[chris] oh, my god, kenny. Matty vasquez is doing the impossible.
[machine whirring]
-[debbie] good job, matthew. -Drive it.
[debbie] whoo!
[narrator] in the battlebots universe,
from the moment a builder first conceives of a robot's design,
the dream of competing at the highest level,
on the biggest stage, for the ultimate prize,
is ever present.
Now, eight teams sit on the precipice of greatness,
and only one can become champion.
[crowd chanting] fight! Fight! Fight!
[chris] let the battle for the giant nut begin!
[narrator] sparks of imagination have evolved
into heavyweight marvels of engineering.
[all cheering]
[narrator] but tonight...
-Oh, come on! -[narrator] ...Only one machine
-fulfills its destiny... -[all groaning]
-[narrator] and writes it name... - [all cheering]
[narrator] ...In the history books.
-Whoo! -[narrator] the deadliest tournament in robot combat
reaches its dramatic conclusion...
-Oh! -Hey, daniel!
[narrator] ...Right now.
-[all cheering] -let's go!
[automated voice] robots, activate.
[all cheering]
welcome to battlebots. I'm chris rose and with me,
a man who won the title of world's best friend, kenny florian.
Thanks, chris. I'm honored, I guess.
Listen, kenny, the moment is finally here.
After back-to-back titles for paul ventimiglia and bite force...
-[faruq] long live the king! -[all cheering]
[chris] ...We are set to crown a brand-new champion.
[kenny] that's right, chris. From a field of 32, only 8 teams remain.
And tonight, you'll see the quarter-finals,
the semi-finals and the championship match.
The one team left standing at the end of the carnage
will earn the right to hoist the most coveted trophy on the planet,
the giant nut!
[all cheering]
for these teams, that giant nut is so close
and yet so far away.
[chris] while the quarter-finals features some familiar names,
there's a slew of lower-seeded teams
who are both alive and very dangerous.
[kenny] that's right. We saw the 18th seed, tantrum, shock the world
when it took down the number two overall seed, bloodsport.
Aren hill's team has had a meteoric rise this season,
but can he keep it up against one of the blueblood bots of this sport?
Jamison go and sawblaze have never been more confident,
and believe the giant nut is theirs for the taking.
[chris] shatter! Is the lone hammer bot left in the tournament,
and adam wrigley has been dialed in with wins
over lock jaw and mammoth.
Now, he's facing a team, end game,
who is also a tournament rookie.
But with possibly the most powerful weapon left in the competition,
jack barker and nick mabey feel like they have a legitimate shot
to become the first international battlebots champion.
[kenny] we'll also see the overall number one, hydra,
take on the number eight seed, whiplash.
It's whyachi versus vasquez,
two names that have helped make the sport what it is today.
Jake ewert's bot has earned the title
of the baddest flipper on the planet.
But to use it, he's gotta catch matty vasquez first.
Whiplash made the semi-finals in 2018,
then lost in the quarters last season.
Is this the year they finally go all the way?
And in our opening bout.
Coming up, one of the biggest upsets we've ever seen on battlebots
in a knockout of uppercut, the number 20 seed.
Ribbot continues to try and leap over another higher-seeded team,
the brazilian beater, black dragon.
Led by gabriel teles, it has established itself
as one of the most durable bots in the field.
And kenny, it's time to find out just how tough dragon scales really are.
I'm so excited. Let's do this.
All right. Faruq, take it away.
[all cheering]
ladies and gentlemen,
it's robot fighting time.
[all cheering]
-yeah! -Whoo!
In the blue square, from worcester, massachusetts,
the amphibian that continues to amphib-a-win,
it's ribbot.
[all cheering]
[chris] well, there's david jin all the way to the right,
leading out his team from wpi.
Took out beta and uppercut just to get here.
So, kenny, what weapon are they going with for the quarter-finals?
[kenny] well, they're going with their most powerful weapon
in their arsenal, the vertical disc.
This team's not-afraid-to-die attitude
is what's gotten them this far.
But it's a high risk, high rewards style, chris.
Let's see if it pays dividends for them here.
In the red square, itajubá, brazil,
the mythological creature that came to beat ya,
it's black dragon.
[all cheering]
[chris] knocked out slammow! In the round of 32,
and then won a unanimous decision
against former champion, tombstone.
This is the team led by gabriel teles.
Kenny, the familiar egg beater drum
on black dragon is not present.
[kenny] that's right. They're going with the lighter dual disc spinner.
Um, that's gonna allow them to place more armor on black dragon.
Um, they're gonna be able to spin up a lot faster,
but they're not gonna be able to hit as hard.
Because we both have pretty reliable spinners,
I definitely think it's gonna be a slug fest.
We're gonna try to break their weapon first.
Whether that means hitting them until something internally breaks,
or actually hitting them directly on the weapon and breaking their belts.
'cause we did notice that they broke belts in previous matches.
We have momentum going for us. We've been winning by knockout.
I hope to continue that, and obviously, top order's a huge deal.
Uh, we're happy that we have a chance to fight for it.
To fight ribbot, we are going with the two disc spinners.
And we have our wedgelets that we use against force.
We have big wheels, more traction,
so the strategy here is to hold our ground,
let the wedgelets do their job,
and then carry them around the battlebots.
Black dragon can eat frog for breakfast.
[all cheering]
[man] here we go!
-[automated voice] robots, activate. -[all cheering]
[chris] well, black dragon's sounding awfully confident there.
For more on our first quarter-final matchup,
let's bring in the bot whisperer, peter abrahamson.
So, kenny, as you said, they've added weight
by putting in those longer wedgelets in the front.
But removing the egg beater could possibly be a downfall in here.
By having a lighter weight weapon,
they cannot gyroscopically right themselves
as easily as they could with the egg beater.
This may be an issue for them.
[audience cheering]
[crowd chanting] fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!
[chris] there are eight teams still standing and only one giant nut.
Do either of these two bots have what it takes to be crowned champion?
[crowd chanting] fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!
[buzzer buzzing]
[chris] let the bot battle begin!
Ribbot circling around.
Black dragon tracking him.
Uh-oh! Ribbot getting hung up on the floor there.
-[smashes] -yeah, they're just also...
What a shot by black dragon!
-And ribbot can't drive inverted. -[kenny] oh!
[chris] and that head will get destroyed throughout this fight, kenny.
[kenny] oh!
Black dragon does a nice job utilizing the battlebox to its advantage,
space out. Space out.
Ribbot has already lost three of its four front wedgelets.
[kenny] and black dragon can't get too overconfident,
we've seen ribbot come back from
beatings before, like they did against uppercut.
-[smashes] -oh!
-Insane! -[chris] huge shot.
And that frog head is finished.
[kenny] u h-oh! Look at black dragon, it's starting to heat up, chris!
[chris] oh! Overheating, kenny. It is smoking.
[kenny] it sure is. It looks to me like they may have
burned out their primary weapon in that big collision.
[chris] so, yes. The weapon is no longer working on black dragon.
-Ribbot is... -[kenny] oh, no!
...Driving inverted and now black dragon is on fire.
-Not in a good way. -[kenny] oh, my goodness.
This is a major, major issue.
[kenny] now black dragon needs a knockout potentially to win this fight.
I'm not sure they can last another minute and 40 seconds, chris.
Well, they just had ribbot up on the screws.
It seems to still be driving okay.
But the question, for how long?
If ribbot just stays in the middle of the battlebox,
eventually black dragon is gonna stop running.
But look at this, black dragon is trying to take ribbot under a pulverizer,
trying to do something to it.
-[smashes] -oh, there's a hit.
But ribbot says, "I'm gonna keep running."
I don't think you can, fireboy!
[kenny] chris, nine times out of ten, when we see a bot on fire
like this, it dies almost instantly.
Black dragon is just not backing down.
[indistinct chatter]
[chris] black dragon still running completely on fire
as we close in on the one-minute mark.
I mean, we knew these were two tough bots, but...
[kenny] did we know they were this tough?
