Rocky-Bot-Boa (also spelt as Rocky Bot Boa) was an American competitor robot that fought in the second season of Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors. It reached the Grand Final of the US Championship, losing to Tricerabot 3.0 on a close judges' decision, before winning the Tag Team Terror competition, paired with Top Secret Robotics' other Season 2 entry, Black Widow.
The robot's name is a pun on Rocky Balboa, the titular boxer from the Rocky movie franchise. Adding to its theme, Rocky-Bot-Boa's driver, Douan Bingham, also dressed up and acted like the Sylvester Stallone character throughout his onscreen appearances.
Design[]
Douan Bingham, out of costume, in the pits with Rocky-Bot-Boa, without its top
Rocky-Bot-Boa was an invertible, thickly armoured box-shaped robot with four-wheel drive and equipped with front and side static spikes and a horizontally-mounted rear chainsaw. It is notable as being the last robot in any series of Robot Wars until Series 9 to feature a chainsaw as a weapon, although it never saw much use in combat. Instead, Rocky-Bot-Boa relied on its speed, durability and impressive pushing power to ram other robots, a tactic which contributed heavily towards its exceptional performances in Extreme Warriors. The robot was armoured in 6 inch steel, and had four NPC wheelchair motors, on direct drive. Although the chainsaw did not do any damage, it was mounted very low to the ground, which allowed it to get under other competitors, and even House Robot Shunt.
The Team[]
Team TSR
Rocky-Bot-Boa was entered by Team TSR (Top Secret Robotics). The team captain was Douan Bingham, who was joined by Robert Brewer and Mike Adkins. The team had previously entered Robotica. The team name came from Douan Bingham's robotics company he founded with Robotica teammate Kevin Pooley, TSR Robotics[1].
- "Team TSR was started by Douan and Tonya Bingham in July of 2001. Douan became interested in battle robots when watching Robotica on TLC. He got online applied and was accepted to be on the show. ... After working on Zero together Douan and Kevin are teaming up to form TSR Robotics Inc. a company that specializes in recreational robots."
- — Tonya Bingham on the TSR Robotics website[2]
Douan Bingham drove the robot, and in keeping with the robot's name, he dressed up and acted like the character, wearing a gumshield and towels around his neck like a boxer, and slurring his speech during interviews in imitation of Sylvester Stallone. Bingham could also be seen punching the air or jumping up and down whenever he was onscreen, and referred to his two team mates as his trainers.
Douan Binham's wife Tonya also entered Robot Wars Extreme Warriors with Black Widow.
Robot History[]
Season 2[]
- "Looks like he's got a breakaway saw on that thing, and let's hope it's a little more effective than his [Douan Bingham's] accent."
- — Stefan Frank expresses reservations about Rocky-Bot-Boa's chainsaw
Rocky-Bot-Boa first fought in the US Championship, facing fellow newcomer The Bat and returning competitor Medusa Oblongotta in the first round.
Rocky-Bot-Boa breaks off one of The Bat's wings
Rocky-Bot-Boa immobilizes Medusa Oblongotta
It immediately rammed into The Bat, causing one of its wings to fall off, before pushing it near an angle grinder as Medusa Oblongotta tried to join in as well. Rocky-Bot-Boa then pushed Medusa Oblongotta into Sgt. Bash's CPZ as The Bat hit the latter with its flywheel, with Medusa Oblongotta becoming imobilized after Rocky-Bot-Boa pushed it again. Rocky-Bot-Boa pushed Medusa Oblongotta across the arena once more, before slamming The Bat into it, and getting launched into the air by The Bat's flywheel as it made another charge. The impact dislodged Rocky-Bot-Boa's top panel, causing it to fall off, but Rocky-Bot-Boa pushed The Bat against the wall, leaving it immobile as Refbot counted it out and Medusa Oblongotta was attacked by Sir Killalot. Even so, Medusa Oblongotta was deemed to have been immobilized first, allowing Rocky-Bot-Boa to progress the second round along with The Bat.
- Mick Foley: "You remind me of myself in my prime!"
- Douan Bingham: "At least you had a prime, Mick!"
- — The start of a recurring joke
In the second round, Rocky-Bot-Boa faced previous semi-finalist and Civil War winner Manta, a third place finisher from the previous series.
