With coursework now completed, it is time for me to celebrate by doing a blog I have been thinking about for the past week or so. Whenever one thinks of a dream battle on Robot Wars that never happened, Razer vs Hypno-Disc usually tops many a fan's list, and that is to be expected. When considering the three stars of classic Robot Wars were Chaos 2, Hypno-Disc and Razer, and that two of the dream battles occurred, it is pretty obvious why many fans yearned for a clash between these stars, and were disappointed when it never happened.
But what especially disappoints me is not that this battle never happened. It is just there were so many opportunities to see it occur, including ones where we were just one battle, or heck even one decision away from finally seeing this dream battle commence. Currently, I have counted about seven instances where this battle could have happened, ranking them based on likelihood of occurring. Additionally, who would have won each battle had they occurred in that time period? Let's find out...
7: Series 6[]
The image proving why a Series 6 encounter was a tough ask
I think it is pretty clear that Series 6 was probably the least likely of any opportunity to see this dream bout. There were two main problems from what I gather; partly, because of the addition of seeds and the way the format was structured, Razer vs Hypno-Disc could only have occurred in the Grand Final. Clearly, the producers wanted this dream battle to go on last if ever happened, and I can understand that mentality. I mean, if you want the Grand Final to be a ratings success on BBC 2, these are the two machines you having facing against each other. Had they hotshot it to, say, the Semi-Finals, sure, they might achieve a temporary ratings boost, but not only would the Grand Final achieved much higher ratings had the battle occurred then, but also hotshotting often causes future episodes to stagnate in terms of ratings because the fans have seen it all.
I will use a wrestling example to justify my argument. Goldberg vs Hollywood Hogan was THE match that all WCW and probably most wrestling fans in general wanted to see back in the late 1990s. You had the undefeated, seemingly unstoppable babyface monster in Goldberg, and the hated but once-loved veteran who had just killed off the fan's hope that Sting would dethrone him. Clearly, this match just writes itself, perfect for the main event of WCW's main pay-per-view, Starrcade. Instead, it hastily took place months earlier so that WCW's main television program, Nitro, could beat Raw in the ratings. It did, achieving its highest ratings at the time. What it lost though was millions of dollars in PPV revenue, and future high ratings just having the two staring each other down! No wonder it ultimately perished in 2001.
But anyway, that's the justification for having Razer vs Hypno-Disc as the Grand Final to top all Grand Finals. But that is a tough ask, considering both machines would have to overcome fierce opposition to even meet each other. And that leads to problem #2; Hypno-Disc was ultimately becoming outmatched by improved opposition. And here's the thing; Hypno-Disc was not a bad robot, it was not even actually "past its prime" as some would argue. Heck, it made otherwise promising robots like Barber-Ous 2 and Bulldog Breed look like Round 1 dropouts. But many machines ultimately were becoming more resilient, and more defensive than they were just a series earlier. Even if Hypno-Disc did beat Tornado or Bigger Brother and Spawn Again, it still had the tough ask of beating either Dominator 2 or Terrorhurtz, and then Firestorm 4. All three of those robots had the potential in them to easily take out the spinner in my opinion. Therefore, the Series 6 opportunity ranks bottom because there were just too many anti-Hypno-Disc machines standing in its way.
But what if it did overcome such opposition and thus faced Razer? Well, it would have ended in disappointment, unless you are a strong Razer fan or major Hypno-Disc hater. It is not that Hypno-Disc cannot beat Razer at all, especially considering the issues 13 Black delivered to the crusher. The main problem is that Hypno-Disc has to play a perfect game to ensure Razer cannot exploit its sides and crush the vulnerable top. If it does, it is game over, considering the damage inflicted or the ability to control the spinner will probably be enough to achieve a knockout. Hypno-Disc was vulnerable to lapses in control; its losses against Pussycat and Bigger Brother prove this. I just cannot see it not many mistakes here, thus meaning Razer wins this encounter.
