Bulldog Breed

"It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog"

- Tony Somerfield

Bulldog Breed was a robot that competed in Series 3 through 7 of Robot Wars, plus both series of Robot Wars Extreme. Originally using cutting discs, Bulldog Breed has a slow start to its UK career, losing in the first round to Robopig. Upgraded versions utilised a successful wedge and flipper combination and achieved more success. Bulldog Breed 2 defeated the seeded Bigger Brother before losing in the heat final to eventual Grand Finalist Stinger, whilst Bulldog Breed 3 also reached the heat final of Series 5 before losing to Hypno-Disc.

The fourth version of Bulldog Breed was the most successful. Despite losing in the second round of Series 6 (again to Hypno-Disc), it won the Tag Team Terror championship in Robot Wars Extreme: Series 2 alongside Robochicken, during which it single-handedly defeated reigning champions Pussycat and Diotoir (throwing the former out of the arena in the process). Entering the Seventh Wars seeded for the first time, it won its heat by defeating Kat 3 and later defeated Tough as Nails before losing in the top eight to X-Terminator.

Versions of Bulldog Breed
"The inspiration for the design came from the Staffordshire Bull Terrier "tough, hard hitting, and will fight till it drops, or his opponent does!""

- Tony Somerfield, interviewed in a Robot Wars Club newsletter in 2003

Bulldog Breed (Series 3)
"It may look fearsome, but its a bit of a puppy!"

- Jonathan Pearce, during Bulldog Breed's poor performance in Series 3

The original Bulldog Breed took twelve weeks to build. It was a trapezoid-shaped dual wedge robot, with one wedge tapering into a spike and the other featuring a pair of tungsten carbide body cutters. These cutters were capable of cutting through 2mm material, and also span at 325RPM upwards, assisting with traction for the robot and potentially flipping opponents up on impact. Bulldog Breed had electrical wheelchair motors that gave it the strength to pull a car with two people sitting in it.

The original Bulldog Breed was the most unreliable and by far the least successful version of the robot. Notwithstanding the steering problems that the team reported before the wars, it was slow and unresponsive in its only battle, easily outpushed by Robopig and eliminated by the house robots. Its armour was easily punctured by Shunt's axe. "The original Bulldog Breed was created as a bit of fun to see what would be the out come in the time that there was until the start of filming for Robotwars Series 3."

- The Bulldog Breed website on the original Bulldog Breed

Bulldog Breed 2
"British Bulldog spirit? Or barking mad?"

- Jonathan Pearce

Bulldog Breed 2  bore a passing resemblance to Chaos 2, eschewing the trapezoid for a more triangular shape and using polycarbonate armour to house the electronics. It retained the dual wedge and the rear spike, but substituted the spinning discs for a powerful pneumatic flipper. "This is Bulldog Breed 2, and apparently it could flip "2" of me with that [the flipper]! Don't ask how much that is!"

- Julia Reed

It was 1.3kg heavier than its predecessor, once again driven by a pair of wheelchair motors. It was as strong as its predecessor, capable of pushing a 2.5 tonne forklift at a top speed of 5 mph.

The flipper was powered by three CO2 cylinders. It reportedly threw two of Tony Somerfield's work colleagues 8 feet into the air during testing. Unlike Chaos 2 and many other wedge flippers of its time, however, the flipper could only extend to a position parallel to the ground. This meant that when Bulldog Breed had a large weight on its flipper, it tended to lean forward with its back wheels lifting slightly. "This bot is here for business. It is powerful, and has a score to settle. It can easily push a Two Tonne Fork-Lift Truck. It can flip a steel table with ease."

- The Bulldog Breed website on Bulldog Breed 2

Bulldog Breed 3
"We build 'em tough in Staffordshire!"

- Tony Somerfield

Bulldog Breed 3 gained almost 20kg from its predecessor. It substituted the dual wheelchair motors for a 24V electric motor, giving it a much quicker top speed of 15 mph, and was coated in significantly tougher aluminium dural plate armour, which varied from 10mm to 13mm in thickness. "He's the fastest, the most powerful dog we've had so far. It's 15mph, he's got a full-width flipper at the front, with twin cylinders, specially built for Robot Wars. The tactics are to ram with the stainless steel ramming plate and flip"

- Tony Somerfield

Bulldog Breed 3 was less than half the height of its predecessors, at only 32cm tall. It changed from the Chaos 2 style triangle dual wedge to a Firestorm-style long wedge with rounded back, once again keeping the electronics visible through clear polycarbonate.

For weapons, it retained the hardened spike tail, and upgraded the flipper. It now featured a T-shaped flipper with a wide, ram-tipped plate to get beneath robots. The flipper was powered by twin cylinders that the team specifically built for competing in Robot Wars. The stem of the T lay between two humps on the wedge, and was now able to open almost ninety degrees from its resting position, giving Bulldog Breed 3 more flipping momentum than its predecessor.

Bulldog Breed 3's weakness was consistently listed as being unable to self-right, presumably due to the tail. Despite this, the tail was detachable.

Bulldog Breed (Series 6 and Extreme 2, Series 7)
"We're going to push the boundaries, always."

- Tony Somerfield in Series 7

Bulldog Breed reverted to its original name and created the smallest version of the robot yet for The Sixth Wars and the second series of Robot Wars Extreme. It now featured two 750W motors and removed the wedge humps and rear spike, but retained the T-shaped flipper and metal scoop. The flipper was specially made by Midland Pneumatics Ltd, costing £1200. Containing twin 50 bore 200 stroke units, it used full pressure, 1000 psi liquid CO2, allowing 18 flips per battle.

"...this last one took aboutut 1500 hours all in all, over the course of about fifteen months"

- Tony Somerfield on the fourth version of Bulldog Breed, interviewed in a Robot Wars Club newsletter in 2003

The polycarbonate casing for the electronics was replaced with another armour plate. Bulldog Breed featured a top speed of 10 mph and a 1 cm ground clearance. From Extreme 2 onwards, the robot also featured cast-nylon armour, a material that gets stronger in response to impact. This armour was added because of Bulldog Breed's two defeats to Hypno-Disc. In Series 7, the armour was 10mm thick on the sides and bottom, and 12mm on the top, as well as a covering of polycarbonate, which was between 6 and 12mm depending on the position on the robot It was noticeably tougher than its predecessors, which had taken damage from Shunt - Kat 3 barely scratched the surface of the robot. The flipper was able to self-right and strong enough to throw Pussycat out of the arena and hoist both Dead Metal and Growler off the arena floor.

Bulldog Breed underwent very few upgrades before entering Series 7, with only minor dimension changes. A Piezo Gyro was added for Series 7, to improve control. It utilised a mesh buried inside the robot to protect its expensive and custom-made internal cylinders from damage, which caused controversy when Infernal Contraption snared the netting and tore it loose. Derek Foxwell investigated with Tony Somerfield on behalf of the judges, and ultimately gave Bulldog Breed a yellow card and permission to continue on the condition that the mesh be removed. Tony Somerfield said that in the future, they would devise other methods to protect the cylinders.

The Team
Bulldog Breed was entered by The Press Gang, a team from Staffordshire. The team captain was Tony Somerfeild, the only team member present through all Bulldog Breed's appearances. Originally, the team consisted of Tony, Toni Bond and Chris Butler. Tony's son Robert joined the team for Series 4 because Chris Butler was on holiday at the time of filming. Despite this, Robert remained part of the team for all their subsequent appearances, whereas Chris Butler never appeared on the show again. Toni Bond was the driver in Series 3 and 4, but left after that.

For Series 7 and both series of Extreme, Karl Asplin, captain of Team Desert Storm was part of the team. He was not being credited on the stats boards or acknowledged by Jonathan Pearce in Extreme 2 or Series 7, but did not appear on the team in Series 5 despite being credited on the stats board. In Series 5, the team was joined by Sean Bond, who was not credited on the stat board.

The team's name, The Press Gang, is a reference to groups called "Press Gangs", which forced people into Naval service.

Qualification
Bulldog Breed 2 qualified for Series 4 by winning both of its qualifying fights, beating Cannibal and The Bat. "Trashed!"

- The Bulldog Breed website gives a blunt description on what happened to its opponents

As with all the Heat Finalists from Series 4, Bulldog Breed 3 still had to go through the Series 5 qualifiers due to the reduction of seeds from 32 to 24, which meant not all the Heat Finalists could be seeded. In its qualifier, Bulldog Breed fought Derek! and won. "...our battery connector link jumped out and we lost all power almost straight away."

- Carl Morris of Team Derek

Bulldog Breed qualified, but was not chosen to be seeded.

At the Series 6 qualifiers, Bulldog Breed fought and defeated Cerberus to qualify, and it did not need to go through the Series 7 qualifiers due to being seeded.

Series 3
Bulldog Breed was very sluggish and didn't last long in this opening battle. It waited by the starting spot until its opponent Robopig came towards them. "Bit of a slow start by the old Bulldog ... hasn't got out of his kennel yet."

- Jonathan Pearce

It then finally moved, attempting to saw into Robopig's wheels but Robopig got away before any damage was sustained. It then appeared that Bulldog Breed had broken down as Robopig pushed it around near Shunt's CPZ. The discs were spinning but the robot itself was not moving. Robopig then pushed Bulldog Breed into the CPZ. Shunt then attempted to lift Bulldog Breed and axed a few holes into the top of the robot. Bulldog Breed then came back to life but Robopig slammed them again towards Shunt and again Shunt lifted and axed Bulldog Breed a couple of times. The arena spike then started spiking the under-body of Bulldog Breed. Matilda and Dead Metal closed in on the now immobile Bulldog Breed. Matilda attacked with her chainsaw and Dead Metal attempted to saw it but missed. Cease was called shortly after a few more axe blows from Shunt and a disappointing start for Bulldog Breed's Robot Wars career. "Unfortunately due to a mechanical failure, Bulldog, failed to make his move on Robopig. Mind you the pig did try, but the look on Bulldogs face must of scared him off, because he failed to make a mark on Bulldog. This left the opportunity for the house robots to do their work. It took them some time, but they gave the poor dog who could not move and defend himself, a bit of a beating."

- The Bulldog Breed website

Series 4
In its first round melee, Bulldog Breed 2 was drawn up against newcomers Spikasaurus and the number 30 seeds Stinger. All three robots moved off, and Bulldog Breed 2 was quickest, flipping Spikasaurus in the opening moments. The rollcage of Spikasaurus allowed it to simply roll back onto its wheels, before it sped off, crashing into Shunt briefly. "Spikasaurus, just rolled over by Bulldog Breed. Didn't roll over for a tickle on the tum, got straight up, which is good to see"

- Jonathan Pearce

It shot back and crashed into Stinger, pushing the axlebot into Bulldog Breed. Bulldog Breed flipped stinger, but this had no effect because Stinger was an axlebot. Stinger slammed Spikasaurus with its mace, before crashing its axe around the arena floor. Bulldog Breed flipped Stinger again, and Spikasaurus rammed into it from the side, pushing it away. Stinger was unaffected by the flip, and rejoined the battle, with Spikasaurus pushing it against Bulldog Breed, who flipped it up into the air. Stinger fled, and Bulldog Breed turned on Spikasaurus, flicking it up on its side. The momentum was not enough to get it on its back, so Spikasaurus fell back on its wheels. Stinger skidded in amongst the action, flailing its mace in and driving its opponents away. Bulldog Breed 2 then flipped precisely as Spikasaurus charged into it, lances first, negating the attack, before flicking it over. Spikasaurus rolled back onto its wheels again. Spikasaurus pushed Stinger into the side wall, sending sparks flying, and when Bulldog Breed intervened, Stinger swung its mace in random directions, hitting both robots before fleeing. As Stinger spun, Spikasaurus was dealt a heavy blow and its charge was redirected into the side wall, where its spear buckled and pinned it to the wall. It was freed by Dead Metal, and caught up with Bulldog Breed and Stinger, which were fighting each other. Bulldog Breed flipped both opponents, but neither was affected, and the battle continued in the same way until Spikasaurus ran into the side spike near Shunt's CPZ. Bulldog Breed tried to push it into the waiting House Robot, but ended up flipping Shunt slightly and catching itself in the CPZ. Shunt axed through the flipper of Bulldog Breed, but dragged it out and allowed it to escape. Bulldog Breed, Spikasaurus and Stinger continued to fight, with Spikasaurus being flipped over, but this time it failed to roll over due to the rollcage being bent, and because it hit Stinger whilst being flipped. Bulldog Breed flipped Spikasaurus again, knocking back onto its wheels. The match went to the judges, who unanimously eliminated Spikasaurus.