Rocky-Bot-Boa pushes Manta into Shunt
Rocky-Bot-Boa and Manta are attacked by Sir Killalot as time runs out
Both robots started evenly, with Rocky-Bot-Boa driving up Manta's sides and Manta pushing it into Shunt's CPZ. Manta's blade appeared to have stopped working, allowing Rocky-Bot-Boa to ram it several more times while Manta kept pushing it around in retaliation and pressed the pit release button. More ramming and shoving ensued, with Rocky-Bot-Boa pushing Manta into Shunt, who axed Manta's top panel, before both robots slammed into each other again. This allowed Rocky-Bot-Boa to push Manta into the same CPZ that Shunt vacated, pinning it against the wall as Sir Killalot came in to attack Manta. Manta escaped to meet Rocky-Bot-Boa in the middle of the arena again, and steadily pushed and slammed into Rocky-Bot-Boa numerous times as both robots started losing speed and battery power. Rocky-Bot-Boa retaliated with another few shoves, with both robots close to losing mobility as it rammed Manta one last time before 'cease' was called. The battle went to a judges' decision, which ruled in favor of Rocky-Bot-Boa on a split decision, as it showed more signs of mobility towards the end.
- Douan Bingham: "Yeah, we love you, Mick! Yeah!"
- Mick Foley: "You mean that in a rugged, masculine way?"
- Douan Bingham: "Yeah."
- Mick Foley: "Thanks, I need love."
- — Doaun Bingham's reaction to Rocky-Bot-Boa's victory
In the Heat Final, Rocky-Bot-Boa faced The Bat for the second time.
Rocky-Bot-Boa pushes The Bat onto the flame pit
Rocky-Bot-Boa charged straight into The Bat, avoiding its flywheel and pushing it side-on across the arena into an empty CPZ. Shunt came in to axe The Bat, with Rocky Bot Boa ramming it into the wall and into Sir Killalot's CPZ. The Bat escaped after a few rams from Rocky-Bot-Boa, catching fire as it drove over a flame jet, but was rammed again by Rocky-Bot-Boa, who pressed the pit release button before twice pushing The Bat onto the Flame Pit.
- "Rocky-Bot-Boa is not giving up here! We haven't seen much action out of that saw, though we haven't needed to, because Bot-Boa's been on the attack from the beginning."
- — Stefan Frank
Rocky-Bot-Boa edges The Bat towards the pit
Rocky-Bot-Boa steered The Bat away from the Flame Pit, before eventually nudging its smoldering opponent into the pit. This convincing victory allowed Rocky-Bot-Boa to progress to the Grand Final.
- "Well, we're gonna go out there, and we're gonna try an' do somethin' to these guys that we've never had done to them before. We're gonna try an' take 'em out, we're gonna flip 'em over, and we're gonna smash 'em, smash 'em, smash 'em, until they just cry!"
- — Douan Bingham explains to Carol Grow his strategy against Tricerabot 3.0
In the first round of the Grand Final, Rocky-Bot-Boa faced Tricerabot 3.0.
Rocky-Bot-Boa is lifted into the CPZ by Tricerabot 3.0
Rocky-Bot-Boa commands Tricerabot 3.0 in the latter half
Both robots charged into each other in the opening seconds, with Tricerabot 3.0 getting under Rocky-Bot-Boa and ramming it into the wall and Sgt. Bash's CPZ. Rocky Bot Boa was grabbed by Sgt. Bash's pincers, and flipped over the Flame Pit by Tricerabot 3.0 as it made another charge. Both robots bumped and pushed each other as Tricerabot 3.0 pressed the pit release button, before Rocky-Bot-Boa used its spikes to push Tricerabot 3.0 around the arena and force it to retreat into Sergeant Bash's CPZ again. Rocky-Bot-Boa escaped as Shunt axed and lifted Tricerabot 3.0 onto its back, with Tricerabot 3.0 appearing to be noticeably slower after this attack. It pushed Tricerabot 3.0 over the Flame Pit, setting fire to its top fur, then into an angle grinder, where Tricerabot 3.0 backed away and drove itself onto a flame jet. Rocky-Bot-Boa pushed Tricerabot 3.0 into the CPZ again while the latter smoked and continued to shed embers of its burning fur, before Shunt axed Tricerabot 3.0 again as the battle drew to a close. The fight went to an extremely close judges' decision, which went in favor of the early aggressor Tricerabot 3.0, eliminating Rocky-Bot-Boa from the US Championship.
Partnered with Top Secret Robotics' other machine, Black Widow, Rocky-Bot-Boa also fought in the Tag Team Terror competiton. Their first round battle saw them facing returning team Joker and The Falcon Mark 2, with Black Widow and Joker fighting first.
