons, jason and matt,
along with their mom, debbie,
made a deep run
to the semifinals last year.
Kenny, this is a team
that many of the builders here
think could win it all
this season,
that articulating vertical disk
allows them to attack opponents
in so many different ways.
Whiplash is one of the most
unique bots in the field,
and matty vasquez might just be
the best driver
in this entire competition.
Alright, I want to introduce you
to a brand-new team member.
He is not brand-new
to the battlebots world.
He was there in 1994
for the founding of this sport.
He built one of the most famous
robots of all time in ronan.
He is a special effects wizard,
also our man on the inside.
He is now our bot whisperer.
He is the one and only,
peter abrahamson.
Pete, what's going on?
Well, guys, I'm super excited
to move
from the background
to the foreground now.
This is going to be
pretty amazing for me.
First of all, there's two
of my favorite drivers
that are in this bout right now.
I can't wait for this match
because, like jamison,
he's really worked on
getting the wedge
to be the lowest wedge
he can possibly have
to get underneath whiplash.
And then whiplash
went completely
the opposite direction
and put some really
big, flat wedges on
so they can deflect
that hammer saw
when it comes down and starts
hitting on top of the robot
rather than let jamison drive up
the front of their face.
Alright, pete,
thank you very much.
Kenny, how do we get one of
those nifty name tags?
I like that.
He's got bot whisperer on his.
Do I get a "generic host"
on mine
and you get "cool guy analyst"
on yours or something?
We need patches. Yeah.
[ cheers and applause ]
robots, activate.
Alright, if you need
a refresher,
each battle will consist
of a single three-minute bout.
The goal...
To completely destroy
or disable your opponent.
If you can't do that,
our panel of judges
will declare a victory.
And remember, the box is
a minefield of hazards, screws,
hammers, controlled
by the other team
and killsaws that become active
in the final minute
of the fight.
- Red team, ready.
- Ready?
- Let's do this! Light 'em up!
- Slash and burn!
[ cheers and applause ]
♪♪
- Red team, ready.
- Go.
Yep.
[ cheers and applause ]
rose: Here we go,
we are getting ready
for two of the best
young drivers in the biz.
♪♪
Come on!
[ audience chanting "fight" ]
we've been waiting
an entire year to say this.
Here we go, here we go!
[ audience chanting "fight" ]
let the bot battle begin!
A little side kiss
and then one face on.
Florian: Sawblaze all over
whiplash here,
pushing him towards
the side of the box.
Doing a nice job of pushing
and shoving whiplash
right into the corner.
Oh!
Jamison go told us this will be
a battle for low ground
and he is winning
that fight, chris.
Here we go again,
that big blade of sawblaze
looking dominant in the early...
Oh!
Scored some points right there.
Sawblaze lands a little shot
to the underbelly.
Matt vasquez needs to get
control of his bot here.
Remember, the damage category
is all about your use
of the primary weapon.
Oh!
Jamison go taking whiplash
into the screws.
Yeah, whiplash is landing
some nice shots
over the top, though, chris.
Let it spin out.
Yeah, whiplash doing a great job
of attacking with that weapon
in the backwards position,
looking to evade sawblaze now.
Right now, those forks
of sawblaze
really doing the business
on whiplash, though.
Any time they go nose-to-nose,
it's sawblaze getting
the better of whiplash.
And kenny,
there's no question about it.
A minute through this match
that sawblaze
has been the one on the attack.
He has been the chaser
instead of the chasee.
Ooh!
That's the first big hit
with the primary weapon,
though, chris,
it's interesting how the judges
are going to see this.
If this does indeed go
the full three minutes.
These are two of the most
durable and seasoned bots
in "battlebots" history.
Jamison go has got whiplash
up on the screws!
Whiplash has got to
work its way out.
Look at jamison go, he says,
"you ain't getting off
those screws, boy!
Sawblaze just has
so much horsepower.
Oh! Yeah!
There's a nice shot
from sawblaze again.
Watching... oh!
He's cutting his
teeth on whiplash!
Into the corner,
you got him, you got him!
And here sawblaze
bullying whiplash.
Lands a shot as he takes him
into the side of the box.
Whiplash could be
in trouble here.
Put him down!
Oh! A huge shot to
the top of whiplash!
Hell yeah!
Could it be a knockout, chris?
Whiplash is not moving.
He may have into
the shadow realm.
Yeah!
Whiplash can move its arm.
Sawblaze is already doing
its victory dance,
anticipating a countdown! Wow!
Here it comes!
...7, 6...
Jamison go and sawblaze...
...5, 4...
Talk trash if you want,
you are a winner... 3, 2, 1.
Whiplash is knocked out.
Winner, sawblaze!
[ cheers and applause ]
what a performance there from
jamison go and team sawblaze.
Wow!
[ cheers and applause ]
♪♪
Talk about living up to your
game plan with jamison go
and sawblaze, kenny.
Well, before this fight,
the bot whisperer told us
that jamison had been working
on that wedge
all off-season.
There are those forks
getting underneath whiplash.
There's a nice shot
with that vertical saw as well.
Later on, jamison go just
continued his dominant driving.
Yeah.
And I thought that, you know,
matt vasquez showed some nice
defensive driving as well,
some nice counter shots
over the top of sawblaze,
but sawblaze
just had too much power,
just a dominant performance
from team sawblaze.
And then finally
the knockout shot.
And that's the finish there
for team sawblaze.
♪♪
[ cheers and applause ]
aaah!
Jamison go.
Jamison, what kind
of scream was that?
Was that one of like,
"I can't believe we just
kicked some butt"?
You alright? Oh, man.
Like, I got to check
my pulse again,
because that definitely
felt like... it's like,
a lot of, you know, we've
been waiting so long
to fight these robots.
It's all that pent up emotion
that we've had for so, so long.
And there it is,
that's a scream.
That's the emotion.
Florian: Jamison, you believed
this was really
going to be a ground battle
and you believed whoever was
able to get underneath the other
was going to win this fight.
Seems like that's exactly
how it went down.
Yeah, I totally agree.
We were able to get underneath
from the sides
and after he bent up
the front a little bit,
we were able to get them
from the front.
Matt did a great job.
He did a little trick
where he tried to hit
with the back of the blade
and he actually got us
a few times.
However, my team put together
very quickly
an additional top plate
to defend against
the critical parts of the robot.
So I think maybe without that,
it'd be a different story.
But, you know, my team's
awesome, great job, team.
Thank you very much
for your hard work.
Yes! Slash and burn!
Jamison go, congratulations,
an awesome start.
See you down the line. Whoo!
Thank you very much.
Well, talk about trying to
impress the selection committee
in the very first fight
of the season.
Jamison go and sawblaze
did just that.
They came out
and got a statement win
over whiplash.
Here, jame-o, nice driving, man,
that was awesome.
Rose: And with that, the 2020
season is officially underway.
Stick around for more
"battlebots fight night."
♪♪
♪♪
Rose: Welcome back
to "battlebots"
on opening night
of our 2020 season.
One fight down, seven to go.
And this next matchup
brings a lot of intrigue.
It's fusion
taking on mad-catter.
Let's start with fusion.
This is a rookie bot
courtesy of team whyachi
and the legendary ewert family.
Over the past decade,
the ewerts have introduced
a number of new bots,
son of whyachi, falcon,
warrior dragon, and of course,
last year the flipper, hydra.
But with fusion, this might be
their most ambitious design yet.
The first robot of its kind with
a vertical and horizontal weapon
on a single bot.
At the helm will be
of course, battlebots
is in his blood,
but he hasn't been
behind the controls
since he was 12 years old.
So what happens if he doesn't
win the giant nut
or at least have a good showing?
Is he allowed back in the state
of wisconsin or not?
He will, he'll just be ridiculed
for the rest of his life.
Alright. Taking on mad-catter
led by martin mason, who is like
the wwe guy!
