Robot Wars Extreme: Series 1/Vengeance

The Vengeance battles were a series of one-on-one battles held during Robot Wars Extreme: Series 1. Two teams harbouring grudges against each other would have their robots fight each other until one of them had been eliminated. The grudges ranged from losing to the robot the previous year to simply trying to out-do the other team.


 * The battle between Stinger and Tornado was the first battle of Robot Wars Extreme. Due to this, several occurences took place for the first time in that battle.
 * It was the first time that Mat Irvine acted as a judge.
 * It was the first appearance of the improved Tornado.
 * It was the first time Refbot's counter worked, although it was used as a timer for the match, not to count out a robot.
 * Despite this episode being called Vengeance, only five of the battles taking place were due to prior encounters. Of the five grudge matches, only two robots achieved a different result to the previous one.
 * This was the last occurrence and mention of the King Buxton/Team 101 rivalry, because the two never met again.
 * Pussycat became the only robot to ever defeat Razer by KO, as opposed to judges or malfunction.

Stinger vs Tornado
The Stinger team had referred to Tornado as a "big boring box on wheels", which "upset" the Tornado team greatly. This was a filler battle, due to delays in other battles.

This was the first match held for the first series of Extreme. The two crashed into each other a few times, causing no real problems. Eventually, Tornado hit Stinger with its new spinning disc, knocking Stinger away. Tornado then drove Stinger into Dead Metal, who grabbed it with its claws, but Stinger got away, hitting the house robot in the process. Eventually, Tornado got too close to Dead Metal, and was attacked. The two then started attacking each other again in what was a very close contest. Eventually, Tornado pushed Stinger into Sir Killalot, who grabbed Stinger by the axle and threatened to drop it out of the arena, but reversed away just before it let go. Stinger and Tornado continued to attack each other as time ran out. The judges decided the winner.

Winner: Tornado

Panic Attack vs X-Terminator
The X-Terminator team were unhappy with their losses against Panic Attack, not only after it beat it in Series 3 after X-Terminator's CO2 canister was ruptured, but also after Panic Attack narrowly beat it in the Sumo Basho of Series 4. The team also blamed Panic Attack's attack on Sir Killalot in Series 4 for their poor performance later.

X-Terminator entered the arena with a large fixed spike, but this proved to be its undoing, as Panic Attack flipped it over. The spike prevented X-Terminator from righting itself. Panic Attack opened the pit, then helped to re-right X-Terminator. It then lured X-Terminator towards the pit, lifted it up and dumped it in. The X-Terminator team later described this battle as their worst ever.

Winner: Panic Attack

Razer vs Pussycat
This grudge match, the main event of the 4th show, dated back to Series 4, after Pussycat caused major damage to a disabled Razer. Team captain Ian Lewis was unhappy with the way that Pussycat had treated Razer, claiming that the team had broken a "Gentleman's Agreement" not to cause excessive damage. The Pussycat team argued that Razer would not have been attacked had the wheels stopped.

As the match started, the two tried to get at a good angle at each other. Eventually, Razer was able to pierce Pussycat. It lifted it up and held it over the flame pit. Pussycat fell off and hit Razer with two hard side attacks. The second attack hit one of Razer's wheels and somehow put it off balance, meaning that whilst Razer's wheels were still turning, it was unable to move at all. Pussycat opened the pit and started to attack Razer yet again, just like in the fourth series. Eventually, Razer was counted out and Shunt pushed Razer down the pit. The Razer team were much more gracious in defeat this time, but they still requested another re-match for the future.

Winner: Pussycat

Firestorm 3 vs Diotoir
Although the two had fought each other in Series 3, the grudge was actually based on an insulting comment that Diotoir team member Cairon Byrne (aka Dr Zulu) made about the Firestorm team in the Robot Wars Magazine. An agreement was made that, if Firestorm won, Zulu would write an apology in the magazine (The magazine, incidentally, was cancelled before the episode was aired). In addition to this, CCTV camera picked up an (obviously staged) incident involving Zulu vandalising Firestorm.

The battle started with the two crashing into each other, but neither was able to gain the advantage due to their low ground clearances. Eventually, Firestorm got underneath Diotoir and flipped it over. Diotoir's one attempt at self-righting only served to knock its eyes off. Firestorm then pushed Diotoir into Sgt Bash, who proceeded to set fire to the Irish machine. By the time Diotoir was counted out, it was completely burnt (even the metal was reduced to charcoal).

Winner: Firestorm 3

Sir Chromalot vs Plunderbird 5
This grudge match, the main event for Show 6, was to determine which one of the two teams were the better showmen.

Plunderbird charged straight at Sir Chromalot, but was unable to cause any damage. Sir Chromalot tried to flip it, but missed. Eventually, Sir Chromalot lifted up Plunderbird and got it caught between its truck-wheel body and flipper. It pushed Plunderbird towards the CPZ, but the older machine escaped. Plunderbird then managed to grab hold of Sir Chromalot and tried to push it around. Just then, the pit release button was activated, which caused Plunderbird to drive Sir Chromalot towards the pit. In its hurry to win the battle, it mistimed its charge and drove onto the pit by mistake, beaching itself. Sgt Bash eventually pushed it in to confirm the pitting.

