[Faruq] Over its 25-year history,
excellence at BattleBots has been measured in hardware.
Punctuated by the ultimate prize, The Giant Nut.
Tonight, the quest for another one of robot combat's crown jewels
culminates in an epic winner-take-all tournament.
A field of champions,
and the sport's most battle-tested bots will enter the Box.
But only one will lay claim to The Golden Bolt.
[robotic voice] Robots activate.
[audience cheering]
Yes!
Whoo!
All right.
Kenny's Beard.
Yeah!
Love it!
Hey, everybody, and welcome to BattleBots Champions.
I am Chris Rose, joined as always
by UFC legend,
the greatest robot combat analyst since time immemorial,
the one and only Kenny Florian.
[audience cheering]
[Kenny] Chris, it's great to be here in Vegas
for our Tournament of Champions.
Tonight, we will see the best of the best go head-to-head
for a chance at immortality and the opportunity
to hoist...
[both] The Golden Bolt!
[Chris] That's right, Kenny.
It all started with three world champions gaining automatic entries
to this ultra exclusive tournament.
And after five weeks of thrilling Sin City Slugfest qualifiers,
the field has been populated with a collection of killers whose work has just begun.
And whether they dominated or simply survived,
they're now here to face the icons of the sport
to see who can etch their name in history.
Will it be one of the Giant Nut winners
that adds to their ever-growing legend?
Or will a new team ascend to the status of true BattleBots Titan
and add a coveted piece of hardware to their trophy case?
Tonight in Sin City, to be a Champion, you have to beat a Champion.
All three Giant Nut winners will take on Slugfest survivors in round one.
The road to The Golden Bolt
is gonna be paved in blood, Chris.
[Chris] That's the way we love it.
[audience cheering]
[Chris] And how about some literal firepower to open the night?
The flamethrowing Free Shipping has a date with destiny,
and it's got a New Zealand accent.
Former Giant Nut winner and reigning Golden Bolt Champion,
End Game, is back.
Jack Barker.
Nick Mabey.
Gary Gin.
This is gonna be a good old-fashioned barrage a trois.
So let's get this party started, BattleBots fans!
[audience cheering]
Faruq, take it away! Let's go!
Ladies and gentlemen,
are you ready?
[audience cheering]
It's robot fighting time!
[siren wailing]
[audience cheering]
In the Red Square, from San Leandro, California,
everyone get your s'mores ready 'cause we're about to see some fire.
It's Free Shipping!
[audience cheering]
[Chris] Gary Gin running a hot streak in Vegas, Kenny.
[Kenny] Yeah, that's right.
Coming into his Sin City Slugfest,
he was 6-13 over the course of his BattleBots career
and he's rattled off three in a row.
The biggest I've seen him smile.
[audience chanting] Gary! Gary!
In the Blue Square, from Auckland, New Zealand,
former winners of The Giant Nut, Golden Bolt,
and Best-Dressed Team award, give it up for End Game!
[Chris] The only team to get their hands on The Golden Bolt.
Nick Mabey, Jack Barker.
They're studs.
[Kenny] Yeah, no question about it.
23-10 record here at BattleBots.
They've won everything there is to win pretty much here.
Looking for more trophies.
Thanks.
[audience cheering]
They're a Giant Nut winner, they're last year's Golden Bolt winner,
so this is gonna be a really tough match.
They're playing the ground game very well,
they have a very hard-hitting weapon.
There's only a couple of different strategies that I can take against them.
Either just go for it and try to smack 'em in the face,
or, you know, try to get around to a side.
I'm the kind of driver that kinda just reacts
to what's happening in the Box at the moment.
Win or lose, there's gonna be a lot of damage to our robot,
so if we do win, it's gonna be a lot of work
to get ready for that next round.
Free Shipping's done an awesome job coming through its qualifier brackets,
so it's really at its peak right now. So it's gonna be a good fight.
Free Shipping, this year, has a vertical spinner in the middle of the robot
rather than a lifter.
Obviously, that's a more damaging weapon,
so we're a little afraid of that, but it's not a very big one.
We're pretty confident if we clash weapons,
we'll come out better off and that End Game will be able
to handle any hits they can give us.
We know how Gary drives. We know how he likes to drive headfirst into his opponents
and we're honestly quite happy with that.
We're ready for it, we think he's gonna drive straight into our weapon
and he's not gonna like it.
[audience cheering]
[robotic voice] Robots activate.
[Chris] Kenny, you heard Gary Gin say he relies on his instincts,
it's gonna take a whole lot more than that to knock off
the defending Golden Bolt Champions.
[Kenny] No question. Free Shipping is up against it here.
You can see Gary's using a fork and wedge combo
maybe to throw End Game a little off balance.
This design can cause some chaos and that might be exactly what he needs.
[audience chanting] Fight! Fight!
[Chris] It'll take three straight wins tonight
to lay claim to The Golden Bolt.
End Game looking to defend their title.
[buzzer counting down]
[Chris] Let the bot battle begin!
Oh! Here comes Gary Gin on a nice box run.
[Chris laughs]
[Kenny] And he goes right at End Game.
No intimidation at all from Gary Gin.
[Chris] Trying to throw End Game into the screws on the upper jacket.
End Game having issues with the floor.
[Kenny] Look at how fast Free Shipping is,
they're just going for a blitzkrieg-style fight here.
-[Chris] Oh! -[Kenny] Oh, there goes one of the forks!
[Chris] Yep, Free Shipping went up for a ride up and over the weapon of End Game
and it landed with one less shoe.
[chuckles] Good shot.
-And now Free Shipping's inverted! -[Kenny] Oh!
[Chris] And now it's back again.
[Kenny] Let's see if Gary Gin takes a beat here and resets.
Nope! He's gonna go right back at the weapon of End Game!
[Chris] Man, oh, man.
Oh! [chuckling] Gary Gin's just like, "I don't care, dude, let's roll."
[Kenny] Gary, you know there's a weapon on the front of that thing, right?
-[Chris] Oh, gosh! -[Kenny] Oh, there goes one of the wheels!
[Chris] So he's down one shoe and one tire.
[Kenny] End Game smells blood, grinding away at the under belly.
Uh-oh! Free Shipping is not moving, Chris!
-[Chris] Is this gonna be it? -[man] That's it.
[Chris] Gary Gin's bot came out swinging and it kept swinging,
but now it seems like its soul has left its body...
Ten, nine, eight.
[Chris] ...and maybe heading to the big scrap heap in the sky!
[Chris] Free Shipping's dream run is officially over!
[referee] Five, four, three, two, one!
Knock out!
[alarm buzzing]
[audience cheering]
-Thank you. -All right.
[Chris] Kenny, you gotta love the aggressiveness of Gary Gin.
[Kenny] Oh, just rams his robot face-first into End Game.
[Chris] Breathing some serious fire
on the former Giant Nut and Golden Bolt champion.
End Game even getting caught on the floor a few times,
but then just a little too much weaponry from End Game.
[Kenny] That's right. This was an excellent start here from Gary Gin.
He was a little impatient after that initial barrage, though,
which played right into the Kiwis' hands.
And once End Game started connecting with that weapon and attacking the tires,
that was all she wrote for Free Shipping.
[Chris] A fantastic run for Free Shipping
comes to an end courtesy of End Game.
[audience cheering]
[Chris] Nick and Jack, congratulations,
-you guys are off to The Golden Bolt semifinals. -Whoo!
Thank you.
Hey, Nick, maybe this is better for Jack.
How much fun is it driving against Gary Gin?
Well, Gary's an incredible driver.
He's been doing this for many, many years now.
I'm just stoked to be in the arena with him.
Yeah, Gary is a staple of the sport.
And he's a legend. We're absolutely honored to be facing him.
Guys, talk me through the fight.
Yeah. I think Free Shipping's obviously got a very powerful drive,
they had us at the start.
We just had to be patient like we always do
and wait for the weapon to do its thing.
Looking forward to seeing you in the semifinals.
Congratulations.
[both] Thank you.
[Chris] Gary.
First of all, congratulations on a remarkable, remarkable run.
Thanks.
Did you ever think of changing your strategy a little bit
or were you just happy going face-to-face?
Yeah, just go for it. [laughs] That's all I ever do.
That's the only thing I know how to do.
[audience cheering]
[Chris] You always put entertainment
above the priority of wins and losses for the fans out there.
But because you had so much success here, in the Sin City Slugfest,
and arriving safely at the Tournament of Champions,
what does it personally mean to you?
Um, you know...
[voice shaking] It's what we work for all year.
[chuckles softly]
[audience cheering]
[audience chanting] Gary! Gary!