"I will sell. I love mad-catter.
I bring mad energy
to the show," and he does.
What about his bot this year?
The guy is absolutely hilarious.
But, you know, don't be
distracted by the character.
His bot is both modular
and strategic.
He thinks he's got a really good
bot that can get in the top 16.
If he wins, the guy might
just be running around
the box in circles.
It's going to be a ton of fun.
Can't wait to see
how it plays out.
Faruq, do what you do.
[ cheers and applause ]
in the blue square, from
abbotsford, wisconsin,
the two-headed terror... fusion!
Kenny, one bot, two weapons
and a whole lot of expectations
for team fusion.
Florian: Listen, the ewerts
seem to bring a new bot
almost every year.
Last season, they struck gold
with hydra.
They're hoping they can do
the same here with fusion.
So there's a lot riding
on this fight.
In the red square
from pomona, california,
it's the gritty kitty.
Meow!
Mad-catter!
Oh, look at the eyes.
Kenny, the thing scaring me.
That is one crazy cat.
The bot looks wild, too.
[ laughs ]
by the way, kudos to
martin's daughter, katie,
who is a graphic design
major, for coming out
and decorating
this artistic bot.
♪♪
We're fighting fusion,
and I'll tell you what,
we're gonna tear them apart,
we put the plow on the robot
that's gonna deal
with that little weed whacker,
that little tickler
they've got on the back.
We also put the arm on here.
That's going to give us
a lot of flexibility to deal
with anything they might try.
We're just gonna get
the weapon spun up,
wait back for him
to come into us,
and then, you know,
whale on 'em.
I'm gonna try to rip them
to shreds as fast as possible.
Are you kidding me?
With this piece of garbage?
Where'd you find this?
[ laughter ]
rose: Martin mason,
never change.
Robots, activate.
[ cheers and applause ]
alright, kenny, here we go,
it's fusion and mad-catter
as the 2020 season
gets into full swing.
Blue team, ready.
It'll be interesting to see
which weapon
fusion wants to attack
with first, chris.
Red team, ready.
[ cheers and applause ]
yeah, and, you know, mad-catter
is just ready to pounce.
♪♪
[ audience chanting "fight" ]
♪♪
Let the bot battle begin!
Oh! A rush!
Massive hits there
by mad-catter!
Unreal. And already it looks
like fusion is a bit off center.
Welcome to the battlebox,
reese ewert!
But look at this, trying to
use that vertical disk spinner
and going right
into the cat's meow.
We had major shrapnel
on that hit.
Oh, boy, kenny.
Fusion losing some control
there through that
horizontal spinner.
Uh-oh!
Oh!
Big hit by mad-catter there!
Oh! Fusion rips a chunk
out of mad-catter and then
ricochets off that wedge.
Wow! Fusion has been inverted!
Oh, another big shot!
Fusion is hurt, chris,
and mad-catter is still
going strong.
Oh, no!
Mad-catter taking it to fusion,
which is on fire. Wow!
Major, major fire inside
the battlebox
here in the first minute
of this fight.
This is not what he planned for.
Fusion has lost
a vertical disk spinner,
has lost its ability
to use its horizontal spinner
as well, kenny.
Yeah, they are behind
the eight ball now.
Let's see how durable
this bot is.
Can they make it
to the closing bell?
At this point the only thing
that fusion could do
is just push around mad-catter.
While it's on fire, it's
basically a barbecue on wheels.
Well, reese ewert said he didn't
want his robot to explode
and he might have
jinxed himself.
Mad-catter now trying
to push fusion into the corner
and drop the pulverizer,
that 100-pound hammer right
on its head.
Mad-catter may just
want to back off here,
see if they can draw
a countdown.
Catter, I don't know
if he's trying to
flip the burger or what.
Referee: 10, 9...
Here comes the countdown.
...8, 7, 6, 5...
It won't be left on
the grill any longer.
...3, 2, 1. That's a knockout!
[ cheers and applause ]
mad-catter with the k-o
of the new bot, fusion.
[ cheers and applause ]
yeah!
Oh, yeah!
Oh, yeah!!
Kenny, mad-catter could not wait
to get the 2020 season going.
What a hit.
You know, and I tell you
what he was talking about,
you know,
being strategic out there,
but also being aggressive,
took out fusion,
really shell-shocked it
from the get-go.
And what did you think
of fusion?
So high in terms of expectations
with the dual weapons,
a vertical spinner,
a horizontal spinner,
and neither one
could lay that blow.
Well, again, when you have
two high-energy weapons,
again, you're gonna have to
run a ton of energy out there.
And I think they burned out
both those motors very early.
And that's what lost the fight
in association
with those big hits.
[ cheers and applause ]
yeah!
Whoo!
Yeah!
Martin? Martin mason,
I thought you'd be running
around the battlebox
after knocking out the newbie,
you okay?
You know what?
We were gonna bring it.
This was gonna be
a total meltdown.
We promised you that.
And we brought the meltdown.
I'mma tell you what.
I am so proud of these kids.
These kids did great.
And we are gonna
keep bringing it
the entire time we're here.
Martin, you're 1-0,
you have a knockout.
How does it feel
to start the season this way?
It feels great. We got a few
scratches in the paint.
We're gonna get it sorted.
You're gonna see us again.
Martin mason, mad-catter,
congratulations
on laying the smackdown.
You got it, bro! Thank you!
Yeah!
[ cheers and applause ]
♪♪
Martin mason, do we have to,
like, plug him in,
does he have to recharge
for his next fight?
How does that work?
Man, I feel like
I need a recharge. What a fight.
I mean,
the guy brings the energy
out of the battlebox,
inside the battlebox.
What a fight.
So it's a disappointing debut
for team fusion, who falls
to 0-1, courtesy of that
mad-catter knockout.
Alright. So far,
two fights, two knockouts.
And we've got malice
versus axe backwards
coming your way
right after this.
♪♪
Alright, we are back
on "battlebots fight night."
right now, it's malice
versus the full-body
drum spinner axe backwards.
And kenny,
let's start with malice,
led by first-time captain
adrian "bunny" sauriol.
Now, bunny, we have seen her
with several teams
throughout the years,
most recently shatter!
During 2019.
But now she's the captain.
She says she's nervous,
she's excited, but she believes
that she belongs 100%.
You know, when you're a part
of many different teams,
you learn a lot about how to
do things, how not to do things.
She feels she's best prepared
right now.
And tonight, taking on somebody
that's looking for
a little redemption.
Kurt durjan and the bot
axe backwards.
He described last season
as, "brutal."
I don't think he'd get
any argument from anybody here.
He has just one win since 2018.
How's he get it going?
You know, kurt was
pretty honest with us.
He said, "listen, I come
from an electrical
engineering background.
I need someone
from a mechanical
engineering background.
He's added one and he believes
he has the right team now
to find some success
in battlebots.
Should be a whole lot of fun.
Faruq, it's all you.
In the blue square, from
san jose, california,
the belle of the brawl, malice!
And there we see malice,
which sports a 65-pound
horizontal drum spinner,
bunny calls it
monster weapon, big red.
Well, it's definitely
an unorthodox weapon choice.
Normally, you see this type
of drum spinner
on a vertical plane.
I'm very interested to see
what kind of damage it can do.
In the red square,
from vero beach, florida,
it's the ratchet hatchet,
axe backwards!
Kenny win axe backwards
debuted in 2018,
the idea of a full-body
drum spinner,
it seemed pretty darn cool.
The entire robot is a weapon
and it's the biggest drum
on the field.
Unfortunately,
it hasn't had a lot of success.
In a lot of ways,
this season will be make
or break for axe backwards,
as a design, a concept.
At a certain point, you just
have to start seeing results.
My strategy for fighting axe
backwards is to hit him hard
and hit them on their tires
so they explode.
We're gonna use big red.