[chris] wow! Unbelievable.
-Black dragon is literally going up in smoke. -[kenny] it's getting worse.
Black dragon has about 50 seconds to survive this fire, chris!
[chris] this is unreal!
Black dragon has been on fire
for well over a minute.
And is still being the more aggressive bot.
[kenny] and they are winning this fight, chris. Ribbot has to find a way
to right themselves and get involved in this pushing match.
Because right now, they're getting controlled and dominated
by a bot that just happens to be
engulfed in flames!
David jin's team, I'm sure, is waiting,
expecting black dragon to dive at the brazilians,
didn't show no indication of slowing down.
In fact, somehow they continue to attack
attack, attack.
[kenny] black dragon might pull this off here, I think they're gonna survive.
[chris] this is unreal!
The last few seconds, black dragon trying to make one more push
-to impress the judges. - [timer beeping]
-and it sure as hell impressed me. - [buzzer buzzes]
[audience cheering]
unbelievable.
Pete, have you ever seen something like this?
[peter] not had a bot stay on fire that long
and it be their own fire.
[kenny] unreal!
Every one up on their feet
because they have never seen anything quite like this.
[chris] black dragon was on fire, kenny, for two minutes
and four seconds and managed to push it to a judge's decision.
[kenny] that is insane. I mean,
again, as far as toughness and durability,
that is crazy to me how the judges are gonna view
that, though,
-I don't know. -Wow.
[chris] well, I hope black dragon has a good fighter insurance policy,
because that bot is cooked.
We're gonna let the crew clean up the aftermath here
and we'll have the decision to this heated showdown.
That's when we return on battlebots!
[chris] all right. Welcome back to battlebots,
where ribbot and black dragon are awaiting
a judges' decision in one of the craziest
quarter final matches we have ever seen.
Again, the teams will be scored on an 11-point scale.
Five points to be awarded for damage,
and three a piece for control and aggression.
[chris] kenny, in the early going, black dragon
was having its way with ribbot.
But this is the moment
that threw the entire match into chaos,
a massive collision that disabled black dragon's weapon
and eventually actually led them to erupt into flames.
[kenny] and we both thought that that was the end for the brazilians,
but instead of dying, they stayed aggressive,
drove ribbot into the hazards and continued
to control the action.
[chris] unbelievable. Kenny, the big question,
will the judges penalize black dragon for that inferno?
Remember, durability is not a category on the score cards
and you have to imagine that fire did do some damage
to black dragon as a whole.
[kenny] it's gonna be a fascinating decision,
both bots lost their weapons.
Black dragon clearly had control.
I think they'll pull this out.
But in a fight this crazy,
anything is possible.
[audience cheering]
the results from the judges are in.
And the winner by unanimous decision is...
Black dragon!
[all cheering]
black dragon!
[indistinct chatter]
clever kill, clever kill!
[chris] gabriel...
-You never die! -Never!
Fire's our friend, so I was not bothered about the fire.
I was bothered, "oh, okay, we lost our weapon.
We lost our..." I think we lost one battery in one of the hits.
But we are the black dragon, so we have fire.
-We are okay. Yeah. -There was a fear there, but...
[chris] yeah, you guys are so tough, you can't even destroy yourselves.
Yeah! Oh, my god!
Gabriel, you guys were on fire
for two minutes and four seconds
in a three-minute fight.
Did you think that at any point
that your robot was gonna stop working?
Uh... I wasn't...
I was thinking that, "okay, we might stop."
but these guys worked so hard to
keep the robot, like, hundred percent.
[gabriel] and we have a way to keep the robot running all the time,
even if we lost our weapon. So,
uh, I truly believe in all the work that this guy puts and...
We keep running, we're in the semifinals.
All right, well, congratulations to you and the rest of your team.
We will see you in the semifinals.
-[whooping triumphantly] -[all cheering] brazil!
[audience applauding]
[chris] an unforgettable performance by the brazilians
as they send team ribbot back to the lab.
But what a season for the boys from wpi!
It will now be a race against the clock
to get black dragon back in fighting condition,
as it will meet the winner of hydra and whiplash
in the semi finals later tonight.
But right now,
the quarter finals continue with a match-up between
the 6th seed, end game, and the 19th seed, shatter!
[kenny] yeah, and this one is going to be an absolutely
explosive clash of designs.
In one square, you have end game, the hardest-hitting bot left
in the tournament.
They are knockout artists who want to go straight for the jugular
and obliterate their opponent.
In the other square, you've got the shifty shatter!
It is heavily armored, it's omni wheels make it a tough bot to catch.
And it has a powerful weapon in its own right.
I would not be surprised to see one of these two bots
slugging it out for the title.
It'll be another good one.
Faruq, take it away.
In the blue square,
from brooklyn, new york,
the concrete jungle, this bot came to rumble, it's...
Shatter!
[all applauding]
[chris] shatter upended lock-jaw and mammoth to get here.
The guy that's pushing the bot is adam wrigley
from brooklyn, new york.
And they're using a shorter hammer arm for this fight, kenny.
[kenny] yeah, they're going with their shortest arm
to limit the recoil pop the bot experiences
when it fires the hammer.
Staying grounded could be a huge advantage for shatter
as it prevents end game from getting to its underdog.
In the red square, from auckland, new zealand...
Tick-tock, tick-tock.
This battle's about to start.
Time's up.
It's end game!
[all cheering]
[chris] representing auckland, new zealand,
it is team end game.
Upended perfect phoenix and rotator
to advance to the finals.
Kenny, what adjustments have they made for shatter?
[kenny] well, chris, you can see those extra-long forks
on the front of end game.
They wanna use those to get underneath shatter,
destabilize the bot and feed it into their disk
for a knockout shot.
[all cheering]
so, when you fight a big vertical spinner like end game,
it only really takes one well-placed tip from them
to destroy a whole frame.
So we are always conscious of the spinner's energy
and we wanna make sure they don't get under us.
They all get that big hit.
We try to keep the hammer out of their weapon,
hit the chassis, drive well...
So it will be like, I think, a driver's battle
and we'll try to nail their chassis with the hammer.
This is, once again,
the most important fight we've ever had at battlebots.
We really want that done.
Thing about shatter... It's not really...
The hammer is not the scariest part.
He's actually very heavily magneted to the floor.
So, we've got a long, shallow front on us,
which means it should require less force
to get him off the ground.
'cause once the magnets leave the ground,
they don't do anything anymore.
I think the best way we can win this match
is if we hit it enough times and the hammer breaks,
and then we flip them upside down
and leave 'em there.
We're all ready to go out. We wanna push on.
-[woman] yeah! Yeah! -[all cheering]
[all cheering and applauding]
[crowd chanting] fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!
[chris] two teams for their first ever quarter final appearance.
Only one will survive.
Hold on to your bots!
[crowd chanting] fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!
Let the bot battle begin!
Oh! End game going face to face.
Right from the outset taking shatter!
[all exclaiming]
my gosh!
[kenny] end game doing exactly what they told us they wanted to do,
using those long forks to get underneath shatter.
[chris] but here comes shatter looking to return the favor.
Oh! There's the hammer!
End game answers to two quick jabs.
Adam wrigley let his weapon fly now.
[kenny] this is not a good spot for shatter!
[all exclaim]
[chris] end game nearly got shatter out of the box!
Wow!
Shatter flips back over, but it has definitely got some issues
here in the first 30 seconds.
And it might not be able to drive.
There it goes.
[kenny] end game... Very patient, very...
[all exclaim]
well, there goes the hammer head!
And that's exactly why he didn't want to go
weapon to weapon with end game.
Holy smokes!
[chris] shatter is in deep trouble right now
without that hammer head.
Still two minutes remaining in this fight!
End game, will it go in for the crushing blow?
Right in front of you,
you can hear that whack of the plummet!
End game at a bend over here.
More bot parts of shatter all over the place!
Unbelievable!
[man] he can still win this. He can still win this.
[kenny] shatter is decapitated,
but the arm is still swinging.
