Fight 1: vs. Rim Tin Tin

Whirligig's first fight was against Dan Watts' robot, Rim Tin Tin.

Dan's a great guy, we've always talked and joked about his bot meeting up with Backlash. Well, it didn't happen this time, but it was Whirligig who got to face Rim Tin Tin first.

The bots moved out to the center of the arena and Whirligig began to spin - fast! Undeterred, Rim Tin Tin moved right in and took several blows by Whirligig's hammers, pushing him off course. Rim Tin Tin came in again, only to be bombarded by the endless blows from Whirligig. Then, Whirligig stopped and charged right at Rim Tin Tin, pushing him hard into the wall. The bots backed off and began attacking again. At one time, Rim Tin Tin did have a grip with his lifter arm over Whirligig's shell, but being a rounded shell, it slipped right off.

The match continued with more spinning and pushing, and at two minutes, the time was up.

Judge Decision: 26-19, Whirligig wins!

Fight 2: vs. Manic Aggressive 2.0

Whirligig next fought against Manic Aggressive 2.0.

This fight was pretty quick. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but basically, the bots moved out to the center of the box, and Whirligig began to spin, hitting Manic Aggressive with the steel flail hammers.

Manic Aggressive stopped moving, and Whirligig was declared winner by KnockOut

Total time: 44 seconds

Fight 3: vs. Firestorm

Whirligig's next fight against Firestorm had us worried.

Firestorm is a VERY low-to the ground and well-armored machine. We weren't sure IF we'd be able to hit it, let alone do any damage to it.

The bots did a lot of charging and missing of each other. Whirligig did some spinning moves, and was able to knock Firestorm off-course a couple of times.

Eventually, Firestorm charged Whirligig and missed, lodging his front wedge bars under the arena spike strip, trapping himself. Whirligig approached and hit Firestorm a couple times, but was unable to free him. The referees counted Firestorm out and Whirligig won the match by TKO.

Total time: 1 Minute, 33 seconds

Fight 4: vs. Carnage Raptor

Whirligig's next fight put him in the TV rounds, and against Carnage Raptor!

Two very similar robot designs, head to head. This match was actually aired on TV!

The bots clashed in the arena several times, both bots trying to spin and land a good hit on his opponent. At one point, Carnage Raptor charged Whirligig, shoving him hard against the arena wall, and Whirligig narrowly missed getting hit by the pulverizer. After several more seconds charging and pushing (and a couple good trips over the Killsaws!), the bots both ended up back near the pulverizer. Carnage Raptor shoved Whirligig under the pulverizer, and Whirligig got smashed. That one hit was hard enough to pop loose one of the radio connections, disablling control of Whirligig completely. After noticing this (we were on the platform directly in front of Whirligig), we decided to tap out, as Whirligig was still trapped directly under the pulverizer, and so we figured we'd save the bot for the rumble at that point.

The only problem was, as the referee was screaming in his microphone "Stop the hammer!", Pete (the operator of the arena hazards), was busy whooping up the crowd behind him, hitting Whirligig several more times (five by my count) after the actual tap-out.

Luckily, the pulverizer was landing on one of the toughest parts of the bot- the gearbox, which took no damage, but the surrounding Lexan shell and nearby IFI receiver were pounded into several pieces.

We've since made peace with Pete : )

Total time: 2 Minutes, 30 seconds