6: Series 4[]
Was Razer at its most vulnerable in Series 4?
Series 4 ranks marginally above Series 6, because Razer's run to meeting Hypno-Disc was slightly easier to achieve, but the key word being "slightly". This might prove unpopular to some, but I genuinely believe Razer, despite still clearly being an "elite-tier" machine in Series 4, was more vulnerable to several opponents that in any other series. Even if you ignore its breakdown and the damage caused by Pussycat soon afterwards, there were certainly some scenes in the Southern Annihilator that caused Razer trouble, particularly the damage Attila the Drum inflicted to it.
Certainly, Razer's armour and internals were more vulnerable to damaging opponents. I for one would not back it against Stinger, for example. I honestly think that if there is one robot that really benefitted by the 100kg increase, it is Razer, as these armour and reliability issues were pretty much sorted by Extreme 1. And speaking of which, "Robots who benefitted or suffered from the 100kg weight era" is a blog for another day. But anyhow, if Razer was to defeat Pussycat somehow, it would easily defeat the non-damaging Thermidor 2. But Dominator 2? Now that is a whole different story.
Out of all the robots that could have beaten Razer, aside from Pussycat and a modified Tornado, Dominator 2 certainly must be considered. Not only does it have a powerful and accurate axe, its v-shaped design is one of the toughest for Razer to grab and crush. Yes, I can see Razer causing some damage, but as we saw against a similar shape in Backstabber, nothing too serious. While the exposed wheels are an issue, Dominator 2 was plenty agile, and so I can it generally blocking Razer from targeting those heat magnets for the most part. And as previously mentioned, struggles against Pussycat and Attila the Drum would certainly give Dominator 2 the upper hand, its axe clearly capable of causing good external and internal damage. Quite frankly, I even struggle to see Razer even surviving to a Judges' decision! And even when it was more reliable come Series 5 and 6, Dominator 2 was even more well-designed to beat the crusher, with the wheels now protected.
So henceforth, if Pussycat couldn't prevent Razer vs Hypno-Disc, Dominator 2 certainly could. Still, considering the dream bout would happen in the Grand Final Eliminators rather than the Grand Final itself, plus the fact Razer would easily defeat Thermidor 2, means the Series 4 opportunity ranks above the Series 6 counterpart.
But what if Razer vanquished Pussycat and Dominator 2? Well, I would easily back Hypno-Disc in that encounter! As I mentioned previously, Series 4 was where Razer was at its most vulnerable to damaging opponents. Hypno-Disc is the king of the Series 4 machines in terms of damage output. Henceforth, the complete opposite of the Series 6 encounter would need to occur for Razer to win here, needing to play a perfect game in order to successfully grab, control and dominate Hypno-Disc without suffering too much damage. And once again, I seriously doubt Razer could do it, eventually suffering some sort of lapse in control that gives Hypno-Disc the upper hand.
5: Extreme 2 All-Stars[]
Spawn Again ruined this episode with these impressive flips
I am going to give Diotoir another reason to hate Spawn Again with my explanation here. I should note that I am fairly netural when it comes to Spawn Again, considering I found it alright, but nothing special compared to other flippers in the 100kg era. Still, I wonder if I can really make Diotoir hate Spawn Again more than before.
But anyhow, this might be an unpopular opinion, considering Heat B of Extreme 2's All-Stars was rated highly enough to compete in "The Best Episode of UK Robot Wars", but I honestly find this episode disappointing. Battle-wise, it is a good episode, since the melees were action-packed and probably put an end to Chaos 2 and Hypno-Disc as "elite-tier" machines, whereas 13 Black vs Dominator 2 was somewhat surprising tussle seeing as the latter had an awful match against Hypno-Disc a year prior, while Razer had to sweat it out a bit against 13 Black and Firestorm 4 later on. But my problem with this episode comes in the form of the other matchup in this heat... Razer vs Spawn Again. Why did this battle need to exist?