Big red is our 65-pound
drummette,
and it's a very large stick disk
and it spins at 180 tip speed.
Oh, I'm so ready for this.
I'm ready. I'm ready. Ready.
[ laughs ]
so our first matchup
against malice,
I'm really excited about.
We have fire this year.
We have flame throwers built
into the tail of this robot.
So she has a belt drive
that could slip potentially,
the rubber will heat up
and start to slip.
Their weapon won't work
anymore after that.
My plan of attack, I think,
is gonna be just a box rusher.
I think if we're all up
in her face
before she can spin up
her weapon,
it will minimize the damage
on our part.
I hope malice has
her pilot's license
'cause I'm going to send her
to the ceiling.
♪♪
[ cheers and applause ]
robots, activate.
[ cheers and applause ]
alright, it's malice
versus axe backwards.
And look at this, kenny, the
trash talk has already begun.
Here we go.
♪♪
♪♪
[ audience chanting "fight" ]
oh, yeah.
[ buzzing ]
let the bot battle begin!
Little sizing up,
nice shot by malice,
who's going right for the tires!
Oh! Oh, my gosh!
We have a huge bot flaming!
Whoa! Yes!
That's how you do it!
Unbelievable!
Bunny sauriol's team
lights up the battlebox
in its very first fight!
What a hit by malice.
Right, there is a little
movement, there it is.
Kurt is trying to find a way
to extend this fight
as parts continue to
fly off his bot!
One more hit, kurt!
Oh, they're going in for another
hit, it looks like, chris.
There it is! And another!
Malice is like a mad dog
off a leash!
[ barking ]
look out, look out!
Oh!
That might have been
the knockout blow, chris,
I got... I got no drive.
Unbelievable.
You can hear kurt durjan saying,
"I got no drive."
Here comes the countdown.
...5, 4...
Rose: Malice with a huge shot,
big time flames and
win number one.
Malice wins!
Yeah! Suck it, kurt! Suck it!
I have no idea what happened.
Did she just say suck it?
[ laughs ]
she did. Who is she? Pete weber
at the pba tour?
To quote the legendary
comedian eddie murphy,
"now, that's a fire!"
yeah, absolutely.
And to quote mike tyson,
"everyone has a plan
until you get hit in the face."
and that's exactly
what happened.
This was a very mike tyson-esque
fight here from malice.
I mean, went right at him,
hit him right in the face.
And this fight
was over in seconds.
Give axe backwards.
And kurt and his crew credit,
they tried to get
those wheels spinning,
but they just had nothing left
after turning into
a bot of flame.
♪♪
[ cheers and applause ]
bunny. Hi!
Hi, chris and kenny!
Your first win
as a team captain.
How did that feel? Amazing.
It was like all these years of
people telling me that I can't.
There you go. First knockout.
How many people come here
and then don't do well
their first fight.
And here I am k*lling it
with my team.
Look at these guys.
Look at these amazing guys.
I can't even tell you
how wonderful it is
to go in there
and just make flames.
Look at these ears.
This is what I do.
Bunny, why are you tearing up?
I can't even tell you how hard
we worked on this robot.
Probably like 700 hours
into this robot.
And they just, like,
they just went in there
and they did what it's supposed
to do and they k*lled it.
[ inhales deeply ]
there we go. Cleansing breath.
Go celebrate with your team.
Congratulations on
winning number one.
It was so nice to see you.
♪♪
Alright, things are heating
up here on opening night,
three fights down,
three knockouts,
and I'm starting to wonder if
the judges should even get paid.
But, hey, there's more
"battlebots"
coming your way
right after this.
♪♪
Rose: Welcome back
to "battlebots."
as with most things
in life at the moment,
it's all a little different
this year.
For our 2020 season
we're lucky enough
to have our teams
boxside for all the action.
Right now, we are joined
by a very special guest,
the captain of team hypershock,
will bales,
who's up in the opera boxes.
You've got some pretty
good seats up there, huh?
Yeah, this is pretty great.
I like watching from above.
This is nice.
Is it good in order to scout
the competition up there?
I mean, how much information
can you actually draw
when you're watching
a fight from up there?
Oh, it's everything.
You need to know who
you're fighting,
you know, how hard they hit,
what their driving style is,
where in the arena
they like to sit
and where they're comfortable,
because you can
take advantage of that.
If they like being
really close to their side,
then just play around
in the opposite corner.
And will, what's it gonna
take for you and your team
to take this competition?
Well, it's going to take
a lot of work in the pits,
you know, a lot of luck,
and a lot of planning,
a lot of prep and
really good driving.
And finally, for people
that are sitting here at home
and say, "okay, I do have
the confidence to build a robot,
but I will never have
will bale's hair."
what do you say to them?
You know, you can wear a hat,
you can just dye it
like kyle here.
You know, he's doing
a great job.
Oh, yeah. Isaac also has
a wonderful dye job here.
It's top notch.
Will bales, thanks as always
for the time and the energy.
Absolutely. Thanks, guys.
[ laughs ]
so we've got three fights
in the books,
and it's bloodsport taking
on skorpios next on the card,
they should be gearing up
for it as we speak.
But I got to be honest, kenny,
my eyes are starting to wander
down to that main event.
Jack barker and end game
called out tombstone
a couple of seasons ago,
and now they'll finally
get the matchup
they've been asking for.
Oh! Oh!
What a huge hit by end game!
Maybe: We're feeling pretty good
at our peak season,
we're on a bit of a win streak.
End game, ferocious!
And I think jack took it
maybe a little bit too far
and called out the champ.
Who else do you want
to take down?
We'd take tombstone.
I think that tombstone
should be more worried than us.
Oh! Those are fighting words!
Tauheed: It's tombstone!
Billings: I know it's a match
that they've wanted
for a while now.
Oh, my goodness.
Be careful what you wish for.
He hits you once,
and it could be over.
Whoo!
End game is a very
well-built machine.
It's a very tough machine.
Pretty strong vertical spinner.
I want to see them in pieces
in 90 seconds.
That's what we're after.
Oh! Huge shot!
Always a threat to do damage
with that heavy vertical weapon.
The disk spins at
about 4,500 rpm.
Which is pretty high.
Billings:
For tombstone this year,
we brought several
different weapon bars.
This is a new one
that I made this year.
So there's some new material
that I'm trying out
that I haven't used before.
I expect that there's going
to be a lot of power unleashed.
Barker: We've watched all
of tombstone's fights,
and we know that he struggles
against wedges.
Rotator's wedge doing
some amazing work there.
Mabey: We've set it up
with a big wedge at the front.
We're hoping that he'll ride up
the wedge into the weapon
and we'll be able
to watch him do his flips.
Tombstone is in
big time trouble, chris.
At some point, we're thinking
that this season was the season
that we were gonna fight them.
I don't know if we were
all mentally prepared for it
to be the very first fight.
Billings: The original build
for tombstone started in 2003.
So I've been refining
this design for 17 years.
The king of kinetic energy
has done it again!
Tombstone has been around
for almost as long
as jack barker has.
Barker: So we've got to put our
money where our mouth is
and pay the price for what
we said a couple years ago.
Tombstone will win by knockout.
[ laughs ]
♪♪
We are back on "battlebots
fight night."
kenny florian and chris rose.
Next up on our power packed
opening night fight card,
it's the deadly bar
spinner bloodsport
taking on the hammer
saw skorpios.
It's a pair of bots that had
pretty successful seasons
in 2019, looking to take
that next step in 2020.
And let's start with skorpios.
Driven by veteran driver
zach lytle.
He actually told us, "listen,
we are sh**ting
for the giant nut."
confidence or
overconfidence here?
Florian: Listen, skorpios
has proven time and again
that it's a really durable bot.
It's got that big plow
on the front.
They use that saw to attack
the top of their opponents
where a lot of robots
are weak on armor.
They're going to be
a tough out for anyone.
Yeah, I think they're feeling
confident, rightfully so.
