It’s especially satisfying after Hypno Disc were so cagey against Dominator, watching Bigger Brother and Firestorm both dig their heels in like that and knock them out the grand final was so great! Firestorm really earned a lot of credibility after clawing their way back in series 5, they had such a hunger to prove themselves.
Can't argue with that top 5. I personally would have had Wild Thing vs Chaos 2 above Hypno Disc vs Bigger Brother, and Firestorm vs Razer above S3 vs Mousetrap, but that's all just personal preference. Great list, and really makes you realise just how incredible Series 5 was. This could easily have been a top 30 really.
Series 5 is probably the golden series of the classic run. So many good battles and surprising victories, plus Razer finally getting their UK championship win. So many good moments and surprising fights. I really didn't expect Reactor II to win against Gemini as much as I hoped it would, but yet here is it winning the fight! Hypno-Disc losing to Bigger Brother despite the damage it caused, Wheely Big Cheese throwing Axe-Awe across the arena and out, Tornado being out-pushed and defeated by Diotoir, the destruction of Atomic 2, Razer and Firestorm driving constantly over the open pit... just so many good fights and surprising victories for robots! Who can forget Granny's Revenge too, and the last of the semi-final appearances for Panic Attack.
Graham Bone: Explains in the pits that he's removed the flipper as the pneumatic ram has been wrecked by Razer so they've added extra armor on top instead. Jonathan Pearce: Is the Firestorm flipper working? Me: Sigh.
With battles like these, Series 5 is where Robot Wars really shone. Wheely Big Cheese got to show its true power and Diotoir put the wind up Tornado. Battles 1 and 4: When you put Razer, Firestorm, Hypno-Disc and Bigger Brother in the grand final, you get two explosive closely fought duels to the death and the fans of those bots on the edge of their seats (and getting what they want, more or less).
Personally, 'Firestorm vs Razer' should be 2nd. I agree, the Bigger Brother/Hypno-Disc fight takes first, but the closest EVER battle to go to the judges should take the next spot. I mean, come on. Also, I think that Firestorm should have won on a technicality - at 27:42, Firestorm reverses away from Razer after holding it against the angle grinder. Razer is not moving - it tries to use the beak to help, which is doesn't. Since Razer were pushed onto the side directly by an opponent, I don't think that the Refbot should have nudged Razer back into life. It should have been sink or swim solo there. So I'm kinda salty about that. Watch that moment a few times - there is something to what I'm saying, huh?
I getcha, but robots trapped under or on arena hazards have consistently been freed across Robot Wars' run, even into the reboot. The bigger issue is robots trapped on the arena wall, where they just flip a coin to decide whether to get it down, apparently.
As a sidenote, Extreme 2 will be the next series uploaded. Unfortunately, my recordings of Series 6 from about a year ago are all incompatible with my laptop apart from the first couple of heats, so I'll have to wait it out until Sky 2 or Challenge show it again before uploading.
15 - I suppose this is here in the same way Supernova/Frostbite was from S9, because while it's a one-hit KO, it's god damn mental to watch. 14 - I get that this is low down because at the end of the day it was a one-sided match, but you gotta hand it to the Willoughbys for never, never giving up and being there to put on as good a show as possible. Some roboteers might try and avoid C2 out of habit, but going directly in on it again and again gave Chaos 2 the chance to show off to the audience, got them to bring the axe down - it was about giving a good show and they definitely did that. 13 - Another one-sided match you can't help but admire for the sheer skill on show. Bigger Brother's spear arms that came out from the flipper were more effective than you might think, I'm surprised Or Te doesn't have them. S3 finally met a robot that can deal with it and shows why it was arguably one of the weakest semi-finalists of the Fifth Wars. 12 - Clinical driving display over just a bit too quickly. Makes you wonder if the Active Weapon had been removed for the Ninth Wars, could Michael Oates have just put a 15mm hardox block on Eruption and done the same to Carbide? I mean probably not - the internet would have had a riot if he'd won like that, but it would have been a good match to watch. 11 - Surprised this is so low down on the list! Back and forth, back and forth, and the kings of Extreme getting their butts handed to them by the ultimate 'joke entry' of a robot. Really hoping Tension Flippers take off again - Lock Jaw's rumble in Battlebots S7 was a fantastic example of 'em. 10 - My above reasoning for Tornado/Diotior being so high suddenly feels like hypocrisy when I honestly don't think this should be this high up. Yes it was back and forth for a long time, but part of me feels Reactor's win was luck more than anything, and bad design of Gemini - but then it's the same story above. Hmm. It's personal preference I guess, maybe I don't like Reactor as much as Diotior? I respect it immensely, but it doesn't grab at your heart. I did like Gemini more than Tornado so that could be it too. Strange feelings. 