In the second round, Bulldog Breed 2 fought the fourteenth seed, Bigger Brother.

The two robots slowly moved toward each other, and Bigger Brother attacked Bulldog Breed side-on. It used its flipper, but the flipper did not get underneath enough to flip them. To make matters worse, Bigger Brother vented a large amount of gas immediately afterwards. "Ooh! Gas is being vented there. Now they normally are aimed, due to the pressurised system onto the flipper, I wonder if there's a problem with one of the pressure valves. I think there might be, and that will lead to a lack of power in what was otherwise a fierce flipper! And it may give Bulldog Breed 2 a chance to growl and prowl, menacingly."

- Jonathan Pearce

Bigger Brother tried to flip again, venting more gas, and Bulldog Breed tried to flip Bigger Brother. Three small flips missed, but Bulldog Breed managed to get its flipper in and flick Bigger Brother over and onto its back. Gas continued to vent from Bigger Brother, and Bigger Brother did not have enough pressure to right itself. Eventually, the House Robots came in and attacked, before pitting the seeded machine.

This surprise victory put Bulldog Breed 2 through to the Heat Final, where it fought Stinger again. Stinger span on the spot, and Bulldog Breed 2 moved forward, knocking it onto one wheel. Bulldog Breed attempted to do the same thing, battering against Stinger, but managing to tip it onto its side. Stinger veered away and attacked, with Bulldog Breed moving at the same slow pace and taking hits when it wedged beneath its opponent. "Its a bit tentative here, they're feeling each other out, I don't know why. They know all about each other, they fought together against Spikasaurus."

- Jonathan Pearce

Bulldog Breed nudged Stinger onto one wheel again, after driving across the flames. Stinger then drove onto Bulldog Breed, who fired its flipper, raising it off the ground but not lifting it. Stinger struck Bulldog Breed twice, but Bulldog Breed flipped it aside on the second attempt. Bulldog Breed's flipper stayed open, and Stinger spun on the spot, slamming into Bulldog Breed's side and back. The flipper still would not close, and Stinger's attacks caused CO2 to start venting. "Stinger - a side attack on the Bulldog, the jaws of the Bulldog are open - ah! CO2 being vented there! Bulldog Breed is in trouble here!"

- Jonathan Pearce

Stinger struck the top of Bulldog Breed, then swung its axe, hitting the inside of the flipper. Bulldog Breed spun in a circle, trying to minimise the amount of damage inflicted in one area. Bulldog Breed pushed its open flipper onto the mace, holding it still, but Stinger escaped and struck again, knocking Bulldog Breed aside several feet and knocking it out. As Stinger propped itself against Bulldog Breed, smoke began to pour from the immobilised machine. Dead Metal, Shunt and Killalot attacked Bulldog Breed, slicing, axing and otherwise attacking the machine. Bulldog Breed was dropped on its back by Killalot and placed on the floor flipper by Dead Metal. Bulldog Breed was thrown by the flipper and cease was called.

Extreme 1
Bulldog Breed 3's only appearance in the first series of Extreme saw it compete in a Mayhem qualifier battle where it went against Judge Shred 2½ and Spirit of Knightmare, for the right to fight in the second annihilator of the series. All three robots made cautious starts, spending the first moments simply driving around each other, only giving each other an occasional nudge. The first real attack came when Spirit of Knightmare drove under Judge Shred, but its opponent fell off the narrow wedge before the flipper could be fired. It then rammed into Judge Shred with its rear spikes, but then seemed to stop. As Judge Shred pushed Bulldog Breed 3 from the side, Spirit of Knightmare came back to life and got underneath Bulldog Breed. Spirit of Knightmare pushed Bulldog Breed into the arena wall angle grinders, but Bulldog Breed escaped with no damage. Bulldog Breed chased after Judge Shred, but neither robot's flippers fired. Spirit of Knightmare then rammed into Bulldog Breed with its rear spikes, but ground to a halt again, and this time, it stopped moving completely, as Judge Shred and Bulldog Breed pushed against it, finally getting their flippers working, but missing. As Refbot counted out Spirit of Knightmare, Bulldog Breed got underneath Judge Shred and finally used its flipper, rolling Judge Shred onto its back. "If you let the bulldog off his lead, he will create mayhem in the arena!"

- Jonathan Pearce as Judge Shred is flipped

Judge Shred should have been able to right itself, but its srimech failed to work, and it was counted out. Meanwhile, Spirit of Knightmare was thrown by the floor flipper. After being flipped, it was able to run upside down, but it was too late to rejoin the fight. "Very good piece of driving skill by Tony Somerfield at the controls of Bulldog Breed to flip the Judge as they did."

- Jonathan Pearce as Judge Shred is pitted

Meanwhile, Shunt axed Judge Shred and pitted it. Bulldog Breed had won the battle, and was through to the Annihilator.

However, Bulldog Breed 3 was forced to pull out of the second Annihilator after suffering damage from its Heat Final battle with Hypno-Disc in Heat B of Series 5, just like Atomic 2 had, so Spirit of Knightmare took Bulldog Breed's place in the Annihilator, finishing as runner-up. On the show, its absence was explained away by claiming it "broke down" after winning its Mayhem.

Series 5
"Bulldog Breed's come out of its kennel for another crack at the title. They didn't do to well in the last wars but learned plenty of lessons and have returned with a really powerful flipper. This dog's got no bark, but it's got plenty of bite!"

- Phillipa Forrester at the start of the Heat

Bulldog Breed 3's first round battle in Heat B of the Fifth Wars saw it go up against newcomers Juggernot 2. Bulldog Breed 3 got off to the quicker start, as Juggernot 2 trundled away before turning. Juggernot 2 continued to crawl around the arena and then spun on the spot. Bulldog Breed 3 had plenty of time to line itself up for an attack on Juggernot 2 and duly flipped the Scottish robot onto its side, causing a panel of its rear armour to come off. "There you go, there's the flipper, up goes Juggernot 2! And I'm afraid if I could see the Juggernot team in problems, well so could Bulldog Breed!"

- Jonathan Pearce as Bulldog Breed 3 carries out the inevitable flip Bulldog Breed then flipped it onto its front, and then onto its wheels. Juggernot 2 drove towards Bulldog Breed, but was flipped again, this time onto its back. Bulldog Breed pushed the pit release button, ripping it from the wall in the process, before flipping Juggernot 2 towards the pit, but it failed push its opponent in, as it pushed it at the wrong angle, before reversing away. Meanwhile, Juggernot 2's flipper had broken off. Shunt then pushed the defeated Juggernot 2 into the pit.