And the best part of this is that we're here to have fun.
And the reason we have fun is because...
Because of my team.
[voice shaking] 'Cause we are friends first,
and team mates second.
And I wouldn't do without them.
Thank you, Gary. A remarkable season.
Round of applause for Gary Gin and Free Shipping.
[audience cheering]
You're amazing, Gary.
-Well done, Gary. -[chuckles] Thanks.
[indistinct conversation]
[Chris] So congratulations to End Game,
we'll have plenty of time to talk about them a little later in the show,
but first I think we gotta mention Gary Gin.
That is a very different side we have seen right here.
[Kenny] Well, this has been one of the best runs of his career.
And what I'm seeing there is the accumulation of time, effort, teamwork,
everything it takes to keep this dream alive.
For decades now, Gary has poured his heart and soul into this sport.
Every time out, he leaves it all on the BattleBox floor.
And the fans here are amazing.
I mean, him feeling that love,
hearing his name chanted like that. That means a lot to him.
One more time for Gary Gin and Free Shipping, folks.
[audience cheering]
[Chris] Okay, End Game is moving on to the semifinals.
The Kiwis will be prepping for the winner of JackPot versus Whiplash.
We'll see that a little later.
But coming up next, it's this guy!
I'll tell you three things. The most handsome.
[growls]
The most aggressive.
-[man 1] Oh! -[man 2] Destroying everything in his path!
And the most handsome.
Let's go!
[Chris] Evan Arias feeling himself
even before his stunning Slugfest win.
Now he's facing an opening round matchup
with a world champion, Jamison Go.
The current holder of The Giant Nut
wants to double up on some hardware.
It's SHREDDIT BRO! versus SawBlaze.
And it's next on BattleBots Champions.
Time for another quarterfinal matchup in our Tournament of Champions
and speaking of Champions, let's welcome in
the season 7 winner of The Giant Nut, Jamison Go and SawBlaze.
We saw the backstage, big old smiles, beaming.
And Jamison, he's been so intent for years to go win that Giant Nut,
now he's got that on his mantle.
Is there a little bit of... [breathes] "I can breathe deeply"?
Yeah, absolutely. I don't think he's feeling that same level of pressure,
seems very relaxed coming into this.
And this was the matchup he was hoping for in round one.
[Chris] He is a heavy favorite tonight against SHREDDIT BRO! and Evan Arias.
Remember, Evan used to roll with a bot called Pain Train
until it got rolled right out of the league.
This season he's scaled up his championship 3-pound robot, SHREDDIT BRO!
It was slow out of the gate, but here, at the Slugfest, it has all come together.
This bot's flat out looking nasty, Kenny.
[Kenny] You never know when things are gonna click,
and for this team, it absolutely is clicking.
Their weapon is hitting extremely hard,
and it's durable and reliable.
These are things that weren't the case a few seasons back with Pain Train.
Even though this is the Tournament of Champions,
we can both agree that this would be a monumental upset.
This would still be a very big upset, yes.
[Chris] Well, Evan Arias has surprised us before.
Let's hear from him and Jamison Go.
[audience cheering]
[audience chanting] SawBlaze! SawBlaze!
I'm personally a fan of SawBlaze.
For the past few years, I've been telling him,
"You're gonna take home The Nut."
And now I'm going against the champ himself.
I know, for this fight,
it's gonna be the toughest one we had yet.
I mean, it's the Champion.
We really have to be on our driving game.
On our A game 'cause I know he's gonna bring it.
He knows my driving style, so I can't hide anything.
It's just gonna be a head-on attack,
and hopefully get the best of him.
I think a lot of people underestimate SHREDDIT BRO!.
In the Sin City Slugfest,
it's like we saw a completely different robot.
They knocked out a lot of really tough opponents.
They beat Skorpios, they beat Valkyrie.
Robots which have been around for quite some time,
and known for being incredibly durable.
SawBlaze is gonna run a very familiar configuration.
We have the forks, we have the replaceable-tip ones,
but we'll still be able to take the hits,
get the advantage at some point.
We might take a little more damage on the forks
than we're initially hoping.
[audience chanting] Fight! Fight!
[Chris] Evan Arias and SHREDDIT BRO!
were en fuego in the Sin City Slugfest.
Will the magic carry over here against the current holder of The Giant Nut?
[buzzer counting down]
[Chris] Let the bot battle begin!
And here comes Jamison Go but he gets stuck on the floor.
-[Kenny] Uh-oh! -[Chris] Yes.
He's got SHREDDIT BRO! taking him into the rails-- Oh!
And dropping the hammer saw.
[Kenny] Classic SawBlaze right here, Chris.
Getting underneath with the dustpan,
-and bringing the pain with the hammer saw. -[Chris] Oh, God!
[Kenny] Check out that blade.
[Chris] Oh, that's gotta hurt right on the back.
Oh, man.
[Kenny] Welcome to the big leagues, SHREDDIT BRO!
[Chris] Well, that weapon on SHREDDIT BRO! is what won it its Sin City Slugfest.
Let's see if it can deliver a shot or two.
[Kenny] Evan Arias' not been able to get it going yet.
SHREDDIT BRO! in big trouble here struck this fast, Chris.
Look out!
[Chris laughs] Oh! Oh, no!
[Kenny] SawBlaze stuck the weapon deep
into SHREDDIT BRO!'s guts with that one.
[Chris] We've sprung a leak!
[Kenny] Yeah, Jamison Go got to the batteries with that shot.
This is a LiPo fire, and a bad one at that.
[Chris] It is possible that SawBlaze's blade is stuck in the back of SHREDDIT BRO!
and the BattleBox is turning into a haunted house now.
-[Kenny laughing] -[Chris] This is a witch's brew! Holy smokes!
-[referee] Do you have anything? -I can't see. [chuckles]
Are you able to move back this way so we can see?
I don't know which way I'm facing.
[Chris] Oh, hold on! Oh!
[Kenny] There it is.
Jamison Go able to navigate out of that smoke.
But these two are still badly stuck together, Chris.
[Chris] Well, listen, we've seen this scenario before with SawBlaze.
That weapon is so darn sharp.
Opened World Championship VII with a nasty stick against HyperShock.
You remember that fight was stopped to try and get the bots separated.
Although I'm not so sure that's gonna be possible here, Kenny.
So, what's the protocol if these two can't shake loose?
[Kenny] Well, there is no way the crew's gonna be able to safely unstick these two
with this amount of smoke in the Box.
We may be looking at a stoppage here.
This could be going to the judges.
[Chris] Well, how about that? Right on cue, Kenny Florian.
The referees have started a simultaneous countdown.
[referees] Three, two, one.
[Chris] What a crazy fight.
Okay, because of the simultaneous count out with under a minute remaining,
as Kenny predicted, we will now head to the judges' score cards.
Which means the decision is now in the hands
of Derek Young, Lisa Winter, and Fon Davis.
Kenny, Jamison took out a similarly-shaped drum spinner in Minotaur
earlier this year.
SHREDDIT BRO! really is the ideal configuration
for SawBlaze to dig its saw into.
[Kenny] Yeah, that's right. If they're gonna matchup well against Minotaur,
they're definitely gonna matchup well against SHREDDIT BRO!.
[Chris] Evan Arias, unable to get his weapon going.
SawBlaze just scooped him up with that wide dustpan,
gave the BRO! several tastes of the hammer saw.
[Kenny] As a wise philosopher once said, Chris, geometry is a bitch.
[Chris laughing]
[Kenny] Here's another one of these shots again,
sandwiching the robot between themselves and the side of the Box there.
-And there it is. -[Chris] We've opened up a tin can, everybody.
[Kenny] Smoke 'em if you got 'em.
[Chris] The refs choosing to essentially stop the fight with a simultaneous count out,
as unsticking these two was not an option.
Here's Faruq!
The results from the judges are in!
The winner by unanimous decision is...
SawBlaze!
[audience cheering]
[Chris] Jamison, congratulations to you and your crew.
You guys just keep winning and winning and winning.
Where's your confidence level these days?
I mean, coming off the last season,
we're feeling pretty good. Especially like... I mean, that weapon's hitting hard.
We got stuck again, and we don't wanna do that,
but that's sometimes just how it be.
So, I'm curious.
Do you feel like a weight has been lifted off of your big broad BattleBots shoulders?
I will say, there's a little bit of pressure to being Champion this year.
People, they wanna knock us off, right?
We have pressure to perform, but that's not gonna change for us,
we're gonna bring our A game every time,
just like every other fight when we were trying to win The Giant Nut the first time.
Congratulations, Jamison.
Thank you.
