It was a tracked robot armed with a spinning spiked drum at the front and lifting spikes at the rear dubbed 'Big Sticker' by builder Zack Bieber. El Diablo's name translates from Spanish as "The Devil", a theme reflected in the robot's aesthetics. The drum was replaced by a set of flywheels for Season 5.0. In its debut season, El Diablo made the middleweight finals before losing to Spaz. It never made it to the finals again, but remained consistent in competition.
Later on, Team Diablo made a heavyweight version of El Diablo named El Diablo Grande, which was originally going to replace the team's middleweight. However, El Diablo returned after its hiatus during Season 3.0 and Team Diablo opted to enter both robots into Season 5.0 in their respective divisions.
Although El Diablo did not appear in BattleBots again, Zack Bieber returned for the ABC reboot with heavyweight Razorback. He later lent himself to the 2023 live show BattleBots: Destruct-A-Thon, entering a 250lb heavyweight simply called Diablo.
El Diablo would remain under Bieber's ownership up until April 2023, where BattleBots collector Lars Bakker confirmed on Facebook that he purchased the bot as well as Hazard.
El Diablo's first ever match in BattleBots was against RA in the Round of 32. El Diablo charged straight at RA, its spinning drum hitting RA, only for RA's flails to get wound up in El Diablo's drum. This left the two robots stuck together. El Diablo pulled RA around for a while, trying to get the flail from around the drum out. El Diablo then pulled RA over the killsaws where the chain was finally pulled free and the drum was free to spin again. El Diablo pushed RA to the killsaws, where it got shredded before El Diablo pushed RA under the pulverizer. RA was unable to move and was completely destroyed, with pieces flying around the BattleBox. RA was counted out and El Diablo was declared the winner by KO with just one second left.
El Diablo vs. Ankle Biter
El Diablo pushes Ankle Biter over the killsaws.
After beating RA, El Diablo fought Ankle Biter in the Round of 16. The fight started with Ankle Biter getting under El Diablo before the two robots circled each other. El Diablo eventually managed to hit Ankle Biter's side and then get under Ankle Biter. Ankle Biter was caught by the killsaws before charging at El Diablo. El Diablo hit Ankle Biter's wheel before Ankle Biter got stuck to the spikestrip. El Diablo freed it by hitting the rear before hitting the rear end again. Ankle Biter got under El Diablo before getting caught by the killsaws, nearly getting sent onto its rear. After they avoided each other for a while, El Diablo was caught under by Ankle Biter and shoved against the spikestrip. Ankle Biter reversed away and drove over the killsaws, causing it to spin 360 degrees in the air before landing the right way up. El Diablo was then caught side on and shoved across the BattleBox. El Diablo fell off but Ankle Biter managed to get El Diablo hit by the killsaws. El Diablo was charged at again by Ankle Biter, which went straight under El Diablo and making it fly for a few seconds. El Diablo's drum was not working at this point so it started pointing the lifter at Ankle Biter. Ankle Biter continued driving at El Diablo before it was pushed into the killsaws by El Diablo and stopped moving. El Diablo shoved Ankle Biter onto the killsaws while Ankle Biter was being counted out. El Diablo won by KO at 2:24.
El Diablo vs. Complete Control
Complete Control lifts El Diablo.
El Diablo advanced to the quarter-finals, where it faced Complete Control. For this match, Complete Control added an extension to the top of its grabbing arm to help it self-right better. At the beginning, Complete Control was showing brief mobility problems before both robots started pushing each other. Complete Control then grabbed El Diablo and lifted it completely off the ground before dropping it upside-down. El Diablo continued to attack but it became clear that Complete Control could not drive properly. El Diablo was built to drive inverted and took advantage of Complete Control's issues, pushing it against the corner of the BattleBox. Complete Control feebly moved its weapon as a count began, leaving El Diablo to advance to the semi-finals.
El Diablo vs. The Master (Forfeit)
El Diablo was scheduled to fight The Master in the semi-finals. However, The Master blew a motor during testing and was forced to forfeit. This win put El Diablo through to it first title decider.
El Diablo vs. Spaz
Spaz hits El Diablo's spinning drum.
In the middleweight finals, El Diablo squared off against Spaz. The thwackbot approached first, but El Diablo knocked into Spaz with its rotating drum. Spaz swung its axe, knocking one of El Diablo's horns off the bot. The bots moved towards the killsaws and El Diablo clambered over the hazard, losing one of the two wheels that supported the drum. El Diablo came away with limited mobility as its track could not move freely. Spaz attacked again, striking El Diablo and taking off another horn before pushing El Diablo near the killsaws. Both robots were mobile as time ran out, but Spaz won on a close 25-20 judges' decision. El Diablo was declared the runner-up for Season 3.0's middleweight division.
Middleweight Royal Rumble
El Diablo also participated in the Middleweight Royal Rumble at the end of the tournament. El Diablo was one of few robots that were still moving in the end, but it lost overall to Deadblow.
Season 4.0[]
El Diablo vs. Darkness
El Diablo hits Darkness.
El Diablo fought Ray Billings' Darkness in its first Season 4.0 fight and in its return after missing Season 3.0. After several hits between the two robots, El Diablo got in a hit that damaged the battery box of Darkness and caused the box to slide backwards inside the frame of Darkness. The box pinched the power wire for the radio receiver between the box and the frame, slicing through the wire. This damage immobilized Darkness and was counted out at 2:37. El Diablo won by knockout and moved on.
El Diablo vs. Turtle Road Kill
Turtle Road Kill gets hit by El Diablo.
Advancing to the Round of 16, El Diablo faced Turtle Road Kill. The fight began fairly well for Turtle Road Kill, but a devastating blow from the killsaws rendered one half of Turtle Road Kill useless. El Diablo then took advantage of their opponent's misfortune to push Turtle Road Kill into the pulverizer, where it sustained numerous blows. El Diablo won on a 31-14 judges' decision and advanced to the quarter-finals.
El Diablo vs. Hazard
Hazard tears off El Diablo's drum.
In the quarter-finals, El Diablo faced the Season 1.0 champion, Hazard. This fight started badly for El Diablo as Hazard's first attack debilitated El Diablo's drum, stopping it. Fortunately, there was not any damage to the robot itself. The drum was charged at again by Hazard, before Hazard drove off and took a shot at El Diablo's right side tread, destroying it. El Diablo was left spinning in circles, before Hazard finished it off by taking chunks out of El Diablo's Lexan track cover and wrecking its drum even more. A KO in 45 seconds eliminated El Diablo.
Season 5.0[]
El Diablo vs. Ankle Biter
Ankle Biter tears off one of El Diablo's tracks.
El Diablo's only fight in Season 5.0 was a grudge match against Ankle Biter in the Round of 32. The fight started with the discs colliding before the two bots avoided each other. El Diablo's left side was hit a couple of times before Ankle Biter hit and destroyed the right track. Ankle Biter attacked again, getting bounced onto the top of El Diablo before dropping off the rear. El Diablo's left track was then hit and destroyed, immobilizing El Diablo. Ankle Biter spun around before shoving El Diablo onto the killsaws. This move eliminated El Diablo from the tournament once again and proved to be El Diablo's final BattleBots appearance.