That's the only arm for shatter,
which is getting ripped apart bit by bit!
[chris] literally taken apart piece by piece.
I see some control with shatter.
[kenny] the wreckage is a warning!
[speaks indistinctly]
[kenny] shatter crashing around
trying desperately to generate some sort of movement,
but it might not be enough!
The countdown has started!
-[man] come on! -[chris] wow.
[kenny] adam wrigley and shatter can't move!
They're flailing!
-Put it out of its misery! -[alarm blares]
-[all cheering] -[chris] hey!
Hey!
End game is moving on!
[all cheering]
they just got under us.
[chris] kenny, end game took control of this fight
from the opening bell
using those long, sloping forks
to get under shatter and dominate the action.
[kenny] absolutely. It was all end game the whole time.
When you have a very powerful vertical disk like end game,
it's just a terrible match up.
[chris] and after getting back into the quarter,
shatter got rather desperate
and was forced to throw the hammer
even if it meant going weapon to weapon.
[kenny] he really had to go for it
and maybe try to disable that primary weapon of end game.
That did not work out well for him.
He was a sitting duck once he lost that hammerhead.
Not gonna do a whole lot with that arm, chris.
End game was just unbelievable out there.
[all cheering]
[kenny] so end game bulldozes its way into the semi-finals
and the eyes of new zealand are now fixed on this team
and its bid to become
the first ever international battlebots champions.
Up next, aren hill's tantrum
will try to continue its cinderella story
against jamison go and sawblaze.
Hurry up and find your glass slippers, kenny.
We'll see that clash when we return
on the final night
of the battlebots world championship tournament.
[audience cheering]
we are back with the quarter finals here on battlebots.
Up next, the action continues
as the seventh seed sawblaze meets the 18th seed tantrum.
There you see the teams making their final preparations
inside the battlebox.
A spot in the semi-finals is on the line.
In the 2019 season,
jamison go and sawblaze saw their dream of hoisting the giant nut,
come to an abrupt end with a quarter final loss
to witch doctor.
[announcer] sawblaze incapacitated!
[chris] but they exercise those demons
in spectacular fashion in this year's round of 16.
[announcer] jamison go and sawblaze
have gotten their revenge!
[chris] kenny, could this finally be their time?
[kenny] listen, sawblaze has consistently shown it's an elite level bot
in every match they fought this season.
This is the farthest they've ever advanced in the tournament,
and jamison go has never looked more confident.
This bot is a powder keg of potential,
and this may be the year we see it all come together.
[chris] you know, kenny, when we looked at the entire field
at the beginning of the season,
you could've circled several teams
that, kenny, I think they'll be in the top eight.
I don't think tantrum would've been in that discussion
based on what they did the previous two seasons.
They were just kind of a 500 bot
kind of meandering their way through battlebots live.
But aren hill said, "listen, we poured thousands
and thousand of hours into this thing.
I'm not shocked I'm here."
[kenny] that's right. Usually, when you see
a lower seated team's still around
this late in the tournament,
luck had a lot to do with it,
but with tantrum, it's all earned.
Aren hill has been driving out of his mind.
And he is laser-focused
on controlling the ground battle here against sawblaze.
[all cheering]
[chris] all right. The teams are ready to go.
A spot in the top four is on the line.
Winner takes on end game.
[audience cheering and applauding]
[automated voice] blue team, ready.
[all cheering]
[chris] captain aren hill in the background there.
How does tantrum keep their cinderella story going, kenny?
[kenny] well, aren knows those forks on sawblaze
really allowed jamison go to control a match.
He wants to bend and damage those prongs
as quickly as he can here to take that advantage away.
[automated voice] red team, ready.
Ready?
[cheering]
[audience cheering and applauding]
[chris] team sawblaze looking confident.
He's unconventionally aiming for a judges' decision
due to tantrum's heavy armor.
His goal is to throttle down his weapon
and show the judges consistent damage and control,
but leaving a fight up to the judges
is like a box of chocolates...
[chris] delicious?
[kenny] something like that, chris.
[crowd cheering]
[crowd chanting] fight! Fight! Fight!
[man] go!
[kenny] let the bot battle begin!
[chris] sawblaze.
Driving around, trying to catch tantrum.
[kenny] oh!
[chris] landed.
[kenny] tantrum doing a good job of getting underneath that dustpan
but not that time!
[chris] oh, boy.
Tantrum's gotta get free.
Of course, he's also trying to bend the forks at the same time.
[kenny] wow, right now, this is going well for tantrum,
that is, getting underneath sawblaze right now
and showing some good speed as well.
[speaking indistinctly]
[chris] whoa! Nice little pop.
[kenny] tantrum is so fast.
[chris] and doing a nice job
controlling the first 30 seconds of this fight.
[kenny] oh, and aren hill trying to go after those forks,
trying to get those bent,
so they can have an easier time
at getting underneath sawblaze, chris?
[chris] yeah. Look at that!
Tantrum putting sawblaze up on the screws.
Jamison go has got to get outta there, and he does.
[kenny] looks like tantrum is trying to push sawblaze
on the screws, direct in first,
hoping to break that saw.
[chris] yeah, tantrum's done an amazing job getting under the forks.
Kenny?
[kenny] yeah, sawblaze is really struggling
with this ground battle here.
Tantrum utilizing that primary weapon,
that vertical disc-spinner at the right time.
Using it sparingly, they're taking their time.
They're pacing themselves,
but staying aggressive with their driving.
[chris] all right, that was a good hit by the hammer saw,
but look at tantrum with its disc spinner
doing some damage to those front forks.
[kenny] sawblaze just hasn't been able to get control in this fight.
[chris] not at all.
You see the flame still working
but he can't even point it in the right direction right now.
[kenny] aren hill and team tantrum
keeping jamison go and sawblaze off balance.
[chris] nice work pinning him against the rails.
You can do that for ten seconds,
then you must release your opponent.
[kenny] now, watch this, he's gonna punch on the exit.
There it is!
[chris] nice call, kenny.
You're the tony romo of battlebots.
[kenny laughs]
[kenny] there he is, kinda buffing the bottom,
the undercarriage of sawblaze a little bit.
[chris] you can see that middle fork
is definitely bent up on sawblaze.
Tantrum taking in two with a minute to go.
[kenny] tantrum just throwing jab after jab at sawblaze.
[chris] sawblaze has gotta change tacts here, kenny.
-He is running out of time. -[kenny] yeah.
-[crowd gasping] -[chris] oh!
A monster shot by tantrum! The best one of the match.
[kenny] absolutely, that was a knockdown in my book.
-Oh! -[crowd gasping]
pieces of sawblaze fly all over the battlebox
and tantrum might be trying to knock him outta here, chris.
[chris] yeah, tantrum is on the attack
looking for the right way to get in there.
He backs up and goes in for more.
Causing a few sparks.
Now the right side fork is up in the air on sawblaze.
[kenny] sawblaze needs to get nasty at this point.
Twenty seconds left in this fight, chris.
[chris] it is desperation time for jamison go.
In the meantime,
aren hill continues to step on the accelerator.
He does get pinned to the corner
in the final few seconds.
Sawblaze gets a little control.
But that's gonna be it.
[alarm blares]
[kenny] wow! An amazing performance
by the 18th seed tantrum.
Wow. Damn.
[all whooping]
they got underneath us every time.
[chris] so for the second time in three matches,
we will go to the scorecards.
Your battlebots judges are all former participants.
Derek young, lisa winter and jason bardis.
Kenny, tantrum is small, stout and quick.
[kenny] absolutely, and I think, you know,
speed was something that we underestimated.
We thought that sawblaze was gonna be the faster bot,
and I think jamison go thought he was gonna be the faster bot.
After watching this fight, I don't think that was the case.
But more than anything else, I think the strategy for tantrum
really played out extremely well.
They executed their driving and I think the biggest thing
was they won the ground battle against sawblaze.
[chris] so often, sawblaze just scoops up its opponent,
uses that dustpan, takes 'em wherever they want in the battlebox.