Second season performance
now for bloodsport,
anchored by justin marple.
Justin was very funny
and honest with us.
He said, "last year as rookies
we had no idea
what we were doing out there."
still, he managed to
pick up four wins,
didn't make the round of 16.
But he's got a lot more
confidence this time around.
I mean, not too shabby to have
a winning record at battlebots
in your very first season.
Three of those wins
came by knockout.
I think justin marple
and bloodsport could turn out
to be one of the top teams here
and just their second year
on "battlebots."
let's find out.
Faruq?
In the blue square, from
cambridge, massachusetts,
it's bloodsport!
♪♪
Alright, justin marple's bot
looking a little different
this time around.
Man, I've never seen that plate.
We definitely didn't see
that last season.
That thing looks crazy.
We'll see if it can
dish the pain.
♪♪
In the red square,
from crockett, california,
it's skorpios!
Let's go!
Rose: We've seen several
different versions of skorpios
over the years.
What do you like about this one?
Well, I tell you what, they're
hammer saw has always been
a very dangerous weapon
for them.
But this one in particular,
they believe,
can do some serious damage
on any bot it gets ahold of.
♪♪
For our first matchup,
we're fighting skorpios,
and we have these wedges
in front
that can get under the opponent
and hopefully that means we can
get them off their drive base
and we can push them to walls
and into the pulverizer
and things like that.
First time running
this new bot configuration.
So it'll be exciting to see
how it works out.
Our strategy is to control
the tempo of the match.
We have a big steel front
and he has a little
spinning blade,
and I want to pin
that to the wall
and keep it
from getting up to speed.
We're hoping to just defeat
bloodsport quick and easy.
We want to get through this with
as little damage as possible.
Robots, activate.
Alright, so, peter,
let's focus on bloodsport.
Please explain that weapon.
Abrahamson: I know, it's pretty
massive compared to the old bar
that they used to just have,
but this is designed
specifically for saw-type bots.
As you notice,
it covers their whole robot,
giving them a complete coverage
for when that saw comes down
and it can't bite into any of
the important components
underneath bloodsport.
That hammer saw
should be able to
cut through a lot of stuff,
whether they can get through
bloodsport's weapon,
that's anybody's guess.
Well, it is time to find out.
Peter, thanks, as always,
for the insight.
Blue team, ready.
[ cheers and applause ]
this should be a good one.
Red team, ready. We got this.
A pair of evenly matched teams.
[ laughs ]
aah! Let the carnage begin!
♪♪
♪♪
[ audience chanting "fight" ]
[ buzzing ]
let the bot battle begin!
It's skorpios quick
on the box rush.
Bloodsport without a weapon.
Full speed blow!
Whoa!
Holy smokes! What just happened?
Bloodsport just
launched skorpios
halfway across the battlebox,
but lost two of its wedgelets
in the process.
But skorpios right
back in pursuit,
keeping the pressure on.
Oh! Oh!
That was an amazing hit!
Not the battlebox sign!
We're gonna charge you for that!
It'll be in your hotel bill
when you leave.
Wow! Skorpios looking to get
underneath bloodsport
and exert some control here.
Oh!
That's saw of skorpios's
looks like it's wobbly.
It is. It's bent, chris.
Here comes the pulverizer.
It's not getting a great angle
right now on bloodsport,
but it's definitely
hitting that weapon on top.
Bloodsport has got
to free itself, and it does.
Bloodsport is looking to create
some space here
so it can get
that weapon up to speed.
Spin, spin, spin, spin.
Ah, you can really hear
that thing humming.
Skorpios feeling
confident in that plow.
Really look at to force
the issue here.
Looks like bloodsport's
trying to attack the wheels
of skorpios, so far, no dice.
Look at the sparks created!
Oh!
Big time energy release on that.
Oh! Holy smokes,
there's another one!
We let the weapon cool.
Weapon cool.
Chris,
the right side of skorpios
has taken a beating
in these exchanges.
Yeah, kenny,
you can clearly see it.
The frame is bent,
the tire sheared,
and skorpios's looking
a little punch drunk,
something just smoking.
Florian: Some serious damage,
chris,
I think bloodsport
got to their electronics.
Skorpios barely moving.
Is it enough to
prevent a countdown?
Bloodsport on the attack.
Oh, no, that frame.
Getting that weapon
to spin up yet again,
is he going to go in
for another shot?
Man: Let him sleep.
He's got to come out.
Bloodsport kind of creeping at
him, going,
"you want some of this, bro?
Come on."
hey, skorpios is out
of options here.
And the countdown has begun!
...8, 7, 6...
Bloodsport
just standing in front of him,
taunting his victim.
...3, 2... What good fight.
...1! Skorpios is knocked out!
What an impressive performance
by bloodsport!
Justin marple and his crew!
Fired up!
And you guys should be.
Yo...
♪♪
Kenny, if that was indeed
the game plan by bloodsport,
it certainly worked out
after taking a huge hit early.
Florian: Well, you could tell
they're from boston
because there was no bark,
they were all bite.
They went right
in there to fight.
I mean, my goodness,
an aggressive game plan there
from justin marple
and team bloodsport.
Yeah, skorpios in the early
going,
won the game of push and shove.
But then you can see the damage
from that weapon
that he told us all about
causing some serious damage
to the front grille of skorpios.
Yeah, even the great driving
of zach lytle
couldn't save them here.
♪♪
Kenny, there's always those
bots in the second or third year
where they have some experience
under their belt
and they make that huge leap.
I think we just saw one. Yeah.
Justin marple and his team
at bloodsport,
they're really coming
into their own.
I mean, beating a veteran team
like skorpios
and an excellent driver in
zach lytle really says a lot.
No question about it.
In the meantime,
our amazing crew back there
working on it.
Hi, guys, let's see.
[ laughs ]
hi, guys. Keep working.
They're doing a great job fixing
that pulverizer back there.
Alright.
Coming up, it's a matchup
you will not want to miss.
It's the legend,
donald hutson and lock-jaw
taking on america's own
captain shrederator.
That's coming up next
as "battlebots fight night"
rolls on.
♪♪
Rose: Alright, we are back up
"battlebots fight night."
and up next, a pair of veterans,
including one in donald hutson
and lock-jaw
that's got its eyes on the
biggest prize.
Donald told us,
"listen, it's been a while
since I've got my hands
on the hardware."
he really believes
he's got the bot
yet again to pull it off.
Florian: Yeah, absolutely.
That's the benefit
of bringing
the same bot or a similar bot
every season,
you'll learn of its weaknesses.
You can improve it over time.
And I think that's exactly
what donald hutson has done.
In the other corner,
you got brian nave,
who's back running the ship
for captain shrederator.
Last year went winless.
He said, "listen,
for two decades,
this has been striking fear
in the rest
of the battlebots community.
Right now, we don't know
what's going on."
so what is going on?
Well, you know,
he was really frustrated
with the lack of reliability
in last season's bot.
And for a full body spinner
like shrederator,
reliability is especially key.
Every impact it makes
with its opponents,
it's hitting with its weapon,
which can be effective,
but also means it has to absorb
a lot of punishment
over the course of a fight.
Brian always says
if he's spinning, he's winning.
We'll see if he can keep it
spinning tonight.
Ready to check this one out?
Let's do it.
Faruq, take it away.
In the blue square,
lock it up, lock it in,
donald, this bot is a sin.
It's lock-jaw!
♪♪
Well, there he is,
donald hutson,
who has been building
combat robots since 1996.
Lock-jaw is an incredibly
versatile machine, kenny.
And donald has the all-around
skills to match.
In the red square,
this bot will hit you so hard,
you'll separator,
give it up for captain
shrederator!
♪♪
Brian nave, back driving
captain shrederator.
And, kenny, this is a team
that's really struggled,
just one win since 2015.
Yeah, he sure has and really
has gone back to the basics.