Think about it; you have six great to world-conquering machines, some of whom have never faced each other before. There were dream matches galoe here, including 13 Black vs Hypno-Disc, Dominator 2 vs Razer, and even the battle of the Golddust trio in Chaos 2 vs Hypno-Disc vs Razer. Indeed, while I must credit 13 Black for proving that it was indeed an All-Star in this heat, putting it against Chaos 2 and Razer just wasn't the same without Hypno-Disc being in that melee instead, even if Hypno-Disc could not achieve the same outcome as the roulette spinner. But the main gripe I have is with this episode comes from Spawn Again. It is not the flipper's fault, but quite frankly, its apperances ruined the episode for me.
The problem starts with it beating Hypno-Disc. Immediately, we miss out on two amazing Hypno-Disc matches against either 13 Black or, of course, Razer. Then, it happened to get drawn against Razer, urgh. Even if we ignore its Series 5 loss to the crusher, I really, really did not want to see another flipper to face Razer ever again by this point, since we know what will happen for the nine billionth time. Indeed, Razer just coming in, dominating in terms of ground clearance, a few crushes to nullify the flipper, job done. Yet of course, rather than having a really interesting clash between Dominator 2 and Razer (and perhaps giving Spawn Again a challenge in 13 Black), the producers just had to give Razer pretty much a free win (and before Razer defenders attack me, I say that in Razer was such a dominating machine that it didn't need any free wins to capture any title). Honestly, Spawn Again was just the most unnecessary machine in any All-Stars competition, because aside from maybe facing Chaos 2, I did not want to see it competing one-on-one against any of the other machines.
But let's get back to the topic at hand. Extreme 2 All-Stars ranks above Series 6 and 4 because theoretically, all Razer and Hypno-Disc need to do is win one battle each in order to face each other. But here is the problem: surely the producers will want this to be the second-to-last matchup before the winner faces Firestorm 4? Indeed, we meed to remember that this match is main event quality, and Round 2, even in the All-Stars competition, just won't do. Got to be the Heat Final or better. So chances are that Hypno-Disc would probably face 13 Black in a dream match on its own quite frankly. Raw damage vs better reliability? Hmm, I think I would back Hypno-Disc here, but I can also understand 13 Black winning, especially if it targets one of its opponent's wheels. But even if Hypno-Disc beats 13 Black... what if Razer is forced to face Dominator 2? Again, I cannot see it beating the V-shaped opponent, it would have to hope Spawn Again gets through for this dream battle to occur.
Henceforth, there are just too many variables that make an otherwise easy opportunity to see the dream battle somewhat tougher. It only ranks fifth as a result.
So, what if Razer and Hypno-Disc overcame all opposition? Again, as we saw against 13 Black, Razer for the most part had the gameplan needed to beat a horizontal spinner by this point. Hypno-Disc will try, but ultimately, Razer has the clear advantage.
4: Series 3[]
Razer's technical gremlins make a very possible dream battle somewhat less possible
I am thinking of returning to my work on Garrodgate very soon.
Anyhow, Series 3 is a bit of an oddball to say the least. On paper, we were nowhere close to seeing the dream bout during Hypno-Disc's debut tournament, considering Razer's disastrous exit against Aggrobot in Round 2. But here is the thing; not only was Aggrobot's victory a clear fluke, Razer arguably had an easier path to the Grand Final providing it just kept itself alive, more so than Hypno-Disc! Aggrobot was pretty much beaten even if it survived to the end, had Razer not suffered that damn mechanical failure.
Blade meanwhile? Very easy robot to get underneath and crush, that lawnmower blade won't do anything against Razer. Beast of Bodmin? See its struggles against Crusher to show why Bodmin Community College's new machine would not have stood a chance against a more secure, better crusher. Steg-O-Saw-Us? To be fair, considering Razer's internal troubles during the pre-100kg era, I can see the first Jurassic Park machine potentially winning providing it achieves a few strong slams. However, its wedge shape and light armour will probably make to vulnerable to repeated crushes from the eventual World Champion.