Winner: Sir Chromalot

King B Powerworks vs 101
Perhaps the most infamous grudge in Robot Wars history, the two teams had apparently put their history behind them in Series 4, where they won the Tag Team Terror tournament (albeit not without fighting each other). However, their early loss to Diotoir and Mega Morg had bought the grudge back again, with each side blaming each other for their loss.

The match started, and 101 came out the stronger, pushing King B Powerworks around. King B managed to escape and tried to push back, but 101 was able to eventually get under it and push it into the arena wall. It then pushed King B into the CPZ, but King B was able to escape. After a bit more pushing, King B Powerworks suddenly lost all control and started a spin-drive rampage across the arena, not too dissimilar to an incident that happened in the aforementioned Tag Team Terror match. Eventually, Sgt Bash grabbed hold of King B and pushed it into the pit, following it in in the process.

At the conclusion of this battle, King B Powerworks concluded that 101 was the superior robot, and the teams shook hands, pledging to continue their Tag Team partnership in the future. However, 101 was retired, and neither King B Powerworks nor Anarchy entered Extreme 2, making this the last contact between the pair.

Winner: 101

Ming 3 vs Mega Morg
This grudge dated back to the fourth wars, where Ming 2 and The Morgue had fought each other. Ming 2 had being the dominant robot of the two, flipping The Morgue around the arena, before it broke down and was eliminated. Team captain Andrew Cotterall insisted that Ming was superior to Morg, and that they had only won on a technicality.

The match started, and Ming 3 was easily able to get underneath Mega Morg and straight away caused several puncture marks to the Welsh machine's shell with its new claw. It eventually let go of Mega Morg and the two chased each other round the arena. Eventually, the two went into the CPZ. Sir Killalot grabbed hold of Mega Morg, opened the pit (breaking off the tyre in the process) and nearly dropped it into the pit. Dead Metal, who was trying to reclaim the tyre, nearly drove in as well. Mega Morg got away and tried to attack Ming's exposed wheel with its lifting spikes. Ming got away again. By now, Sir Killalot and Dead Metal intervened started attacking the two. The judges were called upon.

Winner: Ming 3

Plunderbird 5 vs Mega Morg
This grudge was to determine which team were the best singers.

The two robots charged at each other, but did not cause any damage. The two then charged head on - Mega Morg tried to lift Plunderbird, whose claw got caught in Mega Morg's lifting mechanism. The two began to push at each other without causing too much damage. Eventually, Sgt Bash and Shunt started attacking the inflatable sheep on top of Mega Morg, deflating and puncturing it. In the dying seconds, Plunderbird was able to cause some damage on Mega Morg's side. Cease was called and the judges were turned to. The fight is believed to be one of the most boring fights in the show's history. "For a vengeance battle, that was just pushing and shoving and calling names. I'd usually show you some highlights, but there weren't any"

- Craig Charles

Winner: Plunderbird 5

Bigger Brother vs Comengetorix
This grudge match was held as a filler battle for the Annihilator special, after Panic Attack had suffered severe damage which the team had trouble fixing. The grudge dated back to another first round clash in the Tag Team Terror, where Comengetorix (with Spawn Again) beat Bigger Brother (and Major Tom). The Comengetorix team later mocked the Bigger Brother team, claiming that they had no right to fly the Union Jack (which Bigger Brother and Major Tom were flying together). The Bigger Brother team were quick to demand a grudge match.

Although the battle started tentatively, Bigger Brother was able to flip Comengetorix over quickly. It opened the pit and tried to push Comengetorix down, but Comengetorix self-righted. Sgt Bash then attacked the two, but it was flipped over by Bigger Brother. The two then abandoned their grudge match to take on Sir Killalot. Bigger Brother tried to flip the House Robot, but bent its flipper in the process. Comengetorix was more successful, using its axe to get into Sir Killalot's armour. Eventually, the two got back to fighting each other. After a bit of dodging, Bigger Brother was finally able to push Comengetorix into the pit, with Sir Killalot dropping it in afterwards.

After the fight, the two teams revealed that the grudge was fixed and that they had nothing against each other at all: it was purely an opportunity to have a go at Sir Killalot.

Winner: Bigger Brother

Thermidor 2 vs Napalm 2
This grudge was held after Team Lobster claimed that "Robot Wars was no place for women", a statement that upset the Napalm team (and Julia Reed) greatly.

The battle started, and Thermidor 2 got underneath Napalm, but could not flip it over. The second attempt was more successful, and Napalm was flipped onto its back. Thermidor 2 then flipped Napalm closer to the arena wall, crumbling its armour in doing so. Refbot counted Napalm out and Thermidor 2 then threw it out of the arena. Although Thermidor 2 won, the team apologised about their rude comments.

Winner: Thermidor 2