We didn't see that, kenny, until the final ten seconds of the fight.
[kenny] no question, and you know what?
Everyone talks about the driving of guys
like michael gellatly and jamison go and matty vasquez.
I think aren hill just established himself
as one of the best drivers in the game as well.
What a performance!
[crowd cheering]
the results from the judges are in.
We have a unanimous decision.
[cheering]
and the winner is...
Tantrum!
[crowd cheering]
[chris] aren hill, as the 18th seed in this tournament,
you are now officially
going to be one of the last four teams left standing.
How does that feel?
That's going to take a while to set in.
Uh...
Yeah, that's all I got for that one.
Why are you so speechless?
I just...
Like, he's one of the best drivers in the sport. Period.
We held our own. I feel real proud of that.
Aren, you are two wins away
from taking home the giant nut.
Did you dream about that before this season started?
We've been working towards that for three years now.
It's gettin' a lot closer.
It's almost a reality.
We'll see you in the semi-finals.
Congratulations to aren hill and team tantrum.
-You're off to the semis. -Thank you, guys.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] so we say an unexpected goodbye
to jamison go and sawblaze.
I have no doubt, the sting of this loss
will fuel them to return in even more
terrifying fashion next season.
Comin' up...
The quarter-finals conclude as the number one overall seed,
hydra, squares off against one of the best
all around bots in the field, whiplash.
The final night of the world championship tournament continues...
Next.
We continue on with the quarter-finals here on battlebots.
He is kenny florian, and I'm chris rose,
and this one is such a tasty treat.
It's the number one overall seed, hydra,
taking on the 8th seed, whiplash.
You see the teams inside the battlebox.
Getting their 250-pound bots ready for war.
Hydra captain, jake ewert told us,
"listen I have nothing but respect for the vasquez family.
My goal is to put 'em in the air at least once
because after that, matt vasquez,
as good a driver as he is, he tends to get..."
you remember the word he used?
-"squirley." -[kenny] yes. "squirley."
exactly. Uh, he thinks that's gonna throw him off.
Um, I don't know.
Hydra hasn't been truly been tested yet
and now is when they show who they really are.
They've been so dominant,
is that a sign that they're so much better than all of the other teams?
Or have they just not been hit in the face yet?
We're about to find out tonight.
As for whiplash,
you remember that in the 2018 season, in the quarter-final,
that team faced the premier flipperbot,
at the time, bronco,
and he ended up winning a relatively easy decision here.
Now, matt vasquez came out and said,
"hydra is better now than bronco was then."
so he paused for some concern but he still has confidence.
That's right, and they've made some modifications
where they feel they're not gonna let hydra get underneath them.
That remains to be seen.
What they for sure have is a weapon hydra hasn't faced before.
That vertical spinner and lifter
than can attack from above.
Matty knows that's his strongest advantage.
So if they can get some hits going with that vertical spinner,
maybe we'll see a knockout from whiplash.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] it's gonna be a fun one.
The teams are in position
and ready to throwdown for their tournament lives.
Let's get it on!
[automated voice] blue team, ready?
I'm gonna be ready this time.
We're ready.
[chris] jake ewert looking focused.
He knocked out hypershock and gigabyte to get here.
How does he keep his undefeated season alive, kenny?
[kenny] he's in a tough spot here, chris.
Those forks to the front of whiplash
are longer that hydra's flipper,
which is going to make it difficult for jake to attack from the front.
He knows this will be his toughest match so far this season.
Let's see how he adapts to it.
They look wicked wedges.
They look really low.
[automated voice] red team, ready?
-Let's go. -[all cheering]
[chris] and there's matty vasquez of whiplash.
He typically comes out aggressive.
Do you think we'll see that against hydra here, kenny?
[kenny] yes, but look for him to carefully pick his spots
on when to attack.
He knows hydra can end a fight in the blink of an eye.
So, matt wants to pin hydra into a corner
then use that spinner to score some damage point.
[audience cheering]
[audience chanting] fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight...
[chris] whyachi versus vasquez.
A trip to the semi-finals is on the line.
[audience chanting] fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight...
[chris] let the bot battle begin!
[kenny] I think the first couple exchanges
are gonna tell us a lot here, chris.
[indistinct chatter]
[chris] hydra, trying to work its way toward whiplash.
Havin' a little driving issue with whiplash.
Trying to get under hydra.
And does so and lifts it up.
[audience exclaiming]
[chris] big hit!
Yeah!
[chris] hydra flipped itself off the screws
and right into whiplash's weapon!
[kenny] jason vasquez jumped extremely high
when he saw that they were able to get through hydra.
[chris] yeah, look at this.
And again whiplash takin' hydra for a ride!
[kenny] couldn't quite tank him into the rails.
Hydra finally puts that flipper into play.
Look at whiplash self-right them.
[chris] matty vasquez on the attack,
getting his lifter back in the mix.
Hydra looking for a good shot.
[kenny] we're not used to seeing hydra miss this many flips.
Whiplash doing a great job,
but hydra can't get it going in a hurry, chris.
[chris] there you go, that's it!
Whoa! Oh, this is big time trouble for whiplash.
Hydra has an angle to lock him out of the box. Oh!
Doesn't quite get the power I think.
[kenny] a beautiful counter by whiplash,
spun around and dropped that disk from overhead.
But hydra definitely evening out the score card in that exchange.
[chris] you know, hydra's flipper
doesn't seem to have the same level of pop
that we used to seein' though tonight, kenny.
[audience cheering]
[kenny] yeah, we've yet to see the big flip,
but whiplash cannot get complacent.
[chris] almost 90 seconds in,
whiplash still tryin' to get under hydra.
[kenny] those forks are doing an amazing job
by not letting hydra attack from the front.
And hydra has to be very careful...
- [all exclaiming] oh! -Great shot there by hydra.
They have to be very careful when they're going weapon to weapon.
You'll notice they're not trying to flip.
They don't want their primary weapon
to be ruined by that vertical disk of whiplash.
[chris] here's whiplash
getting underneath hydra again.
-[audience exclaiming] -[chris] oh!
Hydra with that counter shot puts whiplash on its head!
Back-and-forth action!
[kenny] I think hydra has a brilliant strategy.
Instead of going first as you see in the fight game
they're going second,
they're waiting for whiplash to attack first then they're getting underneath.
They're being very patient here.
They don't know whether you're gonna... Don't.
Don't get in between the...
[chris] under 50 seconds to go.
Both bots,
they have been aggressive throughout the match.
Both have had stretches, where they seem to be in control.
Hydra trying to score some points
with that flipper as we approach the finish.
Oh! Pops whiplash head over heels.
But whiplash able to self-right.
[screeches]
[kenny] hydra has kept the pressure on whiplash.
[chris] under 25 to go.
Who's gonna make that last stand to impress the judges?
[kenny] oh, there's a nice hit by whiplash
to the side of hydra, chris.
[chris] hydra has done a decent job
getting some flips on whiplash.
But it has done minimal damage.
This one is going to go the distance
and whiplash tries to take some
out of the bottom of hydra!
In the final few kicks whiplash is smoking.
- [alarm blares] -but this one is over.
Whiplash doing a celebratory dance
thinking they have advanced to their second semi-final
of the last three seasons.
-We shall see. -Wonderful job.
[chris] can hydra, the tournaments' number one overall seed survive?
The judges will decide.
That's when battlebots continues.
[audience cheering]
[chris] welcome back to battlebots
where the number one overall seed hydra
has just gone the full three minutes
in a back-and-forth all-out war
with the eighth seed whiplash.
It's now up to our judges to decide who will advance to the semi-finals.
[audience exclaiming]
[chris] kenny, hydra connected on five flips in this match
but nothing that really got whiplash air-borne.
[kenny] that's right, we saw five flips,
but they weren't the same flip
that we've seen from hydra in the past.
You see, whiplash did a great job
of not allowing hydra to really get underneath it.
There is whiplash winning the the ground game
and then landing some great shots
to the underbelly of hydra.
