Breaker Box

Breaker Box
Participation Information
Reboot Seasons	World Championship IV
Unaired Events	Pro Championship 2009
Other Events	Cisco Party 2006
Team Information
Team	Team Nightmare
Team Members	Jim Smentowski (Captain) Clay Steere
From	Bradenton, FL
Other Entries	Nightmare, Junior, Backlash, Whirligig, Turtle, ShazBot, MicroNightmare, Wallop, The Swarm (Locust)
Robot Statistics
Weight	140lbs (Cisco Party 2006) 220lbs (2009, WC IV)
Power	MaxAmps LiPo batteries
Drive	4x Magmotors
Weapons	Lifting scoop Hammer (WC IV)
Statistics correct as of its most recent appearance on the show, or if not applicable, qualification attempt.

Breaker Box was a heavyweight (originally middleweight) robot built by Jim Smentowski of Team Nightmare which fought in the 2006 Cisco Party BattleBots event, before returning as a heavyweight in the 2009 BattleBots Pro Championship and World Championship IV.

It was a four-wheel drive, box-shaped robot armed with a titanium lifting scoop. The scoop was mounted on a large central axle offering 360 degrees of motion, similarly to the 2019 incarnation of DUCK! As such, Breaker Box could function while being invertible. The team previously entered iconic heavyweight Nightmare into Comedy Central BattleBots, which also returned for the first two reboot seasons on ABC.

Breaker Box as a middleweight in 2006.

Breaker Box was originally a middleweight built in three weeks for the invite-only Cisco Party event, and was essentially an upscaled version of Team Nightmare's antweight, ShazBot. The heavyweight incarnation endured a difficult BattleBots debut in the 2009 Pro Championship, finishing the main competition with a 1-2 match record following defeats to Brutality and Root Canal. Breaker Box also fought an exhibition match against an early incarnation of Stinger: The Killer Bee, but lost on a judges' decision, with both also initially scheduled to fight an unrealized 2v1 match against Counter Revolution. On their Facebook page, Jim Smentowski confirmed that Breaker Box would return in place of Nightmare with a new look ahead of the 2019 BattleBots season.

Breaker Box's CAD in 2019, showcasing its alternative weaponry.

Breaker Box during World Championship IV hero shots.

For World Championship IV, Breaker Box sported a neon yellow and copper color scheme, as well as an electrical warning sign on the top plate and LED panel on its bottom plate. For weaponry, Breaker Box could either use one of three lifting wedges designed to counter spinning weaponry, or a 46lb hammer, all of which could rotate around the bot. Breaker Box also had in a wedge minibot called Hacker, which came equipped with a flamethrower that would shoot up at a 45 degree angle. It also swapped out its drive motors for more speed at the cost of reliability. Breaker Box struggled during the Fight Night rounds, finishing 1-3 and failing to make the tournament bracket as a result.

Following the 2019 season, Jim Smentowski said he would not be competing with Breaker Box in any future BattleBots competitions.

Outside BattleBots

Outside of BattleBots, Breaker Box fought at various US live events over the years. Jim Smentowski competed with it at Combots Cup V, losing to Last Rites before racking up wins over Ragin' Scotsman and Great Pumpkin. Breaker Box rounded off the tournament with a loss to Sewer Snake. It then fought at RoboGames 2011 and earned a run of wins against Vice Crypt, Death and Taxes, Son of Ziggy and Last Rites respectively. However, it then suffered losses in rematches against Sewer Snake and Last Rites.

Breaker Box also fought in Chinese robot combat show This is Fighting Robots under the name Wrecker. Appearing very similar to its BattleBots guise, repainted black and red and sporting a curved scoop, Wrecker did not perform well in China, losing both of its fights and subsequently being eliminated.

• Breaker Box as Wrecker in This is Fighting Robots.
• Breaker Box fights Bush Hog at Robot Ruckus in January 2022.
• Builder's Database profile for Breaker Box.

1/3

Jim Smentowski and Breaker Box returned for January's Robot Ruckus event at the 2022 South Florida Fair. Largely unchanged from its look in 2019, it fought against a non-televised robot called Bush Hog.

