[faruq] in the 25-year history of the sport,
Excellence at battlebots has been measured in hardwar
The pride of the giant bolts...
[chris] what a destructive robot.
[faruq] ...The glory of the desperado and bounty hunter...
[chris] they have run the gauntlet.
[faruq] ...And the ultimate prize
For those seeking battlebots' immortality,
...The giant nut.
[chris] world champion.
[faruq] now, a new quest for greatness begins.
This is battlebots champions the race for the golden bolt
[robotic voice] robots, activate.
[theme music playing]
[audience cheering]
[chris] all right.
What's up?
Hey everybody and welcome to battlebots champions.
I am chris rose, joined as always by former ufc guy
And easily one of the top 30 or 40 robot combat analysts
In the state of nevada, the one and only kenny florian.
Thanks, chris.
[audience cheering]
[chris] we are moments away from kicking off the fifth
Sin city slugfest qualifier.
[kenny] and tonight, whoever comes out on top
Advances to a head-to-head tournament
With the best bots in the game.
Tombstone.
End game.
Our 2021 champion tantrum
And four other slugfest qualifying champs
In a fight for...
[in unison] the golden bolt.
[chris] tonight, a field of eight will fight
For the last spot in the golden bolt tournamen
Which will be coming your way next week.
But to grab it, they'll have to knock off a formidable gatekeeper.
It's the boss of all boss bots...
Witch doctor.
[kenny] it's the voodoo quee andrea
Or king of combat, mike,
And together, the gellatlys
One of the greatest teams in battlebots history.
[chris] what a shot by witch doctor!
[kenny] they now have two runner up finishes
For the giant nut in the last three years,
A monumental feat.
And they represent the cream of the crop here
On battlebots.
This is a nightmare matchup
For all of tonight's competitors.
[chris] with only that one spot remaining in the field of champions,
Tensions are going to be running high.
Let's check out tonight's tournament bracket.
The fire-breathing brazilia black dragon takes on a bot
That I think is the cat's meow, overhaul
It'll be an oak town showdow as oakland's hijinx takes o
The bot out of 1000 oaks, whiplash.
[kenny] we'll also see the prehistoric beast ghost raptor
Take on the patriotic punish captain shrederator.
[chris] but at first, we will see 13-year-old tyler nguyen
Try to cool down logan davis's bot
As perfect phoenix goes against subzero.
Jenny, this wonder kid is mentored by none other than ray billings.
Hey, things can get a little awkward
If perfect phoenix has a perfect run
And takes this last spot in the golden bolt tournamen
[kenny] yeah, but this is a tough opening matchup
For the kid, logan davis himself
Was once a 13-year old hanging out by the battlebox
And he's going to look to take advantage of that experience
And freeze out young master nguyen.
Hey, we could tell it's going to be a great night.
You guys ready?
[audience cheering]
Faruq, take it away.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Are you ready?
It's robot fighting time!
[audience cheering]
In the red square, from herndon, virginia.
This kid is giving up his perfect attendance record at school to be here,
So please give it up for perfect phoenix.
[chris] the prodigal son returns,
Tyler nguyen with his mentor ray billings,
And a fun little fact here, kenny.
This bot is older than tyler but it still packs a wicked punch.
[kenny] yeah, they acquired from none other than
Three-time giant nut winner paul ventimiglia.
It was originally called brutality.
Tyler and ray have rebuilt I redesigned it,
And it has risen from the ashes to become perfect phoenix.
[faruq] in the blue square from dallas, texas,
The lone launching break from the lone star state,
It's subzero.
[chris] logan davis there on the right and there's subzero,
Beautiful-looking machine.
But kenny, logan and subzer could actually
Have their own reality show 'cause they've got issues.
[kenny] yeah, this bot has been a struggle bot for a few seasons now,
But when logan has subzero dialed-in,
It can put on a flipping good show.
[audience cheering]
Subzero is a, it's pretty maneuverable and fast,
And the front flipper scrapes the ground.
It's also beaten quite a few horizontal spinners in the past,
Like malice and valkyrie.
So it's... It's probably a pretty tough opponent.
But if I get a good hit at the side of subzero,
I'll probably be able to win.
Tyler's a year older, a year wiser,
But the robot is still 15 years old.
I think if we can get over there and get a flip on them,
They don't have a self-righter.
So I think we can take that fight if we can
Just get there in time and get their blade stopped.
To be able to go all the way and win the golden bolt would be amazing.
It's legend after legend, champion after champion
To prove to the world that you are capable
Of such an amazing feat
Would just mean the world to the whole team.
[audience cheering]
[chris] remember, it's goin to take three wins
For one of these bots to dance with the devil, witch doctor,
And only one team will claim that last spot
In the golden bolt tournamen
-Go get 'em, tyler. -I'll try my best.
[audience chanting] fight! Fight! Fight!
[chris] let the bot battle begin.
And here comes subzero tryin to attack perfect phoenix.
[kenny] subzero a little out of control,
Tyler can't take advantage.
[chris] uh-oh, the blade...
Perfect phoenix has stopped and a nice little flip from subzero.
And another, kenny.
[kenny] but how about that ricochet
Perfect phoenix takes off a piece of subzero's armor
And here comes logan davis.
[chris] subzero with a hard charge at perfect phoenix
But tyler nguyen's weapon is still spinning.
Logan davis hunting for the right angle
To get another flip on the kid.
[kenny] oh, subzero raise that clipper arm
Directly into the blade of perfect phoenix there.
That was an unforced error, chris.
-Oh! -[chris] oh-oh, look at this
The teenager dismantling subzero,
Taking its another part, and another.
[kenny] perfect phoenix chewing away at the front en
Of subzero, big time damage points.
[chris] subzero...
Brady's saying, "bring it on, kid.
I'm going to use my mangled grill
To try and break your weapon."
[kenny] yeah. How about the durability on perfect phoenix.
[chris] twelve-year-old kid continuing to attack.
Logan davis looking for a wa to even the score cards up.
[kenny] this has turned into a brawl
[chris] oh... Timber!
-[kenny] whoa! -Wow!
Look out. Perfect phoenix is smoking.
Oh, he's burning up. He's burning up, just stay alive.
[chris] you can see logan davis getting encouragement
From his pit crew saying, perfect phoenix is burning u
Just make it to three minute you can win this match.
[kenny] and it looks like perfect phoenix may be havin
An issue with its primary weapon now, chris,
That blade is no longer spinning.
[chris] so will tyler nguye have to finish this match
As a push bot trying to use that wedge to control the action?
[kenny] perfect phoenix winning the ground game so far.
[chris] well, perfect phoeni now put into the corner,
But the problem is, subzero doesn't really have
A primary weapon to do any damage, kenny.
[kenny] yeah, that's right. Their lifter is in bad shape
They're trying to get it going,
But they can't get all the way to the floor,
Which is why perfect phoenix continues to win the ground game.
[chris] uh-oh, subzero, chill out.
You're overheating.
Are they getting counted out?
[kenny] they're working so hard to try and get some movement.
They only have two or three working wheels at this point
But perfect phoenix, unable to take advantage
Without function in its primary weapon.
Both of these bots are beat up.
Can they make it to the finish line?
He's not moving. He's not moving.
[referee 1] you gotta show me you got some kind of movement here.
[chris] oh, the ref now issuing a warning to perfect phoenix.
Is this match going to slip through tyler nguyen's fingers?
-You got to show me you've got control. -I'm driving.
[chris] tyler nguyen saying "hey, look, I am moving.
Subzero, moving very little.
But this one will now move to the judge's scorecards.
I don't know, how
But somehow both these robots make it the full three minutes.