[chris] whiplash managed to rip off
a few of hydra's front wedge lids
which may have affected hydra's ability
to feed them into its flipper.
But very little damage done to whiplash in this fight, kenny.
[kenny] yeah, hydra kept the pressure on whiplash
and even had an opportunity to toss them out of the box.
They just couldn't finish the job.
The control and aggression categories should be close,
but about this finish from whiplash
attacking the backside
and leaving the judges with a powerful final on pressure.
[audience cheering]
the results from judges are in.
[intense music playing]
and we have a split decision.
[audience exclaiming]
judge lisa scored the battle for hydra!
[audience cheering]
judge derek scored the battle for whiplash!
[audience cheering]
judge jason scored the battle...
For the winner...
Whiplash!
[all cheering]
we did it! We did it!
We did it!
[indistinct] it's amazing.
We did it!
[all cheering]
[audience chanting] fight! Fight! Fight...
[chris] matt vasquez,
I didn't know your brother had,
uh, that kinda hops in him.
I mean, the bot hit the lighting grid on top.
Is he okay?
Uh, yeah, hey, he may have saved this fight for us.
Before the fight, he added some,
like, little elastic bands on our little forks
that pull 'em closer to the ground
and I think we were barely able to get under him.
So, I'm sure that's what did it.
And that's why we could get those lifts on him.
-Matt... -So, yeah.
...It was actually six to five
-on all three judges' score cards. -Yeah.
It was that close.
What do you think separated you from hydra?
Uh, I think it was that last shot at the end that we got.
I think that decided the fight.
Uh, I mean, that's the last thing the judges see.
And we made big sparks, got some damage on him.
And, uh, yeah, I really think that was it.
It was the last five-ten seconds that decided.
'cause they flipped us a lot more times than we flipped them.
But it was just the damage we did that I think, uh, really got us the win.
Ryan, if could just get a fuller shot of the entire,
uh, vasquez family real quick.
I just wanna see mom and dad at the end.
I know they're not miced, but...
You guys okay? You proud of your boys?
-Yeah. -All right. [chuckles]
very good.
Are they cleared of their chores this week at home, are they good?
-[chuckling] -they have to fix the robot.
-[all laugh] -"fix the robot." good enough.
Guys, congratulations, we'll see you in the semi-finales.
Thank you.
[audience cheering]
[chris] so whiplash moves on.
And for hydra and jake ewert, what a season it's been.
Undefeated in the qualifying rounds,
the number one overall seed in the tournament.
And a trip to the top eight.
A tip of the backwards cap to you, jake.
[audience applauding]
all right, we began the night
with eight championship contenders
and after an electrifying quarter final round,
we are now down to just four.
We've got nick mabey, jack barker,
and the cold blooded kiwi killers, end game.
Call him king gabriel teles, first of his name,
the unburnt breaker of weapon chains
and his miraculous bot black dragon.
The dream tournament continues for aren hill
and the stubborn problem child, tantrum.
And, of course, the vasquez brothers and whiplash.
Fresh off that narrow victory
over number one seed hydra.
One of these teams is just two wins away from lifting
the giant nut and joining the ranks of the best
to ever enter the battlebox.
We kick off the semifinals
when we return on battle bots.
[audience cheering]
[chris] welcome back to battle bots,
and, kenny, we have arrived safely at the semifinals. It's gonna be a ton of fun.
Up first, we've got the sixth seed, end game,
taking on the 18th seed tantrum.
And let's start with the bot from new zealand.
Few moments ago, we caught up with nick mabey,
and we asked him how he was doing, and he said,
"it's finally starting to hit me.
Like, really. After winning in the quarter finals,
it's starting to hit me that we are within grasp
of winning the giant nut."
he said, "I have tremendous reverence and respect
for my opponent here in the semifinals."
but you know what? This bot is rollin', dude.
It really is.
I mean, that vertical disc spinner is really firing up.
So they are cautiously optimistic, but
they understand they're goin' against a brick in tantrum.
And it was really interesting.
I almost wanted to ask aren hill
for his driver's license
to make sure that his last name wasn't ventimiglia.
I mean, the guy is so laser focused.
Oh, definitely, you know. I think that's a huge advantage.
You know, not getting overly emotional
and being very clinical,
I think, is crucial to success here at battlebots.
And I think he's gonna stick to what's been
working for him as far as strategy here.
[chris] okay, kenny. The first spot in the 2020
world championship final is on the line.
Tantrum, end game,
let's see who wants it more.
Faruq...
[faruq] in the blue square, from mountain view, california,
it'll scream and shout until you're knocked out,
it's tantrum!
[audience cheering]
[chris] well, kenny, when it comes to driving, I think that win
over sawblaze proved that aren hill
is one of the baddest dudes left in the tournament
in that category.
What's his strategy against the kiwis?
[kenny] it's going to come down to control.
They want to try to get end game up against the wall,
it's all about pinning, pressing the action,
using these hazards and trying to make this a full three-minute fight.
[all cheering]
in the red square,
from auckland, new zealand,
the destructive spinner in its prime,
about to commit a robot crime.
It's safe to say you're out of time,
it's end game!
[audience applauding]
[chris] well, kenny, that disc right there in the middle
of the end game, so ferocious.
[kenny] yeah, it hits hard, it hits heavy.
Their goal for this fight is to win quick
and they kinda consider tantrum unkillable.
But one way to end the fight quickly,
get 'em out of the arena.
And get this, chris, their four knockouts this season,
end game's fights have lasted on average,
just 59.2 seconds.
That's right. That's less than a minute long.
[all cheering]
the trick I think to fighting end game
is gonna be avoiding any of those big hits.
Controlling the engagements whenever I can.
In order to get a good fight, you need to be driving quickly
towards somebody. So if I can slow down engagements,
that's gonna be key.
I think sawblaze was one of the biggest obstacles between
us and the giant nut.
And now that we somehow made it past that,
I... I think we got a pretty good shot at takin' it.
I mean, our strategy against tantrum is gonna be the same
with most of our other robots.
Just face the front, at 'em
and insert the weapon into their robot.
This is the way the geometries work out.
We've got the upper hand, his weapon's quite low.
So if he goes for us, he'll hit our armor or our weapon.
And I think just the relative comparison size of the weapons,
we're happy to go weapon to weapon.
[audience cheering]
[automated voice] robots activate...
[audience cheering]
[chris] okay. Four teams left standing in this tournament.
Tantrum versus end game,
which one will be the first to punch their ticket to the finals?
[automated voice] blue team, you ready?
[audience cheering]
[automated voice] red team, you ready?
[audience cheering]
[audience chanting] fight! Fight! Fight! Fight...
Bring it on to the ring.
[audience chanting] fight! Fight! Fight! Fight...
[buzzer buzzing]
[chris] let the bot battle begin!
Tantrum looking to get around the side of end game.
He's got 'em. Punching him into the corner.
Look out!
[kenny] end game kinda hopped outta there
just at the right moment.
Almost got pinned up against the wall,
this is exactly what tantrum wants.
[chris] yeah. End game looks a little off balance to begin with, kenny.
So far, those truck forks on end game
aren't really allowing them underneath tantrum.
How about tantrum taking end game into the rail!
-[kenny] oh, no! -[chris] oh, no! Tantrum is smoking.
Tantrum's smoking.
[kenny] oh!!
-[chris] oh, look at that! -[chris] uh-oh!
The puncher is now under end game.
[kenny] oh!
[chris] tantrum still able to puncture that weapon.
But the disc is no longer spinning, kenny.
[kenny] yeah, they burnt out their weapon motor, chris.
[chris] can end game take advantage?
Tantrum sneaking underneath again.
Oh!
[kenny and chris] oh!
[chris] that was a beautiful hit... And another.
Oh, wow!
What a sequence by end game!
Picking tantrum apart with its weapon.
And, kenny, one of tantrum's front forks is now mia.
This is going south for tantrum in a hurry.
Aren hill needs to find a way to stop the bleeding.