And in bringing an older bot,
he believes he's going
to find a lot
more success this season.
Brian nave told us
it takes two seconds
to get spinning up
to a dangerous speed.
Five seconds
and it's up to full speed.
We'll see if captain shrederator
is up to the challenge.
And for more on this fight,
let's bring in the bot
whisperer.
Pete, what can you tell us
about these two veteran teams?
Donald has completely rebuilt
lock-jaw from the ground up,
even though it looks the same,
it is a brand-new bot.
But on the opposite end
of the spectrum,
we have brian who went ahead
and stripped out
all the bells and whistles
out of captain shrederator.
There's no magnets.
He's gone back
to an old contactor
to get it to be old reliable.
Right before this fight,
brian came to me and said,
"I think donald has chosen
the wrong wedge
for the back of lock-jaw."
we'll see how that plays out.
♪♪
Robots, activate.
[ cheers and applause ]
alright,
it's the first road test
for both of these bots in 2020.
Who's gonna walk away
with the win?
♪♪
♪♪
[ cheers and applause ]
[ audience chanting "fight" ]
[ buzzing ]
let the bot battle begin!
Here comes lock-jaw
leading with that wedge.
Oh! We've already got some
sparks inside the box.
Shrederator ripped a piece
of lock-jaw's wedge off
in that exchange.
Oh, big hit there.
And there goes a missing tire.
Shrederator with
a near perfect start here.
And now both weapons
are firing up.
Oh!
Look out for some action here.
Yeah, that first hit
really messed up that...
Oh! There goes the frisbee
and it takes a shot
from the screws.
Already see some bot parts
all over the battlebox
right now, chris.
Captain shrederator
out of control.
That only took 35 seconds.
Now they're
right in front of us.
Shrederator backed in the corner
and it's smoking too!
[bleep] are you kidding me?
This is a nonsmoking zone,
brian nave.
This could be bad news
for shrederator,
which can only do damage
when it gets to
the center of the box
and can spin up to full speed.
Florian: Looks like donald
hutson's having some problems
with his primary weapon,
that's starting to slow down.
But he wants to finish the job
and let the battlebox do it.
So shrederator
right now cannot spin,
seems to have lost
its ability to do that.
Donald hutson's vertical disk
spinner is not working.
So now who has the advantage
in this scenario, kenny?
Well, without
the ability to spin,
shrederator is in
big trouble here.
He has no real way
to score points
and now lock-jaw looking
to take advantage.
Nice driving there
by brian nave.
Nick nave, brian's son has been
the one driving shrederator
the last few years,
so brian said it might take him
a fight or two
to get his driving skills back.
But so far he's
been able to elude
donald hutson till then.
Lock-jaw got caught up
in the killsaws there.
Without that weapon,
shrederator desperately
needs some bob and weave here
to stay alive. Oh!
He's got to get
out of there, kenny.
There he is! Lock-jaw delivers
shrederator into the screws
and he's gonna get
clawed up here.
Can brian nave escape?
Uh-oh, and now look at this.
That primary weapon of donald
hutson is back working again.
Will lock-jaw
choose to finish him
or will the ref beat him
to the punch?
the countdown has started.
...7, 6...
Shrederator in control
of the fight early and now
rendered helpless in the teeth
of the screws... 1!
Shrederator is knocked out!
And the first fortune
here on opening night!
Donald hutson takes care of
business knocking out
captain shrederator.
It's just begun.
Donald hutson really doing
what everyone
expected him to do.
What a performance there.
Captain shrederator,
the struggles continue,
unfortunately.
Kenny, wasn't
the most dominant box rush
right off the top,
took donald
a little while to get there,
but still successful
nonetheless.
Well, it was still
a very big hit.
But I tell you what, brian nave
did some really great driving
during the course of that fight.
The problem with shrederator
was he never landed
that one critical blow
that is so important
for a full body spinner.
Yeah, that's right.
Donald hutson
has so much experience
going against these
full body spinners.
And I just think his design
was just built specifically
for someone
like captain shrederator.
Not only a win, but a knockout.
♪♪
So after shrederator
had him on the ropes,
donald hutson turns the tables
and notches that
oh, so important first win.
Coming up, it's a matchup
you won't want to miss.
Two rookies looking to start
their battlebox careers
with a win.
That's rusty
squaring up to sporkinok.
And don't forget,
we're driving toward
tonight's main event,
it's the k*ller kiwi's end game,
taking on
the grim reaper himself,
the king of kinetic energy,
former battlebots champion
tombstone!
Billings: [ laughs ]
♪♪
♪♪
Rose: We are back on
"battlebots."
five fights in the books,
and we just witnessed
captain shrederator
lose its first match
of the 2020 season.
Our very own jenny taft caught
up with captain brian nave
after the loss
to find out what went wrong.
Taft: Brian, hello.
Hey, jenny, how you doing?
Good to see you.
I heard a little rumor
that the reason why your bot
had a little trouble in the box
was as simple as this.
It was as simple as that.
A little pin. I can't even...
All of this and that k*lled it.
Wow. Can you please
explain this to me
and why this was the issue?
Since we got rid of all our
high tech in the throwback,
we went all the way
back to 2003 technology.
Because that's when I was
winning, winning, winning,
winning, winning. I wanted to
get back to winning again.
So we have a brake on it now
that we had never tried before.
Okay. And this kept the brake
disengaged.
And when we took that big hit
and flew in the air,
it sheared this pin
and applied the brake.
So the rest of the match,
every time we tried
to spin up, the brake
was stopping it.
So the motors were fighting
the brake and the brake won.
It's an obvious question,
but I mean,
how frustrating is this to you?
I cannot even explain.
I never want to
see that pin again.
No, never. Alright. We're done.
Thank you for your time.
Alright, thanks.
It was nice talking to you.
Rose: We look forward to
shrederator's next fight
as jenny taft continues
to get it done back in the pits.
In the meantime, let's get back
to our next fight.
For the first time ever,
we have a trans captain.
Her name is lilith specht,
she is the captain of sporkinok.
Even though
she's new to battlebots
she is not new
to robot fighting.
She's been running some smaller
events down in orlando, florida.
She's ready to show
that she's got the goods.
She is taking on another
rookie robot named rusty,
the captain here is dave eaton.
Do you want to know
all about his crew?
The rest of them
are named dave eaton
and dave eaton and dave eaton.
It's a one-man show.
He's put this thing together
with bubble gum,
popsicle sticks, and a dream
that it will, in fact, work.
Let's see how this one goes.
Faruq, you got this.
[ cheers and applause ]
in the blue square,
from orlando, florida,
it's not a southpaw
it's a mouth claw.
Here's sporkinok!
♪♪
Lilith specht, a 33-year-old
accountant by day,
ready to show that this bot
is ready to do its job, kenny.
Lilith designed sporkinok
to run as either
a hammer or a lifter,
that's the configuration
you see here.
She wants to use those sharp
mandibles
to get underneath her opponent
and control the fight.
In the red square,
from antioch, illinois,
it puts the die in oxidize.
Don't worry. It happens
to lots of guys.
It's rusty!
♪♪
Dave eaton grew up on a farm,
he's used just
about anything you can find
on his parents' farm.
Thrown it together,
and that looks like one
of my salad bowls.
[ laughs ]
well, you know, he calls that
primary weapon a hammer spike
and curious to see
if it could do some damage.
Here we go.
I'm here alone. One man band,
I'm getting it done by myself,
you know,
doing what I need to do
and I've kind of
got it all planned out
and I've got to get up
and go to get it done.
There's a lot of great teams
here and stuff
that I'm trying
to compete against.
Things came together.
I got the robot
and everything's ready to go,
and I'm ready to do it.
I love rusty's look,
I have never seen it fight.
I don't know the builder.
It'll be interesting
to see what it does.
I don't know
if it's fast or slow.
It's completely unknown.
