BattleBots Controversies

BattleBots Controversies
Team LOGICOM gesture towards Team Break32 in Captain Shrederator's loss to Riptide

NOTE: Do not post instances which are subjective. These must be events which were seen to be controversial on the televised show or in officially-released media, and excludes controversies that were not broadcast irrespective of the reasoning.

This page lists a number of BattleBots matches which were considered controversial for one reason or another.

Season 1.0

Mauler vs. Nightmare

Near the end of the fight, Mauler used the spikestrip to slow its weapon down but then returned to hit Nightmare again after the referee stopped the match.

Pressure Drop fighting Subject to Change Without Reason.

Pressure Drop vs. Subject to Change Without Reason

When Subject to Change Without Reason stopped working in the final seconds of the bout, Pressure Drop continued to move and managed to land one hit after the buzzer.

Pressure Drop builder Derek Young claimed that he did not hear the buzzer, whilst Randy Eubanks was very upset and highly disagreed with the claim.

Suicidal Tendencies vs. Gammatron

This fight went to the judges, and despite Suicidal Tendencies being aggressive throughout, failed to win the fight. The Suicidal Tendencies team notably felt this was the wrong decision and Gammatron was booed.

Season 2.0

Atomic Wedgie attacking Revision Z from the front - note the rear tail.

Revision Z vs. Atomic Wedgie

During this superheavyweight battle, Atomic Wedgie's tri-foil became tangled with Revision Z's rubber tail, which was designed to stop spinning weapons. This led to both robots to pull and push each other around for the remainder of the fight. The judges awarded the 27-18 win to Atomic Wedgie when visually Revision Z was doing much more work than Atomic Wedgie, which had lost drive on one side early in the fight. It is believed that Revision Z's tail being classed as an intentional entanglement device was the cause of its loss.

Season 3.0

KillerHurtz strikes HexaDecimator.

KillerHurtz vs. HexaDecimator

Partway through this bout, KillerHurtz launched an attack on HexaDecimator and managed to get its axe caught in its opponent. The match was halted as per the rules just as KillerHurtz was taking HexaDecimator to the Pulverizer and in the ascendency. Both robots ultimately survived to the judges, which HexaDecimator won on a 32-13 decision.

BioHazard vs. Son of Whyachi

As the heavyweight finals match between BioHazard and Son of Whyachi came to a close, BioHazard stopped moving for a second time in the fight, which led to it being counted out after it only came back to life with drive on one side. The clock was stopped with 10 seconds left and after a discussion, the match went to a judges' decision, which was awarded in Son of Whyachi's favor.

Gamma Raptor vs. Mouser Super Mecha-Catbot

During the fight, Gamma Raptor got a lift under Mouser Super Mecha-Catbot and slammed it into the wall under the pulverizer, flipping it over. Mouser Super Mecha-Catbot tried to self-right and started taking hits from the pulverizer. Builder and driver Fon Davis declared a tap out but the pulverizer kept landing hits until the match was called.

Season 4.0

Whirligig suffers damage from the Pulverizer.

Whirligig vs. Carnage Raptor

In a similar scenario to Gamma Raptor vs. Mouser Super Mecha-Catbot, Whirligig fought against Carnage Raptor in the Round of 32, only to be left incapacitated under one of the Pulverizers due to a loosened radio connector. Driver Jeremy Franklin and Team Sorcerer's Apprentice tapped out to save their thwackbot for the Lightweight Consolation Rumble later on. Despite this, BattleBox hazard operator Peter Lambertson hit Whirligig five more times with the Pulverizer to entertain the audience. In the process, Lambertson ignored repeated instructions from one of the referees to stop while a dismayed Franklin watched on.

BattleRat vs. Nightmare

Throughout this heavyweight Round of 16 battle, aired in Episode 16, BattleRat continuously pushed Nightmare into the spike strips and other arena hazards, despite sustaining major damage to its chassis and lifter. At one point, the two robots became locked together, requiring a mid-match separation. Both survived to a judges' decision, which, to the disbelief of Team BattleRat and boos from the crowd, ruled 27-18 in favor of Nightmare. A 'flabbergasted' Brad Wollack, who refused Jim Smentowski's offer for a handshake, insisted afterwards that BattleRat 'controlled the entire match'. While citing the greater damage inflicted by Nightmare's spinner, Smentowski ultimately agreed with Wollack that BattleRat had the control advantage.

Scrap Daddy Surplus rams Wedge of Doom into a Pulverizer.

Scrap Daddy Surplus vs. Wedge of Doom

The fight was very back and forth, but Scrap Daddy Surplus lost on a close 21-24 judges decision. Some think this should have gone the other way, as Scrap Daddy Surplus controlled most of the fight, despite having its weapon rod stuck in Wedge of Doom's lifter.

Season 5.0

Diesector vs. Vladiator

The overall final of the Season 5.0 superheavyweight division, doubling as a rematch between Diesector and Vladiator, was cut short after part of the wall was breached at the halfway point. A high-speed ram by Vladiator bowed an entire Lexan panel inwards, forcing the match to be stopped after one minute and thirty-six seconds. A restart was not called, to boos from the audience, and Diesector was declared the Season 5.0 superheavyweight champion on a 26-19 judges' decision.

"It's my fault. I'm sorry. I broke the wall! I'll never do it again!"

— Gage Cauchois apologizes to the camera over Vladiator's Season 5.0 wall breach

While calling for reinforcements of the BattleBox enclosure - and apologizing to the camera over the damage caused - Vladiator's Gage Cauchois felt prior to the decision being made that Donald Hutson's machine had won the fight.

Despite the match being aired in its entirety by Comedy Central - including the moment where Vladiator breached the wall - the breach itself was not addressed at all in the televised edit.

World Championship I

Overhaul gets to grips with Lock-Jaw.

Overhaul vs. Lock-Jaw

The qualifier battle between veteran builder Donald Hutson with Lock-Jaw and newcomer Overhaul led by Charles Guan ended in controversy when Lock-Jaw accidentally delivered a late hit after the buzzer sounded. This led to Adam Bercu, an Overhaul team member at the time, refusing to shake hands with Hutson, as the latter tried to make amends while both builders prepared to take their robots out of the BattleBox. Guan also believed the late hit to be bad sportsmanship, but he and Bercu later shook hands and made up with Hutson, who owed up to the miscommunication after the decision was announced.

Televised recaps of the battle - shown before their rematch in the Round of 16 - continued to focus on the 'late hit' controversy, seemingly ignoring Hutson's praise for Team JACD and his later efforts to make up to them. Guan also admitted prior to their rematch that in spite of the latter, he was upset by the second draw, and that Team JACD were still 'mad' over the attack by the time the rematch was confirmed.

Complete Control vs. Ghost Raptor

Ghost Raptor attacks the mystery parcel weapon-first.

The controversy surrounding this qualifier fight began as Complete Control was seen carrying a gift-wrapped box, with a note enclosed, reading “Dear Ghost Raptor, our deepest condolences. Love, Complete Control”, when it prepared to face off against Ghost Raptor. The box remained within the grasp of Complete Control as it entered the BattleBox and indeed as the fight commenced. The box in question ended up containing a net which snagged Ghost Raptor's blade as it tore open the box in the opening seconds of the fight. Shortly after the net immobilized Ghost Raptor as a whole, the battle was stopped while the referees tried to determine the legality of Complete Control's surprise addition.

"The rules were lightened up for this tournament, and one of the things that I noticed wasn't in there was "no entanglements." Totally stand by what I did. Well within the rules; it was super effective! That's the bottom line."

— Derek Young, defending his decision to equip Complete Control with a net

While an annoyed Chuck Pitzer agreed with the referees' stance that entanglement devices were not allowed - as had previously been the case in BattleBots - Derek Young and his team insisted on camera that the net was legal under the Design Rules issued for World Championship I. Both teams later met to discuss this change, their conversation reiterating that prohibited devices for the season included fishing lines and ball bearings, but not nets of any size. Pitzer, nevertheless, respectfully expressed that he still would not choose to win battles by exploiting, in the words of Molly McGrath, this 'gray area' within the 2015 rules.

As entanglement devices had historically been prohibited in BattleBots competitions, the original fight was nullified, and a rematch agreed upon by both teams. Ghost Raptor would ultimately win this over Complete Control on a Judges' decision.

World Championship II

Chomp is upended by The Disk O' Inferno early on.

Chomp vs. The Disk O' Inferno

In this closely-fought Qualifying Round, The Disk O' Inferno lost power to its flywheel spinner after hitting the base of Chomp, but recovered by pushing and flipping an often-destabilized Chomp using its rear 'flipping device'. Chomp responded by dealing multiple hammer blows to The Disk O' Inferno, allowing the 'even, back-and-forth fight' to end in a 2-1 split decision.