-Whoo! -Whoo, SawBlaze!
[audience cheering]
-[Evan] Good one, brother. I'm so proud of you. -Thank you.
-Congrats. -Thank you.
Thank you.
[Chris] So, an exciting, unexpected,
and potentially career-saving run for Evan Arias
and SHREDDIT BRO! comes to an end as SawBlaze takes care of its business.
Jamison Go now waiting on the winner of Tantrum versus RIPperoni.
On deck, we've got JackPot and Whiplash.
Two Slugfest winners saying,
"Forget your automatic entries,
we're taking the hard road to The Golden Bolt."
But first, they gotta go through each other.
The Tournament of Champions continues, next.
[audience cheering]
Another quarterfinal coming your way right now
as they chase toward The Golden Bolt.
It is JackPot taking on Whiplash.
Matty Vasquez, still a driver to be feared.
He wants a rematch of the World Championship V final with End Game.
But Vegas' own Jeff Waters has bigger plans.
The plumber wants to add a Golden Bolt to his toolchest.
The teams are already in position on the driver's deck.
Let's hear from the captains.
JackPot looks very similar to what it was looking like
in the Sin City Slugfest qualifiers.
It's the same flat front, we just beefed up the top plate a little.
We took a little bit of weight off the front so we can add
that armor on the back.
We're still gonna have Ace.
Ace is gonna have his new hooks on it called the hookers.
We just came off of two wins that were decided by Ace.
So we're gonna go in there, that's gonna be in Matt's mind
when he sees that bot going around
and if he starts focusing on that, he's not gonna be
focusing on me.
And it's gonna end up like how Cobalt ended up.
It's gonna be me versus Vasquez.
There's gonna be a lot of driving, dodging.
Who's gonna get corners on who
and who's gonna get those key hits?
JackPot's no joke.
I mean they're a four-wheel drive vertical spinner.
We've always struggled with that design.
When we don't have the spinner,
we can have more armor, we could have thicker forks,
we could have a thicker lifter.
So we're gonna use that to our advantage
and just run straight into him, be as aggressive as possible.
Gonna flip this as quick as possible.
This match is gonna be full aggression,
always driving towards them,
and I think that will work towards our advantage.
Even if we do win,
we're not expecting to come out unscathed at all.
We fully expect lots of damage in this match, win or lose.
If we do win, we'll figure it out when we get there.
But for now, we just gotta get into this match.
[robotic voice] Robots activate.
[audience cheering]
[Chris] Okay, Kenny, couple of Slugfest winners going at it. Set us up.
[Kenny] Well, you heard Jeff Waters.
Ace has set the standard for minibots.
It's getting underneath the opponents,
lifting them into vulnerable positions,
and that 52-pound weapon on JackPot is nasty.
Interesting that Whiplash is ditching its vertical spinner
to go full control mode.
Matt Vasquez putting all of his faith in his lifter and driving ability.
[chanting] Fight! Fight!
[Chris] These two captains know End Game is waiting around the corner.
Will it be JackPot or Whiplash taking on
the defending Golden Bolt champ?
Let the bot battle begin!
Whiplash shot out of a cannon,
but JackPot avoids the contact.
Now, Matthew Vasquez is in hot pursuit of Jeff Waters.
[Kenny] And, Chris, this is giving JackPot the time it needs
to spin that weapon up.
[Chris] Oh, yeah. Lands a shot there.
And he's now pushing Whiplash around.
Oh! Oh!
[Kenny] Oh, the wheel on Whiplash already on the BattleBox floor.
[Chris] Oh, my goodness!
So now Matthew Vasquez, we'll see how good a driver you are with three.
He's done it before.
[Kenny] Yeah. But that is really gonna put them behind the eight ball here.
[Chris] Oh!
[Kenny] With no real weapon other than that lifter arm,
Whiplash is gonna have to dominate the rest of this fight.
[Chris] Well, right on cue.
Matthew Vasquez takes Jeff Waters for a ride.
Took some shots in the process,
but now as JackPot is pinned on the side of the arena.
Let's see if Whiplash can get that lifter arm going.
[Kenny] Yeah, they definitely have control.
They have to watch out for Ace getting on their backside, though,
getting high-centered.
-And they do! -[Chris] Wow!
Nice job by Whiplash to get out of the area,
and deliver a shot to JackPot.
[Kenny] Yeah, they did get high-centered long enough, though,
for JackPot to wail on him a couple of times.
[Chris] Another face-to-face hit.
Whiplash stopping the weapon of JackPot and
rolling it into the rails.
[Kenny] I'm starting to wonder if there may be something wrong
with the lifter arm on Whiplash.
Matt Vasquez has had plenty of chances to use it.
And so far, we haven't seen it move.
Whoa!
[Chris] JackPot continues to chip away at the face of Whiplash.
And if that lifter arm is broken,
that's gonna make this even more of an uphill battle for Matt Vasquez.
But so far he seems to be up to the challenge.
[Kenny] Yeah, 100%, Chris. This is
Matt Vasquez at his best. He almost did it.
[Chris] And Ace had to come over and pop papa down.
[Kenny] Remember, Matt Vasquez won two of his Slugfest fights
by propping up his opponent like that.
Nearly did it again there without his lifter arm.
[Chris] Smart move by Jeff Waters
to find some space to spin up.
Lands a shot, but Matty's not letting him go.
Oh!
The pulverizer trying to get in on the action.
[Kenny] Oh! He's allowing JackPot
to, kind of, destroy itself there.
Is the weapon gonna hold up to that? So far so good.
[Chris] Under a minute.
[Kenny] Great job again here by Jeff Waters
to slip away and get that weapon up to full speed.
[Chris] Oh, and lands another shot to the face of Whiplash.
But here comes Matthew Vasquez.
Oh!
[Kenny] Listen, being a push bot for this entire match
is gonna hurt him in both the damage and control categories.
But he's doing about as much as he can to give Jeff Waters a fight here.
-[Chris] Thirty seconds to go. -[Kenny] Oh!
[Chris] Jeff Waters continues to dish out the damage
despite the excellent driving from Vasquez.
Oh!
Nice work though by Whiplash trying to tip over JackPot.
[Kenny] He can't do it without the lifter arm.
Whiplash has been fighting with one hand tied behind its back
the entire match, Chris.
[Chris] Ten seconds to go in this one.
We've seen excellent driving by both sides,
from start to finish.
But which team is good enough to meet End Game in the semifinal?
-[buzzer sounds] -We're done! We're done!
[audience cheering]
[Chris] Kenny, Matt Vasquez with the majority of that match
with only three wheels and no primary weapon.
But somehow, he still put on one hell of a show.
[Kenny] Yeah, we didn't get a good look why.
But you can clearly see here,
JackPot took out that right front wheel.
Regardless, Matt did a phenomenal job keeping things competitive.
[Chris] Well, credit to JackPot for keeping its weapons spinning
and landing a series of body shots.
How do you think the judges will see this one, Kenny?
[Kenny] Well, I think JackPot easily wins damage,
but control and aggression will be tougher to judge here.
Matt Vasquez did a fantastic job of dictating the action,
but it's technically impossible
to sweep those categories as a push bot.
That non-functioning lifter arm could cost Whiplash this fight.
[Chris] Let's find out who's got a date with End Game.
The results from the judges are in.
We have a split decision.
Judge Derek scored the battle for Whiplash.
Judge Lisa scored the battle for JackPot.
Judge Fon scored the battle for the winner...
JackPot!
[indistinct conversation]
[Chris] Jeff, congratulations.
You are off to the semifinals.
When you hear the words "We have a split decision,"
what are you feeling?
Uh, know damage is key, and we did the damage there,
but Matty is an awesome driver.
He kept avoiding the whole time.
The weapon was slowly getting up to speed.
I had to keep diving away to get it up to speed.
And he was right on me as soon as I turned around to go after him.
You know who's next for ya?
End Game.
How excited are you, Jeff?
I've been wanting this fight since I was a rookie, so let's bring it.
Oh, I like hearing that. Congratulations.
We'll see you later tonight.
-Hello. -[Chris] Hello, Matt.
-Split decision. -Yeah.
Uh, do you see it that way?
Yeah, it was tough. I mean, the first hit they snagged.
I mean, our wheels are pretty indestructible,
but there's one little bolt that if you dig in deep enough
and just tap it and that bolt's gone, the wheel comes right off.
So I'm pretty sure they hit that bolt.
So that was a, you know, perfect shot from them.
But, uh...
Yeah, it is unfortunate the lifter didn't really work out of the gate,
so there were some chances we could have flipped him,
and we couldn't really do anything,
so we had to be a push bot for this fight.
And, uh, we did a pretty good job of it.
But, uh, yeah, they did so much damage
that I don't see how we're gonna win this one.
All right, Matt, great season. We appreciate it.
-Good job out there, man. -Thank you.
-[Kenny] Thank you.
Congratulations. Thank you.
[Chris] So, a close call for JackPot.
But the Las Vegas locals are moving on to face End Game.
Jeff Waters says, "Bring on the champs, baby."
And speaking of champs,
coming up, it's the WC VI winner.
The problem child, Tantrum,
squaring up with the giant slayer,
rising phenom RIPperoni.
The Tournament of Champions continues next on BattleBots.
[Chris] We are back for more of the quarterfinals
here in the Tournament of Champions
as they chase for The Golden Bolt.
Up last in round one,
but far from least, it's The Giant Nut winner Tantrum
taking on the first-year sensation RIPperoni.
Let's start with the former champ Tantrum.
Co-captained by Ginger Schmidt and Alex Grant,
designed by Aren Hill, driven by Dillon Carey.
You can call their recent title defense a disappointment.
But this is still an all-star squad
with one of the most versatile bots in the field.
That said, I think they've got something to prove here tonight.
[Kenny] Yeah, absolutely. After winning The Giant Nut,
this team didn't take their foot off the gas.
They got back in the lab to keep innovating.
Not a shock that they battled system failures all season.
Maybe now they wish they'd pumped the brakes a bit.
But listen, when you give a championship team time and motivation,
great things are gonna happen.
In the meantime, they are facing the class
of the rookie class from Season 7, RIPperoni.
They don't act like a rookie, they don't look like a rookie,
they don't drive like a rookie.
You can ask the three robots they beat
in winning the Sin City Slugfest.
[Kenny] They are extremely impressive.
Do not underestimate this pizza robot.
I think we can go all the way.
[Kenny] Captain Anna Zolnikov is a rising star.
The driver, Fred Moore, is one of the best
free agent acquisitions in the sport's history.
RIPperoni can make a lot of noise in this tournament.
When we first laid eyes on it, we were like, "Oh, that's cute."
-Yeah. -"It's like a pizza.
What does it do?"
Oh, it... It kills robots.
Let's see if it gets another one.
Faruq!
[Faruq] In the red square,
from San Diego, California,
prepare to throw hands with Tantrum!
[Chris] World Championship VI Giant Nut winners, Tantrum.
Ginger Schmidt to the right, Alex Grant to the left.
Kenny, there are so many big names in this firm.
And are people sleeping in this angry little slugger?
[Kenny] Well, Tantrum didn't win a title by accident.
It's dense and durable.
The retractable punch is more powerful than ever.
This is a very clever team.
And I like this match up for them.
Tantrum fights and scraps from the low ground.
And when bots get under RIPperoni, scary things tend to happen.
In the blue square, from Cambridge, Massachusetts,
serving you a dead bot with a side of breadsticks,
it's RIPperoni!
[Chris] 26-year-old Anna Zolnikov is the engineer and captain of this squad.
She is to the left of the bot.
The driver is Frederick Moore, stash and all.
That 70-pound disc is a nightmare.
But hey, at least there's no line in the deli, Kenny.
[Kenny] Yeah. They've got some fresh prosciutto.
-Go for it, Fred! -[Chris] Oh, come on, Fred.
[Kenny] This team is one a kind.
Not taking things too seriously.
But they've got a serious problem waiting for them in the BattleBox.
We made some upgrades to Tantrum, but not too many this time.
Uh, just some little tweaks here and there.
-Yeah. -And we're hoping it's gonna be more reliable,
and come out punching.
RIPperoni hits like a truck.
And Anna and crew have built this awesome machine
that, quite frankly, is weird and hard to fight.
Most people don't exactly know
how to go into that fight prepared,
and a little bit us as well.
We're feeling pretty good about it.
And I think it will become a driver match
to be able to get this win.
It takes only a split second
to get launched into the air by RIPperoni.
And so we'll really be taking our time,
approaching things slowly and being strategic.
In the Slugfest, we took a lot of damage.
We're super excited to keep fighting,
but this is the last RIPperoni that exists in the world.
Tantrum is really durable, especially on the sides.
They're really well-armored.
So, I think our best bet to beat Tantrum
is gonna be to drive over them and hit them over the top.
Our weapon sticks out at the bottom a little bit,
so we are able to still get that bite
even if we're not right in front of them.
It's very nerve racking, but it's also really exciting
to get a chance to fight against these top-tier bots.
[robotic voice] Robots activate.
[Chris] We are just one fight away
from locking in the final four
here in The Tournament of Champions.
Can RIPperoni slay another giant
en route to the semifinals?
Or will Tantrum make it a clean sweep
for The Giant Nut winners in round one?
We'll have this done when BattleBots Champions continues.
[Chris] Welcome back to the BattleBots Tournament of Champions.
Tantrum and RIPperoni are inside the box for this round one clash.
Winner will earn the last open spot in the semifinals.
Who's gonna keep their dream of hoisting The Golden Bolt alive?
[chanting] Fight! Fight!
[Chris] Let the bot battle begin!
Let's see how Tantrum is.
It's been months since we've seen it.
-Looks healthy, by the way. -[Kenny] Yeah.
RIPperoni looking very speedy there on the BattleBox floor.
Moving very well. Trying to chase the backside of Tantrum.
[Chris] Quite spry, right?
-Oh! -[Kenny] Oh, there goes a wheel!
How...
[Kenny] It just fell out without a shot.
[Chris] I knew they should have tightened that last screw.
[Kenny] Team RIPperoni is stunned.
We just saw this with Whiplash.
That left wheel is gone.
And the robot's mobility is gonna be seriously compromised here,
moving forward.
[Chris] Tantrum's circling like a shark.
RIPperoni trying to stay squared up.
Keep that big disc pointed at the puncher bot.
And Fred Moore is gonna have to white knuckle
the rest of this match to simply survive.
[Kenny] Well, the weapon is still spinning,
which means RIPperoni is still dangerous.
Tantrum looking to get around to the backside.
[Chris] Here we go. We have contact.
-[Kenny] Oh! -[Chris] And...
-[Kenny] Oh! -[Chris] Nice little flip there.
[Kenny] Sweet move by Tantrum to deliver that shot,
then back out of harm's way.
They can afford to be patient here,
with RIPperoni struggling to move.
[Chris] It looks like Dillon Carey, the driver,
wants no part of that big weapon on RIPperoni.
[Kenny] Yeah. I mean, you've gotta respect the weapon on RIPperoni.
All it takes is one shot.
HyperShock found that out in the Sin City Slugfest.
[Chris] Oh, look at that. Whoa!
Whoa!
[Kenny] Just a little precise shot from Dillon Carey.
Trying to get RIPperoni to destroy itself, Chris.
[Chris] Oh, RIPperoni having all sorts of trouble now keeping its balance.
Tantrum hunting for an angle.
-[Kenny] Oh, man. He's just kicking it over. -[Chris] Oh, God!
[Kenny] RIPperoni doesn't have any balance, Chris, with that wheel missing.
[Chris] Well, the pizza challenging the BattleBox floor to a fight there.
Tantrum just happy to hang back and watch.
[Kenny] Fred doing his best to try and keep RIPperoni under control.
Without that wheel, there's only so much he can do.
-Tantrum looking to finish the job. -[Chris] There you go.
[Kenny] I'll tell you what, Chris,
both drivers are working really hard in this match.
[Chris] Absolutely.
Fred Moore to keep his head above water,
and Dillon Carey to keep attacking
without blowing his robot up.
[man] Nice and clean this side.
[Chris] Under a minute to go.
The kill saws are now active, on top of everything else.
[Kenny] Tantrum continuing to probe,
and trying to put RIPperoni on its head.
[Chris chuckles]
[Kenny] Yikes!
[Chris] Well, Tantrum has fought a smart fight here,
considering the unpredictability of
the pizza bot on just one wheel.
But RIPperoni's weapon has not stopped spinning.
And here's Tantrum trying to take out the big wheel.
The question is, can they do it?
[Kenny] They've got a little over 20 seconds
to try to get a knockout here.
[Chris] Whoo!
[Kenny] RIPperoni flopping like a fish in a box.
Just go easy.
[Chris] Fifteen seconds now.
And I'm gonna tip my cap to RIPperoni driver, Frederick Moore.
Somehow he has survived
without having one of his two wheels.
Unreal.
The fact that it's going to the judges is...
[buzzer sounds]
...very impressive.
All right.
-All right. -[man] Yep.