And now it goes to the judge derrick young,
Jason bardis and lisa winter
Kenny, the first stretch of this match featured
A few critical missed opportunities.
[kenny] that's right, subzer out of control to start,
Showing tyler nguyen those juicy tires.
But perfect phoenix couldn't deliver its weapon
With much success.
Here's subzero with a nice flip.
Tyler very lucky to land right side up there.
Subzero couldn't follow it up though,
But eventually perfect phoen went to work.
[chris] yeah, perfect phoeni tearing into subzero's armo and tires,
And that is certainly going to play well
With the judges, you would think.
[kenny] no doubt, I thought perfect phoenix controlled
The action for the majority of this fight.
Did lose its primary weapon though,
Always a contributing facto on the scorecard.
[chris] both bots left gaspi for air down the stretch
Both perhaps saved by the bell as well.
Let's see how this goes. Here's faruq with the decision.
The results from the judges are in.
The winner by unanimous decision is...
Perfect phoenix.
[chris] tyler nguyen, welcome back to battlebots.
How do you feel out there, man?
Oh, I felt really nervous near the end,
Because one of my drive went, it was kind of...
It was kind of touch and go from there.
I mean, I think something went wrong with the battery,
But in the time that we got, we pretty much disabled subzero.
So I think it was pretty even on that regard.
Other than that, I was really excited about
How the robot performed.
We're still having some motor issues
Left over from last season,
But it's a lot better than, you know, it was.
Tyler that has to be the quickest spin up time
I've ever seen from your weapon.
You must have been happy with that.
Yeah.
Near the start of the fight, I had to pull--
No push left on the drive stick.
Since the weapon, it has so much torque
It actually spins the robot around.
And I had to avoid the box rush that I knew was coming.
So, yeah.
[kenny] so... So yeah.
[chris] great win out there tyler, congratulations.
[audience cheering]
[chris] so the mozart of machines, tyler nguyen,
Moves on to the second roun
Where he's going to face the winner of our next fight.
Coming up, can charles guan prove overhaul
Isn't over the hill
Or will the brazilians roar their way into round tw
It's black dragon versus overhaul
That is next on battlebots champions sin city slugfest.
[audience cheering]
[chris] welcome back to battlebots champions.
This is our fifth and final sin city slugfest qualifier
It'll take three wins to ear a shot at the gatekeeper,
Witch doctor.
And only one of tonight's bo will take that last spot
In the field of champions and fight for the golden bol
In next week's epic conclusion.
Up next, we've got black dragon taking on overhaul.
Both bots are already behind the glass.
Let's keep this first round moving.
-We're good. -Thank you. Good luck.
[robotic voice] red team, ready.
For great grabber bot nation justice.
[chris] overhaul captain charles guan
Proudly represents what he calls grabber bot nation.
He is disdain for spinners.
It's well-documented, kenny
[kenny] yeah, and unfortunately for him,
He's facing one of the most dangerous vertical spinners
In the game in black dragon
We'll see if overhaul can grab a win.
[robotic voice] blue team, ready.
[chris] kenny, black dragon' captain gabriel maia says
He's got an awful lot of respect for overhaul
And its longevity in the sport,
But he's not about to let that get in the way as skinning the cat.
[kenny] yeah, that's right, chris. And also kind of dark.
Black dragon needs to avoid getting tossed out of the arena, obviously
But this is one of the most aggressive teams in the bracket
And they won't shy away from a fight.
[audience cheering]
[audience chanting] fight! Fight! Fight!
[chris] overhaul, black dragon,
Winner moves on to face perfect phoenix
In the second round.
Let the bot battle begin.
Black dragon getting hung u on the battlebox floor there.
But here they are circling their prey.
[kenny] oh.
[chris] overhaul with a nice flip to start off with.
[kenny] charles guan not messing around, chris.
[chris] overhaul has sunk it's teeth into black drago in the major suplex, kenny.
[kenny] yes, scoring damage and control points,
A perfect start from team overhaul.
This is for my brothers. This is for my freedom.
[chris] yes, it is for your freedom.
Charles guan, he is loving I
[kenny] he wanted to represe for grabber bot nation,
And right now he is doing th against one of the top
Vertical spinners in the gam
[chris] look at this, kenny from the top row...
[kenny] what a move!
[chris] after finishing last season without a win,
Charles guan and team overhaul,
Giving black dragon a run for their money.
Love it. There you go.
[kenny] chris, if overhaul can keep this up,
We are looking at a massive upset.
[chris] that egg beater drum weapon
On the front of black drago is fully powered,
But it has yet to land that critical shot
That has been their hallmar over the years.
[kenny] yeah, you can see their front right fork
Has been propped up.
That's allowed overhaul to win the ground game so fa
[chris] oh, there you go. Nice little shot.
And another.
Ooh! A quick about face.
And black dragon starting to punch back, kenny.
[kenny] yeah, right on cue, the brazilians get underneath overhaul
And land some nice shots.
Charles guan staying aggressive, though.
[chris] more than half way through this fight,
And, uh-oh, overhaul has lost the tread
On its left front tire, kenn
[kenny] you can see they're losing contact
With the battlebox floor.
That's going to take away their speed, and black drago
A very fast robot, is going to take advantage of that.
[chris] trying to get to the backside
And take out more tread on the tires.
-[kenny] oh, overhaul... -[chris] now put on its side
And can it get back over on its own.
[kenny] black dragon racking up
Some serious damage points right now.
And they need them.
[chris] oh, look at black dragon right on top of the overhaul
Kenny...
Fire shot, and those things have been chewed to...
[kenny] cute little blue animal is looking
So cute right now, chris.
[chris] no, in fact, it look like an ugly duckling at this point.
[kenny] oh, the brazilians opening up a little roast du with that flamethrower.
[chris] black dragon using the rails.
Oh, look at the tires.
Oh, that is just horrible looking.
[kenny] what a comeback for black dragon here, chris
They weathered that early storm
And they are pouring it on to the grabber bot, now.
No mercy.
[chris] overhaul just gaspin for air at this point.
But black dragon won't let him get free.
Under 10 to go, somehow overhaul has made it the distance.
A tale of two halves.
It is now in the hands of the judges.
[audience cheering]
Alrighty.
Grabber bot nation.
[chris] kenny. This was like watching two completely different fights
[kenny] yeah. Overhaul came out guns blazing,
Charles guan representing for grabber bot nation,
Able to get underneath black dragon,
Bend that front fork backwar and go to work,
Landed suplex after suplex
But then things started to take off for the brazilians.
[chris] yeah. As in the trea was taken off the tires of overhaul
And at that point,
Once overhaul lost its grip on the floor, black dragon took over.
[kenny] yeah, overhaul just got bullied in the second half of the match.
I think the aggression and control categories
Are going to be very close here, chris.
It'll probably come down to damage.
You see black dragon
Really laying it on with their primary weapon
Down the stretch might be difficult for overhaul to overcome.
[chris] who's moving on to round two?
Here's faruq with the decision.
The results from the judges are in.
The winner by unanimous decision is...
Black dragon.
[whistles]
[cheering]
[audience cheering]
[chris] kenny, uh, charles guan of overhaul is one of a kind.
I can only sit here and think what would have happened had he not released black dragon?
He was just pounding away.
[kenny] this was one of the best overhaul's performances
We've seen in a while.
Charles, you did grabby bot nation proud.
[chris] so there you have it
Black dragon moves on to a second round matchup
With tyler nguyen, ray billings and perfect phoenix.
Coming up, miss mischief herself.
Hijinx spins up against the california kille whiplash.
Who'll claw their way to the next round?
Find out next on battlebots champions sin city slugfest.
[chris] the race to face witch doctor at the end of the evening continues.
Up next, it's hijinx it's whiplash.
And, kenny, let's start with jan herchenroeder in hijinx .
In their first two seasons, they have two round of 32 exits.
And while they haven't foun a signature win,
They've been on the receivin end of some signature losses
Including an epic knockout by uppercut.
And landed right in front of us.
And a detailed defeat to sawblaze. I'm sorry.
I meant they were detailed by sawblaze, who cut their tail right off.
This is a big challenge for them tonight.
Absolutely. Especially given that matt vasquez has faced
So many horizontal spinners over the course of his career.
But matt will definitely be cautious of hijinx's tail.
Driver orion beach is so goo at backing that thang up
And it could cause problems for whiplash.
[chris] alrighty.
Trip to the second round is on the line.
Both bots out of the tunnels behind the glass,
They are ready to kick off their quest to face witch doctor
At the end of the night.
[audience cheering]
[robotic voice] red team, ready.
[chris] jen herchenroeder surveying the battlebox.
She needs this win to finally prove hijinx
Can hang with the best in the entire sport.
[kenny] and more than that, to prove they are a real threat for the golden bolt.
They've upgraded their weapo upgraded their armor.
Driver orion beach knows
It's going to take a superhuman effort to outdrive matt vasquez.
[robotic voice] blue team, ready.
[chris] this team has come so close to the giant nut.
But hey, the golden bolt
Would be one hell of a consolation prize, kenn
[kenny] whiplash has established itself
As the premiere control bot in the sport.
They've added a huge c-shaped front wedge to jam up hijinx's weapon
And stick to them like gum on a bus bench.
[audience chanting] fight! Fight! Fight!
[chris] hijinx versus whiplash,
Trying to take the first ste to facing the gatekeeper, witch doctor.
Let the bot battle begin!
Whiplash on a charge and ends up on top of hijinx
Nice view.
[kenny] well, chris, we saw hijinx come out of the bot leading with their tail.
This is why, controlling whiplash, I love the start here.
[chris] yeah. Trying to get into those screws to the upper deck,
Whiplash finds its way free.
[kenny] whiplash trying to answer, but can't find the right attack angle.
[chris] nice little reversa there by matty vasquez,
One of the best drivers in the biz.
[kenny] hijinx using that tail like a stiff arm. Oh!
[chris] matty vasquez says, "screw your stiff arm.
This ain't football."
Great move by the 22 year-ol
Oh, the pulverizer gets a hold of whiplash and holds it in place.
Now can hijinx get over there in time?
No.
[kenny] hijinx trying to play it safe here.
But if you give matt vasque an inch, he'll take a mile.
[chris] vasquez and whiplas trying to find the perfect angle on hijinx
And use that lifter.
You are better in battlebot than whiplash at doing that
Nice shot.
Follows it up with another nice jab, and now trying to utilize the upper deck.
And how about the rails.
[kenny] chris, not many drivers
Can pull off the reversal move, matt vasquez just did.
And look at him use that lifter arm to keep hijinx pinned here.
He's one of the best for a reason.
[chris] hijinx's driver orion beach breaks free
And delivers a nice shot to whiplash.
It looks like that weapon has slowed down on hijinx, at least momentarily.
[kenny] hijinx cannot win th without their weapon,
They need to get that thing going, chris.
[chris] well, whiplash givin them no time to do that,
Flipping hijinxs over and back again.
Now try to get it up over the rails.
Oh, look at jen herchenroede fired up.
[kenny] I think hijinx was starting to get their weapon moving,
But matt vasquez isn't giving them any time to breathe.
[chris] this is the danger zone.
Right up on the screws in front of the three judge
Whiplash, trying to prove his point.
Oh, the vasquez family thrilled with that maneuver
[kenny] yeah, whiplash doing what whiplash does best right now.
While hijinx has no chance of getting out of there, unless matt vasquez lets the
[chris] and look at jason bardis, one of the three judges,
Standing up to get a closer look at the work of whiplash
Orion beach finds a lane, gets that weapon spun up.
Nice jab there.
What an incredible driving match we have, kenny
[kenny] yeah, you could see the front of whiplash
Is getting pretty banged up again.
Orion beach has been using that tail phenomenally in this fight.
Time is running out, though
[chris] whoa. The kill saws get in on the action under whiplash.
Under 10 to go.
This one is going to go the distance.
[buzzer ringing]
[audience cheering]
Great job, nice.
Everything worked. Isn't that awesome? I love it.
[chris] hey, both sides super excited with the way their robots performed.
But for the third straight fight,
This one will be decided by the judges.
Kenny, right at the beginnin
Hijinx had whiplash where it wanted.
[kenny] yeah. Orion beach leading with that tail and at the start of the figh
I thought that really threw matt vasquez off.
Hijinx got underneath, whiplash landed some shots
And really didn't give whiplash a window to attack
[chris] but once that 48-inch bar stopped spinning
It was like there was blood in the water
And matty vasquez could smell it.
Whiplash went to work,
And few robots in the sport are better at controlling the tempo, kenny.
[kenny] yeah. Matt, impressive as always,
When it comes to the contro and aggression category.
Hijinx landed a ton of shots but I'm not sure any of the did any meaningful damage.
Great tactical fight, excellent driving on both sides.
[chris] faruq, talk to us.
The results from the judges are in.
The winner by unanimous decision is...
Whiplash.
Great job. Great job.
We tried.
[chris] matty vasquez, congratulations.
Great job.
Were you a little worried about that bar that they had on their robot?
Yeah, their bar is scary, but I was more nervous about that little tail they have,
Because when we run that big playa,
We're like a quarter inch off the ground.
So we have no ground game.
We're just all about taking the big hits. And they're super clever.
They have a little wedge on their tail on the back.
It sort of stabilizes them
And they also use it to get under us, high center us a few times.
And it was awesome what they did in the very beginning.
They scooped me up, high-centered me,
And they spun up their weapon, which was genius.
But luckily, I just drove away and aimed for their weapon.
Believe it or not, I wanted to aim for their weapon, stop their weapon,
Push them around, and it worked, barely.
Yeah.
It was a great win.
What would it mean for your team to get the golden bolt?
Oh, getting the golden bolt would be awesome. Like, at this point.
I love this tournament because I just feel like we're having fun
And if we get there, like, it'll be awesome.
-Yeah. -But it's...
-We're having a lot of fun so far. -Yeah.
Yeah.
[chris] hey, another great performance, matt. Congratulations.
You're on to the next round
-Yeah, thank you. -Thank you.
[chris] kenny, here's the great thing about having matty vasquez
Not only as your captain, but your driver as well,
It seems like he could work any angle he wants to in there.
[kenny] absolutely. He was on point here.
But at the same time, I thin he showed a lot of respect to hijinx,
Really had to adapt and get around it,
But in the end, matt vasquez, too good.
[chris] up next, will ghost raptor fly captain shrederat at half mast
Or will the captain put his john hancock
On ghost raptor's death certificate?
That fight and more, coming on battlebots champions sin city slugfest.
[chris] we are back on battlebots champions sin city slugfest
And hide your frogs and doll
Because the voodoo duo of andrea and mike gellatly
They're in the building back there in the pits.
They're getting witch doctor dialed in
For their golden bolt qualifying match
Coming up later this evening
[kenny] this team is still coming to terms
With its second runner up finish for the giant nut.
They spent much of that championship bout
With tantrum like a wounded animal
Struggling to get anything going.
Oh, and I think that may have hurt
Witch doctor, chris, they are not moving well.
I speak from experience when I say that
Losing a title fight does a number on your competitive spirit.
A lot of squads may call it a wrap after such a disappointing loss,
Not witch doctor.
They are here for payback and they want that golden bolt.
Up next, two great veterans in this sport,
Chuck pitzer of ghost raptor, brian nave of captain shrederator.
For ghost raptor, they had a rough 2021 seaso
Missing out on the world championship tournament
And they were on the receiving end
Of one of the biggest shots we have ever seen, courtesy of cobalt.
Big question, can they turn things around here against captain shrederator, kenny?
[kenny] well, chris, brian nave led his team to a number 27 seed
But got knocked out of the tournament by rotator
And since then, brian's questioned his team' focus back in the pits.
Rumor has it they didn't configure the bo
The way brian wanted for the fight,
So you got to think ghost raptor has an opening to steal a win.
The run to face witch doctor at the end of the night for these two starts right now.
Faruq.
[audience cheering]
[faruq] in the red square, from san jose, california,
The scariest thing to escape jurassic park, it's ghost raptor.
[chris] here comes chuck pitzer and ghost rapto
Okay, a little forward roll from the punk rocker.
[kenny] pretty good form from chuck.
Not gonna lie.
Take a look at those front fork wedgelets on ghost raptor.
Chuck's definitely going to focus
On getting underneath captain shrederator.
Keeping it off balance and landing big shots with that horizontal spinner
[faruq] in the blue square, from ormond beach, florida,
These colors don't run,
They spin around really fast and kill robots,
Give it up for captain shrederator.
[audience cheering]
[chris] oh, captain, my captain.
There's the man, brian nave leading on his crew and, kenny,
Something tells me those sunglasses
Aren't because it's too bright in here.
[kenny] well, listen, his te wouldn't be the first to wak up with a vegas hangover,
And it won't be the last.
As for captain shrederator, they're going with their classic shell,
And we both know their strategy.
[kenny and chris] spin it to win.
So one thing that's, you know,
These-- these full body spinners are really susceptible to,
It's like a low scoop.
So the idea is that, you know,
If you can get their body off the ground
And get their wheels off the ground,
Then you can just push them wherever you want to.
So to make it into the golden bolt would be a big deal.
If we could actually manage to think our way through it,
And we would have to really think our way through it.
The bot is not built to withstand every robot
That's lined up against us, but if we did that,
That would be totally euphoric
And I would love to bring that home to the team.
Sin city slugfest, here we go.
First opponent's going to be ghost raptor.
He doesn't have a good reputation or reliability,
But neither do we,
So we're going to see who breaks first.
I vote for them because if he drives it right, we could be in trouble.
If he drives it wrong, he's dead.
Unfortunately, in sin city,
There's things for the boys to do at night,
So they didn't get in time to prepare the body and frame
That I wanted to run against him.
So we got to run our standard shell,
But we'll be all right.
[robotic voice] robots, activate.
[chris] for more on this matchup,
Let's head on over to the third member of our broadcast team,
The bot whisperer, pete abrahamson.
What do you got here, pete?
[pete] well, kenny mentione those forks on ghost raptors
Chuck is hoping that it'll be enough to win the low ground.
So he's ditched the flipper in favor of a heavier weapon
Against a full body spinner we'll see if that configuration pays off,
But I have my doubts, guys.
[chris] thank you very much, pete.
Can ghost raptor take down the captain
And kick start a run here in sin city
Or will brian nave squad sober up in time for a clutch k.O.?
For one of these veterans,
A shot of the golden bolt is about to go up in smoke.
The fight, when battlebots champions continues.
[audience cheering]
[chris] we are back on battlebots champions, sin city slugfest.
Ghost raptor and captain shrederator are ready
To slug it out in this final first round matchup.
Winner moves one step closer to tonight's gatekeeper...
Witch doctor.
[audience cheering]
[audience chanting] fight! Fight! Fight!
[chris] let the bot battle begin.
Ghost raptor on the charge, trying to get there before shrederator can spin.
[kenny] nice evasive maneuvers from captain shrederator there.
[chris] ghost raptor with a full court press,
Chuck woods with action,
The shrederator rams itself into the upper deck.
[kenny] yeah, they're driving a little bit out of control here.
[chris] driving like maybe they did party a bit too much last night.
[kenny laughs]
[chris] shrederator testing that front end of ghost raptor.
Chuck pitzer's weapon is up to speed and looking to make some contact here.
Whoa! My goodness.
Shrederator detaches ghost raptors' primary weapon from its base.
Hide the children.
This fight is now r rated.
That is flat out unbelievable, kenny.
[kenny] gruesome collision there for ghost raptor.
[chris] the pulverizer getting involved now.
Shrederator looking for space to spin up.
Ghost raptors still in for- oh! Chuck pitzer's bot's a little toasty.
Somebody grab my oven mitts
[kenny] friendly fire from the flamethrower.
But check out captain shrederator
Lost a tooth in the railing of the upper deck.
[chris] unbelievable.
You can see brian nave's bo start to wobble a little bit
It's off balance now.
And apparently, just anothe stroll in the park for ghost raptor,
Which is now engulfed in flames but doesn't seem to care.
[kenny] oh, my goodness.
Looks like they're on a kamikaze missio
Just trying to ram their flaming robot
Right into captain shrederator.
[chris] ghost raptor workin without a primary weapon,
But has been extremely aggressive since the opening bell.
Now trying to work shrederat into that short corner. Kenn
[kenny] yeah, it looks like that fire has died down
And team shrederator needs to be careful here, chris.
Chuck pitzer has dictated the action for most of this match.
Brian nave can't assume he h this fight in the bag just because of that one big hit
[chris] ghost raptor dropping the pulverizer now
Whoo! Yeah!
[chris] and shrederator is already like a pizza,
How much more flat he's gonna make them, kenny
[kenny] looks like he wants a torch shrederator over a crepe.
[chris] boy, that pulverize working overtime.
And finally, shrederator escapes the corner.
[kenny] nice shot by captain shrederator
And here comes some life from the full body spinner.
[chris] that front wedge on ghost raptor has been very effective,
But shrederator attacking the battlebox here,
Almost looks like it wants to end this fight early.
[kenny] shrederator still having some control issues
Kind of bouncing off the battlebox this whole fight.
[chris] nice shot there, get shrederator into the ai and has it off kilter.
20 seconds remaining.
[kenny] I'll tell you what, chris, ghost raptor
Is going to lose the damage category,
But chuck pitzer has done a fantastic job
Stuffing the stat sheet in the control and aggression columns.
[chris] final few seconds.
We've had flying metal, balls of fire,
And now we're going to get a judge's decision
As this one will go the distance.
[audience cheering]
[chris] kenny, ghost raptor was the aggressor to start
Getting all up in captain shrederator's business.
But after this massive collision that sent
Ghost raptor's primary weapo flying out of the box,
It certainly looked like shr was going to cruise to victory.
[kenny] what a shot. Yeah.
Shrederator scoring huge damage points there,
But credit to ghost raptor, unfazed,
Kept up that aggression and continued to attack
Even while on fire.
[chris] yeah, the fans treat to a bonfire, courtesy of ghost raptor,
Who did a great job of using the battlebox to its advantage,
Pushing shrederator into the short corner,
Even getting the pulverizer involved.
Will it be enough to get the win, though?
[kenny] this is a tough call
Very difficult to overcome losing your primary weapon in this sport.
But shrederator really fade in the back half of this fight,
Chuck, never let up a lot on the line here
For both of these guys.
[chris] big decision coming your way. Here is faruq.
The results from the judges are in.
The winner by unanimous decision is...
Ghost raptor.
[indistinct chatter]
Hey, chuck. How does it feel to finally get that w?
It feels good.
It's been a while, I admit.