The next round saw the Bulldog against the Lamb, in the form of Lambsy. "I think we're going to do a bit of sheep-worrying, I just hope we don't get shot by the farmer!"

- Tony Somerfield on Lambsy

Lambsy went straight for the pit release and activated it. Bulldog Breed followed Lambsy, got under and flipped it, knocking off the sheep mascot. "I don't know whether they were going to try to put bulldog into its kennel early, but they were flipped."

- Jonathan Pearce on Lambsy's early activation of the pit

Lambsy continued to move upside-down due to being invertible, before Bulldog Breed 3 drove up onto Lambsy's wedge, but Lambsy didn't fire its flipper. Bulldog Breed 3 flipped itself off of Lambsy's wedge, and flipped Lambsy over twice more. Lambsy moved over the flame pit and away, before Bulldog Breed charged onto Lambsy's wedge, driving straight over the robot. Lambsy then temporarily came to a halt, while Bulldog Breed struggled to fully flip Lambsy up and over. "Now, if Bulldog Breed, to be honest, are to be a match in the heat final with Hypno-Disc, they should dispose here of Lambsy."

- Jonathan Pearce Lambsy reversed into Bulldog Breed 3 whilst its flipper was retracting, causing it to stay open. Bulldog Breed 3 pushed back, and forced Lambsy towards the House Robots, where Shunt axed it and Sir Killalot carried it around. In the last few seconds, Bulldog Breed 3 flicked Lambsy over once more, before cease was called. "That was a lot closer than I thought it would be, so well done to both teams there."

- Jonathan Pearce as the battle goes the distance

The battle then went to the judges, who put Bulldog Breed through to the Heat Final, where Bulldog Breed faced the Heat favourite and number 3 seed Hypno-Disc.

Unlike Bulldog Breed's previous two battles, this one started quickly, with both robots charging towards each other, but Bulldog Breed span and drove away just before the two robots met. Hypno-Disc caught up and got a glancing blow to Bulldog Breed, but merely bounced off, before turning around and hitting its side again. Bulldog Breed managed to get its flipper under Hypno-Disc and flipped it onto its side, but Hypno-Disc landed on its wheels and slammed its disc into Bulldog Breed more times, hitting the front and sides. These attacks did little visible damage, but Bulldog Breed appeared to start going in a circle. Hypno-Disc drove behind Bulldog Breed and attacked Bulldog Breed's rear. This attack ripped out Bulldog Breed's safety link, which instantly immobilised Bulldog Breed.

"It's almost like hitting the jackpot, winning the lottery, winning the pools, having birthday and Christmas all at once!"

- Jonathan Pearce on Hypno-Disc removing Bulldog Breed 3's link

Hypno-Disc was merciful though and instead of destroying Bulldog Breed, it merely activated the pit and pushed Bulldog Breed down. However this damage meant that Bulldog Breed couldn't take its place in its Annihilator in Extreme Series 1, which was filmed at the same time as Series 5. "And then they sent the Bulldog to the doghouse!"

- Jonathan Pearce on Hypno-Disc's defeat of Bulldog Breed 3

Series 6
"...improved design on the last three series, more durable, harder-hitting, more powerful flipper, more controllable. It "exudes gas when angry" - so what? So does my mum!"

- Jonathan Pearce reviewing Bulldog Breed's stats

A new and improved Bulldog Breed returned for the Sixth Wars. It was drawn up against former heat-finalists Kat 3, veterans Revenge of Trouble & Strife and newcomers Spin Doctor in its first round melee in the penultimate heat for the series. Bulldog Breed went straight into the fighting as it flipped Spin Doctor into Sir Killalot's crushing claw, but the impact with the house robot kept Spin Doctor on its wheels. "I think I'd go for Bulldog Breed in this, right from the start, Bulldog Breed's initial slam leaves the doctor spinning, out of control"

- Jonathan Pearce as Bulldog Breed flips Spin Doctor

Bulldog Breed then drove around Kat 3 and flipped Revenge of Trouble & Strife over, using Kat 3's jammed axe as a chock. Driving around Spin Doctor for a couple of seconds, Bulldog Breed went back to Revenge of Trouble & Strife and gave it a nudge as it had not self-righted. Bulldog Breed seemed like it was trying to flip Revenge of Trouble & Strife on to its wheels again but gave up and looked on as Refbot was about to count out the round robot out. Then, Bulldog Breed slammed into Spin Doctor and flipped it into the Corner Patrol Zone, leaving it there at the mercy of Sergeant Bash. The bulldog then flipped Kat 3 near the pit, nearly changing who was going to go out. After Revenge of Trouble & Strife drove into the pit and Spin Doctor was counted out, Bulldog Breed flicked Kat 3 into the pit.

In the second round, its luck was gone, as it had an unfortunate draw up against the number 4 seeds Hypno-Disc, for the second time in two series.

At the start of the battle, Bulldog Breed charged in whilst Hypno-Disc was getting its weapon up to speed, and managed to flip Hypno-Disc, only for Hypno-Disc to just bounce away. Hypno-Disc managed to retaliate, first hitting the side, knocking Bulldog Breed into the CPZ. After dodging the flipper, Hypno-Disc hit Bulldog Breed's front twice. No visible damage was done, but Bulldog Breed was driving in circles. Hypno-Disc attacked again, knocking Bulldog Breed closer to the CPZ. Dead Metal started to attack Bulldog Breed because it was near the Corner Patrol Zone but the Bulldog managed to flick Dead Metal off. There was an evident rip in the side of Bulldog Breed which may have caused it to become immobilised. Hypno-Disc hit it again and Dead Metal tried to slice into the bulldog but again it flicked Dead Metal. "Bulldog Breed had to get it over early, and they failed to do so"

- Jonathan Pearce as "Cease" was called

Bulldog Breed was counted out from lack of mobility and "Cease" was called, eliminating Bulldog Breed from the competition.

Extreme 2
Bulldog Breed was the star of the Extreme Series 2 Tag Team Terror competition, where it was teamed up with Robochicken. "Making up the team, the growl and the fowl!"

- Jonathan Pearce on the Tag Team partnership

In the first round, they had an unfortunate draw as they were drawn up against the reigning Tag Team Terror champions, Pussycat and Diotoir. "Dog and the cat in the arena together, it's gotta be tears!"

