The Second World Championship

"Stand by! Because tonight, we bring you the ultimate cyber-crusade"

- Craig Charles

The Second World Championship was the second of three special Robot Wars championships in which robots from all over the world competed against each other, representing their respective countries. The second World Championship was broadcast as part of Robot Wars Extreme: Series 1 and also as part of the American series, Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors. The heat involving Ansgar, as well as the German Melee, were broadcast in the German Robot Wars. In the UK, it was originally broadcast in 2001 on BBC Choice and repeated on December 28, 2001 on BBC Two. In the US, it was originally broadcast on October 1, 2001 on TNN.


 * The UK broadcast was notable for featuring inaccurate commentary pertaining to the UK entrants; contrary to Pearce's claims, neither Firestorm nor Tornado competed in the previous World Championship (Tornado had not even been built), and Chaos 2 and Diotoir were eliminated in the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively, not the heats, of the previous championship. Suspiciously, Pearce's false claims mirrored the eventual results of the competition; both Chaos 2 and Firestorm were eliminated in the first round, while Tornado was beaten in the semi-finals by Razer. Furthermore, in their semi-final, Tornado was clearly outfitted with its 'charity scoop' as its primary weapon, but Pearce's commentary claimed that Tornado was outfitted with the spinning disc weapon.
 * An inaccuracy was also evident in the US broadcast, when Mick Foley announced Switzerland as one of the competing nations.
 * The UK broadcast showed no evidence that it was part of Robot Wars Extreme (it did not feature the Extreme logo or a Robot Wars Extreme closing rhyme by Craig Charles at the end of the episode), but as it was broadcast during Extreme Series 1, it is regarded as part of that series. This is also supported by the appearance of Julia Reed as pit reporter, who fulfilled the role during Extreme 1, but not Series 5, which was filmed at the same time.
 * The Second World Championship offered the largest cash prize in the history of Robot Wars, with $25,000 awarded to the eventual winner.
 * The first round of the Second World Championship was the only time the American Champion Panzer Mk lost a battle in its whole career.

Format
The championship featured 16 robots from around the world, representing their respective countries. The robots were drawn into four heats, featuring four robots each, in which the four robots would compete in a single melee battle. One robot from each heat progressed to the semi-finals, with the two winners of the semi-finals moving onto the final.

Differences between versions
The Second World Championship was one of three tournaments to be contested in multiple versions of Robot Wars. In the UK, the championship was hosted by Craig Charles, the pit reporter was Julia Reed and commentary was provided by Jonathan Pearce. In the US, the championship was hosted by Mick Foley, the pit reporter was Rebecca Grant and commentary was provided by Stefan Frank.

Unlike the other two tournaments contested in multiple versions, the line-up remained the same in both versions and any differences to the battles appeared to be only minor, although the US version did not directly introduce the robots as they entered the arena and a few battle scenes were edited out for the UK version. The first battle was also broadcast as German Robot Wars Heat B's special event with new commentary being provided by Volker Wolf, although it seemed to be based on the UK version.

Competing robots
Robots competing in the championship: Chaos 2 (UK), Manta (USA), Ansgar (Germany), Mastiff (Italy), Firestorm 3 (UK), Drillzilla (USA), NEAT Machine (The Netherlands), Whirlpool 70 (Sweden), Razer (UK), The Revolutionist (USA), Diotoir (Republic of Ireland), Flensburger Power (Germany), Tornado (UK), Panzer Mk 2 (USA), Philliper (Belgium), Yeborobo (South Africa).

The four UK competitors qualified for the championship as the four semi-finalists of the Extreme Series 1 All-Stars. The four US competitors were originally supposed to be the four semi-finalists of the first US Championship in Extreme Warriors: Season 1, but The Brute was forced to pull out due to damage taken from The Revolutionist, so its place was taken by Drillzilla.

Ansgar qualified for the championship by winning the German Melee which was broadcast earlier in the series (and also broadcast a year later on German Robot Wars), but Flensburger Power was chosen as a second German entry despite losing that battle. The final places were given to robots from Italy, Republic of Ireland, Sweden, South Africa, Belgium and the Netherlands, which did not have individual Robot Wars competitions (although there was a Dutch Robot Wars for robots from the Netherlands and Belgium, the World Championship had long since been filmed).

Only four robots from The First World Championship returned for the Second; one from each of the stages. Reigning champion Razer, Semi-Finalist Diotoir, Quarter-Finalist Chaos 2, and first round faller the Poppe Family's new machine, Philipper.