Yep, to be quite honest, Razer had much better odds of reaching the Grand Final than Hypno-Disc did. Indeed, Berserk 2 and 101 provided the spinner with more trouble compared to what Steg-O-Saw-Us theoretically could do to Razer. In fact, in terms of design, engineering etc, Series 3 should arguably rank much higher in providing the dream battle, right? Indeed, Hypno-Disc, Razer, and Chaos 2 as well, were in Series 3 like the Williams' FW14B in the 1992 Formula One World Championship. Such technological powerhouses that either you needed bad luck or a really, really talented driver to defeat any of them in The Third Wars.
One problem: If Razer suffered mechanical issues against Aggrobot, how can we know for sure that the same issue will not occur against Blade, Beast of Bodmin or Steg-O-Saw-Us? Sure, you might argue that Razer's successful World Championship and International League Championship campaigns debunk the idea Razer was a ticking timebomb for Series 3. But at this point in the list, such doubt over whether or not Razer will endure ultimately means I cannot rank Series 3 any higher compared to arguably more reliable means of achieving the dream battle. Nonetheless, Series 3 certainly had a high chance of us seeing this matchup.
So had Razer's technical gremlins not struck? Then we would have a very compelling matchup here. If we assume that Razer is 100% for this battle, Hypno-Disc would be in some considerable trouble seeing how many technical gremlins of its own were occurring by this point. But here is something that some Razer supporters might have ignored that for me at least, swings this over to a Hypno-Disc victory. Has anyone noticed that Razer faced very few machines from Series 2-4 that could actually inflict damage to the crusher? Series 2, nope. Series 3, nope. Series 4, clearly Pussycat and Attila the Drum. This suggests that the Razer team have little experience going in when faced a legitimately powerful machine in terms of damage potential.
Worse still, Razer's technical problems were hardly the result of its opponents, so imagine having such flaws against Hypno-Disc? Sure, while the spinner was having all kinds of issues, it still manage to deal critical damage to the side of Steg-O-Saw-Us. A good hit or two on Razer, and I genuinely see the crusher breaking down. Ultimately, Razer was too fragile to defeat even a poorly spinner at this point, thus I give the victory to Hypno-Disc.
3: Series 5[]
Another blog utilises this screenshot, ha
Only third, you may ask? Well, I actually have a few reasons for why the Series 5 opportunity did not come first, despite it seemingly being the obvious choice. Henceforth, I will mainly concentrate on justifying why Series 5 only ranks third for the majority of this entry.
The first reason concerns the campaigns both robots had. Clearly, neither had an easy path to the Grand Final compared to Series 3. Big Nipper gave Razer an almighty scare, whereas Hypno-Disc was initially troubled by both Atomic and Bulldog Breed 3. Sure, both outclassed their seemingly "better" opponents in Spawn Again and S3, and Firestorm 3 and Dominator 2 respectively, but even so, the fact their Series 5 campaigns were tougher than their Series 3 roads puts it at a disadvantage already.
But of course, Series 5 outranks Series 3, because all we needed to see occur was Hypno-Disc beating Bigger Brother, rather than having Razer win four more matches. But Bigger Brother is in fact a major factor for the second reason I cannot rank Series 5 any higher; it and Firestorm 3 cannot be trusted to enable this match to occur in both possible scenarios. Indeed, you may note that had Razer lost to Firestorm 3, we would have witnessed the dream battle occurring as the Third Place Playoff. Not ideal, but hey, it would have happened! The problem here is that Firestorm 3 and Bigger Brother varied in terms of performance throughout their respective battles.