[Chris] Well, Kenny, the fight pretty much changed right about there.
[Kenny] They must have been down a wrench as well in addition to parts
because that wheel just came off on its own, Chris.
[Chris] Boy, RIPperoni did a ton of damage to itself.
[Kenny] Yeah, that's right.
Not just because of that missing wheel,
but also the stellar driving of Dillon Carey.
Able to get inside, tip the pizza bot over and retreat,
all while avoiding that dangerous active weapon.
[Chris] An unfortunate turn of events
for the team from Massachusetts.
RIPperoni, able to make it to the closing bell,
but certainly worse for wear.
Faruq.
The results from the judges are in.
The winner by unanimous decision is...
Tantrum!
[Chris] Standing room only right now for Team Tantrum,
Alex and Ginger,
-congratulations. -Thank you so much.
Ginger, it has been a while since we last saw
the Season 6 winner of The Giant Nut.
I imagine when we are a few seconds into a fight like this
and your opponent loses a wheel, you're like,
"Let's go in for the kill."
But you guys took your time. Why?
We're really scared of RIPperoni, to be honest.
I mean, you saw what their weapon did to themselves.
-And the floor. -And the floor of the Box.
I mean, I am scared of what it would do to Tantrum in The Golden Bolt tournament.
It is grueling.
We are hoping to have two more fights today, so the turnaround matters.
We didn't wanna break anything so we were being cautious.
We wanna go the long game.
The best part is our weapon and our punch still work.
Congratulations. We'll see you in the semis.
-Thank you. -See you.
[Chris] Anna, what a remarkable run for RIPperoni.
You're probably a little ticked off
that it ended because that one wheel came off.
That's okay. We had a wheel-y good time.
Ah!
RIPperoni, always a pleasure.
-Great job out there. -Thank you so much.
Thanks, guys. Thank you so much.
Great fight.
[Chris] So congratulations go out to Tantrum
as they advance to the semifinals,
making it a clean sweep for The Giant Nut winners in round one, Kenny.
[Kenny] Yeah. Really flexing that championship mojo.
None of those fights were even close.
Nothing outweighs that high level, high pressure experience.
[Chris] So, as we say goodbye to RIPperoni,
we say hello to the final four.
The Giant Nut winners will be joined by Las Vegas's
own JackPot in the semifinals.
One of these squads is just two wins away from hoisting The Golden Bolt.
Don't go anywhere.
The Tournament of Champions heats up next.
[Chris] We are back on the Tournament of Champions.
Everybody chasing The Golden Bolt tonight.
And we are down to our final four.
End Game, JackPot, SawBlaze and Tantrum.
What a lineup.
Let's get right into our first semifinal match.
It is the last two winners of The Giant Nut.
Season 6 champion Tantrum taking on
season 7 title winner, SawBlaze.
And you know what, let's start with SawBlaze.
Jamison Go, you saw it earlier tonight, is oozing confidence.
If you're expecting a world championship hangover,
we haven't seen it yet.
[Kenny] Yeah, that's right. I mean, they can do no wrong right now.
The robot is working perfectly,
their driving is on-point.
Any modifications or configurations that they
have to come up to, for specific match-ups,
they're always getting that right.
They're gonna be really hard to beat.
[Chris] Yeah, it'll take a fearless performance
to derail the SawBlaze express.
But, you heard from Alex and Ginger after their quarterfinal victory tonight.
Tantrum isn't backing down, Kenny.
[Kenny] And they shouldn't.
This is still one of the top bots in the sport.
Remember, back in the quarterfinals
of World Championship V,
Tantrum bullied SawBlaze all over the box,
landing big shots with the puncher disc,
got underneath its dustpan.
This team is familiar with the match-up
they think they can win it again.
[audience cheering]
[Chris] We are just about ready to light this candle.
Let's hear from the captains.
SawBlaze has an absolutely scary attack.
Its overhead hammer saw
goes in and slices into batteries,
through the top armor of most robots.
You saw it against Minotaur, and now again, against SHREDDIT BRO!
We don't want that to happen to us.
We don't want a battery fire and so we armored up,
so that hopefully we're good for this fight.
We're using the same material
that HUGE used for their wheels,
in their fight against SawBlaze during
World Championship VII, to arm Tantrum's upper shoulders.
We have our awesome driver, Dillon Carey,
and we think that he'll be able to get underneath
SawBlaze and hopefully get a fatal shot.
A lot of people look at Tantrum and think
it doesn't cause a lot of damage.
It's a little bit deceiving.
So, that weapon can definitely do a lot of damage
to parts of the robot you don't expect to take damage.
They have an incredible drive train
and an incredible driver behind that bot.
Uh, their weapon has increased in power,
and so it has only become more formidable since the last season.
An ideal win against Tantrum,
we get underneath them immediately
and bring the hammer down.
If we can disable their self-righter and flip them over,
and to get a nice, easy win, that'd be fantastic.
We'd like to not take any hits from their weapon,
as it's gonna be a quite a bit of repair on us.
[audience cheering]
[robotic voice] Robots activate.
[crowd cheering]
[Chris] Team Tantrum busting out the Tegris for this match-up, Kenny.
[Kenny] Yeah, they were impressed with HUGE's durability against SawBlaze
in the World Championship VII Final.
They want to tank some hits to stay in close
and keep buzzing SawBlaze's tower, so to speak.
Jamison won't be shy with the hammer saw.
If he can break through that Tegris,
Tantrum's internals won't hold up to a direct hit.
[crowd cheering]
[audience chanting] Fight! Fight!
[buzzer sounds]
[Chris] Let the bot battle begin!
[Kenny] And the floor just caught him like a net there, Chris.
[Chris] Oh no, that hammer saw
is up to full speed too, on top of it.
Wait for the right angle. There it is!
Oh, man, and the pulverizer.
[Kenny] Yeah, he's trying to smash right through that Tegris.
Trying to get to the motors.
Now, he's trying to burn him up.
[Chris] But Tantrum finally breaks free.
Driver, Dillon Carey may be one of the most
underrated in the entire sport,
showing off that boss agility right now.
[Kenny] Yeah, Tantrum looking very fast out there,
trying to run circles around SawBlaze
and Jamison Go, he's onto it.
And another scoop.
[Chris] Oh, a big hit with the hammer saw.
[Kenny] So far that Tegris armor is holding up.
[Chris] And look at this, trying to put Tantrum up on the screw.
-[Kenny] Uh-oh... -[Chris] Get him up there.
And now, they're feet up
-on a literal silver platter. -[Kenny] Uh-oh.
Oh!
Brutal.
That's the fourth shot to the dome by SawBlaze already.
[Chris] Tantrum is burning rubber down there, and losing parts.
[Kenny] Yeah, they lost a part of that Tegris.
He went right through that tough armor on Tantrum.
[Chris] SawBlaze lands yet another blow with the pulverizer.
Tantrum now vulnerable on the right side,
missing that Tegris armor plate.
[Kenny] And Dillon Carey has to start attacking from the side.
SawBlaze is getting under them on every head-to-head engagement.
[Chris] Oh, boy.
Oh, boy!
Oh, SawBlaze, just taking it to Tantrum right now.
[Chris] Halfway through this fight,
a berth in The Golden Bolt finals on the line,
here at the Tournament of Champions.
Oh, nice pop there.
[Kenny] Of course, attaching feet from Tantrum's fist.
And there's another good shot.
The former champs are starting to punch back.
[Chris] Man, that thing is small, but it is mighty.
[Kenny] Doesn't have the best reach, but if they can attack from the sides,
and get underneath it, it can be deadly.
And we're starting to see it.
This is a nice rally here from Tantrum.
[Chris] No question about it. Great counter there.
Uh-oh! Jamison Go regains control,
trying to get Tantrum back up on the screws.
And now, SawBlaze has him trapped.
Oh!
[Kenny] Textbook move there from Jamison Go.
[Chris] Less than 50 seconds to go.
SawBlaze controlling Tantrum,
they chopped the hammer saw
and ripped the rest of Tantrum's top armor plate off.
[Kenny] Once Jamison Go has the lead,
he is so good at protecting it.
Oh, look at that front armor on Tantrum. That could be it.
[Chris] Uh, yeah. Wow.
[Kenny] Tantrum's face is split wide open,
but SawBlaze engages, puts himself on his back.
Oh, wait a second.
SawBlaze went for an extra shot,
may have knocked himself out.
[referee] This is the moment, Jamison.
Five seconds left.
[audience exclaiming]
[Chris] You've gotta be kidding me.
How the heck did this happen?
-[Kenny] He can't self-right. -Nine...
-[Chris] Oh, my God. -Eight...