That's exciting in its own way.
♪♪
Robots, activate.
[ cheers and applause ]
alright, so let's put this
into some perspective, kenny,
this probably isn't a preview
of the battlebox
championship final.
No, that's right.
These are two rookie teams,
two brand-new bots.
It's their first time driving
them inside the battlebox.
This is like a jump
of the deep act, chris,
and so it's sink or swim
for sporkinok and rusty.
♪♪
♪♪
[ audience chanting "fight" ]
oh, this is really happening!
[ audience chanting "fight" ]
[ buzzing ]
let the bot battle begin!
Sporkinok on the attack.
Rusty trying to get away.
Oh, gosh, don't take yourself
into the rails there.
Oh, sporkinok gets under rusty
and manages to tip him over.
Come on, rusty,
can you get up, huh?
He does have a self-righting
mechanism, chris.
Yeah, oh, yes. There you go.
Nice!
I was worried there
for a second.
Well done by the junkyard bot.
Now rusty is gonna have to find
a way to score some points.
Rusty rising
that spike up in the air.
An intimidating posture,
rusty lowers that needle
for nothing.
Takes a little bit
to get your bearings straight
when you haven't fought
in this large a venue.
That lifter on sporkinok
looks like it's stuck
in the upright position, chris.
You know, these type of matches
are a road test
for new bots, kenny.
Not everybody can jump into the
box and be tombstone right away.
Now, we did see mad-catter score
a knockout earlier tonight,
that bot was definitely in
the startup category last year.
But I got to say, rusty might be
the cutest little bot
I've ever seen. The front of it
looks like something
out of "star wars."
the only thing is I don't know
what they're trying
to inject him
with a hypodermic needle
or what that thing is on top.
This is a great opportunity
here for rusty.
Get in there.
Get in there, rusty.
Trying to do some damage
to the back tires.
Oh, darn.
I think that may have caused
some damage, kenny.
Yeah, rusty looks like
he's in the driver's seat now.
Sporkinok not looking good.
Can rusty pull off the win
in its debut performance
on "battlebots"?
Whatever occurred in that
exchange there looks like it
may have been enough
to hurt sporkinok.
Sporkinok looks like
she might be tapped out
and rusty doing
a little shuffle here.
He thinks he's got it.
Referee: 10, 9...
And here comes the countdown,
from the junkyard to
the big show!
...5, 4... David eaton and rusty
has come into the battlebox
and picked up a win.
...1! That's a knockout!
[ buzzer ]
and look at the excitement
on david's face.
Whoo!
[ sighs ]
unbelievable.
Hey, listen, kenny,
this is the sort of stuff
that happens
when you get two rookie bots
matched up against each other
for the very first time.
Yeah, absolutely.
And you see sporkinok
did a great job
of tipping rusty over,
but rusty, able to self-right,
that was just brilliant
stuff there from dave eaton.
And he had some
nice shots there,
was able to attack
the backside of sporkinok.
And then here you go,
dropping the needle.
Obviously it did something
to team sporkinok
because after this, we didn't
hear from lilith specht's bot.
I hope that needle
is clean, chris.
Well, we threw a little
hand sanitizer on it.
There you go.
Don't worry about it.
[ cheers and applause ]
whew! [ chuckles ]
alright, david eaton, yeah,
you've give us a few "whew!
Whew!" yeah!
I'm pumped up. I tell you what.
I feel like
I'm dreaming right now, guys.
That was intense.
I have never... it's
my first time out, obviously.
And I am... I am lit up.
I'll tell you what.
You know, you don't have any
other team members to blame.
But since it's just yourself,
you can also
congratulate yourself
for all the work you put in.
High five! Hey! Yeah! [ laughs ]
dave, take us
through the fight, man.
Yeah, you know, honestly,
being in the box and stuff,
trying to get coordinated
with the layout and stuff,
it was really hard.
I was like, "oh, my gosh,
this moves faster
I thought he did," right?
So I was trying to get
my bearings and stuff
and get used
to getting him squared up
and then getting
that hammer down on him.
And it was tough. It was tough.
I can understand
some of these drivers and stuff.
This is not as easy as it looks.
Dave, we have never seen a robot
designed quite like this.
Please explain
where the idea came from.
So honestly, I wanted
to get into it and I was like,
"hey, I got to start
build up a body and stuff."
and my parents' farm.
I just would go out back
and be like,
"hey, there's some square
tubing there.
Hey, there's a round tube."
and I just started
putting stuff together,
and once I got the body
together, I was like,
"hey, I could put tracks on it!"
dave, this is amazing. I mean,
you've got a great personality.
Obviously you have
a passion for robotics.
You are currently undefeated.
You got your first win, man.
I did! Yeah,
thank you, thank you very much.
I can't believe it.
It's a dream come true, guys.
Do you have a celebratory dance
that you do or something?
A celebratory dance?
Yes! [ laughs ]
there you go.
It's the rusty shake!
David eaton, congratulations.
A job well done, my friend.
Thank you, gentlemen.
♪♪
Chalk one up for the big
farm boy from illinois,
dave eaton,
and by the way, he's so funny,
he's gonna be performing
on the ha-ha hole down in pico
once they open that thing
back up in the near future.
Dave eaton, check mark
by your name.
Job well done, my friend.
Hey, we're only one fight away
from the main event,
so let's not waste any time.
We'll be right back with
more "battlebots fight night."
♪♪
All right, we are back
on "battlebots" fight night,
and don't look now,
but we're only one fight away
from tonight's main event
and our first glimpse
of the most notorious
bar-spinner in the sport,
tombstone.
There's the man...
Ray billings... gearing up
for this highly
anticipated fight.
He'll be taking on end game.
And there's nick mabey
and jack barker,
who called out the former champ
just a couple of seasons ago.
But right now, we'll see
rookie smeeeeeeeeeee
taking on someone who's made
quite a name for himself
in the "battlebots" community
these past few seasons.
That's edward robinson
and sharkoprion.
It's really an
emotional time for edward
because this is gonna be
his final go-around,
and this is the first time
he's competing
without his longtime
"battlebots" partner,
john hoffman,
who unfortunately died
because of cancer.
And we talked to edward
ahead of time...
He was in tears.
He said, "listen, I have to
win this first fight
in john's memory."
taking on a "battlebots"
rookie, joe fabiani.
The name of his bot
is smeeeeeeeeeee.
We asked joe, "wait, is that
one-two-three-four 'e's?"
he's like, "well,
the most I ever put down
filling out the sheet was 22."
now, you look at this bot...
It's unlike anything
we've ever seen before.
Florian: There's a lot of things
I love about this bot.
First of all, you know, coming
from a jujitsu background,
I want to be
a human boa constrictor,
and this is kind of
a robotic boa constrictor,
and I love the fact that
he's trying something new.
This thing's 14 feet long.
It wants to encapsulate
the other bot
and then kind of chew it up.
So, let's check it out.
It's sharko against...
[ inhales deeply ]
smeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
Can I stop?
That's a lot of "e" s, yeah.
Eeeeeeee...
Cut.
Faruq?
[ cheers and applause ]
in the blue square,
from new york city,
the choke-artist,
it's smeeeeeeeeeee!
♪♪
Holy smokes, kenny.
Look at that thing.
[ laughing ] oh, my goodness.
Yeah, that's big.
Are there 22 "e" s
on that thing, or what?
That's a lot of "e" s.
That's a lot of bot.
You see the flanks
have those horizontal
disc spinners there.
I don't think we've seen
anything like this.
This is like a massive
thanksgiving table
just to bring the bot over here.
And once again, I got stuck
at the kiddies' table.
♪♪
In the red square,
from jacumba, california,
the jaws of strife,
it's sharko!
[ cheers and applause ]
kenny, in years past,
we saw edward robinson
deliver us a bot
that basically was made out
of recycling materials.
That is not the case here.
No, it's not.
Edward robinson
and his late partner
put a lot of time
and money into this bot
since last season.
They actually decided
to change that weapon
from the vertical spinner
we saw in years past
to a 4,000 psi crusher,
which seems pretty fitting
when your bot is modeled
after a prehistoric shark.
Robinson: [ chanting ]
sharko, sharko, sharko!
Sharko, sharko, sharko!
Tonight, we're fighting sharko.
We're gonna try
to get to his side...
Get to those nice juicy wheels
and maybe take one of them off.
We have a new robot,
so we're not sure
how well it's gonna work.
We've had a lot of problems
the past couple of days
getting everything up to speed,
but now it's running,
and I hope it's gonna keep
working the whole fight.
Sharko's slogan is,
"you should have
brought a bigger bot."
well, for once, someone
brought a bigger bot.
This is john's design.
We had it running
before he passed away,
so this is a completely
brand new build.
New motors, new speed controls.
This thing is almost
It's ridiculous.
What we're gonna try to do
is get around to
either of the end
with the mouth open
and get ahold of the end.
Then I can just
swing him around.
I don't know what a
but he is about to find out.
♪♪
[ indistinct chatter ]
robots, activate.
[ cheers and applause ]
ok, kenny,
get your popcorn ready.
We got smeeeeeeeeeee...
A platform like nothing
we've ever seen before
on "battlebots"...
Versus a mechanical shark.
Hit it!
[ cheers and applause ]
ying: We can do it!
We're gonna do great.
We're gonna do something.
[ laughs ]
[ electronic warbling ]
[ cheers and applause ]
♪♪
[ audience chanting "fight" ]
[ buzzer buzzing ]
rose: Let the bot battle
begin, and here we go!
Sharko on the attack.
Oh, let's see what
smeeeeeeeeeee can do.
Tried to wrap its way around,
but he can't get all the way
around that big shark.
Sharko trying to attack
the center of smeeeeeeeeeee,
and I think they're just
too pliable there, chris.
Yeah, it's so interesting
because sharko is so big
that smeeeeeeeeeee, even with
its size and reach,
cannot wrap all the way
around its opponent.
Yeah, that's right...
The shape of sharko
is making it very difficult
for smeeeeeeeeeee to
do anything to it.
Meantime, sharko trying
to use that tail
to smack smeeeeeeeeeee
and snap it in two,
which would make it
"smeee," and then "eeeeee."
[ laughs ]
both teams still
feeling each other out.
Lots of contact so far,
but no real pain dished out
by either side.
Yeah, chris,
in a match like this,
it just takes one shot to get
[ indistinct] attention
and jump ahead in the
damage category.
Now, you can see sharko's tires
have been chewed up a little.
Those horizontal spinners
on smeeeeeeeeeee
are just nibbling away
at that giant shark.
And now, smeeeeeeeeeee has
sharko backed into a corner.
It's like a giant
piece of spaghetti
on wheels, kenny!
And right now, sharko's
the meatball, chris.
All right, here we go.
Yeah, go.
I'll tell you this, though...
Sharko's crushing it
on the dance floor.
I mean, he's the dude
in the corner just...
He doesn't care.
He doesn't have a partner.
He's just having fun.
Florian: [ laughs ]
yeah, go do your fish thing.
Go. [ laughs ]
now, sharko's got
those jaws open,
chomping away at smeeeeeeeeeee,
but it's kind of like
when your food falls
off your fork before
it gets to your face, kenny.
Dude, our weapons are good, man.
Yeah, and sharko's just not
able to get low enough
to really get a good clamp
on smeeeeeeeeeee.
That was the closest
he's been so far.
And on the other end,
smeeeeeeeeeee just wanted
to give him a hug
so he can keep
chewing up those tires.
As we reach the 30-second mark,
it's time to see if somebody...
Somebody... can make a push.
Sharko trying to find its way.
Robinson: Bite, bite, bite!
Bite him!
Chomp, chomp, chomp! Chomp him!
One of the more
bizarre fights we've seen
in quite some time, kenny.
Two bots that are
pretty amazing to look at
but have had some trouble
getting it in gear here
in fight number one.
Yeah, some really cool
technology at play here.
Both teams just need
to get it dialed in.
We are under 10 seconds to go.
Oh, that was good.
And this one is gonna
go the distance.
[ timer beeping ]
[ chomping ]
[ buzzer blares ]
[ cheers and applause ]
yeah!
I can't believe
those weapons survived!
So, now it will be
in the hands of the judges...
Derek young, lisa winter,
and jason bardis.
This season, it's an
Up to 5 points to be
awarded for damage,
and 3 for control.
Kenny, this was definitely
a unique match...
One we had not seen before.
Yeah, absolutely.
Two very unique bots,
which made for an
interesting match-up.
You see smeeeeeeeeeee there
looking like an eel
in the mouth of sharko,
and then a nice counter-shot
there by smeeeeeeeeeee.
And smeeeeeeeeeee, with those
horizontal spinners,
took a few little chunks
out of the tires
at the very least, kenny.
Yeah, you know, you could see
the potential of smeeeeeeeeeee
as a weapon if it could
fully envelop its opponent,
but in this one, both teams
just traded shots.
Neither one could
score a knockout,
so we'll just have to see
where the judges land.
[ cheers and applause ]
the results from
the judges are in!
♪♪
The winner by
unanimous decision is...
♪♪
Smeeeeeeeeeee!
[ screams ]
[ cheers and applause ]
♪♪
♪♪
So, joe fabiani gets his
first "battlebots" win,
and smeeeeeeeeeee
is currently undefeated.
Our crew just has to wheel
out that squiggle of a bot
out on that thanksgiving table.
And then, it's "all systems go"
for the one you've
been waiting for...
Tombstone!
End game!
It's tonight's main event,
and it's coming your way, next.
♪♪
[ cheers and applause ]
♪♪
Well, pete...
The bot whisperer...
I know being inside the box
is not a big deal for you...
This is old news.
But for me, this is spectacular.
And I know a lot of
adjustments have been made,
so could you just break down
the highlights for me?
Definitely.
So, we have the k*ll source.
They're much more
destructive now.
They've got a lot of horsepower.
They come up randomly
and will blow
the ground game up.
Rose: That's gonna leave a mark!
The pulverizers,
they still weigh the same.
They're 100 pounds,
but it's more compact,
and they can take
way more abuse.
Oh, the pulverizer!
No!
We have inch-and-a-half
thick lexan.
Oh! Rose: Oh!
It almost got it
out of the arena!
This box contains it.
We keep all of that
destruction in.
That's what makes it
so exciting,
is we can be this close...
Witness the devastation
that happens in here...
And yet, it's safe
for us to watch.
This is all-out mayhem!
[ cheers and applause ]
we are back on "battlebots"
fight night.
And kenny florian,
it is time right now
for the main event
of the evening.
I get scared
even saying his name.
Tombstone! [ chuckles ]
ray billings sat down
for his interview with us
and he said, "yeah, well,
I guess it's time for me
to kick everybody's a*s again."
yeah. You know,
it was classic ray
and it was
classic tombstone here.
You know, he's coming in
with some new bar spinners,
which should make things
very interesting
and very destructive.
He's taking on the kiwis.
End game...
Jack barker, nick mabey.
A couple of seasons ago, they
made their "battlebots" debut.
They won their first few fights.
They called out tombstone
and were like,
"oh, they're going to be
the next big thing."
ever since then, they've kind
of been treading water.
How do they take that next step?
Does it begin tonight?
You know,
they ran into some problems.
You know, they tried
a lot of new things last season.
It didn't really go their way.
They believe
they've learned their lesson.
They also believe that
their vertical disc spinner
hits harder than anything
in the competition.
Did bring their shades
with them this time?
I hope so. Okay.
Will they be hiding tears
or will those be tears of joy?
Oh, it's gonna be...
Let's find out.
...Such a good fight.