By this, I mean they were both poor initially, making it seem clear that Razer vs Hypno-Disc was going to be the Final. However, both machines by the end could have both won! Indeed, Firestorm 3 had multiple opportunities to pit Razer, and of course, Bigger Brother actually take one such pitting opportunity to beat Hypno-Disc. Problem is therefore, Razer could have been beaten by Firestorm 3 and likewise, Hypno-Disc could have survived against Bigger Brother. Henceforth, just a small change in either battle could have prevented the dream fight no matter what. Also, when considering Bigger Brother would later become a spinner-killer, this further reduces the possibility of the two machines meeting.
So, had Razer lost or Hypno-Disc won? Well, a tough one, but there is one piece of evidence that leads me to backing Razer here. Notably, Firestorm 3, despite being super vulnerable to being taken out by the spinner, somehow managed to survive and achieve a push seemingly capable of terminally damaging Hypno-Disc's electronics. Razer by the same point was pretty much one hundred percent, with none of the internal issues that cost it in the pre-100kg era. The only way I see Hypno-Disc winning is if it successfully hits one of Razer's wheels. It is possible, but considering how Bigger Brother and Firestorm 3 were able to outmaneuver Hypno-Disc in order to win their battles against it, what is there to stop Razer from doing the same?
Quite frankly, unless Hypno-Disc achieves an early knockout, the longer this battle goes on, the easier it will be for Razer to win. Henceforth, I am confident in backing Razer for this one.
2: Extreme 1 All-Stars[]
Behemoth's best win before its victory over Apollo
Of all the opportunities to witness Razer vs Hypno-Disc, I am very surprised that this one is not talked about more. Indeed, the All-Stars concept was excellent in my opinion, because we get to see some elite-tier matches that otherwise would never happen in the main tournament. Take Chaos 2 vs Wheely Big Cheese, for example. It was highly rated as a potential clash back in Series 4, denied of course by Tornado. Even though it ultimately went one-sided, at least fans got to see who would win between a compact and extremely large flipper respectively. Meanwhile, both of Wild Thing and Pussycat's matches were compelling, as well as Razer vs Gemini, this battle proving that a good clusterbot can beat most crushers and challenge elite ones like Razer.
Behemoth vs Hypno-Disc probably was not the highest rated potential dream battle, but hey, if Team Make Robotics claim that Behemoth is a tough old machine, where better than to prove this claim against Hypno-Disc? Despite apparently being "nervous" to face Hypno-Disc according to the Official Guide, Team Make Robotics pulled off arguably their greatest victory until Behemoth beat Apollo in Series 10. Indeed, not a whole lot of people believed Behemoth could beat the spinner, but clearly, it certainly was an effective spinner killer, until that breakdown against Disc-O-Inferno.
And that's the thing; if Behemoth died in one or two side-on blows against Disc-O-Inferno, then surely had Hypno-Disc been able to, it too would have achieved a knockout? This is not like Bigger Brother, who endured internally despite suffering extensive damage from the spinner. This is a machine with flat sides as noted by Dave Rose, which if properly attacked, should secure an easy victory for Hypno-Disc. Yet, the first few collisions appeared to damage the spinner's mobility from then on. Perhaps a change of tactics would have given the Rose boys the victory here.
Not only was there decreased opponent quality compared to the Series 5 road, the same applies to quantity. Indeed, Razer and Hypno-Disc just needed one victory each in order for a clash to occur. But wait a moment, you may ask. Surely, if you think that they would wait until the Final of the Extreme 2 All-Stars, they would do the same here? Therefore, this opportunity would have far less chance of happening, right?
Well, there are two things that lead me to believe the dream bout could have occurred in the Quarter-Finals. Firstly, the producers were happy to see Chaos 2 vs Wheely Big Cheese, a dream match in its own right, occur in the Quarter-Finals, so it is pretty clear to me that they were happy to let . And secondly, we must consider the magic of Extreme 1, its unique selling point that certainly generates nostalgia is its format. Quite frankly, its format was a wrestling card! You have good opening matches like Stinger vs Tornado, before the blockbuster main events really shone through, like Razer vs Pussycat! Essentially, I feel that this battle could have main evented at any time in Extreme 1 due to the randomised cards, thus being a major draw irrespective of when it occurred.