Robot History

Cisco Party 2006
Breaker Box vs. Green Wave Entering as a middleweight, Breaker Box's first opponent in the 2006 Cisco Party event was Green Wave. Breaker Box charges down Green Wave. Breaker Box immediately breached the front wedge of Green Wave and rammed it back against the arena wall, deflecting Paul Ventimiglia's robot into the corner and underneath the pulverizer. Green Wave was struck by the hammer several times as Breaker Box scooped underneath again, with smoke now rising from the horizontal spinner. During the assault from the BattleBox hazard, Green Wave lost its right-rear wheel and struggled for mobility as a result. Green Wave loses a wheel and is bullied by Breaker Box. Green Wave spun back up, but found itself driven back underneath the pulverizer again. While Breaker Box tanked the glancing shots from its blade, Green Wave was rammed toward the opposite half of the arena, smoking again as Breaker Box used the pointed tip of its scoop as an axe to assert its dominance. With thirty seconds remaining, Jim Smentowski's robot returned Green Wave to the pulverizer before the Rochester R3 champion began emitting smoke. Green Wave begins to smoke. Having had its way for much of the fight, a count then began on Green Wave, confirming SubZero's place in the semi-finals.
Breaker Box vs. SubZero Next up for Breaker Box was SubZero, who defeated WarSaw in the opening round of the bracket. SubZero flips Breaker Box several times. Breaker Box was quickest out of its starting square, getting to SubZero's flank and ramming it momentarily. SubZero then turned sharply, sliding underneath the side of Breaker Box and throwing it through the air. Breaker Box eventually recovered, but fell into the path of SubZero's primary weapon again, which tossed it again. Breaker Box tried to ram SubZero as the robots met head on, but Jerry Clarkin's flipper fired under Breaker Box's plow, flipping Jim Smentowski's bot once more. Breaker Box is hit by the pulverizer. Neither robot was able to mount an attack in the seconds which followed, until SubZero got to Breaker Box's side again and threw it over. Breaker Box was then pinned in the corner, before being taken to the opposite corner and suffering blow after blow from the pulverizer. Breaker Box was unable to repeat its Round 1 performance as it was deemed immobile, and lost at this stage.
Pro Championship 2009
Breaker Box vs. Suspect Device The heavyweight Breaker Box first competed in the unaired 2009 Pro Championship, facing Suspect Device in the first round of the main Winner's bracket. In a match lasting two minutes and 14 seconds, the Team Nightmare machine won by knockout according to official BattleBots records.
Breaker Box vs. Brutality Breaker Box and Brutality make contact. This victory allowed Breaker Box to face the overhead spinner of Brutality in somewhat of a rematch from the 2006 Cisco event. Breaker Box got the first attack in before Brutality could spin its blade up to speed, pushing Brutality with the scoop. Brutality escaped and retaliated, causing sparks with the impact of its blade on Breaker Box's scoop. The impact was so great that Breaker Box was immobilized and eliminated after 49 seconds, knocking it out of the Winner's bracket. Official BattleBots records list it, however, as losing on a judges' decision.
Breaker Box vs. Root Canal In order to remain in the competition, Breaker Box needed to win its next match in the loser's bracket against Mutant Robots' Root Canal. Official BattleBots records confirm, however, that it would again lose by knockout after two minutes and 17 seconds, eliminating Breaker Box from the main Pro Championship.
Breaker Box vs. Stinger: The Killer Bee (Exhibition) Towards the end of the 2009 Championships, Breaker Box also took part in an exhibition match against Team PlumbCrazy and their machine Stinger: The Killer Bee. On this occasion, both robots survived the full three minutes according to BattleBots records, with Breaker Box losing out by judges' decision.
World Championship IV
Breaker Box vs. Falcon Breaker Box gets kicked into the air by Falcon. Breaker Box made its return to robotic combat with a match against the newly designed Falcon. In response, Breaker Box stuck with its trademark lifting plow to hopefully absorb hits from its opponent. Since it was also slightly underweight, Breaker Box was accompanied by a minibot named Hacker which was equipped with a titanium wedge and a flamethrower. As the match got underway, that's pretty much what they were able to do as Falcon was having drive issues. This allowed Breaker Box to shove them all around the arena. Falcon managed to get some mobility back but Breaker Box flipped them over and maintained their advantage over them. However, the fight took a surprising turn as Breaker Box soon had troubles of its own, firing its weapon when Falcon was out of reach and not driving all that well, even having no life in the last stages of the fight. Regardless, both robots made it to the end of the fight, and the judges awarded a split 2-1 decision to Breaker Box.
Breaker Box vs. Uppercut Uppercut takes a bite out of Breaker Box. Breaker Box's second opponent was newcomer Uppercut. As a result, Breaker Box kept its usual lifting plow to at least reduce the damage it would take during the fight. Breaker Box was not able to do much against Uppercut as their plow had a small part of it ripped up. Still, Breaker Box attempted to take control of the fight and managed to shove Uppercut around a few times and tried to keep it on its side, but it came down every time. Uppercut's weapon kept going and Breaker Box eventually began to smoke again and was suffering a similar problem in its fight with Falcon. As the match continued, the smoke got worse and Breaker Box found itself immobile once again, trying to use its plow to move. Since there was more time on the clock, it was counted out as Uppercut bashed the rear of Breaker Box, denting the panel and giving Uppercut the win by knockout.
Breaker Box vs. Bloodsport Sparks fly as Breaker Box and Bloodsport collide. Breaker Box next went against another newcomer in Bloodsport and opted for its curved black scoop in attempt to deflect Bloodsport's blows and/or control their opponent. As the match bot underway, Breaker Box managed to keep Bloodsport at bay with their weapon and push them into the arena barrier. However, Bloodsport got its weapon going and Breaker Box took a hit to the side of its plow. After another impact, Breaker Box's right support arm for its plow had come loose and Breaker Box was having some drive issues. Breaker Box then lost its entire plow and was left exposed with nothing to fight with. Luckily, Bloodsport's weapon stopped working correctly by this point, but Breaker Box had no way to take advantage. Breaker Box took one final hit from Bloodsport and stopped moving before being counted out, giving Bloodsport the win by KO.
Breaker Box vs. HyperShock Breaker Box is tossed upwards by HyperShock. Having had little success thus far, Breaker Box was in need of a second win and was placed against Will Bales and HyperShock. In response, Breaker Box went with its classic scooped lifter setup, which also had pointed tips at the top to allow the lifter to double as a hammer. However, as the match got underway, Breaker Box wasn't doing well as they were quickly thrown into the air repeatedly by HyperShock. None of this seemed to phase Breaker Box, but parts of the lifter did come off, the rear panel was thrown off, and Breaker Box could only drive on two wheels now. However, Breaker Box got a lucky break as HyperShock managed to flip themselves over and had no functioning self-righting mechanism, leaving them to drive inverted. Additionally, HyperShock got one of its weapon supports stuck in the killsaw slots so Breaker Box freed them. HyperShock then got stuck in the killsaw slots again with its weapon struggling to get up to speed. This allowed Breaker Box to get in an attack before it stopped moving. Breaker Box was counted out with seconds left on the clock, giving HyperShock the win by KO.

