The New Blood Championship was one of the major tournaments to take place during Series 2 of Robot Wars Extreme. Running over five episodes, the competition featured robots which had never fought in Robot Wars before, competing alongside a selection of robots which debuted in The Sixth Wars and were eliminated in the first or (in the case of Thor) second rounds.
All competitors in this event would fight for an automatic entry in The Seventh Wars, which was later decided as the 16th seed of the main competition.
The championship took place in October 2002 for a 2003 airing, being first shown on BBC Choice and repeated on BBC Two later in the year. Along with the remainder of Extreme 2, it was repeated on Dave in summer and winter 2011, and again on Challenge starting from winter 2016.
Format[]
The New Blood Championship was split into four heats, each containing six robots for a total of 24 competitors. Heat formats were identical to those of The Fourth Wars, beginning with two three-way melees where one robot each would be eliminated, followed by a second round of head-to-head battles. Two winning robots from the latter would meet each other in a final round, the winner of which would progress to the Grand Final.
The Grand Final followed a similar format to that of the main UK Championship, with two head-to-head 'Eliminators', a playoff for third and fourth places and a final head-to-head battle to determine the New Blood Champion.
Selection Process[]
According to an official Extreme 2 announcement from the archived Robot Wars discussion boards, eligible competitors would be selected based on recordings obtained from the Sixth Wars qualifiers. Additionally, the New Blood Championship was open to 'volunteers' and 'brand new' robots from veteran teams, with potential applicants being advised to contact Mentorn in advance.[1]
Heats[]
Heat A[]
| Mute | Roobarb | Terror Turtle | |
|---|---|---|---|
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 |
 | |
| Maximus | Mr Nasty | Niterider | |
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 |
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Round 1
- Mute vs Roobarb vs Terror Turtle: Terror Turtle eliminated
- Maximus vs Mr Nasty vs Niterider: Niterider eliminated
Round 2
- Maximus vs Roobarb: Roobarb won
- Mr Nasty vs Mute: Mute won
Final
- Mute vs Roobarb: Mute won
Heat B[]
| Hell's Teeth | Night Raider | Thor | |
|---|---|---|---|
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| Chip | Edge Hog | RT 81 | |
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Round 1
- Hell's Teeth vs Night Raider vs Thor: Night Raider eliminated
- Chip vs Edge Hog vs RT 81: RT 81 eliminated
Round 2
- Chip vs Thor: Thor won
- Edge Hog vs Hell's Teeth: Edge Hog won
Final
- Edge Hog vs Thor: Thor won
Heat C[]
| Chopper | ICU | Mad Dog | |
|---|---|---|---|
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 | |
| Direct Action | Revolution 2 | Storm 2 | |
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Round 1
- Chopper vs ICU vs Mad Dog: Mad Dog eliminated
- Direct Action vs Revolution 2 vs Storm 2: Direct Action eliminated
Round 2
- ICU vs Revolution 2: ICU won
- Chopper vs Storm 2: Storm 2 won
Final
- ICU vs Storm 2: Storm 2 won
Heat D[]
| Bash Gordon | Cedric Slammer | Pressure | |
|---|---|---|---|
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| Doctor Fist | Fatal Traction | Piranha | |
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Round 1
- Bash Gordon vs Cedric Slammer vs Pressure: Bash Gordon eliminated
- Doctor Fist vs Fatal Traction vs Piranha: Doctor Fist eliminated
Round 2
- Cedric Slammer vs Fatal Traction: Cedric Slammer won
- Piranha vs Pressure: Pressure won
Final
- Cedric Slammer vs Pressure: Cedric Slammer won
Grand Final[]
| Cedric Slammer | Mute | Storm 2 | Thor |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
  |
|
Eliminators
- Storm 2 vs Thor: Storm 2 won
- Cedric Slammer vs Mute: Mute won
Playoff
- Cedric Slammer vs Thor: Thor won
Grand Final
- Mute vs Storm 2: Storm 2 won
Trivia[]
- Each of the first round battles had a returning competitor from Series 6 alongside two actual newcomers.
- Of the robots that had already fought in Series 6, only Thor had passed the first round.
- Of these robots, only Doctor Fist subsequently failed to pass the first round of the New Blood Championship.
- Although the prize for winning the New Blood Championship was automatic entry to Robot Wars: The Seventh Wars, 10 of the 24 competing teams would ultimately qualify for Series 7, including the New Blood Champion, Storm 2.
- Terror Turtle was the only participant to compete in another event in Extreme Series 2.
- Out of the 24 competing robots in New Blood, only six did not previously attempt to enter the Sixth Wars. These were Niterider, Direct Action, Pressure, Fatal Traction, Piranha and eventual champion Storm 2.
- Out of these, Direct Action, Piranha, Pressure and Niterider would fail to qualify for Series 7.
- Fatal Traction was the only New Blood participant not to attempt to enter a main series before or after Extreme 2.
- Chompalot also attempted to apply for the New Blood Championship, but was not selected, although it would end up appearing in Extreme 2 by competing in the Iron Maidens.[2]
- Knuckles was also invited, but the team declined the offer due to conflicting schedules.[3]
References[]
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