9 - Hey, it's Team Forsey's first appearance! And the only time they'll ever appear in a 'best fights' montage (Sorry Mr Speed Squared). Some people think this a controversial one - I think it's close, but not wrong. Yes Trouble 'n' Strife did a lot more damage itself but there was control and aggression from Wild Thing, and damage was sustained by T&S by direct work from Wild Thing - and it kept working despite the wheels being a little askew, kinda like Sewer Snake/Stinger TKB from the US. Good fight though, maybe should be a touch higher. 8 - Seriously? This one so high? Like, I get that the Americans in particular love the Sri Lankan WMD, but this was an atrocious fight - Supernova got some nasty damage dealt to it by Matilda, but who didn't in this goddamn series? No accuracy or driving style, this was sheer luck. I'd have put it below Iron-Awe/WBC honestly. 7 - Oooof. This one is a rollercoaster of emotions before and afterwards, and while I said when the video was uploaded I stand by Wild Thing deserving it, I'm not so sure any more. yes, Prizephita was slowing towards the end, but it wasn't out. If it's still mobile, no matter how sluggish, it's alive, and WT didn't stop it. Prizephita got lots more flips in and for long parts of the fight controlled it and fought back against the ineffective disc of WT. I think it could have gone to any but I do feel bad for the Prizephita team, you can see how gutted they are as well afterwards. Again, this is why we needed Wild Cards for these series. Great battle though. 6 - Good fight, I'm not sure it's quite worthy of a high position though, certainly not above WT/Phizephita. Was Atomic the only machine to ever make Hypno Disc use its' self-righter? 5 - Another good fight with Wild Thing in it that had an awkward judges' decision. Every time Wild Thing fought, it didn't always have the killing power but it put on a good close fight, it ran the distance and could run it some more - it would have done well in an Annihilator or the Round Robin tournament in S8 and 9. Again I can see why the judges gave it to S3 - some big hits and damage, and if we're told that damage will always win out over control, style and aggression... you may not agree with it, but if them's the rules. That said it was probably more that S3 had an atrocious fight against Bigger Brother and the producers wanted that blade to get more air time since Wild Thing had already had a nice good battle. 4 - Said this before in the Grand Final comments, I was amazed this wasn't boring. Like I said earlier, I think Razer only got this one because Damage is weighted so much higher than the other categories because Aggression and Control were definitely Firestorm's. But then again, them's the rules. 3 - Surprised to see this one so far up - it's a cracking fight but not nearly as good as some of the other ones we've seen before. Not much that can be said about this one that hasn't already been mentioned across a few other times you've uploaded this. Lots of the fight there was nothing happening - it's why I can't in all good faith vote for Panic Attack vs Tiberius despite that being a hell of a challenge for Kim Davies. 2 and 1 - I think the RW Wiki voted Wild Thing vs Chaos 2 below Bigger Brother vs Hypno Disc as well and in both cases I think both of you are wrong. BB/HD was a massive upset and a wonderful display of driving talent but only on one side - it's great seeing a robot tank hits but the best fight should surely be one where both robots are breathing, growling and still in motion at the end both having exchanged massive blows - Wild Thing svs Hypno Disc and Chaos 2 vs Stinger in S4, Carbide vs Apollo and Carbide vs TR2 from S8, Lock Jaw vs Yeti from Battlebots S7, stuff like that. I think the KO at the end kinda spoils some of the fun, and while I don't mean to diss Ian Watts' driving and stopping the monster of Hypno Disc, it's just not up to two of the best drivers in the competition going at it hammer and tongs, and two near pittings. Also shame on you for not including Pussycat vs Firestorm.
6. Actually, Behemoth forced Hypno-Disc to use it in Extreme 1's All-Stars. I can also confirm that was before Series 5, because Behemoth didn't have its axe. 2-1. To be fair, the wiki also voted Diotoir vs Tornado a lot higher than Chaos 2 vs Wild Thing. I can understand your reasoning, don't get me wrong, but I think the reason many people like Bigger Brother vs Hypno-Disc more than Chaos 2 vs Wild Thing was because whilst, yes, the underdog did make a massive comeback, only one of them was "complete". At least that'd be my guess, anyway.