Yeah, but if I was going to win anything,
I'd like to do it like that.
I lose my spinner. Yeah, I was on fire, yeah.
It was great.
[kenny] hey, and going-going the full three minutes is always good.
It was an excellent fight. What was your strategy here?
Well, we were trying to just get them in that far corner
Where we could actually get a little hammer action on them.
-Okay. -I knew I couldn't really do much to its shell.
You can see that as soon as I hit it really hard,
That actually damaged myself more than I damaged him.
So it was just try to get a couple of pops off the top and try to control them.
[chris] chuck, you mentione losing that blade.
Were you worried at all?
Yeah, every time it worries me. It never changes.
[chris] chuck, you're on to the second roun nicely done.
[audience cheering]
This is great news
For chuck pitzer and ghost raptor.
I mean, you could see how much this means to him, man.
This was huge. He was so excited.
[kenny] I think ghost raptor aggression in this fight was the difference.
For brian nave, I'm sure he's hoping his team
Will handle the bright light of vegas a little better next time.
[chris] all right.
So the first round is now in the books
And we are speeding toward our golden bolt qualifier
With witch doctor.
And at the end of the night one bot is going to claim
That final spot in the field of champions
Where they will compete for the golden bolt.
Coming up, we're going full harry potter as a phoen
And a dragon square off, it's perfect phoenix
And black dragon when battlebots champions sin city slugfest returns.
[audience cheering]
[chris] we continue on battlebots champions,
The sin city slugfest on to the next round
With perfect phoenix taking on black dragon.
And how about tyler nguyen getting it done in his first match,
He was wheeling and dealing against subzero
Enroute to a unanimous decision victory,
But those three minutes certainly took their toll, kenny.
We always talk about how challenging these slugfests are
With their quick turnarounds
[kenny] yeah, we honestly se some superhuman efforts
Back in the pits.
This was ray billings earlie the bot looking beat up,
Having some discussions about the weapon.
And just moments ago there's perfect phoenix in the test box,
Spinning up with a notably smaller blade
After all that damage they sustained.
Amazing work by this squad
Getting perfect phoenix read for this fight.
[chris] and speaking of amazing,
How about the brazilian squa black dragon?
They are so tough and they are a team
That could run the table, win four fights in one night easily.
[kenny] absolutely. This is what they're built for.
They are such a tough robot
We've already seen them win a similar event
In the desperado back in 201
Gabriel maia is leading this team confidently.
They're all so relaxed, dancing, soaking it all in.
This is a matchup they feel they should win.
And I'm not expecting any kids gloves here
Against tyler nguyen and perfect phoenix.
This fight should be explosive.
Absolutely. Let's check it out, faruq.
[faruq] in the red square, from herndon, virginia.
He might seem like a nice kid,
But he's here to steal your robot's lunch money
And make it eat dirt.
It's perfect phoenix!
[audience cheering]
[chris] young tyler nguyen, his consiglieri ray billings
The main duo looking to knock off the big bad black dragon.
What do you think of their chances, kenny?
[kenny] well, you saw the test box,
This shorter bar spins up like lightning.
But next to black dragon, it's going to look like a fly swatter.
If tyler can win the low ground and hit them from underneath
That'll be his best shot to score damage points.
[faruq] in the blue square, from minas gerais, brazil,
The exterminator from south of the equator,
It's black dragon.
[chris] even with bots like whiplash and witch doct in the bracket,
It's hard not to consider black dragon the favorite tonight.
This is an all-star team with a monster bot.
[kenny] that egg beater dru
Is always causing problems for their opponents.
And, you know, you look ove at their driver's deck
And they're having the time of their lives
Ripping you to shreds.
Easy to get psyched out against black dragon.
I had like a really big rebuild from subzero.
We had to make a lot of compromises,
Like making weapon bar a shorter version
Because one of our motors burned out.
So we have to run with one motor,
Since the gearbox was kind of shot too,
We couldn't really handle a big bar on the robot,
Which made the robot a whopping 169 pounds.
It means that we're really fast.
We're basically like, um, a race car, I'd say.
A formula one race car versus a monster truck.
Tyler is a good driver.
We know them from all their competitions, driving beater weights.
So I know he's a good driver and we respect them a lot.
We try to get some plates in our front wedge
To deflect the blade attack,
So, protected some parts of the robot
So the blade won't affect my structure.
So I can't guarantee you it'll be a great fight.
[speaking portuguese]
Yeah, I'll do it.
[chris] black dragon, perfect phoenix,
For one of these bots a sho at the golden bolt tournamen ends here.
Let the bot battle begin.
And here comes black dragon breathing fire
Kenny, look at the size disparity.
[screams]
Oh, a big piece of perfect phoenix is gone.
Oh.
Kenny, what... What did you say about the weight?
[kenny] yeah. Weight matters
And not having a motor really matters.
They are getting bullied in there.
Unbelievable.
[chris] well, that blade is spinning though on perfect phoenix.
And... And it looks like the robot's still working.
[kenny] yeah, but black dragon,
One of the toughest robots in the world,
Is going to take more than little blade to take it out,
And already perfect phoenix.
You gotta show me, you can do something more than that.
-I'm not seeing any control -[kenny] ...In some trouble, chris.
[chris] yeah, a little bit of a crab walk he kind of staying in place
Black dragon's going to back up and see if he can do anythin
Look at tyler nguyen. Oh, he's got it going.
-Nice. -[kenny] got it going.
[chris] maybe not, maybe not so nice.
[kenny] that almost hit the ceiling.
[chris] oh, my god. That is it.
The blade's dead and smokin
And why not, let's heat that baby up.
-[referee 2] ten, nine... -[kenny] wow.
[referee] eight, seven, six,
Five, four, three, two, one.
That's a knockout.
[chris] wow.
Whoa! We're back. We're back.
[chris] well, kenny.
Let's first get tyler nguye some credit.
He's got a tough bot.
[kenny] I'm honestly surpris perfect phoenix
Is still in one piece, kind of.
[chris] I'm surprised it's not somewhere in orbit
Look at this shot.
[kenny] that is unreal.
Wow. I'm not even sure our cameras tilt that high.
We may need to invest in a drone, chris,
That weight disparity, clearly the x factor here,
Flawless performance from black dragon.
[chris] as the band creed once said,
"can you take me higher?"
Black dragon says, "yes. Yes, we can."
-[chris] hey, gabriel. -Whoa.
[chris] dude your...
Your team is so fired up about that last shot.
How much fun was it to set a robot 25 feet into the air?
It was crazy.
It was one of the best fights of black dragon in this season.
So, yeah, I'm so nervous. It was awesome.
The guys are, these guys are awesome.
We have been working so good.
Whoa. I'm thankful for that.
Thank you, tyler. You got a great fight.
But, you know, this time the dragon got it.
Congratulations. We'll see you in the finals.
-Good job. -Thank you. Come on.
-[chris] hello, tyler. -Hi.
How you doing, bud?
-Well, it was a nice fight. -Yeah?
What'd you think about your robot going 25 feet in the air?
Well, I mean, it was like 80 pounds underweight,
So it's probably like double the distance,
Made for some nice action.
Even though we had a weight disparity, I think we...
We still kind of put up a good fight,
Even though we got knocked out and tossed.
[chris] yes.
[all cheering]
You're the best, tyler. Thanks, man.
[audience cheering]
Nice fight.
But, kenny, sometimes in fights,
You got to try and figure out, "what, wait, where did it go wrong?
What happened?" all right. Nope.
I know where this one went.
[kenny] yeah, listen, I don't have the stats here
With me to back this up,
But usually when you scrape the ceiling twice,
The fight's not going to go your way.