Dead Metal intervenes as Rocky-Bot-Boa tries to push Shunt
Rocky-Bot-Boa is lifted up by The Falcon Mark 2
Black Widow immediately slammed into Joker and pushed it across the arena, withstanding blows from Joker's disc and flails in the process before activating the Disc of Doom. As the two robots backed away, Rocky-Bot-Boa came out of its corner to assist Black Widow, before riding up The Falcon Mark 2's wedge as it pushed it across the floor. In return, Joker rammed Rocky-Bot-Boa close to a CPZ, before Rocky Bot Boa drove over The Falcon Mark 2's wedge again and pressed the pit release button. Rocky-Bot-Boa pushed Joker and The Falcon Mark 2 side-on, before getting underneath Joker and driving it around before driving into a CPZ and getting attacked by Shunt and Dead Metal. All four robots eventually converged in the middle of the arena as Dead Metal attacked them, with Rocky-Bot-Boa nearly being lifted onto its side by The Falcon Mark 2 as Joker pushed it around. Rocky-Bot-Boa recovered by pushing Joker back in retaliation but lost its chainsaw in the process. All four robots surviving to the end as Rocky-Bot-Boa buffeted Joker and shoved The Falcon Mark 2 again in the dying seconds.
- "These two teams are really evenly matched. I wouldn't have thought that from the beginning."
- — Stefan Frank
The battle went to a judges' decision, which despite premature celebrations from Joker and The Falcon Mark 2, went in favor of Rocky-Bot-Boa and Black Widow.
In the second round, Rocky-Bot-Boa and Black Widow fought The Termite and General Chompsalot 2. Again, Black Widow started first along with General Chompsalot 2.
Rocky-Bot-Boa pushes General Chompsalot 2 whilst the opponent grips Black Widow
Rocky-Bot-Boa falls into the pit with General Chompsalot 2
General Chompsalot 2 immediately grabbing hold of Black Widow and pushing it around the arena. As before, Rocky-Bot-Boa left its corner to ram both robots, but was unable to stop General Chompsalot 2 from pushing Black Widow into Sir Killalot. Rocky-Bot-Boa pressed the pit release button, and bumped into The Termite before General Chompsalot 2 grabbed hold of it, allowing both robots to fall into the pit when Rocky-Bot-Boa tried to push it in.
- "And immediately Chompsalot gets backed in by Rocky-Bot-Boa, and they both almost sacrificed themselves - well they both maybe committed to the pit, that's for sure!"
- — Stefan Frank as Rocky-Bot-Boa and General Chompsalot 2 fall into the pit together
Black Widow and The Termite were left to fight each other alone, with Black Widow ramming The Termite and dislodging the drive chain for its drum as the battle went to another judges' decision. Again, the judges voted in favor of Rocky-Bot-Boa and Black Widow, putting them through to the final.
There, Black Widow and Rocky-Bot-Boa faced G-Force and Sir Force A Lot. Once again, Black Widow started first along with Sir Force A Lot.
Black Widow fights Sir Force-A-Lot, whilst Rocky-Bot-Boa rams G-Force
Rocky-Bot-Boa and Black Widow shove Sir Force A Lot into Matilda
The two robots pushed each other in the opening moments as their partners immediately came out of their corners. Rocky-Bot-Boa pushed G-Force onto the Flame Pit, before both robots circled round and rammed each other, with Rocky-Bot-Boa pushing G-Force into Sgt. Bash's CPZ. It then rammed Sir Force A Lot into Matilda along with Black Widow, with Sir Force A Lot pushing the inverted Black Widow out and re-righting it. Rocky-Bot-Boa pressed the pit release button as G-Force impaled itself against the wall, with the three remaining robots bumping and pushing each other.
- "But meanwhile, Sir Force A Lot is right up against Black Widow, and Bot Boa comes in to save her! Great bit of husband and wife driving here!"
- — Stefan Frank as Rocky-Bot-Boa and Black Widow team up on Sir Force A Lot again
Rocky-Bot-Boa rams Sir Force-A-Lot
Rocky-Bot-Boa and Sir Force A Lot finished the battle by continuing to ram each other around the arena, with Black Widow deciding to stay out of the action as 'cease' was eventually called. Once again, the battle went to a judges' decision despite G-Force's lack of activity, which ruled in favor of Rocky-Bot-Boa and Black Widow, making them the Season 2 Tag Team Terror champions.
- Mick Foley: "You remind me of myself in my prime!"
- Douan Bingham: "At least I've got a prime now, Mick!"
- — The interview finally changes
Results[]
| ROCKY-BOT-BOA - RESULTS | ||
| Season 2 | ||
| US Championship Grand Final, Round 1 | ||
| Heat B, Round 1 | vs. Medusa Oblongotta, The Bat | Qualified |
| Heat B, