Black Widow

Black Widow
Participation Information
Reboot Seasons	Discovery Season 5
Other Events	BattleBots: Bounty Hunters
Team Information
Team	Team Black Widow
Team Members	Herrick Henzel Sue Henzel Braeton Henzel Jarrett Henzel Kyle Henzel
From	Newport, NY
Robot Statistics
Weapons	Drum spinner Flamethrower
Statistics correct as of its most recent appearance on the show, or if not applicable, qualification attempt.

For other robots with the name Black Widow, see here.

Black Widow was a heavyweight robot which exclusively fought in Discovery Season 5 of BattleBots.

It is a black, dome shaped robot armed with a spinning drum on the front of a wedge, as well as a flamethrower coming from its rear legs. It had a red hourglass painted on the top, and eight legs made from pipe sticking out of the sides, acting as spider legs. These legs were non-functional however, as Black Widow used wheels for a more traditional method of locomotion. The robot was also able to emit silly string from its rear, further showcasing its arachnid theme.

Team Black Widow in the pits during Discovery Season 5.

Black Widow won its only Fight Night battle against fellow newcomers Rampage, which went unaired during the main season but was briefly highlighted. Despite not losing in the main season, Black Widow was not selected for the Top 32. It returned for the Icewave bracket of BattleBots: Bounty Hunters, but lost in the first round to established competitors in Skorpios.

Robot History

Discovery Season 5
Black Widow vs. Mammoth Mammoth's lifter meets Black Widow's drum. Black Widow fought an exhibition match against Mammoth, aired on the show Josh Gates Tonight prior to the season's premiere. Josh Gates was a stand-in weapons controller for Mammoth. In what is seen of the fight, sparks fly as Mammoth's rotating lifter slaps into Black Widow's drum, before the former knocks and flicks the latter into the corner, where Black Widow lay immobilized. As it was counted out, Black Widow took several shots to the top from the pulverizer, leaving a sizeable dent.
Black Widow vs. Rampage Rampage gets under Black Widow’s wedge. For its first and only fight of Season 5, Black Widow faced fellow newcomers Rampage. This fight went untelevised during the main season, only being shown in full as part of the Basement Tapes. The fight started slow, with Black Widow losing parts of its cosmetic legs in the initial impact. Black Widow threatened to attack with its flame and through Rampage's weapon was spinning, it struggled to get underneath its opponent with its fixed L-bracket wedgelets. Rampage then drove into the side of the box and for a few moments, was not moving. The cumbersome Black Widow could not capitalize on this however, allowing Rampage to escape. Black Widow turned to face its opponent and used its wedge to kill Rampage's weapon, starting to get a hold of the fight. Rampage attempted to push Black Widow in the closing moments, but the fight went to the judges, who unanimously scored the fight in favour of Black Widow.
BattleBots: Bounty Hunters
Black Widow vs. Skorpios Black Widow gets hit by the scorpion's tail. Black Widow also took part in BattleBots: Bounty Hunters to determine which bot would earn the right to fight Icewave for a share of $25,000. In the first round, it was pitted against Skorpios. Black Widow was off to a relatively decent start as they managed to get under Skorpios and cause minor damage. This didn't last long as Black Widow was then on the receiving end of multiple attacks from Skorpios, losing bits of its legs and nearly being flipped over near the screws. Black Widow recovered, but was unable to do much other than get under Skorpios once more before being shoved under the pulverizer and losing another leg, not to mention taking several overhead shots and having its panel dented again. Time ran out and the judges awarded Skorpios a unanimous 3-0 decision to advance in the bracket.

Results

Wins/Losses

• Wins: 1
• Losses: 2

Competition	Wins	Losses
Discovery Season 5	Rampage (Untelevised Undercard Match)	Mammoth (Untelevised Exhibition Match)
BattleBots: Bounty Hunters	None	Skorpios

Faruq Tauheed Introductions

"From Newport, New York, their opponent is about to say "Help me!"... it's BLACK WIDOW!"

"From Newport, New York, it's got legs and it knows how to use them. BLACK WIDOW!"

Trivia

• Black Widow finished the main competition as the only team to remain technically unbeaten, as its losses came in an exhibition fight which was not canon to either robot's record, and a BattleBots: Bounty Hunters post-season tournament.
  • Not even eventual champions End Game could boast this statistic, having lost to Bloodsport prior to the tournament bracket.
• Ahead of the 2020 season, Team Black Widow listed fellow rookie competitor Rusty as their favorite robot.
• Black Widow was one of two arachnid themed robots billed to compete in Discovery Season 5, however Gloomweaver was forced to drop out with filming being rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Black Widow was also the name given to a 220lb robot built by Hal Rucker of DUCK!, though this version never competed in BattleBots.
  • The name is also shared with a 440lb twelve -legged walker from the UK series of Robot Wars, and a Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors competitor.