Faruq.
Ladies and gentlemen,
are you ready?
[ crowd cheering ]
it's robot-fighting time!
[ cheering intensifies ]
in the blue square,
this match is over
before it begins.
R-I-p you apart
with its lethal spins.
When it's all done,
you'll take the walk of shame.
Ladies and gentlemen,
welcome to end game!
[ cheers and applause ]
♪♪
Rose: They asked for it.
Now they got it...
A match up with tombstone.
Nick mabey said he's watched
all of tombstone's fights.
Kenny, they don't want
to go weapon-to-weapon,
which I think is probably
a pretty good call.
Florian: Yeah. You know,
it's funny.
They would probably go
weapon-to-weapon
against any other bot
except tombstone.
[ crowd cheering ]
♪♪
In the red square,
as you approach this tombstone,
your heart starts to pound,
you open your mouth,
but can't make a sound.
Then you get closer and closer
and get a clear-eyed view
and read the inscription,
[ shaky voice ] "here lies you."
[ normal voice ] it's tombstone!
[ crowd cheering ]
♪♪
Since 2015,
this bot is 20 and 4, kenny,
with 17 knockouts.
And boy, look at the thing
that stands out there,
that primary weapon,
that huge blade,
which is actually experimental.
It's h13.
It's another type of tool steel.
And he's not sure how
that's going to hold up.
But something tells me we're
going to find out real soon.
♪♪
Kenny, you see anything new
on the bottom of end game?
I definitely see a larger
vertical disk there.
That is much larger than
they had in previous seasons.
They have some nice
strong armored wedges
on the front as well,
but they definitely don't want
to have any direct hits
against tombstone.
Well, "battlebots" fans
are very familiar
with both of these robots.
Pete, what do you have to add?
Abrahamson: Talking the end game
back in the pits,
they, after viewing
many videos of ray,
really realized that depending
on which direction
his blade is spinning
and it looks like he's going
to be spinning clockwise,
they will be presenting
their left side.
So hopefully dragging after
they hit their weapon into ray,
now, ray knows he's not coming
out of this fight unscathed.
He's pretty sure
he's going to take a beating,
but he's confident
he'll make the win.
[ cheers and applause ]
we got it. We got this.
Come on. No worries.
Robots, activate.
[ cheers and applause ]
rose: Kenny, with tombstone,
the equation
is pretty simple for him.
Florian: That's right,
just swing at the other bot
as hard as possible.
[ chuckles ]
that is a very durable bot.
Overall, ray is very
confident this season
and I can't wait for this
first hit and miss fight.
My goodness.
Blue team, ready.
As we'll ever be.
As we'll ever be.
[ cheers and applause ]
♪♪
Red team, ready.
Ready to rock and roll?
Rock and roll.
♪♪
[ cheers and applause ]
♪♪
Oh, this place is hopping.
You can feel the energy
for our main event.
The old guard and tombstone,
the young g*n and end game,
ready to cap off
an amazing night.
I love this sport. Oh, yeah.
Just relax.
Rose: Let the battle begin!
And everybody's up to
nearly full speed!
Nice on that, end game. Whoa!
Check out the energy on that!
Oh, my god! It got
thrown out of the arena!
Florian: What a shot
by end game!
Oh, man, end game has done
the unthinkable!
[ cheers and applause ]
as it has knocked out
the favorite
right out of the arena!
Take that victory spin,
end game. You deserve it!
That's a knockout! [ buzzer ]
and a look of shock
on the face of ray billings,
rick russ, and the rest of the
tombstone g*ng.
Oh, my gosh.
[ cheering ]
you guys! You did it!
You done did it!
Billings:
I was trying to get fancy.
I probably should have just hit
him weapon-to-weapon,
seen what happened.
♪♪
Rose: Kenny, when you have
that much energy
flowing inside the box,
you never know
what could happen.
Florian: Yeah, absolutely.
This is one of those fights
we kind of just felt
was not going to go to decision.
What an unbelievable
counter shot there by end game.
They kind of deflected
tombstone away.
Tombstone kind of got stuck.
They took advantage of them
and took them right out
of the battlebox.
What a shot by end game.
Jack barker.
Hi.
What do you mean "hi"? Nick?
Hey. Are you guys in shock?
Are you okay over there?
A little bit.
Yeah, that was... I mean,
you kind of expect a quick game
with tombstone,
but, like, that quick?
Oh. [ scoffs ] ah.
I can't hold my hand still.
[ chuckles ]
guys, break that down for me.
What happened there?
Oh, yeah. Go ahead, jack.
I'll run through
what we in the match said.
So we knew from the start
that we wanted tombstone to hit
the left side of our robot
because he's spinning clockwise.
We saw tombstone running towards
the other side, the right side,
and I just had to turn
straight into him
and hope for the best.
And that actually managed
to spin them round.
So we got a good hit
on the back of their robot,
which was kind of lucky.
And then, yeah, we just pounded
him out of the arena,
which was awesome.
[ chuckles ] yeah. Oh, man.
You guys have been calling out
tombstone for, like, two years.
You guys have finally gone out
there and not only beaten them,
but done it by knockout.
How does it feel?
Well, like this
has been in the back of my mind
for, like, years now
and, like, the forefront
of my mind for at least a year
coming up for this current
'battlebots" season.
So like... oh, god, I can't even
describe how it feels.
It's... [ chuckles ]
it's feels... like, the relief.
And also just I feel
like the confidence for
because this is an entirely new
robot that we're...
Like, all the parts are
brand new, whole new design.
So... but the confidence
that it just works the way
we want it to work
against tombstone,
I think this season
is looking pretty good.
Finally, jack,
what do you think the reception
is going to be like for you guys
when you walk back
into the pits?
[ chuckles ]
I hope it's going to be big.
Hopefully people
are happy for us.
[ both laugh ]
some people told us
they bet on us.
I'm sure they're happy.
Nick, jack, congratulations.
Both: Thank you very much.
[ crowd cheering ] cheers.
Alright, ray,
it's not exactly the way
you imagined your 2020 season
would start.
How difficult was it
to watch your bot
get punted out of the arena?
You know, I know
it's a tough machine.
I knew it was going to be a
tough match.
I got the wheels stuck there
on that screw and just...
It gave him the opportunity
to get the good hit in.
So, you know, more power to him.
They did exactly what they
needed to do to win the match,
and we'll get the robot
put back together
and keep going forward.
Does this loss take away
any of your confidence
moving forward, ray?
No. I have confidence to spare,
so there's no problem with that.
[ chuckles ] alright.
Sure do.
No. We'll be fine.
We'll get it out.
We'll see what's broken.
We'll get it back together
and we'll be ready
to put on the big hits again.
Ray billing's,
we appreciate the time.
Thanks so much.
And I'm sure you will rebound
sometime in the near future.
Oh, you'll see me again.
[ chuckles ] I'm sure we will.
[ cheers and applause ]
♪♪
Kenny, it happens so rarely
that tombstone
not only loses a match,
but literally gets punched
in the face the way that
end game took it to them today.
So when you look
at the big picture here,
I know it's just
the first match,
but does this kind of set a tone
for the rest of the season
moving forward?
It's a big deal. I mean,
any time you get a chance
to beat a legend like
ray billings and tombstone,
it sends a message
to everybody else.
And of course, it makes you
feel good
that you're robot's
doing what you built it to do.
So we are off and running.
It's going to be
a blast this season.
Seven knockouts tonight
and we are just getting started.
Join us next time where
you'll see more of the bots
you know and love,
as well as
some exciting newcomers.
Who knows, maybe we could even
get kenny to do the rusty shake.
So for jenny and faruq
and our bot whisperer, pete,
and my buddy kenny florian,
I'm chris rose.
We'll see you next time
on "battlebots."
♪♪
[ cheers and applause ]
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05x01 - Return of the Bots
Watch/Buy Amazon
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.