- Tony Somerfield Bulldog Breed went out first, against Pussycat. Bulldog Breed and Pussycat met in the centre of the arena, with Pussycat's blade scratching the wedge of Bulldog Breed, but no more happening. The two robots simply spun around each other trying to gain purchase on the other. Bulldog Breed was more successful, tossing Pussycat into the air with its powerful flipper. Pussycat, stuck on its side, spun free and landed on its wheels. Bulldog Breed charged forward, slipping its flipper under the wheeled end of Pussycat, and threw it over the arena wall. "Can run any way up, Pussycat - but not that way, thank you very much, you're out! How many lives on a Pussycat? One! And it's over!"

- Jonathan Pearce

Bulldog Breed immediately followed this attack up by hurling Diotoir over as it emerged from the CPZ. The impact knocked one of the eyes of Diotoir, but the Irish machine managed to land on its wheels. Diotoir flanked Bulldog Breed, but neither of its weapons activated, and Bulldog Breed quickly escaped, tossing Diotoir onto its back, beside the flame pit. Bulldog Breed swiftly pushed it all the way onto the flames. "We said it would be entertaining, and the dog means business! He's out with a growl and on the prowl! For goodness sake, put him on a leash, someone!"

- Jonathan Pearce as Bulldog Breed flips Diotoir

Robochicken came in to flip and "peck" the immobile Diotoir, who could not self-right. Refbot came in to put out the flames and count Diotoir out, before Matilda came in to attack with its flywheel. "And that's the most emphatic victory we've seen in the Tag Team Terror, it belonged to Bulldog Breed, and Robochicken- we hardly saw them!"

- Jonathan Pearce

Cease was called and the reigning champions were eliminated.

In the Semi-Final round, Bulldog Breed and Robochicken were drawn up against newcomers to the televised show Lightning and previous Tag Team Terror finalists The Steel Avenger. "They're there to sweep up the mess and peck a few eyes when it's all over"

- Tony Somerfield on Robochicken's role in the Tag Team pairing

Bulldog Breed went out first again, against Lightning. At the start of the battle, the two robots dodged each other, until Bulldog Breed attacked the side of Lightning, pushing it to the arena wall and flipping it. "...Bulldog Breed, which is the most impressive single robot we've seen in the Tag Team Terror, and already it looks to flick another robot out of the arena. Trying to do to Lightning there, what they did in the first round to Pussycat!"

- Jonathan Pearce

Lightning tried to self-right, but this merely pushed it away from the wall, still on its back. Bulldog Breed flipped it again, beaching it on the wall right way up, and moved to position it to attempt to throw it out of the arena. "Lightning, teetering on the arena side wall! Lightning, you need to get out of there, otherwise Lightning will suffer a thunderclap of an attack from Bulldog Breed!"

- Jonathan Pearce

However, the arrival of Robochicken and The Steel Avenger dissuaded this attempt, and Bulldog Breed retreated as The Steel Avenger knocked Lightning free of the angle grinder. However, this move trapped The Steel Avenger between the wall and Sergeant Bash. Lightning re-engaged Bulldog Breed, but seemed to only be able to spin in circles until Growler came out and slammed it into Bulldog Breed, who tossed it back onto the arena wall. The Steel Avenger managed to escape from Sergeant Bash by pushing back, as Bulldog Breed flipped Lightning in another attempt to flip it out, only for Lightning to bounce away from the wall. Bulldog Breed drove into the CPZ, and Growler came in, driving on top of it and cornering it. However, Bulldog Breed was able to lift Growler with its flipper, lifting it twice before Growler reversed away, allowing Bulldog Breed to escape. Growler pursued Bulldog Breed, driving on top of the competitor. Bulldog Breed flipped Growler over its top, although the House Robot landed smoothly. "It's the clash of the two dogs out there! A real dog fight on the arena floor! And Growler is after the Bulldog, who's gonna win this one? The Bulldog comes out on top! Growler up and over! That's great driving from the Bulldog Breed!"

- Jonathan Pearce during the clash

Bulldog Breed then rammed The Steel Avenger into the CPZ with Robochicken, flipping it onto Robochicken, who pinned it against the arena wall with its flipper. "And we look for hints in events like the Tag Team Terror for future UK and World Champions, and I'll tell you what, Bulldog Breed may go close in the future! They look terrific to me! ... They have a teammate, Bulldog Breed, called Robochicken. You wouldn't believe it, would you? We haven't seen much of that!"

- Jonathan Pearce

The Steel Avenger got back on its wheels, only to be flipped again by Robochicken. It managed to escape, and charged in reverse to Bulldog Breed. It tried to use its lifter, but this had no effect, and allowed Bulldog Breed to get under again, driving straight under it. Bulldog Breed dodged The Steel Avenger as Lightning was counted out, before giving Lightning one last flip as the count reached 10. It turned its attentions back on The Steel Avenger, flipping it over. The Steel Avenger quickly self-righted, and reversed away, but Bulldog Breed and Sergeant Bash blocked its escape. The Steel Avenger escaped Sergeant Bash, before being flipped by Bulldog Breed again, but this time Bulldog Breed kept its flipper open to prevent them self-righting. The Steel Avenger was able to self-right as Robochicken came in, only to be flipped again. It self-righted, and tried to axe Robochicken, but its blows missed and Robochicken got in again, flipping it over, and this time it could not self-right. The Steel Avenger was then counted out and Robochicken and Bulldog Breed were through to the Tag Team Terror Final.

In the Final, Bulldog Breed and Robochicken went up against Hydra and Barbaric Response. "For me the strongest team, Hydra and Barbaric Response, for me the strongest robot, Bulldog Breed, and they meet in the final. It should be some battle, I can tell you."

- Jonathan Pearce before the battle Bulldog Breed and Hydra both shot out quickly, but at first the two dodged each other. Bulldog Breed got the first flip in and tossed Hydra onto its back. Hydra attempted to self-right, but lacked enough momentum, and merely fell back onto its still open arm, which closed and tried again, with no success. Barbaric Response quickly joined the fight and took Bulldog Breed by surprise, tossing it onto its back and using its still open flipper to block Bulldog Breed's self-righting attempt. "That's the first time we've seen the Breed in trouble!"