Results

Wins/Losses

• Wins: 3
• Losses: 6

Exhibition Wins/Losses

• Wins: 0
• Losses: 1

Total Wins/Losses

• Wins: 3
• Losses: 7

Competition	Wins	Losses
Cisco Party 2006	Green Wave	SubZero
Pro Championship 2009	Suspect Device	Brutality Root Canal Stinger: The Killer Bee (Exhibition)
World Championship IV	Falcon (Undercard Match)	Uppercut (Undercard Match) Bloodsport (Undercard Match) HyperShock (Undercard Match)

Faruq Tauheed Introductions

"It puts the beat in beatbox, and you're about to break into electric boogaloo. Pop it, lock, you can't stop it. It's BREAKER BOX!"

"We've got a 10-33 emergency. The 10-20, the BattleBox. What's the 10-36? Time for smashing. You're going to need to take a 10-100, 10-4 good buddy? It's BREAKER BOX!"

"This bot's got two turntables and a microphone. It'll spin you around and break your bones. It will be cutting and scratching while it puts you in tr-tr-tr-tr-traction. BREAKER BOX!"

"It's the bottage with the wattage. It puts the volt in revolt, and inside the box, it'll give you a jolt. Moves like lightning and claps back like thunder, hope it doesn't tear you asunder. It's BREAKER BOX!"

See Also

• Wrecker (King of Bots/This is Fighting Robots)