Smoke continuing to leak from tantrum.
Can they find a way to power back without their primary weapon?
End game smells blood.
Oh! There's the best shot.
Oh!
[indistinct conversation]
and tantrum on its head. Wow!
They have those self-righting fists,
and I'm not sure they're working right now.
Aren hill already clapping for team end game.
I think he knows it's over.
End game with a huge one-two punch!
And matt's gonna cue in the team with a fist...
-..Seven, six, five... -Oh! Tantrum...
Getting knocked out
and end game is on to the championship.
[matt] ...Two, one... Tantrum is knocked out!
[all cheering]
yes! Let's go!
[kenny] tantrum was oh so close there to stop.
[chris] and the crew from auckland, new zealand,
is now just one win away from becoming battlebots royalty.
Kenny, tantrum had 'em in the first half.
I am not gonna lie.
[kenny] absolutely. Tantrum consistently got underneath end game,
pushing one of the most dangerous bots in the sport around.
Just fearless out there, despite the massive stakes of this match.
But then, we saw some smoke.
And ultimately, the weapon died,
and the momentum completely shifted over to end game.
[chris] when you lose your primary weapon,
it is uh-oh time.
[kenny] and chris, at the highest level of any fight,
you make one mistake and that could be your last.
They say the first shot stunts you
and the second one knocks you out.
[audience cheering]
-oh... -[chris] nick mabey...
[chris chuckles]
my heart during that match... Aren...
Driving's so well. [chuckles]
nick, where did this match turn?
Oh, man.
Uh, I think at the point where his weapon stopped going.
And then, uh, we got under him a couple times.
And I think we must have taken out the self-righters.
'cause we flipped him and he didn't get back up.
You guys said his bot was unkillable
but you [chuckling] guys just landed a kill shot.
We didn't expect it.
But we were... [stammers]
we think we can probably kill anything at this point.
Jack, um, you know,
when you're not working the way you want to
and you see the clock ticking down
how do you not panic?
I've done a lot of robot driving in my time
and I know that fights can be won anytime.
I've lost fights in that last two seconds, you know.
And I've won fights in the last two seconds.
So, a fight is never over until it's over.
So, you just keep going and keep going
-until something happens. -Yeah.
-And you get in with it. -This is why jack drives.
[both chuckle]
uh, I don't wanna put literally
the weight of the world on your shoulders,
but there has never been an international bot
that has won the giant nut.
What would that mean to you, nick?
That would be so amazing
to bring it home for new zealand.
Congratulations, jack barker, nick mabey, all of your team
there with end game.
-[audience cheering] -[indistinct chatter]
[nick grunts]
all right, so, now we are off to the next semi-file.
I imagine end game might wanna stick around for this one.
Because comin' up next,
it's whiplash, the team from sunny southern california
gettin' ready to take on the bot from brazil, black dragon.
And this was the scene in black dragon's pit area
after their fight against ribbot.
[metal screeches]
[chris] now, we're being told they somehow have the robot ready to go
after it went chernobyl on us earlier tonight.
The final spot in the world championship match
will be decided in mere moments.
Who will claim it?
Find out next on battlebots.
[audience cheering]
all right, we are back on battlebots
and, kenny, end game has already punched it's ticket,
has a reservation in the final.
Our next semi-final is only moments away.
As you see, black dragon and whiplash gettin' set
for the biggest fight of their careers.
And let's start with the team from brazil.
When we saw black dragon earlier tonight
they were cookin' ribbot.
Yet, somehow they actually won their quarter final match up.
That despite being on fire for two minutes and four seconds.
That is one tough bot.
[kenny] well, they were really saved by their robot's internal design.
They told us the fire was caused by their weapon battery
which is in its own compartment
and completely separate from their drive battery.
Design or not though, to have a fire that big
contained solely to their weapon battery
seems like some kind of robot god divine intervention to me.
Gabriel told us the bots repaired.
It's good to go.
He wants this win over whiplash
he wants that giant nut.
[chris] in 2018, whiplash made it this far
before bowing out in the tournament.
Are they gonna make their first tournament final
or will we have our first ever all international final?
It is time to find out.
[audience cheering]
so, we are facing whiplash.
A tough bot to a great driver,
matt, who's driving skills are insane.
But, we think we can handle him.
We switched a lot of parts.
We switched to the egg beater,
because, with the egg beater
our gyroscope in fact is, uh, more effective.
So, we can, uh, self-right the robot faster.
Black dragon really wants this shot.
We really want to get in the finals.
And, we want our shot.
We're gonna run the exact same configuration
we used against hydra.
'cause it's the same thing.
And this is a fight we wanna get low ground first,
we wanna get under him,
we wann be the one pushing them.
It's critical that we get that first shot.
We get underneath him before they get underneath us.
I think we do have an advantage
that they thrive off of fighting robots with big weapons
so that they could run into their weapons, stop their weapon.
And they control the fight.
Whiplash isn't like that. We're a lifter.
So, I think that change of strategy
will work in our favor for this fight.
But, uh, yeah, I'm feeling pretty good about this factor.
[audience cheering]
[automated voice] robots activate.
[chris] nick and jack of team end game in the crowds
scouting this match up.
Their championship opponent is in the box.
So, who's it gonna be?
The brazilians?
Or the california kids?
[audience cheering]
[audience chanting] fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight...
[chris] we started this historic evening
with images of a young matty vasquez.
Can he kick his stellar career to new heights?
Or does it all come crashing down
at the feet of black dragon?
[audience chanting] fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!
[audience chanting] fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight...
[chris] let the bot battle begin!
Major box rush by whiplash
who gets right in black dragon's grill.
[kenny] matt vasquez letting gabriel teles know
he's here for a fight.
[chris] whiplash trying to get under black dragon
and then hit the weapon.
-And there's sparks. Oh! -[kenny] oh!
[chris] there goes the little wedge of black dragon.
So, first shot fired by whiplash
and make it a second,
now he's gonna take him to the rail!
[chris and kenny exclaiming]
[chris] and look at this, black dragon is now inverted.
-That is a bad, bad spot to be in. -[all exclaiming]
[chris] whiplash continues it's all-out assault.
[kenny] whiplash going right at black dragon,
getting underneath, getting that lifter involved.
[audience cheering]
[chris and kenny exclaiming]
[kenny] big hit again by whiplash.
That egg beater hasn't done much for black dragon.
-Yeah! -[chris] once again,
black dragon back on its head!
[all exclaiming]
[chris] oh, there is a lot of weapon-to-weapon action.
[kenny] chris, getting rid of that wedge
on the right side of black dragon is not good.
They're gonna be vulnerable in this whole fight now.
[chris] and right now, they're in a bad spot.
They're actually caught on something.
[kenny] they're caught on the wedge of whiplash!
[chris] now whiplash has lost one of its front forks
and suddenly, black dragon has tipped the scales a bit.
Can the brazilians find a way to right themselves
and at a comeback here?
[audience cheering]
[kenny] and I'm not sure
if either one of these primary weapons
is still functional, chris.
And that very much favors team whiplash.
Dad, how long do we have?
[jeff] five seconds.
[chris] matt vasquez has the brazilians pinned here
using the box to his advantage.
[kenny] yeah, I mean,
this is a classic whiplash strategy right here.
Just showing their dominance with their control.
[chris] taking black dragon
for a ride across the battle box there.
Whiplash, awfully happy to play this game,
pinning the brazilians against the screws this time.
[kenny] black dragon just does not have many options.
Without an active weapon and inverted like this, chris.
[chris] meanwhile, whiplash,
one of the most versatile robots we've ever seen!
-And look at this! -[audience exclaiming]
-look at this! -[kenny] oh!
[audience cheering]
[chris] this could be a knock-out.
[kenny] that was unbelievable!
He just stood up black dragon!
[chris] and their primary weapon's still workin'!
[kenny] yes, it is!
Will whiplash attack?
[all exclaiming]
[kenny] holy smokes!
Choppin' away! What a sequence from whiplash!