- Jonathan Pearce

Whilst Bulldog Breed self-righted, Barbaric Response tried to right Hydra, but couldn't get in properly due to Hydra's weapons being out. Bulldog Breed came in, ramming Hydra, which knocked in back on its wheels. Hydra went back into its CPZ, and Barbaric Response fled from Bulldog Breed, driving towards Hydra's CPZ. As Bulldog Breed caught up with it, Barbaric Response stopped moving. Hydra came out, and was immediately flipped by Bulldog Breed before it could get a hammer blow in. As Hydra tried to self-right, Bulldog Breed reversed Barbaric Response into an empty CPZ, where Robochicken came in and began to peck its motionless form. Meanwhile, Refbot had begun to count down Hydra, who could still not manage to self-right. Bulldog Breed turned on Robochicken and flipped it into its back, as Mr. Psycho attacked its two beaten opponents. Cease was called with Bulldog Breed and its partner Robochicken as the Tag Team Champions. "Everything went wrong coming into the arena, because we took some heavy damage from uh, [looks at Robochicken team] ... Growler, we won't mention that though, we didn't know how it was going to perform really, everything went wrong coming all the way into it, right up to the point where we came through the doors, and then Robochicken broke down!"

- Tony Somerfield after the battle

Series 7
For the Seventh Wars, Bulldog Breed was seeded number 12 for the main competition, mainly due to its Tag Team Champion status as well as reaching two previous Heat Finals. In its first round battle, it was drawn up against veterans Infernal Contraption, and two newcomers in Mantis and Jabber. "The Bulldog's got a lot more pedigree this year, it has a lot more bite, it's a lot more experienced, I might drive him into the arena, but I'm sure he's on his own when he gets out there, because he won't listen to me!"

- Tony Somerfield before the battle

Infernal Contraption started attacking Jabber, then span away, and Bulldog Breed came in. Bulldog Breed had to chase Inernal Contraption for a bit, because when it got in under Infernal Contraption the first time, Infernal Contraption merely bounced away, and the second time Bulldog Breed got in a position to flip, Infernal Contraption drove away. However, as it did so, it briefly lost control, allowing Bulldog Breed to get under it and ram it into a CPZ, almost flipping it out. Meanwhile, Mantis had grabbed Jabber and lifted it off the ground. Mantis stuck Jabber on the grinders, whilst Infernal Contraption was stuck in the CPZ, driving into the wall and spinning on the spot, so Bulldog Breed took advantage and flipped it again. Sgt Bash came into the CPZ, followed by Mantis, which was still carrying Jabber, and Refbot, which had been standing by the CPZ whilst Bulldog Breed and Infernal Contraption were fighting, and was pushed into the CPZ as Mantis drove in. Bulldog Breed drove out of the CPZ, then attacked Mantis and Jabber, as Mantis would not let Jabber go. Bulldog Breed became wedged between Jabber and the lifters of Mantis, before Infernal Contraption sped over and struck Mantis' rear. Bulldog Breed broke free and drove off, with Mantis carrying Jabber over to Sergeant Bash's CPZ and dropping it. Bash closed in on Jabber, who appeared to only be moving on one wheel. Meanwhile, Mantis and Bulldog Breed attacked Infernal Contraption together. Infernal Contraption tried to escape, but drove into Mr. Psycho and Bash. Bulldog Breed and Mantis turned on each other, with Bulldog Breed pushing Mantis into the pit release. However, at this point, something became dislodged. On examination, it appeared to be an interior mesh, now dragging behind Bulldog Breed. "Oh what's happened there, something's come out of Bulldog Breed. Looked like mesh or webbing of some sort. Now they should not have any webbing, or mesh, or net inside their machine. I don't know what it is, i'll give them the benefit of the doubt for now, but it's trailing across the arena floor, it can snag spinners and blades, that's why they're not allowed."

- Jonathan Pearce as Bulldog Breed's mesh slips out and creates a talking point

In the closing seconds, Bulldog Breed flipped over Jabber before being raised off the ground by Mantis. The judges' decision gave Bulldog Breed the benefit of the doubt, and the seeded machine progressed through with Mantis.

In the pits, technical consultant Derek Foxwell asked the Somerfields about the mesh, which was against the rules due to the tangling it can cause in flywheels. Tony Somerfield told Derek Foxwell that the mesh was to protect the cylinders. Foxwell told them not to use it again, so Bulldog Breed went through to the next round on a yellow card. "It was buried within the robot, designed to protect £1200 worth of cylinders which we've had damaged in the past!"

- Tony Somerfield

In Round 2, it faced the Belgian machine, Hard. "Actually, we're pretty happy to finally have one of the really powerful robots against us, because until now, every robot we were fighting against in the competition was, we always thought "we can handle him", but this is the first one we think "Hmmm ... this is going to be a fight!"!"

- Jan Huygh on fighting Bulldog Breed

Bulldog Breed charged at Hard, but Hard swerved aside at the last moment. The two robots turned to face each other again, and Bulldog Breed slid under Hard's 2cm ground clearance, rammed it and threw it over, but Hard landed on its wheels. Hard then drove around to Bulldog Breed's side and pushed it into the side wall and held it there briefly, but as Bulldog Breed escaped, Hard was not moving. Bulldog Breed got behind Hard and flipped it against the arena wall, trying to flip it out. "Bulldog Breed wanted someone to pay, and the Belgium team from Kampenhout being made to pay."

- Jonathan Pearce as Hard lies motionless

Bulldog Breed continued to flip the lifeless Hard around, but failed to flip out the smaller robot. Finally, Refbot came in to count Hard out, before Mr Psycho hammered Hard, put it on the floor flipper, then the Drop Zone.

Bulldog Breed's Heat Final saw it drawn against Kat 3. "Not nervous at all at the moment, we're pretty confident, give it [Kat 3] some air miles!"

- Robert Somerfield when asked how he felt about the battle

The two robots moved slowly towards each other, and Bulldog Breed dodged Kat 3's axe when it fired, driving around the side of its opponent. Kat 3 turned and fired its axe again, but Bulldog Breed drove away before it could hit. Bulldog Breed came back and pushed against Kat 3, but could not get its flipper in properly to flip, so Kat 3 drove away. The two robots drove around each other, unsuccessfully trying to get in a good position to attack - Bulldog Breed drove at both sides of Kat 3, but couldn't get its flipper underneath either time, then Kat 3 fired the axe and missed. After some more driving around each other, Kat 3 landed a successful axe blow, hitting Bulldog Breed in the centre of the flipper, before the pair swerved to avoid each other again. "Oh that's a good attack by Kat 3! That's one in the eye for the Bulldog."

