Robot Wars: The Seventh Wars/Grand Final

The Seventh Wars Grand Final was between the four robots that had progressed through their heats and the Semi-Finals. There were two Grand Final Eliminators to decide which robots would make the Grand Final, followed by a play-off for third and fourth. Finally, the Grand Champion would be determined in the Grand Final. The episode featuring the Grand Final was broadcast on March 7, 2004 on Five.


 * This was the first time since the Second Wars that the UK Grand Champion was a newcomer and/or an unseeded robot (not including the Third Wars which had no seedings).
 * This Grand Final featured two controversial incidents featuring Storm 2 which were not shown on the broadcast episode. Firstly, after pushing Tornado onto the opening pit, it was immediately raised to allow the reigning champion to continue the battle. Secondly, after Typhoon 2 had shattered the arena wall, the team was allowed to repair damage sustained by the robot before the battle continued. The final judges' decision was also controversial as damage taken by Typhoon 2 was not taken into account by the judges, allowing the Scottish robot to become the Grand Champion.

Newcomers

 * Storm 2 (seeded 16th) - Qualified from Semi-Final 2
 * Typhoon 2 - Qualified from Semi-Final 2

Veterans

 * Tornado (seeded 1st) - Qualified from Semi-Final 1
 * X-Terminator (seeded 11th) - Qualified from Semi-Final 1

Tornado (1) vs Storm 2 (16)
Storm 2 started quickly and tried to push Tornado into the arena wall, but Tornado escaped and Storm 2 slammed itself into it instead. The two robots then squared up to each other and Tornado won the pushing battle, slamming Storm 2 into an angle grinder. Storm 2 escaped and got underneath Tornado, flipping it over. With its front scoop inverted Tornado had no chance of getting underneath its opponent and Storm 2 slammed Tornado into the arena wall on numerous occasions, but it kept on going. After many more slams by Storm 2, Refbot activated the pit release button and Storm 2 pushed Tornado onto the pit as it was descending, but Tornado just escaped in time. Cease was called with both robots still mobile and the judges went for Storm 2. However, the battle should never have gone to the judges at all. After Storm 2 shoved Tornado into the pit, it was immediately raised up, and Tornado was allowed to drive off and continue fighting. It was then reopened after Tornado was clear. When shown on TV, that segment of the fight was edited to make it look like Tornado had escaped the descending hazard just in time. Despite this, Storm 2 still won the decision.

Winner: Storm 2

X-Terminator (11) vs Typhoon 2
Typhoon 2 ran away to charge its weapon up to full power and X-Terminator was unable to keep up with it. Typhoon 2 twice attacked the front of X-Terminator, causing its opponent's disc weapon to stop spinning. Typhoon 2 ran away again and X-Terminator activated the pit release button. Typhoon 2 started to attack again, slamming into X-Terminator multiple times and causing massive damage to the front of its opponent before spinning into the arena wall and shattering it. The battle was stopped while the arena wall was fixed and resumed with Typhoon 2 being allowed to charge its weapon to full speed before the battle restarted. After the restart, Typhoon 2 hit X-Terminator once more and finally immobilised it. X-Terminator was counted out by Refbot and pitted by Dead Metal.

Winner: Typhoon 2

Tornado (1) vs X-Terminator (11)
Tornado started quickly and pushed the battered X-Terminator around the arena and into the arena wall. Tornado then pushed X-Terminator into the CPZ, where the power of Matilda's flywheel flipped X-Terminator over. X-Terminator was righted again by Matilda but Tornado continued to push it around the arena and into another CPZ. Sir Killalot came in to attack, but X-Terminator's spinning disc caused part of Killalot's body to fly off. Tornado continued to slam X-Terminator into the arena wall, which finally immobilised it. Tornado activated the pit release button and tried to push X-Terminator into the pit, but it couldn't get enough traction on the arena floor. Finally, X-Terminator was counted out and attacked by Matilda before cease was called.

Winner: Tornado

Storm 2 (16) vs Typhoon 2
Typhoon 2 attempted to get its weapon up to speed and attacked Storm 2, but it just glanced off the side and Storm 2 sustained no damage. Typhoon 2 again tried to charge up its weapon but Storm 2 gave chase and got underneath and tilted Typhoon 2 with its lifting arm, but was unable to flip it over. Typhoon 2 tried to run away again but Storm 2 was able to push it into the arena wall, but again failed to flip it over with the lifting arm. Typhoon 2 charged up its weapon again and slammed into the arena wall, damaging it for the second time. The arena wall was repaired and the battle restarted with Typhoon 2 again allowed to get its weapon to full speed. Storm 2 immediately attacked Typhoon 2 again and slammed it into the arena wall, once again trying to flip it with the lifting arm. Typhoon 2 escaped and finally managed to damage the armour of its opponent, which seemed to cause Storm 2 to lose some of its speed and power. Storm 2 continued to push Typhoon 2 around the arena but with seconds remaining Storm 2 sustained significant damage to the front and the decision went to the judges. The judges examined both robots and decided that Storm 2 had won on control and aggression, but Typhoon 2 had won on style and damage, with damage carrying more weight in the scoring. The decision was therefore awarded to Typhoon 2, which became the new UK champion.

However, what was not broadcast was the technical difficulties that were experienced by Typhoon 2 after the arena wall was repaired. The robot refused to spin up before the restart so the team was allowed to repair the machine before going back out. Also, after the battle restarted, Storm 2 caused major internal damage to Typhoon 2, dislodging some of the drive chains which were later found on the arena floor. Despite this the judges awarded Storm 2 zero points for damage, but gave points to Typhoon 2 for the panel that it knocked off, despite it being purely superficial damage. It is unknown whether they did not notice the drive chains, or simply did not take them into account, although one judge claims the production crew told the panel that Typhoon 2 was undamaged (see Storm 2/Controversy) The decision was unpopular among the fans - some even called for Typhoon 2 to give up the trophy to Storm 2 - but it was final and Typhoon 2 was the new UK champion.

Seventh Wars Grand Champion: Typhoon 2