This one wasn't close, but it was a lot of fun.
[chris] great showing here from tyler nguyen,
And he's starting to get up there in age.
But we think he has at leas a few good years left in it
So it is black dragon moving on to the third round
And hey, up next, matty vasquez's whiplash
Attempts to tame chuck pitze and ghost raptor.
Will whiplash crackdown and take control
Or is he dino chow?
Find out next on battlebots champions sin city slugfest.
[audience cheering]
[chris] welcome back to the fifth
And final sin city slugfest qualifier here on battlebots champions.
And we are now just one week away
From the golden bolt tournament.
Only one spot in the field remains unclaimed,
And we're settling that tonight.
Black dragon has already secured their place in the third round.
Whiplash and ghost raptor are nipping at their heels.
And for all three of the remaining contenders
Their road into the golden bolt tournament
Is currently blocked by our final gatekeeper,
Witch doctor.
Witch doctor is an incredible robot, the team is very good.
[gabriel] witch doctor is a legend, like they got an nice bot.
Really powerful bot.
[chris] oh, huge hit by witch doctor.
Are you kidding me? What a shot.
[kenny] this is going to be over, chris.
Way back a few seasons ago, overhaul actually
Did face witch doctor, and it didn't end well.
[kenny] there goes overhaul
Did amazing with the bounties, we made it all the way to face witch doctor,
And that thing is one heck of a can opener
[kenny] oh! And yeah, subzer he is not moving.
We fought witch doctor in the past, and we've lost
The one time we fought them
[chris] giving whiplash the taste of its own medicin
Witch doctor with an impressive display of power,
A force and of course voodoo...
We live robots all the time
To consider ourselves among these battlebots legends
That we watch on tv and we root for is a real honor
And we hope to prove we belong there.
[audience cheering]
[chris] okay.
Ghost raptor and whiplash are out of the tunnels and behind the glass.
Let's jump right into this second round matchup.
It's a once in a lifetime opportunity.
I just hope I have a chance to move.
He doesn't just own me and throw me under the spike strips.
[robotic voice] red team, ready.
[chris] kenny, ghost raptor lost its weapon in its first fight
And still pulled off the decision victory.
I'm guessing if chuck loses it against an elite bot like whiplash,
It'll be game over.
[kenny] yeah, whiplash won't help you out by destroying itself,
So dealing damage with that blade is crucial.
Also, ghost raptor can't self-right.
Matt got a lot of flips in that first round against hijinx,
More of the same could send chuck packing.
[robotic voice] blue team, ready
You.
[chris] kenny, you mentione those flips by matty vasquez
He's been working that spatula flipper
Like he's gordon ramsay.
[kenny] yeah, and if he find the right angle here,
Ghost raptor might end up looking like a pancak
And, chris, check out that new plow on whiplash.
Matt is like a pro golfer.
He's got a wedge for every situation.
[chris] for more on whiplash let's head on back over
To the bot whisperer.
Sock it to us, peter.
Hey, kenny, just as you were saying earlier
About the wedge on the front of whiplash.
One of the things he has is that specific shape.
Earlier against hijinx, we saw a different one.
It's kind of like a c, and it's, they're designed
To stop horizontal from being able to climb up
And out, since ghost raptors blade chops down,
Matt has ditched the c configuration
In favor of his largest plo so he can pummel their weapo
[chris] the wizard, matty vasquez,
Always playing chess with his opponents.
Here we go.
[audience cheering]
[chris] chuck pitzer and ghost raptor,
Matty vasquez and whiplash,
The third round and a date with black dragon awaits the winner.
[audience chanting] fight! Fight! Fight!
[chris] let the bot battle begin.
Both bots quick out of the squares,
Whiplash getting underneath ghost raptor
Taking it for a ride on that front plow.
Ghost raptor caught like a fly in the web.
Oh, whiplash feeds it into the screws.
[kenny] chuck pitzer. Meet mattie vasquez.
[chris] whiplash inverting ghost raptor.
[indistinct chatter]
[chris] that is going to be a major problem.
[kenny] only matt vasquez can place a bot exactly
Where he needs to just in the perfect spot on the battlebox.
[referee 1] ten, nine, eight, seven...
[chris] and chuck pitzer could just say, "hey, good job, bro."
[referee 1] ...Four, three, two, one.
[chris] "nothing we can do.
Knock out!
[kenny] all in a day's work for whiplash.
[chris] pay attention.
Matt vasquez is teaching a master class in precision
[kenny] yeah, absolutely. Gets underneath so well.
Drives him right over to the screws,
Exactly where he needs to get the flip going,
Has the screws do some damage, gets him on its side,
Puts ghost raptor in time out.
[chris] so matty vasquez and team whiplash
Race back to the pits.
They've got to be ecstatic getting such a quick win.
Again, I told you, the biggest weapon,
The most dangerous weapon with whiplash is matt vasquez.
[chris] and now he's got a rematch with black dragon.
Remember, a few seasons ago these two met
In the semifinals of the wor championship tournament.
We'll see if the brazilians can get some payback.
Don't go anywhere.
We are super excited, it's battlebots champions sin city slugfest.
[audience cheering]
[chris] we are back on battlebots.
It is the final of the witch doctor bracket,
Whiplash taking on black dragon.
Over the break, these two squads
Were putting the finishing touches on their robots.
Four fights between them already here tonight
And the biggest one of them all still to come at the end of the evening,
Going to be burning the midnight oil back there in the pits.
Okay, let's start with whiplash.
Vasquez, singularly focused
Always thinking ahead, taking on black dragon,
Which has got him all over the place, but they're kind of really fun.
What do you have your eye on tonight?
Yeah, definitely a contrast of style.
Whiplash has already taken down two horizontal spinners tonight.
If it can outlast the vertical spinner of black dragon
And then take down witch doctor,
I'd call that a grand slam.
But matt can't look too far ahead.
The brazilians are fearless
They always want to be the aggressor.
Even with so much on the line here,
They won't take their foot off the gas.
[chris] we'll see if they ca keep whiplash's foot off their neck.
Let's get to it. Faruq.
[faruq] in the red square,
He'll twist you, crack you and make you say ouch.
This bot is worse for your back than sleeping on the couch.
It'll cause you problems of the spinal type,
Make no bones about it, this will be your final fight.
It's whiplash!
[chris] whiplash with wins over hijinx and ghost rapto already tonight.
You know, in terms of wins and losses,
This is statistically one of the top bots
In the history of the sport, kenny.
[kenny] listen, whiplash isn't always sexy, but it's damn effective.
You know this thing better than anyone, chris.
Defense wins championships.
[faruq] in the blue square, this dude's torched his way through every other dragon.
Flew up with a... [grunts]
And did some body-bagging.
He made puff pass away and left to toothless breathless,
Made drogon be gone with his powerful death fist,
Made ghidorah hit the floor when he let the flames rip,
He even killed piff and took over his show on the strip, it's black dragon.
[chris] wow faruq the vegas magician
Fellow dragon of the magic variety,
Kenny, you just saw him in our crowd tonight,
He is a huge battlebots fan
And it's great to have him along for the ride.
You can tell, this crowd is fired up, kenny, and so is black dragon.
[kenny] these guys are just nonstop partying all the tim dancing backstage,
Dancing before the fight, dancing after the fight, and team's duck.
Yeah, so our last match went super smooth,
But going into our next match,
It's going to be a bit more difficult.
This fight, really quick turnaround.
We just fought ghost raptor, we're going straight into fighting black dragon.
Luckily, we didn't really take any damage as far as we know against ghost raptor.
So, we're just going to take off the big plow.
We're going to put on a new configuration
Meant for vertical spinners like black dragon.