Changes to the aggression criteria for World Championship II mandated the use of powered weapons as the only way of scoring points in this category. This affected the outcomes of several battles ending on a Judges' decision this season, with televised commentary putting emphasis - not mentioned in the 2016 Tournament Rules themselves - on only using a robot's 'primary' weapon to score the necessary aggression points. Thus, despite its stability and control issues, Chomp was given the decision over The Disk O' Inferno, its hammer blows inferred to have been more significant under the 'primary weapon' criteria than the more sustained flips The Disk O' Inferno had inflicted.

While not directly addressed as controversial in the main season, audience accounts confirm a negative response to the decision at filming. Upon the announcement that Chomp won, the Machine Corps entry was booed by the crowd, though this was edited out of the televised cut along with a moment during the match where both competitors became stuck together and required separation. In June 2022, the match was included in an official 'Controversial Judges' Decisions' compilation posted by the BattleBots YouTube channel, publicly acknowledging its status as a 'controversial' fight.

SawBlaze taking Razorback to the hazards.

SawBlaze vs. Razorback

This Qualifying Round involved newcomer SawBlaze consistently controlling and ramming Razorback into the walls, only to seemingly lose the use of its cutting saw shortly after it made contact with Razorback's drum. Despite evidently being the more dominant machine, SawBlaze lost the resulting 2-1 split Judges' decision on the basis of Razorback's 'primary weapon' being more active. Though not landing any significant hits, Razorback's drum frequently made contact with SawBlaze's dustpan wedge until it stopped working during the late stages, which was inferred in televised highlights to be especially decisive.

SawBlaze's first and only attack with its cutting saw.

Another judges' decision to be influenced by the aforementioned 'powered weapon' criteria, the battle was referred to as 'controversial' by Samantha Ponder during recaps shown before Razorback's subsequent Round of 32 fight against Ghost Raptor. Both teams were suggested to disagree with the result; Jamison Go expressed confusion and mild dissatisfaction upon the decision being announced, while Chris Rose later stated in the lead-up to Razorback vs. Ghost Raptor that Team Contraption Lab were also surprised by the verdict, supported by the team website's report of the fight.

"Our win against SawBlaze stemmed from a very controversial judges split decision. SawBlaze pushed Razorback around the arena for most of the fight but in the end the judges decided that Razorback had done more damage with its active weapon and had exhibited sufficient aggression to win the match with respect to the seasons new point structure."

— Team Lab Contraption acknowledge the fight's controversy on their website

Both robots as the clock hits zero.

Accounts from audience members state that despite the latter, Razorback received booing from the crowd which was largely edited out of both the televised and full-length versions. The BattleBots Facebook page elaborated on the decision, explaining that attacking without utilizing an active weapon did not contribute to Aggression points:

"This fight was the most controversial match of the tournament. Between seasons we changed the judging definition of Aggressions to include: "Attacking with a wedge or other passive armor is considered to be a defensive action and does not count toward Aggression. Continuous attacks without using a powered weapon can reduce a Robot’s Aggression score."

We simply do NOT want fights to diminish into push fights. We want the robots to use their active weapons (be that a spinner, lifter, launcher, hammer, grappler, or whatever) SawBlaze won ALL the Control points and most of the Strategy points, but he did NO Damage and he was a wedge for the majority of the fight."

— BattleBots on their Facebook page

Jamison Go, however, has since upheld the opinion that in line with the 2016 Judging Criteria, SawBlaze should have won the fight, but regretted not showcasing to the judges that he still had functionality in his weapon during that fight. He also cited this result as the reason why SawBlaze adopted a more aggressive drive style in future seasons.

World Championship III

Icewave's controversial yet accidental late hit.

Yeti vs. Icewave

The match was a quick one that ended with Icewave delivering a solid hit that knocked Yeti out. As Yeti was being counted out, Icewave drove along side Yeti and accidentally clipped their right-side wheels, causing minor damage but sparking reaction from Yeti's driver and builder Greg Gibson.

"Hey, don't be a d***."

— Greg Gibson of Yeti shouts over to Icewave's Marc DeVidts with two seconds left on the count

"I didn't mean to! I didn't even know it was that close, man. I'm sorry."

— Marc DeVidts reacts to Greg Gibson's outburst

Interestingly, Greg Gibson's full exchange was cut from some international airings of the episode. In ITV4's airing in the United Kingdom, for example, the exchange was trimmed to "Hey", followed by Marc DeVidt's response. Following this, Gibson apologized for the outburst on Facebook.

Last Chance Rumble

All six robots line up for the Last Chance Rumble.

This six-way Rumble – deciding the final place in the main "Sweet 16" bracket – concluded with Bombshell and DUCK! surviving to the Judges. After landing some damaging hits on Red Devil and Gigabyte, Bombshell lost drive on one side upon ramming the latter, severely hampering its responsiveness across the BattleBox floor for the remainder of the match. DUCK!, meanwhile, remained fully mobile in its efforts to ram, push and lift multiple opponents. At one point, Hal Rucker's machine used its beak to short out part of Valkyrie's electronics in the closing seconds, with the latter also being left with very little mobility by this stage of the match.

"A Robot is considered Responsive if it can display some kind of controlled translational movement along the Arena floor. A Robot that is randomly moving around the Arena, and does not correctly respond to signals from the remote controls is considered to be non-Responsive. A Robot that can only rotate in place due to partial failure of the drive mechanism is considered to be non-Responsive."

— Official BattleBots definition of 'Responsiveness', 2018 Tournament Rules

Despite Bombshell being partially immobile for over half of the Rumble – thus being considered, according to the BattleBots Tournament Rules of the time, as 'non-Responsive' - it was not eliminated by the referees along with the limping Valkyrie. This appeared to directly contradict a rule outlined by John Remar, in an official BotRules video released before the Rumble's initial US airing, which stated that any and all 'unresponsive' robots would be counted out upon the battle's conclusion.

"If all but one robot are unresponsive, and time is still left on the clock, the referee will count out all unresponsive robots, and that single mobile robot, that will be declared the winner."

— Referee John Remar outlines the rule on eliminating 'unresponsive' robots from a Rumble match

Bombshell and DUCK! end the fight as the last two robots mobile.

Though a count-out was initially anticipated by Chris Rose in the final moments, Bombshell was able to strafe back and forth towards the center of the BattleBox with the aid of its still-active vertical spinner. Thus, it was deemed responsive enough to be eligible for the Judges' decision alongside DUCK! On the basis of its early attacks using its spinner, Bombshell was unanimously declared the winner, to the surprise of Mike Jeffries and the visible dejection of Hal Rucker and his team. Rucker later discussed the decision with Greg Munson himself; contemporary accounts from filming also suggest that the audience loudly booed in response to the fight's outcome, as they had not been informed on the separate rules used for Rumble matches.

Additionally, Rucker later spoke about the Last Chance Rumble in his What the Duck!? podcast, where he revealed he was told it would last for five minutes as opposed to the traditional three minutes for a regular match. By the time DUCK! had made relevant sacrifices to suit the longer duration, the decision had been overturned and the Rumble was confirmed to last for three minutes.

"I said "What could I have done differently to win that fight?" There was a point in the match where no-one else was moving, I had very little damage, I used my weapon the way that my weapon is supposed to be used - what could I have done differently?" And essentially what the judges were telling me was, 'there's no way you can win'."

— Hal Rucker recalls his immediate reaction to the result of the Last Chance Rumble

Hal Rucker's post-fight reaction.

Shortly after the Last Chance Rumble's initial airing, BattleBots publicly announced changes to the Rumble ruleset which were implemented for the 2019 season. In the lead-up to Bombshell's Round of 16 match against Tombstone in Episode 18, Chris Rose even stated its victory to be 'controversial' during his rundown of its Fight Night performances. In May 2022, the Last Chance Rumble was included in an official YouTube compilation titled Controversial Judges' Decisions, suggesting that BattleBots continued to recognize the match as such in officially-released media. The battle was also featured in the special BattleBots: Most Outrageous Moments at No.3, with Hal Rucker, Mike Jeffries and numerous other competitors interviewed about the fight's controversy. Several competitors, such as Overhaul builder Charles Guan, reaffirmed their beliefs that DUCK! deserved to win due to Bombshell's weapon being disabled as well as half of its drive.

"It's pretty clear that I was pissed off..."