[chris] it kinda feels like their just toying
with black dragon at this point.
Under 30 to go, left in this semi-final match!
[kenny] this has been a control battle
and when it comes to that category
matty vasquez is the number one guy in the world.
[chris] 15 seconds to go in the second semi-final!
Aw! Black dragon getting put up on the screws.
[chris] whiplash is trying to put him out of the box.
-He doesn't have time for a countdown. - [timer beeping]
but what a dominant performance by matty vasquez.
[buzzer buzzes]
[kenny] chris, this is drowning poetry,
absolute masterclass performance by matty vasquez.
[indistinct chatter]
[chris] well, this is our fourth judges' decision of the night.
But, kenny, if the judges watched the same fight we just did,
I think we know which way this is gonna go.
[all cheering]
kenny, we knew that whiplash was gonna be uber-aggressive.
He just never stopped.
[kenny] this was another vintage matt vasquez performance right here.
So technical, so precise.
Black dragon had its moments,
but I tell you what, when they lost that front part of their wedge,
that was kind of the beginning of the end, 'cause they lost their protection.
[chris] and whiplash took full advantage
and controlled the rest of this match.
The egg beater on black dragon wasn't doing a whole lot,
so you saw whiplash firing this bot
into the screws in the final few seconds.
If it had happened 15 seconds earlier,
it likely would have been a ko.
Instead, it goes to the judges' scorecard.
The results from the judges are in.
And the winner by unanimous decisions is...
Whiplash!
[all cheering]
[jeff] we did it.
[speaks indistinctly]
[cheering continues]
[chris] matt vasquez.
-Yeah. -You are in the finals.
-Yeah. -Sense of relief?
Yeah, a huge relief there. 100%. Yeah.
My hands were shaking so much for, like, ten minutes, right?
It's crazy. Yeah. Yeah.
Uh, the amount of control that you demonstrated
out there with your driving, matty, was a thing of beauty.
At one point, you kinda placed him on his back,
and it looked like you were gonna get a knockout.
Did you purposely kinda bump into him
to kinda keep causing damage there?
Uh, I didn't want to let the fight end that way.
I wanted... Honestly, I wasn't trying to let him,
you know, sit there the full ten seconds.
I wanted to, like, get a good shot, you know.
I was really kinda aiming for the shot I wanted,
but, no, I wasn't gonna leave him there
and, yeah, just can't end the fight like that.
You're gonna face end game in the final.
Tell us your first thought.
End game is so brutal.
They're probably the hardest-hitting robot here.
They knocked out tombstone in seconds.
They just knocked out tantrum. It looked...
Which looked like, to be, you know, the toughest robot here.
So, yeah, they're gonna hit us hard
and we're gonna try to not let them do that.
It's gonna be really tough.
-Should be a great final. -Yeah.
Matt, congratulations to you and your entire family.
-Yeah, thank you. -[all cheering]
-yeah! -Whoo-hoo!
All right, so everybody at home, take a deep breath.
[both inhale and exhale deeply]
we will do the same, because coming your way,
right after a break, it's end game,
it's whiplash.
We've reached the summit of robot combat,
where legends are made and legacies are cemented.
After two straight seasons of pure domination
from paul ventimiglia and bite force,
we will crown a new champion tonight.
And for these two teams,
it's their chance to complete the journey,
join the hallowed ranks of battlebots champions
dating back over two decades,
and raise the giant nut.
Don't go anywhere. This is battlebots.
Welcome back to battlebots.
And, kenny, the moment is finally here.
This unprecedented season comes down to just two teams,
each with visions of championship glory.
But there's only path to lifting the giant nut,
and it's through each other.
[faruq] end game!
-[chris] oh, my goodness! -[kenny] wow!
[chris] end game has done the unthinkable.
At the start of the season, if you told us
that we'd be one win away from the giant nut...
-[buzzer sounds] -yeah!
[chris] end game is on to the championship.
...We would have all said, "you're crazy."
[faruq] whiplash!
This is 100% the biggest fight of our lives.
We've been aiming for this for as long as we can remember.
[chris] there comes whiplash.
Oh!
End game's weapon is absolutely terrifying.
[chris] end game, ferocious.
[matthew] they do more damage than anyone in this whole tournament.
[chris] oh, my god!
But if you can flip them over, they're gonna launch themselves.
[chris] end game struggling to survive.
That's what we need to do in this fight.
We've been watching matt drive for so long now.
[chris] matt vasquez is an absolute beast.
[jack] we're a little bit worried about his lifter.
Our self-riding in the past has been a little questionable.
[chris] oh, could end game recover?
[jack] but hopefully, we can get one or two big hits in.
I think that will really turn the tide.
[chris] what a shock by end game.
We know we can take the hits.
[chis] oh!
It might just come down to who has the tougher robot.
[chris] whiplash with a huge box rush.
We're gonna try and face him, and let him drive to us.
[nick] the championship is way too important to go to the judges.
We want a knockout.
[matthew] we have no choice but to leave everything out there.
Give it everything we got.
[chris] this could be it.
[matthew] most important fight of our lives.
[nick] I think it's very obvious what the stakes are.
It's the giant nut.
[all cheering]
[chris] tensions in the arena are high
as we move closer to crowning a champion.
And you can only imagine the nerves swirling in the pits.
Fortunately, we've got jenny taft back there,
who moments ago, caught up with the captains
to get their final thoughts before taking the plunge.
[jenny] how you guys feeling?
We've done everything that we possibly can.
I think there's nothing left that we can do.
-[jenny] this is it. -We have good chances. It's just down to driving now.
Yeah. You got to the finals, though.
Can you guys pat yourself on the back at all
in just getting to that point?
I think... I think we can't be complacent.
I think if we were maybe a couple games back
and stopped there, we would have been happy with our performance.
But now... Now we have to win.
-We want to go all the way. -[nick] yeah
jack, nerves, in terms of driving,
-going up against matthew? -I'm not very nervous at all.
We wanna win.
[nick] we're on the track now.
-[jenny] yeah. -We want to drive now, but, you know,
if you get nervous, you're just gonna make mistakes,
so we're just gonna stay calm and do our best.
You guys have been cool, calm and collected the whole way,
and I'm sensing the same vibe, matt.
We're surprisingly calm right now.
-[jenny] yes. -Not sure why.
But, I mean, even when we lost our first fight,
for some reason, we were all very calm.
I think we were just confident that we could take on
pretty much every other robot here. And it's paid off.
Jeff, you've been a part of this world for 20 years.
What took you to this point to get to the final?
Amazing. I never thought I would be here.
And to do it with my sons, there's nothing better in the world.
-Oh. -[jeff] that's it.
-[jenny] good luck, you guys. -[all] thank you.
[audience cheering]
[chris] thank you, jenny.
Fantastic work back there all season long.
All right. The teams are about to make their way into the arena.
Kenny florian, take us through the numbers.
[kenny] well, chris, these numbers really highlight
the dichotomy between these two bots,
it's spectacular speed versus knockout power.
Whiplash has the more powerful drivetrain.
And with matty vasquez behind the wheel,
good luck landing any clean shots.
But when it comes to kinetic energy,
you can see end game's weapon has a huge advantage.
So, if jack barker can catch matty vasquez making a mistake,
which is a big 'if,'
it could be all over with one hit.
Whiplash needs to be perfect for three minutes.
Nick mabey and end game only need to be perfect for a half a second.
So many questions this season.
We're about to get our final answer.
-Are you ready? -Let's do this.
-Faruq, do your thing. -Whoo!
[audience cheering]
[faruq] ladies and gentlemen,
are you ready?
It's championship robot fighting time!
In the blue square,
according to ancient bibles, they're rich with wisdom.
You can tell how good a bot is by listing their victims.
This new zealand team first jumped on to our radar
when they buried tombstone
inside his own graveyard.
They impaled wheel bells and took out perfect phoenix.
Then beat victor soto, a bot-building genius.
New york was their next target,
as they ko'd shatter.
Then they beat tantrum and continued to climb the ladder.