- Jonathan Pearce as Kat 3's axe comes down onto Bulldog Breed's flipper

Kat 3 missed an axe blow, and Bulldog Breed flipped it over. Kat 3 tried to self-right, and Bulldog Breed pushed it into Sir Killalot's CPZ, knocking it onto its wheels in the process. Kat 3 then activated the pit, before getting under Bulldog Breed and hitting it with its axe, but this caused no damage. Bulldog Breed broke free, Kat 3 missed with its axe, and Bulldog Breed pushed against Kat 3, but still could not get its flipper under properly. Bulldog Breed reversed away and drove at the other side of Kat 3 to try and flip it, but mistimed its flip, firing after Kat 3 fell off the wedge. Kat 3 was firing its axe, but missing each time. The two robots drove away from the arena wall, and Bulldog Breed finally got under Kat 3 properly, flipping it into Killalot, who shunted it away from the CPZ. The angle it was stuck at made it unable to self-right. Bulldog Breed then threw Kat 3 over Sir Killalot, which resulted on Kat 3 falling back onto its wheels. The two robots met in the arena centre, getting side on against each other, spinning around, neither could get in a position to use their weapon. Kat 3 drove away, and after dodging Bulldog Breed for a while, tried to get in a position to use its axe, only for Bulldog Breed to get underneath, pushing it to the arena wall near Sir Killalot's CPZ. Kat 3 self-righted straight away, and went back to fight Bulldog Breed. The two met in the centre again, with Kat 3 hitting Bulldog Breed with the axe, causing sparks to fly. The two robots drove around each other some more, with Kat 3 missing two axe blows, and Bulldog Breed flipped Kat 3 over again just before the last 10 seconds. Kat 3 self-righted again, but was pushed onto the flame pit by Bulldog Breed. Kat 3 drove away, and time ran out, so the judges were required to make a Judges' decision. Two of the judges in fact descended to the pits to examine the axe blows on Bulldog Breed. Upon discovering that the blows were merely superficial, they awarded the win to Bulldog Breed. "We knew that they had improved tremendously, and to underestimate them would have been a serious mistake, especially with the axe, because it is powerful, whatever we've got as armour, it's powerful, and he could have messed up really easily, so we tweeked the gyro to give us more jinking left and right, to dodge and weave a bit"

- Tony Somerfield after the battle

Bulldog Breed was then drawn up against the Dutch machine Tough as Nails in the first round of the Semi-Finals, who were considered the favourites by Jonathan Pearce, despite Bulldog Breed being the seeded machine. "We're confident, it's the robot that's a bit poorly at the moment, I think we need the vet! ... It's got a fractured chassis and a twisted frame, we've got one wheel on the floor, one hard point on the floor, and trying to keep it straight is a major problem, but we need a vet!"

- Tony Somerfield before the battle

Both robots charged at each other, but Tough as Nails did so at such an angle that it drove straight up Bulldog Breed, flipped over the side and overturned itself sideways. Tough as Nails reversed, but straight onto Bulldog Breed's wedge. Tough as Nails turned away before Bulldog Breed could flip and both robots tried to get in a good position to use their weapon. Tough as Nails grabbed Bulldog Breed side-on, but when it closed the crusher, the claws simply went up the wedge and rear, not getting a grip at all. Tough as Nails drove up Bulldog Breed again, but despite staying on top of Bulldog Breed for a lengthy time, Bulldog Breed did not fire its flipper. Bulldog Breed drove into Sergeant Bash's CPZ, then reversed into an angle grinder. "..and at the moment, those problems that Tony Somefield was telling us about in the pits don't seem that evident!"

- Jonathan Pearce Tough as Nails slowly drove to the pit release, activated it, before reversing up Bulldog Breed and darting straight over it. Bulldog Breed caught up to Tough as Nails, got in underneath, and flipped it. Bulldog Breed kept its attacks persistent, getting another flip on Tough as Nails. Tough as Nails pushed against Bulldog Breed's side, before reversing away and performing a sort of pirouette, balancing on its two wheels. "And the best of British here, is flying the Union Jack high and proud."

- Jonathan Pearce as Bulldog Breed makes a strong start

Tough as Nails charged back at Bulldog Breed, but got itself flipped against the arena side wall. Tough as Nails managed to drive off before Bulldog Breed could get the chance to flip it out of the arena. Tough as Nails then finally got a good grip on Bulldog Breed, but Bulldog Breed drove in circles, and when Tough as Nails closed the crusher, the arms slid up the robot, allowing Bulldog Breed to get free by flipping the Dutch machine. "This is the closest battle we've seen in this semi-final so far."

- Jonathan Pearce

Tough as Nails grabbed Bulldog Breed from the front again, but struggled to push it backwards. Bulldog Breed fired it flipper, but this was costly, as they bounced slightly, allowing Tough as Nails to hold Bulldog Breed with its wheels off of the ground. Tough as Nails slammed Bulldog Breed into the arena side wall. Bulldog Breed got its wheels back on the ground, but was still in Tough as Nails' grip. Bulldog Breed made a push, trying to get Tough as Nails into the pit, but failed to do so, instead getting it near to Sergeant Bash's CPZ. The two pushed against each other over the flame pit. Bulldog Breed pushed Tough as Nails against the arena side wall, and kept pushing it back every time Tough as Nails tried to fight back, but Bulldog Breed was on top of the flame pit the whole time. Bulldog Breed reversed off the flame pit, allowing Tough as Nails to escape. Bulldog Breed got under Tough as Nails again, but Tough as Nails turned itself off Bulldog Breed's wedge, overturning itself as it did so. Bulldog Breed got fully underneath Tough as Nails, and flipped it onto the arena side wall, but Tough as Nails, being an axlebot, was still able to get its wheels onto the arena side wall and drive back down again. Bulldog Breed made another attempt at flipping Tough as Nails out of the arena, but misaligned, and flipped Tough as Nails sideways instead. Tough as Nails got another grip on Bulldog Breed on the tile of the drop zone, but simply did not have the power to push Bulldog Breed into the pit. Tough as Nails made one last attempt to grab Bulldog Breed, but did not do so, and the two did not attack again until cease was called, where the Judges opted in favour of Bulldog Breed.