— Hal Rucker reminiscing on the fight during BattleBots: Most Outrageous Moments

"Based on the way the judging criteria was that season, damage was such a huge factor. The hits we got in on Red Devil and on the rest of the bots as we were running around gave us that edge over DUCK!, who really can't do damage."

— Mike Jeffries explaining the decision against 2018's judging criteria during BattleBots: Most Outrageous Moments

Since this fight, as explained during the special by Greg Munson, post-fight functionality checks have been introduced to allow for competitors to demonstrate what is and is not still working on their robots, notably their drive and weapon systems.

World Championship IV

Quantum hoists Blacksmith into the air.

Quantum vs. Blacksmith

Blacksmith was placed against British bot Quantum during the 2019 competition, whose grabbing teeth boasted immense crushing power. As a result, Blacksmith added AR500 steel armor in attempt to save the robot from major damage. This didn't work out and proved to be a problem for Quantum as they were unable to release, despite their best efforts. This frustrated Blacksmith builder and driver Al Kindle as he was unable to engage in the fight for well over the 30 seconds allowed for robots to grab their opponents, before they were supposed to release.

This was recognized as an unintentional breach of the rule, but Quantum ultimately won the fight by judges' decision regardless.

Texas Twister takes on Black Dragon.

Texas Twister vs. Black Dragon

Addressed as 'controversial' by Kenny Florian, this Fight Night match involved both robots' spinners being incapacitated, and Black Dragon putting up a dominant driving performance against Texas Twister despite the damage inflicted to its weapon motor. Team Toad's machine also lost drive on one side during the closing stages, though it lasted to a split judges' decision alongside its fellow debutant. The partially-immobile Texas Twister won the decision, though Team Uai!rrior remained delighted with the battle and Black Dragon's showing.

Foxtrot vs. DeathRoll

After a hit was exchanged, DeathRoll was no longer moving near the killsaws. Foxtrot waited tentatively, but DeathRoll started moving once more and the fight resumed. Foxtrot took another hit, lost a piece of its wheel guard, and eventually stopped moving. Foxtrot was counted out, giving DeathRoll the win by a quick KO. According to Craig Danby on Reddit, DeathRoll was immobile for longer than seen in the edited cut of the fight, and a count even began on the Australian bot. However, it regained mobility and one of Foxtrot's BECs (battery eliminator circuit) gave way soon after.

World Championship V

ROTATOR tears Beta's hammer head away.

Beta vs. ROTATOR

In this 2020 Fight Night match - airing in Episode 3 of the original Discovery version - returning hammerbot Beta was placed against horizontal spinner ROTATOR. Prior to the battle, Gabriel Stroud of Team Hurtz openly shared his caution at using their pneumatically-powered weapon. Correctly predicting that ROTATOR would start with its undercutter spinner facing upwards, Stroud judged that firing directly into their opponent's bar would prove costly. As such, Team Hurtz elected to use a strategy where Beta would aim to flip ROTATOR into the undercutting position, from which it could potentially hammer Victor Soto's machine from the top.

"Victor [Soto] is a brilliant strategist, and ROTATOR is on a similar level to Tombstone. But if he's running the bar on top... it would be insanity to fire the hammer into that... The strategy will be to turn him over and then hit him from the underneath."

— Gabriel Stroud sets out Beta's intended tactics against ROTATOR

Beta pushes ROTATOR around after losing its hammer head.

Even with the aforementioned risks, Beta dominated the match, repeatedly pushing and deflecting ROTATOR into the BattleBox walls, paddles and screws. However, it could not find a suitable opportunity to fire the hammer at any point, having been unable to flip ROTATOR completely over during the first two minutes. With around 50 seconds to go, Beta lost the hammer head itself through an accidental blow from ROTATOR's spinner, though it would maintain its earlier performance through to the end. The three-minute bout - filmed after HUGE vs. Hydra - ended in a 2-1 split decision, which ruled in favor of the more controlled and aggressive Beta.

Opinions on the decision itself were split between various builders. Team Hurtz expressed mixed feelings; Gabriel Stroud confidently reaffirmed that Beta 'dominated'. John Reid, meanwhile, was 'shocked' to receive the victory, later explaining to Kenny Florian that ROTATOR was too 'slippery' for Beta to pin, flip and potentially hammer it. ROTATOR's Victor Soto strongly disagreed, citing the 'Damage'-focused criteria, with Will Bales also shown to express apparent confusion towards the verdict. Other builders in the audience were left questioning the decision as well, which, in conjunction with the HUGE/Hydra fight, led to a debate about the rules in the pit area.

Will Bales, expressing confusion towards the judges' decision.

"Although Beta was doing a good job pushing us around, I think we had some good control points at certain points of the match. And damage is supposed to be the biggest factor, and we did a lot of damage. They did no damage to us; they're holding the weapon they never fired in their hands and we have maybe some scratches...sorry judges, I think you got it wrong!"

— Victor Soto reacts to Beta's win by judges' decision as fellow builders show their support for ROTATOR

The criteria for scoring fights was subsequently changed for the 2021 season. Similar to the Last Chance Rumble, this battle also featured in the first part of Controversial Judges' Decisions.

HUGE vs. Hydra

Hydra's "cow catcher" attachment.

In Episode 5 of the 2020 tournament, BattleBots veteran HUGE was placed against the Team Whyachi flipper, Hydra. Hydra employed the use of an eight foot wide attachment on the front of their robot, dubbed the "cow catcher" to block HUGE's weapon from connecting. It achieved this by facing towards HUGE and holding it by their giant UMHW wheels, similar to the attachment used by SubZero in HUGE's first ever match. Hydra shoved HUGE into a corner, delivered a few shots with the pulverizer to score damage points, and then stood in the corner with HUGE unable to escape for the remainder of the fight to run out the clock. When told by the referee that they were holding a pin for longer than the 30 seconds allowed, Jake Ewert, captain and driver of Hydra, claimed it did not count as a pin as they were not technically touching HUGE, and therefore refused to back up.

Hydra's "cow catcher" negates HUGE completely.

"Hey Jonathan, I think it worked perfectly, huh buddy?"

— Jake Ewert teases Jonathan Schultz of HUGE as the fight goes to the judges

"That doesn't make sense at all..."

— Jonathan Schultz reacts the unanimous decision going in Hydra's favor as fellow builders audibly boo the fight

With HUGE unable to use its weapon for the entirety of the fight and Hydra refusing to use its own weapon, the only true damage points came from the pulverizer shots Hydra was able to land on HUGE at times during the match. Hydra was otherwise able to control HUGE and prevent it from being able to show aggression. As such, the judges turned in a unanimous 3-0 decision in favor of Jake Ewert and Hydra, much to the dismay of fellow builders watching on.

"I'm here to fight robots, not bike racks. And whenever he's ready to have a real fight with his actual robot, we'll be here, batteries charged, ready for it."

— HUGE's Jonathan Schultz expresses his thoughts on Hydra's tactics before and during the fight

"I 120% disagree with the judges' decision. He never fired his weapon once, he did no damage to us... all he did was sit there... They were supposed to fight, and they didn't fight."

— and criticizes the subsequent judges' decision

This fight alone led to rule changes regarding corralling for the 2021 competition, which were audibly enforced in HUGE's first fight of World Championship VI against Riptide. Aired in February 2023, the special BattleBots: Most Outrageous Moments featured this fight at No.2, with Jonathan Schultz, Jake Ewert and others interviewed about the fight's controversy.

"Generally, HUGE destroys most controlbots and anything that, you know, can do damage to the wheels. We were sitting ducks without a creative, inventive way to come at that solution."

— Jake Ewert of Hydra during BattleBots: Most Outrageous Moments

Shatter! disables Malice's weapon, but at the cost of its own hammer head.

Malice vs. Shatter!

During the Fight Night match between Malice and Shatter!, Shatter! disabled Malice's 'Purple Pain' drum with a hammer blow, but lost its own hammer head in the process. The Bots FC machine repeatedly struck Malice with the rest of its weapon arm during a tense and evenly-contested driving match between both robots. However, pieces of Shatter!'s ablative armor were removed or discarded throughout, though the damage was merely superficial and did not alter its drive or weapon functionality. Smoke also poured from within Shatter! as the battle waged on, though both robots would last the full three minutes.

The resulting split decision ruled in favor of Malice, though captain Adrian "Bunny" Liaw still praised the driving skills of Adam Wrigley regardless. Wrigley, reciprocating praise towards Team Malice, was surprised by the outcome, civilly emphasizing Shatter!'s full functionality and aggressive performance. Bots FC later believed the ablative armor to be the deciding factor, opting to remove it for Shatter!'s battle against Captain Shrederator.