Now they're in the finals.
And the giant nut is at stake.
After an entire season of leaving
dead bots in their wake.
Give it up for...
End game!
[audience cheering]
[chris] here they are, and look at the face of nick mabey.
The co-captain on the right.
Usually this team is smiling, they're full of energy.
Do they look tight to you, kenny?
[kenny] nick mabey, uh, certainly looks tight to me.
[chris] kenny, end game knows it might end up
on its head at some point tonight.
Can it self-right?
[kenny] well, you know, they do a self-righting mechanism
which if they need to use, they will try to do that.
But they need to self-right as quickly as possible.
Their best route to doing that
is with that vertical disc spin.
[chris] oh, yeah. The signature shades are on.
End game, it's game time!
[crowd cheering]
[faruq] in the red square,
ask anyone, they'll say they always stay humble.
But make no mistake,
this family came to rumble.
They've been working for years,
showing their strut.
Now the only thing left to win
is that first giant nut!
Two brothers who drive with passion and pride,
when they walk out together,
a look there says, "let's ride."
so what was said right before this final bout,
the message was simple,
mama said, "knock you all the way out!"
give it up for whiplash!
[crowd cheering]
[chris] there they are, the vasquez family.
Jeff, debbie,
the driver matt on the left, his brother jason.
They are soaking in this moment.
They have been waiting for it for years and years.
Jeff used to be a competitor,
he passed the love of robotics onto his son.
And you hear it a moment ago with jenny,
this is one proud papa.
[kenny] well, that's for sure.
But yeah, you have to think the nerves are taking over right now.
His boys are one win away from making history.
Chris, this is gonna be something special.
[audience cheering]
[audience chanting] whiplash, whiplash, whiplash...
[chris] all right, for more on this championship match up,
we bring in our bot whisperer.
All right, peter. You've waited all season for this.
Break down the championship.
[peter] ugh! I'm super anxious about this fight.
This is going to be intense. Um...
Watch for things like end game approaching with a much slower
weapon speed.
They obviously do not want to give that gyroscopic action
and open up a window for whiplash to take advantage of.
Watch for things like when they get hit
and they're being carried across the arena,
to speed up their weapon,
to help them self-right without having to use that self-righter.
They want to go head on all the time.
Now, of course, whiplash. Their big hope
is to damage the actual self-righter if they can.
And not take the big hit straight to the face.
[crowd chanting] whiplash, whiplash, whiplash...
[automated voice] robots activate.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] it is championship time.
The giant nut is up for grabs.
We will have a new champion.
Will it be from auckland, new zealand?
Or from thousand oaks, california?
[audience cheering]
we'll find out next on battlebots!
[chris] in addition to the giant nut,
each year we present giant bolts to the seasons beat in show.
This year's "most destructive" award as voted on by the judges
went to leanne cushings' valkyrie.
Scorpios won the "founders" award,
recognizing the team who's worked inside and outside the battle box
pushes this sport forward.
We presented a new award to the "season's best newcomer."
rusty!
[crowd cheering]
[chris] and finally, we handed out the award for "best design."
but not before making a fitting change.
As we all know, grant imahara passed away.
And so we have decided to rename the "best design" award
in his name. This year's recipient of the grant imahara award
for best design as voted on by the battlebot builders themselves,
goes to chomp.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] welcome back to battlebots where we are gearing up
to crown a champion here in the final fight of the season.
Representing new zealand, it is jack barker and nick mabey of end game
facing the vasquez family and whiplash.
Winner takes home the giant nut.
[automated voice] blue team, you ready?
[crowd cheering]
[automated voice] red team, you ready?
-Hit it. -Let's go!
[crowd cheering]
the scoop should go to the middle, I think...
[crowd chanting] fight! Fight! Fight! Fight...
[chris] these teams have poured thousands of hours
into perfecting these two robots.
The next three minutes will determine which one
will be called champion.
[crowd chanting] fight! Fight...
[buzzer sounds]
[chris] let the championship final begin!
Whiplash out of the gate.
Matty vasquez circling.
Jack barker holding steady with end game.
Whiplash showing respect for end game's weapon, looking for an angle.
Nice job by jack barker though,
cutting it off, not giving matty vasquez
-any opportunity. Now vasquez... -[smashes]
and he takes the shot from end game.
End game just kinda waiting for whiplash.
[kenny] oh-oh!
Whiplash jump on the screw.
Oh, lots of sparks early on.
-[kenny] oh-oh! -And end game trying to dig in right in the middle
of whiplash.
[kenny] yeah, end game trying to get to that primary weapon
and disable it, chris.
-[smashes] -looks like whiplash's vertical spinner has stuck.
At least momentarily.
[kenny] whiplash still alive though, chris.
They've got two weapons left.
Their lifter and the driving skill of matt vasquez.
[chris] we are just about a minute in now.
End game keeping that patient posture
waiting for the action to come to them.
Whiplash probing...
Good job, good job.
[chris] the giant nut hangs in the balance.
[kenny] end game trying to get underneath whiplash there.
Matt vasquez won't allow it.
[chris] whiplash inching closer
end game puts out his head and delivers a stinging shot!
Can whiplash recover?
End game stalking its prey.
Looking rock solid and ready to pounce, kenny.
[kenny] whiplash right back in there,
face not willing to surrender.
[chris] oh, there we go, whiplash,
-exposed and taking another shot. - [kenny] oh!
[chris] whiplash delivers another one.
Oh, my god! That is it!
That is it! End game is taking the giant nut.
Back overseas.
Whiplash has been knocked out of the arena.
-[kenny] wow! -[alarm blares]
[chris] an unbelievable performance
by end game driver jack barker.
[chanting] end game! End game!
[kenny] are you kidding me!
[chris] end game is your new battlebots world champion.
Kenny, whiplash just never looked comfortable.
[kenny] well, let's credit end game for that.
They controlled the center of the box,
seemed to have no trouble getting underneath whiplash.
And some of these hits here,
their weapon going right up the gut.
Then this crucial, pop in flip.
I mean, wow!
The carnage here on whiplash,
I didn't expect to see that.
What a performance from end game.
[chris] yeah, they knocked out whiplash's primary weapon
and what did matt vasquez say?
"hey, listen, that's okay.
We actually have two primary weapons."
but he never could get that lifter going.
[kenny] that's right, and you know,
they took away all their vulnerabilities.
They did not want to give up that gyroscopic movement.
They knew that whiplash will be able to get underneath them,
and they just kinda waited.
They knew that whiplash was going to be very fast.
Instead of going out there and trying to chase them,
they just pointed their weapon,
they took advantage of the moment,
got 'em right out of the battlebox
and just never let up.
[chris] that is the knockout shot
that landed the giant nut in auckland, new zealand.
Nick.
Jack.
Hi.
What just happened!
We won the giant nut!
[crowd cheering]
-oh, my god! -[exclaims]
[audience chanting] end game! End game! End game!
Hey, nick what does it mean
to be the first international competitor
to take the giant nut back to your homeland?
Oh, my god. It's so amazing.
I'm so proud of the whole team. I'm so proud of all of us.
We've worked so hard and it's paid off.
Well, nick, you interested in getting the giant nut?
[nick] yes!
All right, let's bring it in!
And presenting it to you,
the co-creator of battlebots, trey roski.
-Thank you, trey. -Thank you.
[chris] nick mabey and jack barker, congratulations.
You guys are the battlebots world champions.
Go celebrate with your team!
[all cheering]
whoo!
[chris] congratulations to team end game.
There's gonna be one heck of a party
back in auckland, new zealand.
Thanks to all the bot builders.
You had a lot to go through this season.
We can't wait to see you again next season.
Whoo!
[chris] so that's gonna wrap it up for us.
For jenny taft and faruq.
Our bot whisperer, pete.
And my man, kenny florian.
I'm chris rose, we'll see you next season
on battlebots!
Think you have what it takes
to be the next battlebots world champion?
Go to discovery.Com/battlebots
to find out how to join in on the action.