BattleBots

At this point in time all the robots were 0-0.

Yeah.

And this is where it starts to count.

Oh, are you kidding me?

Nothing that happened matters anymore.

It's not about the seed, it's about your next opponent

and getting through the tournament.

Show has gotta go on.

We're just trying t survive one fight at a time

Oh!

If you assemble a part wrong,

if you forget to connect a wire,

you can lose it before you even get into the arena

In the tournament, the bots are top in the world

if you give them any advantage, they'll take it

- and you'll be done. - Get up! Get up!

Now that's full power, baby!

Everything you do in the box can be their greatest mistake...

- - How do you like that!

Could be your greatest mistake.

That's a big one.

It can change...

just like that.

It's a knockout!

Robots activate.

Hey, everyone, and welcome to the opening round

of the 2021 world championship tournament of BattleBots.

I am Chris Rose, joined as always by UFC legend,

and the best damn robot fighting analyst

this side of the giant nut, Kenny Florian.

Thanks, Chris. This is what we've all been waiting for.

I can't believe we're finally here.

All of the painstaking work game changing strategy

and insidious destruction has led to this moment

when true champions reveal themselves to the world.

Are you kidding me?

As we take a look at the tournament bracket,

the top bots have been seeded one to thirty-two

based on their performance in the qualifiers

as well as their overall pedigree,

and it's been broken down into four quadrants.

Each headlined by one of our top four seeds,

End Game,

Ribbot,

Whiplash

and Sawblaze.

The team that can navigate this minefield of mechanical mayhem

and win five consecutive fights, will be crowned the 2021 champion.

And because this season's field was so competitive,

four teams on the cusp will fight for the final two spots in the bracket

and a pair of play in bouts

now, everyone in the field of 32 is kicking, scratching, lifting,

flipping and sawing for the chance at the ultimate prize in robot combat,

the giant nut.

All right, it's time to meet the moment.

Tonight, we head to the left side of the bracket

to kick off the round of 32

and top to bottom, this is a stacked group of contenders

we've got fearless and ferocious rookies like, Riptide and Glitch,

punishing offensive juggernauts like, Minotaur and Uppercut.

Perennial giant nut favorite Sawblaze and Witch Doctor.

This is as epic an opening round as we have ever seen.

No question, and we've barely mentioned

our number one seed, the returning champion from New Zealand,

End Game, and its captains, Nick Mabey and Jack Barker.

Their journey to repeating begins later tonight.

Okay. Batting leadoff.

It's the 12th seed, shatter facing the 21 seed, Riptide

in a matchup of devastating weapons,

between shatter's, lethal spiked hammer

and Riptide's eye-popping drum spinner.

We're going to kick off the tournament in style.

Kenny, we have waited months for this moment to arrive. Are you ready?

- I am so ready. - I know I'm ready.

Are you guys ready?

Faruq, it's all you, my man.

Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready?

It's robot fighting time.

In the red square,

the water is not warm, the water is just scary,

you don't need a plot, when the ocean is your cemetery.

Swimming parallel to the beach will still get you dead,

because if the water doesn't kill you,

you'll get a hole in the head

from Riptide.

Team Riptide making its tournament debut

after going two and one in the qualifiers.

Captain Ethan Kurtz started off his career by knocking out huge

and we've been watching this bot closely ever since

Riptide just hit so hard,

every impact makes you wince

I love this team's energy and confidence.

Let's see how they handle the pressures of the tournament.

In the blue square,

this beastly bot's from Brooklyn,

and you'll get no sleep

when your dreams are haunted by fear.

So what's your... What you want? Mercy?

Not likely. You better ride away like Paul Revere

and the bot's crash so fast it feels like sabotage.

You'll fight for your right to get dropped.

He's a sure shot whose rep is intergalactic

and you're about to be... mm... dropped.

It's Shatter!

Team shatter lost to End Game

in the quarterfinals of last year's tournament.

This year earned an early entry and a number 12 seed

after two straight impressive wins in the qualifiers.

They think this spiked hammer can win them the giant nut, Kenny.

They redesigned the hammer to be more shock absorbing,

and that's giving them the green light to fire it over and over.

Adam Wrigley needs to avoid any direct shots with Riptide's drum,

but one clean strike can end this match in a hurry.

All right. We are moments away from kicking off the 2021 tournament.

Make sure you head over to BattleBots. Com

to fill out your championship tournament brackets

and keep up with all of tonight's action.

I'm on the edge of my seat already, Chris.

Every fight is win or go home

and every bot has the potential to go on a championship run.

Riptide.

Shatter.

A berth in the top 16 is on the line.

Let the world championship tournament begin.

Adam Wrigley told us he was gonna...

Feeling out, period, but...

Wow, that was a serious job

some of that of blade of armor came off right away

that's strictly cosmetic.

This isn't a good look for shatter,

getting thrown up by Riptide

on the upper deck with no props.

We are already seeing a good job.

Whoa! Oh!

Parts of shatter are getting thrown around everywhere. My goodness!

Actually the entire robot is getting thrown all over by Riptide.

Let's go! Let's go!

This team has no fear, and they have absolutely no mercy either.

Riptide has been dominant so far,

and still plenty of time.

Kenny, shatter is starting to smoke a little bit.

They're going to have to show some movement,

I'm not so sure that their drive is working anymore.

I mean, they have been launched up in the air

they've been hit hard head o

I don't think that, I don't think they're getting out of there--

Oh, gosh! They're no getting out of anywhere

because a 100-pound Pulverizer just dropped out on 'em

and now referee's dropping their season 6-feet under.

Knock out!

Whoo!

Unbelievable.

Kenny, somebody's for real.

Yeah, no question about it,

if there were any doubts, uh, I think they just put that to bed.

These guys are serious.

Amazing driving,

amazing weapon aggression.

They're the full package.

Wow. And look at that shot, high off the glass

followed it up with another one.

And at that point, shatter pretty much incapacitated.

The rookies just never led up in this fight

and true to its name, Riptide leaves shatter

dead in the water.

Ethan,

how pumped up are you now that you're out of the round of 16?

Let's go! That was so good! Yeah!

Ethan, you were so excited just to be accepted

into the BattleBots world.

Have you kind of shocked yourself

as a rookie making it as far as you have?

Well, actually my legs are like shaking to death like, right now.

You could see my leg just like twitching, like, literally.

It's just, it's not... It can't stop.

All right. Well, go relax a little while.

- We'll see you in the round of 16. - I'm gonna go sleep.

- I'm gonna go sleep. - Okay.

- Go sleep. - Thank you.

Whoo!

So Riptide is indeed the first team

to punch its ticket to the round of 16,

where it will face the winner of Uppercut

versus huge.

This rookie squad just keeps getting better

each and every time out.

And as for team shatter, we have no doubt

Adam Wrigley and that hammer from hell

will be out for blood next season.

Coming up...

Two speed demons line up for a drag race into the round of 16,

it is P1 versus Hypershock.

When the BattleBots world championship tournament continues.

Welcome back to BattleBots,

the world championship tournament is in full swing

and up next, it's the number 13 seed, Hypershock

taking on the number 20 seed P1.

After two decisive victories in the qualifiers

Will Bales and his squad earn an early bid to the round of 32.

So, Kenny, is this the best version of Hypershock that we have ever seen?