With the understanding that the loss of ablative armor should not contribute to an opponent's Damage score, Shatter! again sported ablative armor in later World Championship V matches as well as future seasons.

Tombstone vs. Skorpios

During this Main Event, Tombstone saw one of its wheels removed by Skorpios, though its weapon was still functional and it could arc in place. Believing to be showing sufficient mobility still, Ray Billings expressed confusion about his robot being counted out despite using its weapon's gyroscopic forces as well as the remaining drive wheel to show limited mobility.

Much of this was due to the speakers used for communication between the drivers and the referees being inoperable for the match.

World Championship VI

Ribbot vs. Hydra

Ribbot is controversially counted out.

During this Round of 32 clash, Ribbot was left with partial mobility following flips by Hydra and damage to its front-left wheel. Ribbot attempted to showcase continued translational movement through shuffling and crabwalking, though this was not enough to deter the referees from counting it out. David Jin, confused over the count-out, insisted that Ribbot was still demonstrating controlled movement.

David Sanfilippo: "You guys got controlled movement?"

David Jin: "Yep!"

David Sanfilippo: "I've got to see some controlled movement."

David Jin: "It's rotating!"

— David Jin insists on Ribbot's continued mobility against Hydra

Inconsistent applications of 'controlled movement' rules had allowed multiple robots to avoid count-outs elsewhere throughout the season, through performing similar movements on partial drive. Indeed, Hydra itself would go on to win its very next match against Black Dragon via Judges' decision, despite Jake Ewert stating in post-match interviews that his machine also became immobile on one side against the latter.

David Sanfilippo: "I've got to see controlled movement."

David Jin: "That's not control?!"

— The exchange immediately before Ribbot's televised count-out

When a count-out was finally performed on their machine, the Ribbot team - especially Jin himself - responded to the outcome in visible disbelief and frustration. Jin's animated response was immediately addressed by Chris Rose during post-match replays, though Kenny Florian asserted that, based on the BattleBots rules at the time, the decision made was the correct one.

Whiplash vs. Cobalt

Cobalt and Whiplash are stranded simultaneously.

During the first minute of this Round of 16 battle, Cobalt became high-centered on the arena floor, after successfully disabling part of Whiplash's drive on the left-hand side. Seconds later, Whiplash - which had dominated early on with a few lifts on Cobalt - turned into and got its right-most wedgelets stuck under the bumper lining the Upper Deck. Both robots were deemed to have become stranded, resulting in the match being paused.

An assessment of both robots was carried out by Trey Roski, pending a decision on whether to unstick them and potentially restart the fight. Robotic Death Company switched Cobalt's vertical spinner off before Roski entered the BattleBox; Matt Maxham confirmed that the process took 45 seconds before the disc was completely stopped. Upon trying to disable Cobalt, however, Roski and fellow crewmembers found that a piece of debris from Whiplash had become lodged in the weapon switch, preventing the switch from being deactivated physically. Prior to this, Robotic Death Company informed Roski that, as Cobalt's drive and weapon systems were linked, it would have been possible to disable the spinner once the drive switch had been disengaged. However, Roski overruled this feedback, as he and his production crew deemed that it would be unsafe to perform an unstick with Cobalt's weapon switch being physically obstructed. Roski insisted that both robots be powered off completely, which Robotic Death Company stated had never been required prior to unsticks in previous matches from this or prior seasons. To ensure its complete disarmament, Cobalt's batteries were eventually removed prior to the robot being transported out of the BattleBox.

"When attempting to shut off Cobalt, Trey could not shut off the weapon as there was some debris blocking the switch. What we had told Trey which was not heeded, was that our weapon and drive switch are linked, so the drive switch could've been shut off which would have powered down the whole bot. At no point was our spinner stuck on. Trey decided to simply count the whole thing as a double KO, and did the KO as seen filmed."

— Derek Tran clarifies the unstick controversy

In addressing the potential safety issues, the televised edit completely ignored Robotic Death Company's action to power Cobalt's spinner down via the transmitter. Nor did any released versions of the battle include footage of the disc slowing down or after it stopped entirely. Kenny Florian simply reported that the weapon was 'still spinning' after the initial timeout was called.

According to Section 7.5.14 of the 2021 Tournament Rules, a Judges' decision would be called if the match lasted more than 90 seconds (1 minute, 30 seconds) and an unstick was not deemed possible. In the case of a duration shorter than 90 seconds, the same section outlined that a rematch would be scheduled, or, if not deemed possible, the match would also go to the Judges. Onscreen, the arena timers had paused at 1:45, putting the overall duration up until the stoppage as 1 minute and 15 seconds. In his assessment, Roski deemed the match to be a 'double KO' according to members of Robotic Death Company. The latter was reflected in the televised edit, with Robotic Death Company the first to be informed by referees about the pre-emptive Judges' decision. With both robots disabled, the Judges went on to personally inspect them for damage; reportedly the first time this had occurred in World Championship VI.

A split decision was ultimately called, ruling 2-1 in favor of Cobalt. While Team Fast Electric Robots expressed no qualms with Cobalt or the judging panel over the decision, members of both teams publicly voiced their dissatisfaction with the way BattleBots had resolved the double stick. Despite Whiplash being immobile on one side, Matt Maxham still believed that it should have been unstuck from the wall anyway.

"Was this upsetting for Whiplash? Yes, but remember, this is a TV show and that was cut showing our weapon spinning at the end! I DID shut it off, but it takes 45 seconds to stop spinning and it did shut off at the controller, but the crew bots could not turn off the Whyachi switch because there was a piece of Whiplash in the switch, so they said it wasn't safe to work on Whiplash. We were told it was a simultaneous knock out and we won the judges' decision on damage. Was it fair? Don't know. Was it inconsistent box treatment of competitors? Yes. Were we 100% functional at the stoppage? Yes. Did Whiplash have drive issues from hits? Yes. Should they have freed Whiplash? Yes. Was Cobalt stuck also? Yes (though we were stuck on the floor damage from an earlier round fight that went unnoticed by us or the crewbots). So, if they unstuck Whiplash, I don't believe they were translating well enough to not get counted out. So the situation sucks and we got the judges decision."

— Matt Maxham's explanation behind the double knockout

"This was just a really weird fight that we think should have been handled differently. We have no issues with the Cobalt team or the judges."

— Whiplash - BattleBot Instagram post, April 1, 2022, addressing the unstick controversy

The fight was cut from the US Discovery broadcast of Episode 13, and shown only as segmented highlights. BattleBots subsequently uploaded a full-length clip to their YouTube channel as a 'Bonus' fight, heavily inferring the fight's controversial nature and Whiplash's loss through the description and title given.

Chris Rose: "Brent. How tough was that?"

Brent Rieker: "Aww man, that was really tough! Um... it looked like it could go either way at first, and then I thought we had 'em when they were doing a little crawl there. So I thought, you know, I thought we already had it."

Chris Rose: "Matt, when you weren't functioning anymore, did you really say "Oh no!" or something else?"

Matt Maxham: "[RDC members laugh] I said "Beep, beep, be-beep-beep, beep!""

— Robotic Death Company post-match interview, ITV4 Episode 26 broadcast (UK)

Whiplash vs. Cobalt was later shown in its entirety in UK airings, appearing in Episode 26 of the ITV4 version. Consistent with other previously YouTube-exclusive fights, the ITV4 airing also included post-match interviews with both teams, omitted entirely from the YouTube upload itself. Again, Matt Vasquez expressed no qualms with the outcome of the match - praising Cobalt's team for their attacks on Whiplash. Similarly, Matt Maxham felt that Cobalt 'got lucky', commending Whiplash's initial performance in the first 'two-thirds'. However, Robotic Death Company did not appear to correct Chris Rose or Kenny Florian about Cobalt's functionality. Nor did their televised interview - or Rose and Florian's post-match reflections - clarify that Cobalt's weapon had been fully powered down.

"...it was a really weird match. Our strategy worked, we got a little bit unlucky, and he totally took advantage and... just took us out. So, kudos to [Laughing] them, for [More laughing] taking their shot!"

— Matt Vasquez, ITV4 Episode 26 broadcast (UK)

Witch Doctor vs. Minotaur

Minotaur loses a wheel as Witch Doctor is stuck.

Nearly halfway through this all-important quarter-final fight (Discovery: Episode 14; ITV4 (UK): Episode 27), Witch Doctor partially immobilized Minotaur while throwing it onto the Upper Deck. However, Andrea and Mike Gellatly's machine accidentally lodged itself into the spiked bumpers lining the top-left side of the hazard, while Minotaur escaped minus its dislodged left wheel. Just as Minotaur crabwalked alongside Witch Doctor - as shown in the televised edit - a timeout and unstick were called by referee John Remar after one minute and 28 seconds of combat.

"All right, so the safety crew is headed into the Box to investigate. And if they cannot get Witch Doctor loose in a timely manner, the judges will be deciding their fate. And from what they saw so far, Witch Doctor wasn't doing too well in the match. Their season of continuing on rests on this moment right now."

— Chris Rose as the Crewbots separate Witch Doctor from the Upper Deck bumper

Trey Roski and a fellow BattleBots Crewbot unstick Witch Doctor.

Witch Doctor was freed from the bumper by Trey Roski and a fellow BattleBots crewmember, allowing both competitors to continue fighting. This was consistent with Sections 7.5.12 and 7.5.13 of the 2021 Tournament Rules, but contradictory to the similar scenario televised in Whiplash vs Cobalt (see Whiplash vs. Cobalt). It is unclear whether Witch Doctor and Minotaur were both required to be completely powered off in order for the unstick to be performed, as was required of Whiplash and Cobalt in the latter battle. By this point in the televised edit, Chris Rose opined that Minotaur had generally dominated the match until Witch Doctor incapacitated its left drive.

"And it looks like Witch Doctor now has a second chance to win the match..."

— Chris Rose, as Witch Doctor is prised free

Witch Doctor (center-left) awaits Minotaur's count-out.

Carlos Junior's post-match protest surrounding Minotaur's mobility.

Upon the match restarting - with one minute and 32 seconds on the clock - Minotaur was still unable to demonstrate full translational movement due to the missing left wheel. This factor prompted Witch Doctor's referee (Remar) to advise Minotaur's referee (David Sanfilippo) to start a count-out. However, similar to multiple instances earlier in the season, where a partially-immobile robot was allowed to survive for longer than 30 seconds (e.g. Hydra vs Black Dragon), this was not performed immediately. The notion of Minotaur being counted out agitated Team RioBotz; Carlos Junior maintained that their robot still had full control throughout this half despite its compromised mobility.

Carlos Junior: "It's showing control!"

David Sanfilippo: "You got to go towards them."

Carlos Junior: "Yeah, we are going for it! They're avoiding!"

— Carlos Junior challenges the referees' assertions about Minotaur's mobility

Anticipating that a count-out was imminent - as frequently told to them by Remar - Team Witch Doctor refused to engage any further with the partly-incapacitated Minotaur during this half of the match.

"It's important to note that a countdown does not start while the opponent is engaging. Our Ref kept telling us a countdown was about to start, so we didn't engage. Mike continued to drive around the arena to show our functionality. We never expected that this fight would make it to the judges, since we were repeatedly told a countdown would start. Once we realized that the match was approaching an end without a countdown, Mike goes in for one last hit to show that we could engage and leave that final impression with the judges."

— Team Witch Doctor, explaining the referee situation in an official Facebook post

The televised broadcast frequently showed Mike Gellatly questioning the lack of urgency presented by both referees in counting Minotaur out, as he continued to circle his machine around its limping and gyrating opponent.

"Are they gonna count them out or not?!"

— Mike Gellatly questions the referees' reluctance to begin an official count on Minotaur

Chris Rose and Kenny Florian exacerbated Team RioBotz's frustrations in their televised commentary, by interpreting Witch Doctor's refusal to engage as a wilful lack of aggression. This was despite both acknowledging Minotaur's drive issues and also anticipating a count-out shortly after the match was restarted.

Chris Rose: "And Witch Doctor content to do nothing. I wonder how that'll play out in the eye of the judges, Kenny?"

Kenny Florian: "Yeah, that's right. I mean, they're not being aggressive here! Witch Doctor not going for the kill, and they could've attacked the flank!"

— Commentary as Witch Doctor continues to wait for Minotaur's count-out

When it became clear that the count-out would not be initiated at all, Witch Doctor landed a final attack on Minotaur in the closing moments. Both competitors survived to a judges' decision. Team Witch Doctor were left perplexed by the lack of count-out. Meanwhile, Daniel Freitas - having already felt the initial call for an unstick to be a 'joke' - was also left confused and intensely frustrated by the referees' assessment of Minotaur's mobility.

The judges' scorecards for Witch Doctor vs Minotaur.

None of the issues concerning the potential count-out were communicated to the audience, members of which immediately booed and heckled Team Witch Doctor for not engaging with Minotaur during the second half. As briefly alluded to in the televised cut, Minotaur also managed to gyro-dance its way back to the blue square, almost hitting Witch Doctor in the process, to Mike Gellatly's consternation. Upon the decision being announced - unanimously ruling in favor of Witch Doctor - Andrea Gellatly and judge Lisa Winter received even more vitriolic responses from certain members of the audience. Much of the audience reactions towards the decision, however, were either ignored or edited out of the televised broadcast. All three judges assessed Minotaur as scoring higher on aggression and Witch Doctor higher on damage. In any case, all of their total scores ruled 6-5 in Witch Doctor's favor.

Prior to the decision being announced, Mike Gellatly briefly felt that Minotaur would receive victory based on the outcome of the second half. As their team undertook their post-match interview, while receiving continuous booing and insults from audience members, he and Andrea explained their perspective to Chris Rose. In his interrogation, Rose himself overlooked Witch Doctor's final attack on Minotaur during the closing moments, a statement corrected by Mike onscreen.

Chris Rose: "Mike and Andrea. Congratulations! Andrea... the second half of the fight. Minotaur was spinning around, and you would not go in and hit them. Why? [audience member yells "CHICKEN!" to Team Witch Doctor]"

Andrea Gellatly: "This is BattleBots. It's all about damage. We had shown aggression, our robot was working perfectly. Why risk a hit when we knew [that] not only were they not moving, but they were missing a wheel? There was no chance they would regain control. There was a minute and a half left in the match, so we expected a countdown way, way earlier. I don't know why it didn't start, but I'm not surprised with the result considering."

Chris Rose: "Well, once it didn't start, and I'm talking about the countdown here... why didn't you go back in and deliver one extra shot just to show the judges, "hey, we're aggressive, and this is what we want to do"?"

Mike Gellatly: "We went in at the end for another shot. You know, like Andrea said, they had no wheel on one side and they were just gyroing around uncontrollably. So, we've kept... we kept thinking that they were gonna get counted out. So, I didn't want to go in for another hit and be, you know, a late hit or something like that."

— Team Witch Doctor explain their perspective of the second half to Chris Rose

Carlos Junior, though still dejected by the decision, reaffirmed that the match's outcome did not impact Team RioBotz's respect for Team Witch Doctor and the judges.

"I mean, I'm kind of upset of the decisions. We do hold a lot of respect for the guys on Witch Doctor and all the judges, but... I mean, the whole crowd just, just... we saw a whole different thing here, you know. [to Team Witch Doctor] Congratulations, guys! Wish you guys the best of luck in the quarter-finals. [back to Chris and Kenny] But yeah, nothing much should be said right now. I'm sorry, guys."

— Carlos Junior remains gracious towards his victorious opponents

Public criticisms of this battle focused on inconsistencies concerning rules for unsticks (by contrast, Whiplash was not unstuck from the Upper Deck wall and thus eliminated against Cobalt), alongside the handling of Minotaur's partial immobilization and its significance on whether the robot could continue to demonstrate translational movement. In response, BattleBots publicly confirmed future revisions to the Tournament Rules in April 2022, specifically on areas concerning "Controlled Movement" from competing robots. Greg Munson himself revealed in a September Behind the Bots podcast that the then-existing rules on "Controlled Movement" and "crab-walking" would both be scrapped for World Championship VII. As a result, competitors in the then-forthcoming season would now need to be completely immobilized in order for them to get counted out.

"Last year, that was a...crazy, crazy fight. It had a bit of everything...there was a lot of miscommunication between the refs. Bit of controversy, unfortunately."

— Mike Gellatly, in a Discovery promotional trailer for World Championship VII, Episode 15

The events of this match were readdressed in Episode 15 of World Championship VII, in which Minotaur and Witch Doctor fought each other again in the final Fight Night Main Event of the season. By this time, it was established that both teams had sought to move on from the controversy; in interviews shown during promotional trailers, Andrea and Mike Gellatly each spoke out about the fan response and the 'miscommunication' between the referees. Instead, focus was placed by each competitor on securing the top seed for the main championship bracket.

"So, we have a ton of respect for each other. If there's any animosity, it's between the fans. I'm looking forward to another slugfest with Minotaur."