Fighting for a place in the Series 7 Grand-Final, Bulldog Breed met the number 11 seeds, the newly improved X-Terminator.

Bulldog Breed entered the battle with a different flipper blade to the one it had been using in previous battles. Bulldog Breed tried to get behind X-Terminator, but X-Terminator turned quickly enough so that Bulldog Breed would drive up X-Terminator's scoop and into the flywheel. Right from the first attack, Bulldog Breed's flipper blade was bent upwards, meaning that it would struggle to get underneath X-Terminator. X-Terminator kept getting hits on the front of Bulldog Breed, bending the flipper plate, before getting underneath Bulldog Breed and shunting it down the centre of the arena. Bulldog Breed fired its flipper, causing it to jump off the ground, where X-Terminator could then roll Bulldog Breed over. Bulldog Breed tried to self-right, but landed on X-Terminator's flywheel again. On its second attempt, Bulldog Breed self-righted. However, before Bulldog Breed could move away, X-Terminator was came in with the spinning disc, overturning it once more. Bulldog Breed self-righted, but straight into the arena wall. Bulldog Breed managed to get down and back away from X-Terminator, but reversed straight into Sir Killalot, who pushed it into X-Terminator's flywheel. Bulldog Breed suffered more damage, but charged at the scoop of X-Terminator once more, still merely driving up X-Terminator and taking damage from the flywheel. X-Terminator's flywheel temporarily stopped, so it pushed Bulldog Breed into the CPZ, but no house robots intervened. "How can Bulldog Breed turn this fight around? It is difficult to see, here, a way out for them because they can't flip."

- Jonathan Pearce

The two robots drove into a slightly more central part of the arena, where Bulldog Breed kept on trying to ram into the front of X-Terminator, but merely took more damage and was lifted onto the top of X-Terminator, which pushed Bulldog Breed back into the Sir Killalot's CPZ. Sir Killalot picked up Bulldog Breed, lifting it briefly before releasing it, where X-Terminator could again drive at Bulldog Breed, sending sparks flying as it atttacked with the disc, and pushing it into the arena wall. Bulldog Breed slowly moved away from the side wall, but X-Terminator pushed them back to the wall. X-Terminator reversed, and Bulldog slowly moved away again, only to be pushed back again. X-Terminator threw Bulldog Breed against the arena side wall with its disc, causing it to balance on the arena side wall. Bulldog Breed toppled back in, inverted, where it self-righted into Sir Killalot's CPZ, which merely poked Bulldog Breed so X-Terminator could come in with another slam. As the flywheel connected once more, the sparks flew again, with the attack afterwards completely ripping a top piece of armour plating clean off. X-Terminator made one more effort to send Bulldog Breed flying out of the arena, much to the annoyance of Robert Somerfield. Bulldog Breed was finally left to lie, inverted, where it was counted out by Refbot. "Big Respect to Bulldog Breed, we have always felt bad for what we did to this robot, real heat of the moment stuff and not really realising how much damage we were inflicting while trying to fly them out of the arena. Since this fight I try and give other people's work a bit more respect. As a bit of Karma, Matilda did the same to us in﻿ the finals which cost me over 2 grand, so what goes around comes around."

- Marlon Pritchard of Team X-Terminator on YouTube

Having fought in 5 series of Robot Wars, Bulldog Breed was one of many robots that was eligible to enter in the Series 7 All Stars Tournament at the end of the series. However, the damage caused to the robot by X-Terminator in the Semi-Finals was too severe to be repaired in time, so Bulldog Breed was unable to compete.

Results

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Wins/Losses

 * Wins: 13
 * Losses: 5

Outside Robot Wars
In addition to Robot Wars, Bulldog Breed also took part in Techno Games under the guise of British Bulldog, and teamed up with Big Bro (Bigger Brother). The two robots entered the Football competition under the team name of Team BB. British Bulldog also competed in the assault course, Sumo and Tug of War.

The Bulldog Breed team also considered returning to the British Heavyweight Championships event at the O2 in 2011, but did not go ahead with it. In May 2012, Bulldog Breed was sold to Matthew Pearman of "Team Avenger". Matt had previously acquired and sold Grim Reaper so he could buy S.M.I.D.S.Y., which he then sold to obtain Bulldog Breed. He planned on bringing Bulldog Breed back to fighting condition to compete on the live circuit again. Bulldog Breed returned to the live circuit by competing at the Robots Extreme Wars Live Guildford event in June 2012, yet lost in its two fights due to mechanical malfunction. Since then, Bulldog Breed has fought in other live events, including the new live Robot Wars events.

The latest version of Bulldog Breed made an appearance on Dave TV show Storage Hunters UK in 2015, where it was "sold" to a bidder alongside Ripper, The Steel Avenger, Beast and more for £1400.

After the announcement of the Robot Wars reboot in 2016, Tony Somerfield confirmed they would not be competing, stating that he had 'done that' and he was 'on to other things now' via Facebook.

Robot Wars Live Events
In 2014, Bulldog Breed was sold to Shane Lale of Team Tilly, and then became co-owned by Craig Danby. Craig and Shane returned Bulldog Breed to the circuit. From 2014 until the end of the events, Bulldog Breed was been reserved for Retro battles only, along with fellow old robots X-Terminator, Stinger, The Steel Avenger, Schumey & Mr Nasty, under ownership of John Findlay.

Trivia

 * Bulldog Breed and Team KaterKiller fought in the same Heat of the main competition in the Third, Sixth and Seventh Wars. They also fell at the same stage in the Third and Sixth Wars, losing in the first round and Heat Semi-Final respectively, even being in the same first-round melee in the Sixth Wars. The two met in the Heat Final of the Seventh Wars, with Bulldog Breed being the victor.
 * Bulldog Breed is one of just two robots to compete in both series of Extreme and be undefeated in both, the other being Typhoon, making Bulldog Breed the only heavyweight that achieved this.
 * Bulldog Breed is one of 11 robots to have fought in 5 or more series of Robot Wars, having fought in Series 3 through 7. It shares this pattern with S.M.I.D.S.Y., X-Terminator, Team KaterKiller, Team Big Brother, Team Ming, Team Scutterbots, and Thermidor 2.
 * Bulldog Breed always lost to a seeded machine in the main competition, except for Series 3, where seeds were not present.
 * Bulldog Breed has a 100% success rate in Judges' decisions, winning all five battles that it took to the Judges.