-The countdown started. -Seven...
-Six... Five... Four... -Jamison Go cannot believe it.
Three... Two...
-One. Knockout. -[Chris] What's gonna happen?
Wait a second.
Wait... a... second.
Is that a knockout or not?
They may have survived it, Chris. Wow!
Tantrum is in disbelief.
Did they survive it?
[Chris] Look at the captains,
Alex and Ginger.
They can't believe it, but will we need some sort of ruling?
This is goin' to the judges.
Is it a knockout?
There's mayhem at The Golden Bolt.
[Kenny laughs]
[Chris] We are back on the Tournament of Champions
and we just saw something insane happen.
Check this out.
After a back and forth semifinal brawl,
Tantrum was all but knocked out with its face split open.
Surprisingly, Jamison Go chose to re-engage.
Struck the floor, SawBlaze ended up on its head.
Ten... Nine... Eight...
Seven...
[Chris] The count out started,
but it was almost in sync with the fight clock.
Three... Two...
One. Knockout.
Oh no!
[all cheering]
[Chris] Now, we have no idea if this is a knockout
for Tantrum or if we're heading to a judges' decision.
One... Knockout.
[Chris] The refs have been huddled up,
they watched the replays
and head referee, John Remar has gathered the teams,
so let's listen in.
All right. Before the end of the count,
the clock went to zero,
therefore, it's going to the judges.
-Oh, man. -What? What? What?
[crowd exclaiming]
[Chris] So, there you have it, Kenny Florian.
Jamison Go gets a second chance at life.
I think the Tantrum Team is a little bit stunned.
[Kenny] Yeah, and this is a massive break
for Jamison Go.
SawBlaze clearly dominant from the opening bell.
Tantrum fought back, started to gain some momentum,
but SawBlaze eventually ripped open
the puncher bot's face.
[Chris] Tantrum appeared to be hung up on the floor,
Jamison threw the unnecessary shot, got flipped,
was dead in the water and for just a moment,
it looked like its run to The Golden Bolt
was indeed over.
[Kenny] Yeah, and now he's got new life
literally saved by the bell.
But it never looks good to the judges,
to finish a fight on your back.
[Chris] Yeah, I don't think the craziness is over just yet, Kenny.
Here's Faruq with the decision.
[audience cheering]
The results from the judges are in.
We have a split decision.
[all sighing]
The tension.
Judge Lisa scored the battle for...
SawBlaze.
Judge Fon scored the battle for Tantrum.
[all cheering]
Judge Derek scored the battle for the winner...
SawBlaze.
[cheering and applause]
[Chris] Jamison Go.
Okay.
Is his the most amazing win you've ever had
based on the circumstances?
-Amazing is a word, yes. -[laughs]
Um. [chuckles]
It's a really funny thing, uh,
I could've sworn, I heard someone say, "Go for it,"
And so, I went for it and the smart move is clearly to not go for it.
[all laughing]
Jamison, it was crazy, you had that nasty shot at the end,
except it was like, throwing an upper cut
and you kinda hit yourself in the face.
Wh... what happened there?
It looks like, based on watching the replay that,
when we went it, the robot wheelied up a little bit,
which pushed them off of whatever they were hung up on.
And then, that messed up the position,
which normally would have engaged us with the back end.
We hit the floor and the whole thing just rebounded super hard.
-Wow. -I mean, there's nothing
harder than the floor or the walls,
and you don't want to hit those.
And that's basically what we hit.
And that's the whole bunch of force that goes back into you,
and the robot really didn't like that.
[audience laughing]
All right. Rest up, fix your bot,
stay away from other bots that appear to be dead.
And we'll see you in the final. Congratulations.
-Thank you, thank you. -[applause]
[laughs] Man.
[Chris] Hi, Team Tantrum.
-Hello. -Hi.
Alex and Ginger.
Ginger, that was a whirlwind of emotions
-over the last, I don't know... -[chuckles]
...20 seconds. Wasn't it?
-Oh, my gosh, I might have freaked out a little. -Yeah.
I mean, we had a really disappointing season during World Championship VII.
Tantrum is a Giant Nut winner.
We felt like we weren't able to stand up to that title.
And so, going the full three minutes
against the current Giant Nut winner,
and putting up what I think is a pretty damn good fight,
and getting close to getting them at the end,
I mean, it makes all the risks, all the redesign
and everything we did this year totally worth it.
So, do you guys feel disappointed then with the result?
Of course, you feel disappointed in a loss,
but like, that was a hell of a fight.
[Chris] It really was.
Let's hear it, for Team Tantrum.
-Thank you. -Thanks.
[Chris exhales]
Okay, let's all take a deep breath.
I feel like I just ran a marathon, Kenny.
[Kenny] That was crazy. Credit to both teams
for taking it all in stride.
That one's gonna be talked about for a long time.
[Chris] So, in the end, Tantrum's out,
SawBlaze is moving onto the final,
Jamison Go with a chance to claim both major trophies
in the same season.
His squad is waiting on the winner
of our next semifinal match.
It's the defending Golden Bolt champs, End Game,
taking on Las Vegas' own, JackPot.
There is gonna be a whole lotta offence in this one, Kenny.
[Kenny] Yeah, JackPot is a heavy hitter.
It fights like a junkyard dog.
And listen, Jeff Waters, wanted this match-up.
He's not afraid to go weapon-on-weapon
with the best in the game and turn this into a brawl.
[Chris] End Game of course,
defending its Golden Bolt crown,
and one win away from a chance to repeat as champions.
Here are the captains.
They've had a good couple of seasons now.
Um, they hit hard.
We're hoping that we'll be able to knock 'em out.
I think we have a bigger weapon.
Yeah, they have a little minibot which can be scary,
so we'll try to avoid that.
The minibot has proven to actually be quite useful for them in the past.
So, we're a little worried about it,
but we think that we've got a much higher wheelbase
than what we've seen in some of their other opponents.
So, it shouldn't high-center us.
Uh, I think they were a little bit slow out of the gate in the last one,
and there's probably damage carrying over from fight to fight,
which we don't have.
We are fresh out of the gate, ready to go.
The pressure is on, um,
we wanna get the second Golden Bolt,
we wanna be the only ones in the world with The Golden Bolt,
-so we wanna keep it that way. -Yeah.
[audience cheering]
Yeah, we're the only team left in The Golden Bolt
that have not won a Giant Nut before.
Being the local bot, we have a whole community behind us.
There's a lot of people that are rooting
for the bot on a budget, that's going there.
We built this thing in our kitchen. [chuckles]
So, we've had a strategy for bots like End Game for a while.
All those piano key robots are not really good at driving forward.
They can move backward really good,
but if you can get behind them they won't be able to get away from you.
We feel like this is the best Ace that we've had,
and it's being very well driven by Jason.
We can use that to force him out of his comfort zone,
of pointing and sitting.
[audience cheering]
[robotic voice] Robots activate.
[Chris] All right. Winner moves on to the final.
What are you watching for, Kenny Florian?
[Kenny] Well, JackPot has that big reach advantage.
If Jeff can chip away at those wedgelets and forks,
he can land a haymaker,
especially if Ace can high-center End Game.
And for the New Zealanders it's about getting in close,
getting underneath, and landing one of their iconic upper cuts.
[audience chanting] Fight! Fight!
[buzzer sounds]
[Chris] Let the bot battle begin!
End Game keeping its eye on the minibot but going after the big boy.
Sandwiched in between now.
[Kenny] That is brilliant stuff there from Team JackPot.
Look at how they're ganging up
on End Game there.
And now, Ace underneath End Game.
[Chris] Yeah, but JackPot not spinning up its weapon right now.
-[Kenny] Oh, we have the opportunity of a lifetime... -[Chris] Oh, my God.
[Kenny] Why centering themselves? What's going on, Ace?
Whose team are you on?
[Chris laughs]
[both] Oh! Whoa!
[Chris] Uh, maybe the wrong one,
after watching that hit.
[Kenny] And End Game lost a fork though in that exchange.
They seem unbothered and happy to keep going straight at JackPot.
[Chris] That powerful weapon is still spinning unlike JackPot's.
[Kenny] Yup. Did they shut it down or is it disabled, Chris?
[Chris] That's a great question, you never know.
Less than a minute into this one.
End Game delivered all the big shots.
Jeff Waters looking for some space and chance to breathe.
[Kenny] Oh, there goes Ace!
[Chris] And there goes JackPot.
[Kenny] Knocked Ace out of the BattleBox and well, and this could be a knockout.
[referee] Give me some motion or I'll have to count you out.
[Chris] Wow, a two for one special for End Game.