So, I think we'll be able to get it ready in time.
I think we've got a good plan.
And I think we have a really good shot at taking that golden bolt.
Whiplash is a totally controlling bot.
He tries to get underneath us all the time.
Matthew is a good driver, everybody knows that
But we had some adjustments for this season
That we are confident.
I have my bot faster.
I have new front wedges.
We're here to fight the best. We're here for the golden bolt.
[audience cheering]
[audience chanting] fight! Fight! Fight!
[chris] massive moment here
Will it be black dragon or whiplash
Taking on witch doctor in the golden bolt qualifier
Let the bot battle begin.
Whiplash with the first hit the first flip,
And the first smash into the rails.
[kenny] yeah, that fork setup working out well for them so far.
[chris] until then, got caug in the kill saw slits.
There you go. Another nice flip by whiplas
Uh-oh.
[kenny] there's a big hit.
Whoa!
[chris] like that one.
[kenny] I think a belt just came off black dragon, chris
[chris] matt vasquez having his way with the brazilians
In the early going here, kenny.
[kenny] yeah, he's like a great chess player,
Forcing his opponents where he wants them to be.
[chris] oh, man.
Problems here.
Black dragon's stuck in the kill saw slot.
And matty vasquez's just going to stay patient befor bullying the brazilians agai
Oh, yeah.
Let's take it into the rails
Now let's go for upper deck
Trying to flip him on to the upper deck.
[kenny] oh, suplex from whiplash.
They're gonna put you right about there.
[chris] but can't keep it up
Black dragon has got to get away from whiplash and has to flip itself over
It can drive and burn it, but man, that's not the way he wants to work.
[kenny] yeah. One thing you can't expect to do
Is win the control battle against matt vasquez and team whiplash.
[chris] whiplash has got under him again
And taking him for a ride and back to the upper deck.
Oh, just got short.
But now black dragon back right side up, kenny.
[kenny] good job by black dragon trading space now to spin up.
Not sure how much power their weapon has without that belt though.
[chris] whiplash has contro yet again,
Trying to use that lifter to take black dragon wherever he wants.
[kenny] yeah, and I think black dragon has to stop squaring up whiplash,
Just too low.
[chris] kenny, black dragon has not nailed whiplash at all.
-Oh. -[kenny laughs]
[chris] there's a nail right into the screws of the upper deck.
Oh, yeah. Get up there.
Get up! Whoa! Hey, now.
Under a minute to go.
That means the kill saws are active.
[kenny] time is running out here for black dragon to score damage points, chri
Big hole to climb out of.
Black dragon for the first time had a little bit of control
Now...
Oh, boy.
Gets flipped over again by whiplash.
Closing in on 30 to go.
Black dragon stuck again on the slits of the kill saw
[kenny] matt vasquez showing us exactly how you slay a dragon.
[chris] whiplash just totally in control of this fight, kenny.
[kenny] yeah, in these firs three fights whiplash has be as dominant as any team
During these slugfests.
The control for matt vasque has just been next level.
[chris] this one is going to go the distance
But whiplash in total contro for the full three minutes in this.
[audience cheering]
Nice. Great job.
[chris] a quintessential whiplash fight here,
But the judges will decide
Which one of these bots move on to face witch doctor.
Well, kenny, just know black dragon was hungry
To avenge that 2019 semi-final loss to whiplash,
But this was deja vu for the brazilians.
[kenny] yeah, we've definite seen this movie before.
Matt vasquez getting underneath his opponent
And taking them wherever he wants inside the battlebox.
[chris] and, you know, since the addition of the upper deck,
I don't think any team has been able to use it as well as whiplash.
[kenny] how about this move
Slotting the lifter right into black dragon's weapon hold and upending it.
World class stuff right there for matt.
[chris] pure domination from whiplash.
Here's faruq with the result
The results from the judges are in.
The winner by unanimous decision is...
Whiplash!
[audience cheering]
Good job matty.
Matty, congratulations to you and team whiplash.
Yeah, thank you.
Talk about total dominance.
It looked like you did exactly what you wanted throughout this entire match.
Yeah. I mean, in a fight like this in the very beginning,
You kind of just got to test the waters
And see how careful you need to be.
And then once you see if you're able to get under him
And, you know, get some lifts on him,
Then you could start really going crazy and doing all the stuff you want to do.
So yeah, luckily things went well. Overall, we were great.
I feel like this is the first fight I had the robot running exactly how I wanted it to.
So, I'm really happy about that and I think it's at the perfect time.
Yeah.
In the 2020 season, you lost in the final, of course, to endgame.
But now you have a chance to redeem yourself.
You'll be playing witch doctor in the next round
And maybe moving on for a chance to play for the golden bolt.
How exciting is that for you?
I am so excited. It's like, it's what we're here for.
We want to fight all the best people.
Black dragon, they are one of the best teams, without a doubt.
Witch doctor, one of the best teams without a doubt.
-So it's like... -Yeah.
Yeah, that's why we are here.
Bring it on.
Bring 'em on.
Well, congratulations.
You're moving on to the next round.
We will see you shortly.
Thank you.
[chris] so, a great run tonight by black dragon end at the lifter of whiplash.
That means we are all system go for our final matchup.
Remember, there's only one spot left
In the golden bolt tournamen
Can whiplash put the cherry on top of their run and tak down the final gatekeeper?
Or will it be witch doctor joining the field of champions?
That is next on battlebots champions sin city slugfest.
[kenny] oh, that's gonna hur
It'll be a long night in the pits after that one.
[chris] this is a tired team you could see it on the face
[kenny] these guys look so tired.
They look exhausted.
The whole gang's tired.
And it takes a toll.
We wake up at eight. We go to till 12.
It gets quite exhausting.
I'm getting tired. I need to take a nap.
I was just asleep. I wasn't doing anything important.
I sleep under tables. I sleep on couches. I sleep in the cars.
[gary] stay in the pits till midnight.
You need to come back early the next morning, you get even more sleep-deprived and tired.
And so I did not get much sleep.
I get grumpy if I don't get my sleep.
It's hard controlling your emotions.
This isn't my first rodeo.
Jamison go, an absolute savage tonight.
Go!
Slept like a baby.
[chris] we are back on battlebots champions.
It is time right now for the golden bolt qualifier.
It is a tasty treat
Because we have each of the last three runners up to the giant nut.
In 2019, it was witch doctor in 2020, it was whiplash.
In 2021, it was witch docto yet again.
And for both of these legendary bots,
It's a chance to prove, you know what?
Maybe we fell a little bit short of winning the giant nut,
But we can get our hands on the golden bolt.
[kenny] yeah, that's right. And this is how competitive it's been.
These robots could be in the finals of the golden bolt.
I mean, two tremendous robots, two tremendous teams here.
For whiplash, it's been the spinner kille here tonight,
Manhandling hijinx, ghost raptor and black drago
And not only is whiplash the best control bot in the sport,
But they have a chance to be the only control bot in the field of champions
If they can get past witch doctor.
[chris] for mike and andrea gellatly,
And team witch doctor this is familiar territory.
A couple of seasons ago,
They had a price on their heads as a bounty boss,
Successfully defending their title against the bracket winner subzero,
Whiplash won't be as easy.
[kenny] that's right. But witch doctor has been scouting whiplash all night
And they're coming into this fight fresh.
I got to think they have the advantage here,
But I'll never count out matty vasquez.
Let's do it. Faruq.
[faruq] ladies and gentlemen are you ready?
It's time for the main event.
In the red square,
This bot cracks the whip like he's taming a lion,
But you won't need a trapeze to go flying.
He'll run three rings around you
And make you look like a clown, call your funeral
"the greatest show: Six feet underground," it's whiplash.
[chris] it is amazing when you look at whiplash
Compared to when it fought witch doctor in 2019.
I don't know if it went through puberty since then or whatever.
It's gotten bigger, stronger, faster.
[kenny] well, these guys are so seasoned now, they've learned so much.
Matt, if you can believe it is an even better driver than he was before.
These guys have the ability to really go very far in the golden bolt tournamen
Got to get through witch doctor first, though.
[faruq] in the blue square.
They're not a doctor like dre, but they'll still lay a beat down,
They're not a doctor like jay,
But they'll still slam you on the rebound.
They're not a doctor like pepper, but they'll still give you a pop.
They're a doctor like kevorkian, delivering the most lethal of shots.
Give it up for witch doctor!
[kenny] they make us work.
[chris] oh, boy.
For witch doctor, a chance to wash out the bad taste in its mouth
After losing the giant nut in a disappointing fashion attempt in 2021.
[kenny] yeah. And if they ca win this match,
They may get a shot at a rematch with tantrum
In the golden bolt tournamen
Mike will need to avoid those long forks of whiplash
Hunt for the sides and put that nasty vertical spinner to work.
The one thing that mike from witch doctor is really good at,
Once he gets a hit, he is fantastic at capitalizing on that hit.
And before we even get a chance to breathe,
He comes in for that second hit
And that's where he really kills you.
The only way to avoid that is to avoid that first hit.
And for us, that means just keeping the front of our robot face towards him.
And I think if we do that,
I think we have a really good shot at that.
So, whiplash is like one of the best driven robots in the whole sport.
So, it's definitely going to be one of those like crazy driving matches,
This year they have ground scraping forks.
So we were going to have to see what they bring to our fight.
We're going to show up with pretty much what we always run.
And, you know, it's going to really just come down to driving.
[robotic voice] robots, activate.
[robotic voice] red team, ready.
[audience cheering]
[robotic voice] blue team, ready.
[audience cheering]
[audience chanting] fight! Fight! Fight!
[chris] this is it.
The final golden bolt qualifier.
Will it be witch doctor or whiplash
Who takes the last spot in the field of champions?
Let the bot battle begin.
Witch doctor seems to be having a little bit of a drive issue
Sticking on the floor
And matt allows whiplash to get under him.
And try to lift it.
Oh, the pulverizer gets in on the act early.
[kenny] this is what matt wants.
He wants to get underneath witch doctor and have them destroy themselves
With that very powerful weapon,
But look at that, just took out one of the fro forks of whiplash.
[chris] really di a nice job taking..
Oh, boy.
Kenny, you ain't kidding about that powerful weapon on the face of witch doctor
[kenny] yeah.
Matt has to make sure he kee that nose pointed right at witch doctor at all costs
Oh! [cheering]
[chris] great shot by whipla
To send witch doctor out on the upper deck,
But quickly, mike gellatly drives off.
[kenny] great demonstration of control there by matt vasquez.
Witch doctor right back at him.
[chris] oh, whiplash drivin witch doctor into the rail.
[kenny] even with a fork up in the air,
They're still getting underneath witch doctor.
Beautiful. Drive them...
[chris] very impressive driving by matt vasquez.
Fast control by witch docto again, who tries to move awa
Two of the best drivers of battlebots going at it.
Big shot face to face.
Kenny, I think witch doctor has to try and get a little bit of distance, regroup,
But it gets shoved into the upper deck.
[kenny] matt vasquez's only fork lifer was able to do it
Nice hit there by witch doctor.
[chris] witch doctor trying to find
The best angle to attack whiplash, but so difficult.
Look at the quickness of whiplash.
[kenny] well, one thing matt vasquez can't do
Is stay squared up to his opponent,
Who is going to flinch first
-[chris] whoa! -[kenny] yes.
Great hit there by witch doctor.
[chris] outstanding work by gellatly on vasquez
And now whiplash says,
"get y'all booty up on the upper deck"
For the second time tonight if that had worked.
[kenny] masterful driving on both sides, chris.
But if this is heading to the judges,
Witch doctor needs to turn it on here.
[chris] under a minute to go, till the kill saws are now active.
Oh, nice work by witch docto
Following up shot after shot on whiplash.
[kenny] great opportunity there, chris, to attack those wheels.
Can witch doctor capitalize
Oh!
Great job by witch doctor.
[chris] whiplash is on it's head and not so sure it can utilize
Its forks to push itself back over.
I'm going to have to countdown.
[chris] matt vasquez says I cannot do it.
Witch doctor waves goodbye,
And at the same time says hello
To the golden bolt tournamen
[referee 2] ...Three, two, one. Knock out!
[chris] they are the champions.
Witch doctor is moving up..
[kenny] what a fight!
[chris] kenny, as we said, an incredible driving match
Matt vasquez and whiplash almost pulled this one off.
[kenny] yeah, no question about it.
Whiplash had showed some excellent control throughout this fight.
Got him up on the upper deck there a couple times.
Witch doctor, though, again the speed and power just way too much.
[chris] yeah, you could see witch doctor getting up under whiplash,
Delivered a couple of solid shots.
[kenny] yeah, but whiplash h a counter for every attack right up until the end.
Witch doctor setting the tab with this series of jabs, getting around of the flank
And how about mike gellatly finishing the job.
Andrea and mike gellatly, congratulations.
Thank you.
You have qualified for the golden bolt
In the tournament of champions.
Mike, how did you have that reversal of fortune?
That was incredible. I mean, they were all over us.
Matt is such an excellent driver.
They got under so many times.
We were able to get off a few times and just keep at them, keep at them, keep at them.
Luckily, our robot kept working.
We got up on the shelf. We got off the shelf.
I mean, that match had, like, pretty much everything
You could expect from a great match like that.
[chris] andrea, what does I say about your team?
You guys lose in the championship
In the race for the giant nut,
But to rebound and now have a chance at the golden bolt
In the tournament of champions.
How excited are you?
I've been saying it since the beginning.
Every single matchup here could be a finals matchup.
The really, the level is that high.
I wouldn't be surprised if they were in the finals instead of us.
We have a ton of respect for them.
And I, you know, this has been,
The shakiest I've been in any match.
It was so tense.
Congratulations, team witch doctor.
We'll see you in the tournament of champions.
If you are a battlebots fan that was an ideal fight, kenny.
That was a crazy fight,
And the perfect way to launch them
Into the golden bolt tournament.
They only had one fight to build momentum,
But a win over an elite bot like
Whiplash will give them a ton of confidence.
[chris] and for matt vasque and team whiplash,
It's another so close yet so far moment.
[kenny] this team always seems to be in the hunt for the big hardware.
Knowing how good matt is, it's just a matter of time before he's lifting a trophy
So now the tournament of champions is set.
Let's check it out.
We will reveal the bracket and all of its must-see match matchups next week.
But any way you slice it,
This is the most exclusive
And elite field in the history of the sport
We've got three world champions,
Five slugfest champions,
And only one trophy up for grabs.
Kenny, easy question for you
Who you got?
[kenny] okay.
Listen, these slugfest champions have so much momentum
Having gone through hell and surviving to get here.
That experience, turning things around in the pits,
Winning a brawl and doing I
Over and over again pays huge dividends.
It's hard not to give the edge to bots like ribbot and hypershock.
[chris] and the on the flip side
These world champs like tantrum and tombstone,
They're coming into this tournament
Fresh and eager to dish out some pain of their own.
And hey, for what it's worth
I still believe end game may be the best bot in the world today.
For faruq, our bot whisper, pete, and kenny florian, I am chris rose.
We'll see you next time here on the tournament of champions.
Battlebots style.