Chaos 2 (UK) vs Manta (USA) vs Mastiff (ITA) vs Ansgar (GER)
Chaos 2 flipped Mastiff over very quickly off the start. Mastiff self-righted, only to be flipped again. It hit the pit release button, but Chaos 2 continued to follow it. Whilst this was happening, Manta pushed the largely immobile Ansgar into the CPZ and side grinders. Chaos 2 flipped Mastiff over once again, very close to the pit. Mastiff tried to self-right, but got stuck on its back. Chaos 2 then (as was revealed after the fight) tried to flip it into the pit. However, the move backfired and Chaos 2 drove into the pit by mistake. Manta pitted Mastiff soon afterwards, then turned back on Ansgar, eventually pushing it onto the flipper, then the angle grinder, then the flame pit where Refbot counted it out. Winner: Manta

Whirlpool 70 (SWE) vs Drillzilla (USA) vs NEAT Machine (NED) vs Firestorm 3 (UK)
At first, Drillzilla attempted to attack Whirpool 70, then Firestorm but was not successful. Drillzilla and Firestorm then teamed up to fight NEAT Machine, before returning to fighting each other. Whirlpool 70 was slammed into the CPZ and Sir Killalot's claw got stuck in the spinning frame. While Whirlpool 70 was under attack, Firestorm overturned NEAT Machine, with help from Drillzilla. Firestorm then returned to the Swedish machine and overturned it. Both NEAT Machine and Whirlpool 70 were counted out and W70 was thrown by the arena flipper. Drillzilla slammed Firestorm into the arena wall, whilst NEAT Machine was flipped by the flipper. Drillzilla spent the remainder of the fight slamming Firestorm against the sides of the arena and ultimately the judges gave Drillzilla the win on aggression. Winner: Drillzilla

Diotoir (IRE) vs Flensburger Power (GER) vs Razer (UK) vs The Revolutionist (USA)
Razer's first chose to attack The Revolutionist. It was unable to cause any damage on the first attempt, but made a large hole on the second attempt. After this attack, the American robot did not play much of a role in the battle. Diotoir had, meanwhile, immobilised Flensburger Power, apparantly just by pushing it around the arena, and attempted to attack Razer from behind, only for Razer to pierce the fur and armour and hold it over the flame pit. Matilda attacked Flensburger Power with her flywheel, throwing it over. The battle ended with Razer and Diotoir mobile, and The Revolutionist virtually, but not technically, immobilised, so the judges made a decision. Winner: Razer

Panzer Mk 2 (USA) vs Tornado (UK) vs Philliper (BEL) vs Yeborobo (RSA)
This battle was reduced to three robots immediately as Yeborobo never moved upon entering the arena. Panzer was immediately pressurised by Tornado, who wedged itself underneath the flipper, and pushed back. Panzer attempted to flip Tornado, ultimately failing, whilst Refbot counted out Yeborobo, who had been static from the start. Panzer then succeeded in flipping Tornado over, onto the back of Philliper, who lifted Tornado up with its rear lifter, before being flipped by Panzer twice more. Yeborobo meanwhile was flipped, and thrown over the top of Tornado and Panzer. Straight after this however, in a seeming breakdown of their earlier alliance, Philliper overturned Panzer. Tornado pushed Philliper around the arena, whilst Panzer Mk 2 was left upside-down and counted out. Eventually, Tornado pushed Yeborobo down the pit, leaving it and Philliper to go to the judges decision. Winner: Tornado

Drillzilla (USA) vs Manta (USA)
The line-up guaranteed a USA vs UK final. Drillzilla was faster off the start, pushing Manta, although Manta retaliated, pushing Drillzilla back. Both of the State-side machines pushed one another a number of times, before Drillzilla buffeted Manta into the pit release. Not long after this and under pressure from Sergeant Bash, Manta lost power and was pitted.  Winner: Drillzilla

Razer (UK) vs Tornado (UK)
For this fight, Tornado had installed a bulldozer scoop on the front in place of the disc, but this offered no assistance whatsoever, as Razer still had no trouble getting under the ground clearence. Razer pierced the shell of Tornado, and then tried to attack the wheels, before lifting Tornado up. Razer then pressed the pit release button, pierced it one last time, lifted it, then dropped Tornado into the pit (although it had punctured Tornado so deeply it had become stuck on the claw). Winner: Razer

Drillzilla (USA) vs Razer (UK)
Straight away, Razer grabbed hold of Drillzilla's shuffling mechanism, and attempted to crush it, but failed. Razer eventually released Drilllzilla then tried to grab hold of it, but could not get through the armour. Drillzilla escaped, but Razer managed to catch it and clamped hold of the American shuffler again. Razer continued to hold, but not puncture, the American robot until the end of the fight, Refbot helping to count down the final seconds. Cease was called and the judges decided that Razer, being the dominant robot throughout the entire fight, should keep its World Champion title. "And still, the undisputed Champions of the World- Razer!"

- Craig Charles  Second World Champion: Razer