— Andrea Gellatly, in a second Discovery trailer promoting the Minotaur/Witch Doctor rematch

Though Minotaur would go on to win the rematch by judges' decision, RioBotz captain Marco Meggiolaro remained supportive of Team Witch Doctor. Meggiolaro used his post-match interview to express appreciation for his opponents, their machine, and the updated BattleBots ruleset, while encouraging viewers and the live audience to make similar differentiations between robots, match events and the teams' true attitudes towards each other. Additionally, he clarified that no personal conflicts had emerged between Team Witch Doctor and RioBotz as a result of the World Championship VI controversy.

"...the best thing about this match, about winning against Witch Doctor, is because they are very good robots. They are very well-ranked robots. There's nothing to do with any personal grudge. We love them. Last year, they did all they had to do within the rules to win. They were trying to win, and within the rules they had. The rules this year are better. You used to get some more closure with a fight. I love that. You have to not confuse people - the bots from their builders. We want to "kill" Witch Doctor, but... we love and we respect a lot Andrea and Mike... you know? We'll never get personal with them about something that happened inside that Box, you know. What happens inside the BattleBox stays in the BattleBox. Thank you."

— Marco Meggiolaro's post-match speech, following Minotaur's victory against Witch Doctor in World Championship VII

This fight was uploaded to the BattleBots YouTube channel on May 5, 2024, titled Is 'Is This The Most Controversial Fight In BattleBot History?'.

Tantrum vs. Hydra

Tantrum approaching Hydra.

In this closely-fought semi-final battle (Discovery: Episode 14; ITV4 (UK): Episode 28), Hydra landed multiple flips on Tantrum throughout, but spent the majority of the early phase turning in circles within the BattleBox center. Tantrum countered Hydra's attacks by inflicting 'surgical' blows to its side skirts and flipper arm with its punching spinner, as well as ramming it into the arena corners during the second half. This ensured that the Seems Reasonable Robotics machine consistently outscored Hydra 3-2 on damage in the subsequent split decision. Judges Jason Bardis and Derek Young sealed Tantrum's victory - and place in the World Championship VI final - by awarding it 2-1 on aggression, and 6-5 overall.

Judges' scorecards for Tantrum vs Hydra.

As noted by Jake Ewert afterwards, audience members began booing at Tantrum once its victory was announced. In her surprise, relief and delight, Ginger Schmidt considered that the 'back and forth' match could have gone 'either way'. Tantrum co-captain Alex Grant congratulated Ewert on a hard-fought fight, though this would not stop Ewert from casually disagreeing with the judges' ruling in his post-match interview.

Jake Ewert: "They get it wrong sometimes I guess... but that's okay."

Chris Rose: "Where, in your opinion, did they get it wrong?"

Jake Ewert: "I mean, just driving circles isn't aggression. I'm pointing 'em... I mean, it's what it is. I mean, yeah, they hit my nose, but that's all, you know, a blade of armor, really, so it's supposed to get hit. They never took the hit on the side that they had a chance to. So, the weapon didn't work the way it was supposed to, 'cause it didn't hit when it was on the side... I thought I flipped 'em enough to do enough damage, but I guess not, so... eh, there's always next year. [Audience cheers] I mean, it's a great bot! I love the little punchy. It's a great concept, but, yeah... it is what it is."

— Jake Ewert contests the judges' decision

Tantrum strikes the right-rear corner of Hydra.

Jake Ewert asserted that Hydra demonstrated better weapon effectiveness through its flips on Tantrum.

Ewert explained that Hydra's periods in the BattleBox center were spent trying to aim its flipper at Tantrum; conversely, he felt that Tantrum's initiative to circle around Hydra at high speed should have adversely impacted its aggression scores. Indeed, judge Lisa Winter ruled Hydra to have scored 2-1 on aggression in her 6-5 ruling for it; all three judges also deemed Hydra to have won the control category 2-1. Similar criticisms by Ewert were levelled towards the judges' assessment of Tantrum's subtler and less frequent attacks, in comparison to the flips Hydra landed throughout. Particular emphasis was placed on a supposed lack of side-on attacks by Tantrum, despite Tantrum successfully removing a number of Hydra's side skirts in this manner. Ewert used Hydra's flips to support his belief that it demonstrated more effective uses of its weapon and front wedgelets.

Ewert sustained his belief into World Championship VII, ahead of a Fight Night rematch against Tantrum. The rematch also ended in victory for the eventual 2021 champion, and Ewert conceding that Tantrum deserved both of its wins against his team's machine.

BattleBots: Champions I

Deep Six vs. Shatter!

During this Semi-Final match from the Lock-Jaw Slugfest bracket, Shatter! fired its hammer into the chassis of a fully spun-up and gyrating Deep Six. The attack caused Deep Six to tip forwards; the latter's vertical spinner hit the floor, sending both competitors flying to opposite corners of the BattleBox. While Shatter! succeeded in breaking its weapon chain, Deep Six was able to self-right. Shatter! itself became high-centered in the lower-right corner, only being left able to turn around in circles as a piece of its own ablative armor became stuck under the baseplate.

Shatter! strafes, but is still counted out.

The Bots FC entrant fired its hammer multiple times in order to get unstuck. Due to its omniwheeled design, it managed to strafe laterally and, with difficulty, engage in two more exchanges with Deep Six. Deep Six flung Shatter! back into the corner both times, and referee David Sanfilippo began requesting signs of movement from the latter. Shatter! landed on two of its ablative shards following Deep Six's second hit, prompting Adam and Eric Wrigley to continue operating its drive and weapon systems. With Shatter!'s mobility still compromised by the debris - along with the chassis being warped by Deep Six's blows - Sanfilippo began a count-out, during which Shatter! began strafing sideways towards the lower-right killsaw slots. Despite the strafing being one of Shatter!'s usual forms of controlled movement - aided in this instance by further hammer swings - the count-out was not stopped, and Shatter! was eliminated.

"Come on!"

— Adam Wrigley, as Shatter! is fully counted out despite managing to strafe across the arena

Similarly to David Jin's response to Ribbot's count-out against Hydra in World Championship VI, the Wrigley brothers immediately objected to Sanfilippo's decision. This response likely stemmed from inconsistencies regarding treatment of "controlled movement" and crab-walking rules throughout the course of 2021 season filming, affecting both World Championship VI and Champions I. By contrast, at the same stage within this bracket, Malice survived to a Judges' decision against Ribbot despite being immobilized on one side during the first minute. Regardless of his team's frustrations with the count-out, Adam Wrigley still congratulated Dustin Esswein and the Deep Six team for an 'awesome fight'.

World Championship VII

MadCatter takes on Riptide.

MadCatter vs. Riptide

In the lead-up to the Main Event between MadCatter and Riptide in Episode 5, controversy arose as to whether or not Ethan Kurtz built his heavyweight BattleBots entry by taking heavy inspiration from the design of Calvin Iba's championship-winning beetleweight, Lynx. MadCatter captain Martin Mason believed so, and Team Bad Kitty brought Lynx into the drivers' booths to make a statement. In actuality, it was Kurtz's own beetleweight Rival which Calvin Iba took issue with, which inspired his team's 250lb BattleBots entry. Rival had started out as an early Lynx so Calvin's claims have some weight to them.

Martin Mason ignoring Ethan Kurtz's advances.

As the fight came to a close, further controversy arose when Riptide continued to hit loose shrapnel from its opponent after MadCatter was deemed immobile rather than relinquishing control of their transmitter and driving their robot back to their starting square, although this has been seen in prior fights to hype up the crowd, this was seen as disrespectful and unsportsmanlike due to the history between the two teams. These “hostilities” came to a head when Ethan Kurtz visibly put his hand over Martin Mason's mouth as the camera panned to focus on the MadCatter captain, who pushed/swatted Kurtz's hand away and later ignored his offer to make peace (in the form of a hug).

Malice vs. Valkyrie

Valkyrie (top-right) loses its spinner against Malice; this was overlooked in the initial judges' decision which awarded it victory.

Bunny Liaw appealing to Mike Jeffries, the Match Steward.

In this fight, between 1-1 robots Malice and Valkyrie, both were reduced to crab-walking around the BattleBox after a big hit which cost Valkyrie its spinning bar and disabled a side of drive on both robots. With neither robot able to reliably engage with the other, the refs declared a simultaneous knock-out. The judges then picked Valkyrie as the winner, believing that Malice had lost power to its weapon, negating the fact that Valkyrie had completely lost theirs earlier in the fight. This decision was met with boos from the audience, who gave a thumbs-down gesture to show their own disagreement. Bunny Liaw was quick to launch an Appeal as she believed the judges had missed Malice showing weapon functionality at the very end of the fight (which two out of three judges did). After pleading their cases to Mike Jeffries, the judges watched the fight again and re-scored the fight in favor of Malice.