If Hypno-Disc beat Behemoth? Then quite frankly, it would easily beat Razer. Shocking, it may seem, but this would arguably be an easier victory for Hypno-Disc than it would have been in Series 4. As detailed on the Razer website, the crusher's hydraulics were extremely prone to bursting, which would either prevent the weapon from working, or worse, the whole robot. A good hit or two on the sides, and Hypno-Disc would certainly trigger a similar problem for its rival.
1: Extreme 1 People's Challenge[]
IF YA SMELL WHAT THE ROCK IS COOKING!
And the best opportunity to see this dream battle by a country mile was the ill-fated People's Challenge. Indeed, this time we didn't need to hope that Razer and Hypno-Disc wouldn't falter in prior battles. All that needed to happen was for the Robot Wars fandom to vote for the dream match to occur, and to their credit, they did! What could possibly go wrong?
Well, of course, things did go wrong. Clearly, the two teams were not going to suddenly fight it out and cause major, potentially irrepairable damage to each other's machines just for the sake of it. Henceforth, they declined, and aside from a mention on the Official Guide, very few traces of the People's Challenge's existence now remain. But what a waste of an opportunity! To me, the fault does not lie with the two teams. They want to entertain, but they are also here to win, and win big. Clearly, the producers should have given the two teams something to entice them to compete. A trophy, maybe? Perhaps a large payout to make the battle financially viable for both teams? The offer to pay any expenses the teams would need to make to repair their machines post-battle? Seriously, I cannot believe that the producers just said "screw it, let's forget about it", and thus not make a serious effort to make the battle occur. Perhaps they assumed Razer and Hypno-Disc would meet in the Series 5 Grand Final.
Still, if I were in the shoes of the producers, I would have done anything, ANYTHING, to get the teams to change their minds. Perhaps if they knew that the dream battle would occur throughout the entire show, they would have made more effort. Alas, the easiest opportunity for Razer vs Hypno-Disc to occur, involving just one decision, was prevented because none of the parties involved could agree on suitible arrangements. Such a shame.
If the producers somehow made this battle a reality? Well, it depends on when this battle takes place during the filming schedule. If it takes place during filming for the All-Stars, a clear Hypno-Disc win will occur. But if it occurs later on, an easy win for Razer is on the cards. Has anyone heard of F1 Rejects (now Grand Prix Rejects)? The website not only celebrated the heroic drivers and teams that ultimately failed, but was also one to highlight the times when even the best had disastrous races and/or seasons. If I did a Rusty Spanner of Extreme 1, Hypno-Disc would easily top the list, because aside from its Melee victory, it put in terrible performances, mainly because the team had trouble making repairs and preparing their machine for a gruelling filming schedule.
Henceforth, if this battle becomes one of the last to be filmed in Extreme 1, Razer should be able to exploit Hypno-Disc's troubles. I see this occurring last due to the concerns of damage both machines may experience, henceforth making this an easy Razer win.
Conclusion[]
Ultimately, if the duo had a best of seven, Razer would come out on top 4-3. Nothing against Hypno-Disc though, because very few machines could beat Razer even once, just ask Firestorm. Henceforth, I highly, highly doubt that Razer vs Hypno-Disc would have been a disappointment for the most part, making it a dream battle that likely would be one to remember among most Robot Wars fans. Alas, thanks mainly to bad luck or in the case of the People's Challenge, poor negotiating, we have only speculation and fanfics to help us reflect what this matchup could have been.
Next time[]
Many thanks for reading my blog! The next one I have planned concerns two of my favourite interests, robot combat and professional wrestling. Particularly, how many connections did Extreme 1 have with professional wrestling, when both robot combat and wrestling were at the height of their popularities? And also, is Robot Wars really a form of "sports entertainment", especially when compared to BattleBots? The book Gearheads and my own knowledge of both sports will help to answer both questions.