Apparently, ending the dreams of the local squad.
-Wow, the countdown is on. -Eight... Seven... Six...
[Chris] End Game is off to the final for a second straight year.
Five... Four... Three...
-Two... One. -[Chris] Take a bow.
Knockout.
-Lost my receiver. -Huh?
I lost my weapon receiver.
[Chris] Hey, Kenny. The minibot did its job,
unfortunately, the big boy JackPot,
just couldn't handle the heat from End Game.
[Kenny] Yeah, that's right. I mean, Ace has been a nuisance
throughout this tournament, did a great job
of getting around the back side of End Game,
just JackPot wasn't able to take advantage of it.
And just like that, End Game with a little one-two,
sent Ace flying one way and JackPot the other direction.
-[Chris] One more look at it. -[Kenny] Boom.
[Chris] See ya, minibot.
-And you big boy, go to sleep. -[Kenny] Oh, look at that.
[Chris] Jack and Nick, congratulations.
All right. Jack, that was like a two-for-one special,
getting the minibot and then the big boy, huh?
Yeah, we pinched them, didn't we? [chuckles]
Yeah, the minibot can be pretty annoying,
so you know, had an opportunity to get both in once, we'll go for it.
Yeah, there was one point where the minibot actually,
had us in a bit of trouble, uh, luckily I think the weapon was down at the time.
-Yeah, we had to drive her off it, so. -Yeah.
Do you guys think the robot is still in good shape?
We think that one is in good shape,
but that's not for fighting SawBlaze.
We have a SawBlaze one.
-Ah. -You have a SawBlaze special?
-Yeah. -Every single robot, every single part
is different for the SawBlaze robot.
Oh, do tell.
-Well, you have to wait and see. -[laughs]
You don't have to wait very long. [chuckles]
It's coming up next.
We cannot wait. It's gonna be an awesome final.
-Congratulations. -Thank you.
We'll shake your hand now, 'cause we gotta go.
-Yeah. -[chuckles] We're busy.
-Cheers, guys. -Well done.
Jeff Waters, congratulations to you and your entire team,
that's based here in Las Vegas.
Awesome, awesome job.
I am curious. What happened with your weapon there?
I'm pretty sure I know exactly what happened.
So, there's a receiver in the front center,
and when they got under and popped it right there,
I'm pretty sure it came unplugged.
We lost our rider and lost our weapon,
that's on that same signal.
I feel like if it was still up we would have had 'em,
-Ace did its job, we had all teed up. -Yeah.
And sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.
We were good. They were lucky.
[all laughing]
[cheers and applause]
It was a blast watching you.
Congratulations to you and your entire squad.
What a run for the bot on a budget.
Remember, Jeff built JackPot in his Las Vegas apartment,
and he went toe-to-toe with the best in the world.
But, the story of course, is End Game.
The reigning Golden Bolt champions
have their chance to repeat.
Can they pull off the back-to-back,
or will SawBlaze hoist its
trophy of the season?
Two bots will enter.
One will leave with The Golden Bolt.
Do not go anywhere.
That is next, here on our Tournament of Champions.
[Faruq] SawBlaze!
End Game!
This is the rematch that everybody wanted.
Last year, we kicked them out in 11 seconds.
[Chris] Oh, my goodness!
Are you kidding me?
They made a critical driving error.
They showed us their side and we took 'em straight to the wall...
and they went out.
In our last fight against End Game we tried a risky strategy
to swat their forks away.
We misfired and he took full advantage of that.
That's not gonna happen this time.
The team is incredibly happy with our performance earlier this year,
getting The Giant Nut.
[Chris] World champions.
The Golden Bolt would be even better.
And we have one more fight to win that Golden Bolt.
We're expecting End Game to use
an annoyingly long set of forks with barbs on the end
designed to target the middle sections between our long forks.
We have attached our piano fingers
which is designed to mitigate that reach.
So we can get in there close,
take off their forks,
and take control of the fight.
[Nick Mabey] We have a official SawBlaze configuration
where we've replaced every single aluminum part with magnesium
in order to put all the steel on the top.
[Jack Barker] And we think that that will be able to take SawBlaze's hit.
The risky part of it is magnesium is a lot lighter than aluminum
but a lot weaker as well.
So, every other part of our robot is now weaker.
[Jamison Go] If we were to win this fight,
we will have won The Golden Bolt and The Giant Nut
while knocking off the current champion of The Golden Bolt.
My team is more than prepared.
The robot is almost ready.
I just gotta stay focused to take down the current champ.
[Jack] We're not here to prove anything to anybody.
They need to prove themselves against us.
This is going to be an amazing fight.
Robots are going to be flying in the air.
There's gonna be sparks.
There's gonna be flame.
We're here to slay a dragon.
[audience cheering]
[Chris] It is time right now
for the final of the Tournament of Champions
and Kenny Florian, it is a juicy one.
It is End Game taking on SawBlaze.
They each have a Giant Nut to their name.
End Game, of course, the current titleholder
of The Golden Bolt as well.
You heard it there from the Kiwis,
they want this trophy all for themselves.
But Jamison Go and his squad are coming off a world title.
SawBlaze is at its peak.
In fact, I think these are the two top robots in the game,
here in the final, Kenny.
No question about it. This is a spicy one.
Uh, these are two teams that are well suited for this.
They know what's required to win a title.
It takes focus, will,
guts, temerity.
You have to wade into the chaos,
adapt on the fly, keep your composure
and above everything else
execute your game plan.
Right now, no two teams do all of that better than End Game and SawBlaze.
I am so excited for this matchup.
It's as good as you'll ever see.
[Chris] We can't wait.
Somebody's gonna win a Golden Bolt.
Let's find out who it is.
Faruq.
Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready?
[all cheering]
It's championship robot-fighting time!
[siren wails]
[Faruq] In the red square,
these vets are highly decorated.
They've won all the accolades.
Their trophy case is so bright they gotta wear shades.
Left Gary Gin and Free Shipping
salting margaritas with their tears,
Hoover Damned JackPot to hell when they busted it's gears.
Now they'll smoke SawBlaze,
turn Jamison Go into Jamison stop
because winning's the name of the game
and they'll end up on top.
It's End Game!
[all cheering]
[Chris] End Game, looking to successfully defend their Golden Bolt crown.
How are they gonna make it happen, Kenny?
[Kenny] This is their anti SawBlaze configuration.
They beefed up the top armor to counter the hammer saw,
but for me those extra long forks will be crucial.
They wanna be the one initiating first contact
so they can get underneath and land a big shot.
And this team learned it's long fork lesson
after losing to RIPperoni in WCVII.
These forks are designed to break away cleanly
if they get caught up on the floor.
[Faruq] In the blue square,
the reigning world champion's taking a shot at perfection.
He's got the Nut.
Now he'll add a Golden Bolt to his collection.
He Natty Iced the SHREDDIT BROs.
They couldn't handle the horror.
Tantrum tried to pitch a fit.
But he put baby in the corner.
Now he's hunting big game,
it's the end of their days,
and when he's left with the Bolt,
all that'll be left is a blaze.
It's SawBlaze!
[all cheering]
[Chris] Team SawBlaze.
Another tournament, another trip to the final.
Kenny, how do they pull off the double dip?
[Kenny] Well, Jamison Go's diligence,
his ability to configure SawBlaze
for any matchup is one of the main reasons
this team won The Giant Nut.
This matchup is no exception.
Those little piano key wedgelets are a direct counter
to End Game's long forks.
If they can act as a sort of a blockade,
SawBlaze can maintain some distance
and give the hammer saw a chance to slice
into End Game.
[all chanting] SawBlaze!
[Chris] All right, Kenny Florian. It is The Golden Bolt final.
I'm feeling that championship itch.
What's the line?
[Kenny] This is about as close as you can get
without giving the edge to SawBlaze.
Yes, End Game looks incredible right now
but no robot has more momentum
than the current world champ.
And after nearly giving it all away in the semifinals to Tantrum,
I'm expecting Jamison Go to be more focused than ever.
His precision with the hammer saw
could be the difference maker.
[chanting] Ja Go, Ja Go, Ja Go.
[robotic voice] Robots activate.
[Chris] It all comes down to this.
Two Giant Nut winners.
Two living legends.
Will SawBlaze complete one of the most incredible feats
in the sport's history,
and take down both major trophies in the same season?
Or will End Game keep The Golden Bolt on the other side of the globe?
The Tournament of Champions reaches its epic conclusion
when BattleBots continues.
[Chris] For the first time in its storied history, earlier tonight,
BattleBots proudly inducted two of its groundbreaking pioneers
into the hall of fame.
My friend, you're gonna be the first inductee
into the BattleBots hall of fame.
[Chris] Mark Setrakian.
Thank you, guys.
[Chris] His innovative designs and unrivaled imagination
gave us robots like Snake,
Mechadon and The Master.
This is amazing. I'm really, really surprised
and, uh, in disbelief.
[Chris] And a dear friend of BattleBots,
the founder of Robot Wars and the godfather of robot combat,
Marc Thorpe.
Marc Thorpe came up with this idea to have fighting robots.
None of you would be here today if it wasn't for Marc Thorpe
-and Mark Setrakian. -That's right.
[all cheering]
[Chris] This is it.
The Golden Bolt final.
BattleBots Champions started with 43 robots hungry for glory.
And to the surprise of few,
two of the most destructive machines in the sport's history
will collide in the top of the mountain.
The defending Golden Bolt champion, End Game.
The reigning Giant Nut winner, SawBlaze.
Only one is taking home the hardware.
[crowd chanting] SawBlaze.
[chanting] Fight! Fight!
[buzzer sounds]
[Chris] Let The Golden Bolt championship begin.
[Kenny] End Game moving cautiously out of its square
with those long ground scraping forks.
The team feels confident. They'll be the lower bot.
[Chris] Oh, but nice work by
SawBlaze putting End Game up on the screws
and throwing that hammer saw.
[Kenny] SawBlaze winning the battle for low ground in that first exchange.
That bodes very well for the champs.
[Chris] Landed a few jabs on End Game's forks as well.
SawBlaze still has the Kiwis trapped to the dustpan
but hesitant to drop the hammer saw, Kenny.
[Kenny] Yeah, Jamison knows better than to drop the weapon
straight into End Game's disc.
20 seconds.
[Chris] End Game looks to be hung up on SawBlaze's front end
but manages to wiggle free.
And we fight on.
[Kenny] A very technical fight to this point, Chris.
Both teams being deliberate with their positioning.
You can tell how much respect these two champions have for one another,
but so far it's been Jamison Go and SawBlaze
who've been in control.
-[Kenny] Oh! -[Chris] Oh!
End Game gets underneath SawBlaze,
pops it into the air.
The Kiwis with their first big hit of this match.
[Kenny] They've been playing a very patient strategy for a reason.
-[Chris exclaims] -[Kenny] They know they're the harder hitting
robot, Chris.
End Game hitting so hard
once they're able to get connection with that weapon.
[Chris] But nice work by SawBlaze with that saw hammer
as he had End Game pinned against the rail, can he do it again?
Nice work by the pulverizer on top of that.
-[loud bang] -[Chris exclaims]
[Kenny] SawBlaze showing the power of their drivetrain.
Now, End Game going to work with their weapons.
[Chris] Under 90 to go in the title fight.
Oh, End Game gets SawBlaze in the corner!
[Kenny] These are nasty shots by team End Game here, Chris.
[Chris] Knocks it on its head.
SawBlaze back to its belly.
But a little stunned for the first time in this fight.
[Kenny] Yeah, this is the first time
we've really seen SawBlaze in some serious trouble.
[Chris] And, again, on its head.
Jamison springboards back.
Wow.
Under a minute to go so the kill saws are now active.
-[audience exclaims] -[Chris] Oh.
Another big shot by End Game.
The Kiwis are letting it fly.
[Kenny] End Game's forks still working, Chris.
It's allowing them to get underneath...
-[Chris] Oh! -...SawBlaze just like that.
[Chris] A half dozen solid shots by End Game in the last minute plus.
[Kenny] SawBlaze needs to be able to adapt here
but End Game so good at throwing that weapon right at 'em.
[Chris] And look at the powerful drive by Jack Barker.
30 seconds to go in The Golden Bolt final.
[Kenny] Yeah, SawBlaze is gonna have to do
something very aggressive here, Chris,
if they wanna win this fight.
-[Chris] 20 seconds to go. -[Kenny] Uh-oh.
[Chris] End Game gets SawBlaze on its nose again
and puts it on the upper deck.
On the shelf!
[Kenny] Excellent display of control there by End Game.
SawBlaze a little rocked.
[Chris] Jamison Go has one final chance to impress the judges,
instead he takes another shot right to the head.
And that will do it,
as The Golden Bolt final
is now in the hands of the judges.
-Spin your weapon if you got it. -Oh, we do.
[Chris] Well, this one had a little bit of everything.
That's enough. Okay. Let's put 'em down.
[Chris] So now it's up to Derek Young,
Lisa Winter and Fon Davis,
all three, former BattleBots participants,
to decide who gets The Golden Bolt.
Will it be SawBlaze or will it be End Game?
[man 5] Whoo! Tough.
-Tough match. -Yeah.
Definitely had 'em in the beginning.
[audience cheering]
[Chris] Kenny Florian, a major trophy is on the line.
This was a tale of two halves
with SawBlaze controlling the first one.
[Kenny] That's right. Jamison Go got right underneath End Game,
drove it into the screws and had his way with the Kiwis.
He used the hazards to his advantage
and generally dictated the pace to start.
[Chris] But then, End Game put its cape on and went to work.
[Kenny] Nick and Jack stayed patient, Chris.
They knew, once the weapon made contact
they could swing the fight.
And once it did, they followed up
with shot after shot after shot.
End Game won almost every exchange down the stretch.
[Chris] So, what do you think the judges shake out on this one?
[Kenny] Well, both bots were fully functional at the bell
so I think damage is a toss-up.
SawBlaze controlled the first half,
but the display of aggression by End Game down the stretch
was a sight to behold.
That puts them over the top for me.
Either way, it's gonna be close.
[Chris] Is that enough to get them a second straight Golden Bolt?
Let's find out.
Faruq.
[audience cheering]
The results from the judges are in.
We have a split decision.
What?
[audience quiets down]
Judge Derek scored the battle for
SawBlaze.
[all cheering]
Judge Fon scored the battle for
End Game!
[all cheering]
Judge Lisa scored the battle
for the winner...
[indistinct chatter]
[audience] SawBlaze, SawBlaze, SawBlaze.
End Game!
[all cheering]
Jack and Nick, congratulations
on successfully defending your Golden Bolt title.
How worried were you, Nick, when you heard "we have a split decision"?
I was, I was pretty worried. I, uh,
I thought we had that one in the bag,
uh, so I was, I was pretty nervous, yeah.
Are you guys just a bad matchup for SawBlaze?
I think... I think we're a bad matchup for each other.
You're a scary robot.
-You're a scary robot. -Oh, thank you.
Yeah.
Jack, what does it mean to you guys
to be able to win a Tournament of Champions
with a field this deep two straight years?
Yeah, well we, at the moment we think we've won.
We don't know if they're gonna challenge it, but, um, you know,
it's so good to, you know, win The Golden Bolt again
and take it back to New Zealand.
Okay, well, you know what, real quickly,
let's swing on over to Jamison Go.
Don't you guys go anywhere.
I do wanna ask Jamison since Jack, you brought it up.
Jamison...
-Yes? -Just answer a yes or no.
Will there be an appeal?
We think that the decision ended up exactly where it should be.
Congratulations, guys.
-Thank you, Jamison. -[Chris] Classy.
-Did I make you nervous there? -[Nick] You did.
A little bit.
Yeah! Emotional damage points.
[chuckles] I know.
Jamison, you're always such a good sport
and it's an honor to play against you
-so, uh, yeah. -Yeah.
Jamison, congratulations to you
and your entire SawBlaze team.
A remarkable, remarkable several-month run.
You are the season 7 champion,
you made it all the way to a judges' decision here in The Golden Bolt final.
Congratulations to you and your team.
Thank you very much. Thank you.
[Jack] So well deserved.
[Chris] And in the meantime,
it is time right now to celebrate the champions
for the second straight year of The Golden Bolt,
team End Game, and for that we welcome out the creator of BattleBots,
Trey Roski, who's got a little bit of hardware to deliver.
-Hello, Trey. -Thank you, Trey.
It's shinier than the last one.
[Jack] It's way golder than the last one.
Congratulations Nick Mabey,
Jack Barker and the entire End Game team...
-Thank you so much. -...hoist that Golden Bolt
-for the second straight year. -Whoo!
[audience cheering]
[Chris] Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for your back-to-back
Golden Bolt champions, End Game.
It's heavier than the Nut.
[Jack] Don't drop it. Don't drop it.
[Chris] So, that'll do it for Vegas.
Thank you so much for tuning in.
For Kenny and Faruq, I am Chris Rose.
Another remarkable season in the books here at BattleBots,
where the future of sports is always evolving.