Riptide vs. Captain Shrederator

"In order to win the fight against [Captain] Shrederator tonight, all we really have to do is flip 'em on their back. Our strategy is just gonna go in, we're gonna hit their weapon, keep their weapon not spun up and just try to KO them, hit them on their back and end the fight as soon as possible..."

— Ethan Kurtz's initial battle strategy against Captain Shrederator

Riptide turns Captain Shrederator onto its back.

Riptide continues to attack and almost throws out an inverted Captain Shrederator.

More of Riptide's excessive attacks on Captain Shrederator.

During the opening battle of Episode 10, an unbeaten Riptide fought a 1-1 Captain Shrederator. After launching Brian Nave's full-body spinner bot across the BattleBox and flipping it over, Riptide continued to attack Captain Shrederator as it continued to spin while inverted. This contradicted an earlier pre-match statement by Ethan Kurtz, who claimed that Team Break32 would finish fighting as soon as they had turned their opponent upside-down. Captain Shrederator had not yet been counted out as Riptide continued its assault, causing driver Jonathan LaPlain to gesture towards their opponents that they were going too far. Riptide ultimately caused what Team LOGICOM quoted to be around $10,000 of "unnecessary damage". Nick Nave launched a verbal complaint to referee David Sanfilippo as the count-out ended, to which he confirmed a warning had already been issued to Team Break32.

The remains of Captain Shrederator post-fight.

Ethan Kurtz explained in the post-fight interview that he felt he could not be certain Captain Shrederator was fully immobile and, especially with the new mobility rules for World Championship VII, wanted to put it beyond doubt. Nick Nave later confirmed that their team had full control over their primary weapon. A separate Facebook statement by Team Break32 included a public apology to Team LOGICOM, along with claims that noise and visibility issues also affected their judgement of Captain Shrederator's functionality. The latter were also cited as the reason why Team Break32 did not hear Team LOGICOM's calls for them to stop attacking.

Shatter! vs. Riptide

"Earlier today, after Riptide had already weighed in at 250lbs, Adam Wrigley's brother Eric found the team backstage allegedly working on their robot. Hmm. Now, modifying a robot after making weight is against the rules, so Shatter! asked to have Riptide weighed again. This time the bot came in at two pounds lighter?!"

— Chris Rose's voiceover during the Riptide weigh-in controversy

Eric Wrigley confronts Team Break32.

Prior to this Round of 32 match - aired in Episode 16 - controversy broke out as Team Break32 were seen 'allegedly' working on their machine at the far end of the pit entrance/exit tunnel. This occurred after Riptide was already weighed in at the maximum 250lbs, prompting Eric Wrigley of Bots FC to inquire Team Break32 about their actions.

"Prior to its Match, a Robot will be tested for functionality and also weighed to confirm compliance with the regulations.
Once the Pre-Match Inspection of a Robot starts, no changes are allowed to be made [to] the Robot that involve the addition of any parts that affect the weight or functionality of a Robot. Removal of parts may be allowed."

— BattleBots 2022 Tournament Rules, Section 5.6.4

During the televised build-up, Chris Rose suggested that Riptide and Team Break32 had breached rules prohibiting teams from modifying robots after pre-match weigh-ins. While Rose did not mention any specific rules which had been broken, adding components to increase the robot's weight and/or functionality after pre-match inspections is prohibited, under Section 5.6.4 of the BattleBots Tournament Rules.

"If any BattleBots Official or Competitor has reason to believe that a Robot does not comply with any of the Rules, they can request that the Robot be re-weighed and/or re-inspected at any time except while the Robot is in the Arena competing in a Match.
The Competitor or BattleBots Official must verbally notify any Safety/Tech Inspector of their request to have a Robot re-weighed and/or re-inspected. Any Safety/Tech Inspector may initiate a re-weigh or re-inspection at their discretion."

— BattleBots 2022 Tournament Rules, Section 5.6.2

Riptide undergoes inspection in the test box.

In accordance with Section 5.6.2 of the Tournament Rules, Adam Wrigley and Bots FC requested Riptide to be re-weighed and re-inspected. This involved the robot itself being placed on the scale again and examined in the test box by an inspector. Riptide cleared the 'second' weigh-in at 248lbs - two pounds lighter than when it was previously weighed - again within the 250lb limit. Although Section 5.6.4 mentions that individual components can be potentially removed following pre-match inspections, it was not explained in the televised episode how Riptide's weight reduction was achieved. Neither were Chris Rose or Kenny Florian informed about this change in between the otherwise successful weigh-ins. All robots armed with spinning weaponry also underwent tachometer checks from the Round of 32 onwards, ensuring compliance with the 250mph tip speed limit. Riptide was later confirmed onscreen to have passed the latter checks as well.

Ethan Kurtz and Sid Prabhakaran speaking to a production assistant during the checks.

Annoyed by the extra scrutineering placed on his team's machine, Ethan Kurtz accused Bots FC of 'paranoia' over carrying out this precautionary process.

"So, Shatter! thinks we're cheating. We are not cheating. Their paranoia is affecting our performance. I think this is really uncool that they did this. I think after this is over, we're gonna rip them apart."

— Ethan Kurtz, criticizing Bots FC over their request for Riptide to be weighed and inspected again under Section 5.6.2

Ultimately, Riptide was deemed eligible to compete after the extra weigh-in, inspection and tachometer checks. Chris Rose added that no evidence was discovered by BattleBots officials of it being illegally modified. With Bots FC begrudgingly satisfied by this outcome, the match went ahead as normal. Rose and Kenny Florian both empathized with Adam Wrigley's stance, however, jointly agreeing that his sole interest was to maintain fair play between both competitors.

"...I think Adam's concern is understandable. You're not supposed to modify your robot after clearing inspections and we still don't know why Riptide came in two pounds lighter. But Adam's clearly got Ethan Kurtz riled up. In terms of how that affects the fight, some people fight worse when they're angry - some better!"

— Kenny Florian shares his take on the weigh-in controversy

Riptide would go on to win the match by knockout, after heavily damaging and leaving Shatter! immobilized in the BattleBox corner. Despite this, Eric Wrigley still felt suspicious about the true tip speed of its eggbeater spinner, which Adam calmly assured he would clarify on behalf of Bots FC. While Adam praised the match and later predicted Riptide to win the Giant Nut, Ethan Kurtz accused him of 'paranoia' in post-match interviews, attributing Adam to his earlier frustration over Riptide's additional checks. During Kurtz's interview, it was revealed that Riptide underwent a total of three weigh-ins, two of which went untelevised.

Ethan Kurtz: "Clearly, Adam's paranoia cannot stop us, so I don't think anything can stop us."

Chris Rose: "What does that mean?"

Adam Wrigley [in disbelief]: "Wow."

Ethan Kurtz: "[Bots FC] had us check weight three times. Multiple tip speed tests. We don't cheat. We did our thing. We did exactly what we had to do. And yeah, no one's gonna stop us!"

— Ethan Kurtz's post-match interview

Believing Kurtz's remark to be disrespectful and unsportsmanlike, Adam Wrigley refused his offer for a handshake, which left Team Break32 noticeably annoyed once again.

"For the record the handshake wasn't about the pre fight drama or the fight itself. Tensions are high - we've had pre fight tensions before and we've been wrecked before. We always shake hands after and try to be friends with everyone.

Basically, I just don't appreciate being personally mocked in a post fight interview. Handshakes are a sign of mutual respect - I didn't think [Ethan Kurtz] showed that with his interview and I didn't think his handshake offer was genuine and worth reciprocating.

Certainly planning to be back!"

— Adam Wrigley explains on Reddit his perspective of the handshake incident

Adam Wrigley rejects Ethan Kurtz's handshake offer.

On multiple outlets - including the Road to the Giant Nut after-show for Episode 16 - Wrigley explained further his reasoning for not reciprocating Kurtz's handshake attempt, again highlighting the latter's comments as unsportsmanlike. Additionally, while acknowledging Team Break32's adverse reactions to his decisions, he commented on their conduct towards Bots FC and other teams, reiterating his concerns amidst speculation about rule breaches incurred by them. Again, Riptide was stated to have passed both the weight and tip speed limits by Chris Rose. It is worth noting that both Adam Wrigley and Ethan Kurtz have been and still are incredibly competitive captains and have shown very large personalities when winning or losing.

"You know, [Team Break32]'s always been very nice to us, in the pits, to our team, but I hear a lot of things from other teams about them not being so nice. And so, I hear a lot of rumors, about them maybe exceeding the tip speed limit or playing games with the scale. So, I'm gonna make sure to follow up on that, because I don't like people if they cheat. I don't know if they are or not, but when I have a lot of people telling me that, I'm gonna follow up on it. I don't think that was paranoia. I think that when you're bolting stuff on your robot, behind the wall here when you're not supposed to, it's a little suspicious. When you weigh in at 250, and then after touching your robot, weigh in at 248... it's a little weird. So, I don't know what they're doin'. I can't prove anything. I have a lot of people telling me things, and I just try to follow up on it."

— Adam Wrigley, during the Road to the Giant Nut after-show

Visible, but not explicitly mentioned in the televised episode, Team Break32's actions involved them making a temporary physical addition to Riptide after its 'initial' weigh-in. Sid Prabhakaran later explained that the object concerned was simply a three-foot long pickaxe, which they had intended to tape to Riptide for its arena entrance and remove once it had entered the BattleBox. Prabhakaran confirmed on Discord that Team Break32 had not consulted Bots FC on this, not believing that this "modification" would pose an issue. In multiple exchanges - including an appearance in a subsequent Team Whyachi livestream - he stated that the pickaxe was to be attached to one end of the robot's eggbeater, as a parody of Shatter!'s own electrically-driven hammer weapons.

"Production knew what we were doing but we didn't talk to Shatter about it, we just didn't think taping a pickaxe to the weapon would be a problem for anyone."

— Sid Prabhakaran in the Out of the Arena Discord server

However, it was not established in televised footage that the pickaxe was being used for this purpose, though it was removed before Riptide's 'second' weigh-in and carried separately during its entrance sequence. Additionally, multiple sources claimed that BattleBots production were not informed about this temporary addition to begin with. Prabhakaran indirectly confirmed this on Reddit, in a comment defending Team Break32's actions and simultaneously blaming Bots FC for them.

"We told production exactly what we were doing when they asked. Yes, we should've told production beforehand, but this could've also been avoided if Shatter had just came over and asked us what we were doing instead of immediately accusing us of cheating."

— Sid Prabhakaran, indirectly debunking his earlier statement on Reddit

The controversies were later brought up again by BattleBots in Episode 17, during a segment where Ethan Kurtz criticized Adam Wrigley, along with other builders affected by Team Break32's conduct up to that point. Despite having upset Wrigley with his 'paranoia' remarks, Kurtz did not issue an apology onscreen. Instead, he called Wrigley 'rude' over Riptide's additional checks, ultimately blaming him for not accepting his handshake. In reference to the other controversies involving Team Break32 up to this point, Kurtz has insisted that he and his teammates had 'done nothing wrong'.

"In the fight against Shatter!, Adam was pretty rude the whole time, to be honest. And team Shatter! was just tryin' to... drain us. They kept tip speed-checking us and weighing us, over and over and over again. It was getting obsessive. You have no evidence! Like... why are you wasting our time? They lost their stuff and they lost the fight... I extended my hand because I was like "Bro, like, now the fight's over, we can be friends again." He's like "Nah." And it's his fault."

— Ethan Kurtz deflects blame onto Adam Wrigley and Bots FC

In a separate Behind the Bots podcast, released shortly after Episode 16's premiere, Adam Wrigley elaborated further on his perspective of the controversy. As president of the Combat Robot Association of Builders (CRAB), he was initially contacted by multiple individuals on the day before the match, who raised issues with Riptide from a 'fairness and objective' standpoint. After passing these concerns on to production, Wrigley requested a tip speed check and to see Riptide being re-weighed, the latter in response to claims that Team Break32 were manually manipulating the scales for its earlier weigh-in. Riptide cleared both checks, with Wrigley certain that its eggbeater complied with the 250mph tip speed limit.

On the day the match was to be filmed, an additional untelevised incident occurred, in which Wrigley and Bots FC found Team Break32 working on Riptide in the battery tent. This happened despite members of the production crew informing Bots FC that Riptide had already been weighed in by this point. When Bots FC requested another weigh-in, Team Break32 reportedly insisted that Shatter! - itself having undergone its own pre-match weigh-in - be re-weighed as well. Two weigh-ins took place for both Riptide and Shatter!, which cleared the limit both times at 250 and 249lbs respectively.

Regarding the events as shown on television, Wrigley explained that, upon being asked by Bots FC, BattleBots production and safety staff confirmed that they had not been contacted by Team Break32 about Riptide's temporary pickaxe. Uncertainty surrounding Team Break32's intentions compelled Wrigley to ask for the televised re-weigh, though contrary to the episode itself, he was not present along with Mary Chimenti for this. The televised clip portraying his confusion at Riptide's 248lb reading was actually taken from a separate moment, which Wrigley deduced was of him investigating Emulsifier's drive issues.

Shortly after Riptide weighed in at 248lbs, Bots FC were contacted by a member of the BattleBots safety crew requesting an urgent 'spin check' for Riptide's weapon. Team Break32 refused, claiming that it would require them to charge Riptide's batteries back up afterwards, and that it had already conducted at least two tip speed checks beforehand. Ultimately, the additional 'spin check' was called off, as a tired Wrigley - satisfied with Riptide passing the final weigh-ins - insisted that the match go ahead.

"...I get that people are mad in the moment. I get that there's a lot of adrenaline going on. I get that we're all competitive people, and we all want to win. I wasn't asking those things because I was trying to catch them cheating. I was asking those things because I wanted to ensure the fight was fair. And once we got them weighed in, despite the fact I was a little weirded out by the way it happened, I was like "They're under 250. It doesn't matter... let's just get it in the arena.""

— Adam Wrigley, in the Behind the Bots podcast discussing the Episode 16 controversy

Wrigley considered the entire controversy to be the result of multiple communication issues, also debunking Team Break32's claims that he purposefully set out to accuse them of cheating. Additionally, he stated that much of Ethan Kurtz's post-match interview was cut from the televised episode, while reiterating his feelings towards Kurtz's remarks and the insincerity behind his handshake offer.

BattleBots: Champions II

SawBlaze vs. Tantrum

During the Golden Bolt semi-final battle between the two most recent Giant Nut winners, SawBlaze and Tantrum, a dominant display from Jamison Go's robot almost came to an end as its hammer saw hit the BattleBox floor with a mistimed attack. This threw SawBlaze back and flipped it over. While SawBlaze would usually be able to self-right, damage caused from hitting the floor meant it could not do so on this occasion.

The referee's count races the battle timer.

Chris Rose: "Wait a second!"

Kenny Florian: "SawBlaze went for an extra shot, but might've knocked itself out!"

— Chris and Kenny react to the fight's dramatic conclusion

Chris Rose: "How did this happen?!"

Kenny Florian: "HE CAN'T SELF-RIGHT!"

Chris Rose: "Oh my God, the countdown's started! Jamison Go cannot believe it! What's gonna- wait a second! WAIT A SECOND! WAIT A SECOND!! IS THAT A... IS THAT A KNOCKOUT OR NOT?!"

Kenny Florian: "THEY MIGHT HAVE SURVIVED IT, CHRIS! WOW!! Tantrum is in disbelief! Did they survive it?!"

— Chris and Kenny as the clock, and the referee's count, hit zero

John Remar speaking to both teams,

Referee John Remar initiated a count-out against SawBlaze with just over ten seconds of the fight remaining. However, due to the rules stating count-outs last for ten "counts" rather than precise seconds, the declaration of a knockout came after the battle timer hit zero, meaning the fight officially went to the judges - a decision explained to both teams by the referees.

Referee John Remar analyzing the footage post-fight.

All three judges voted in SawBlaze's favor, denying Tantrum a remarkable, albeit fortuitous win by knockout. Tantrum's team originally issued an Appeal - not against the judges' decision, but to instead review the declaration of a judges' decision rather than a knockout, as according to Alex Grant, there were "24 seconds" left on the BattleBox timer when SawBlaze became immobile. However, as soon as Seems Reasonable Robotics got confirmation that the fight could not be reviewed as part of the Appeal process, they withdrew their request. Neither team showed frustration about this incident, but such an unprecedented situation sparked conversation amidst builders and fans. BattleBots took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to poll the decision, with 56.3% believing the battle rightly went to a judges' decision.

"Nobody was robbed, the rules were followed. It's amazing, this is actually one of the times were something outrageous happens and there is actually something written about it in the rules already.

I sympathize with the situation in that it was close, it really was. but both teams were prepared to accept whatever decision was made. Like what are people debating? that humans are imperfect? was the ref partial? that counts =/= seconds?"

— Jamison Go confirms no animosity from either team, and confirms the incident has since been addressed

According to Jamison Go, rules have been tweaked already to prevent a similar occurrence from happening in future seasons.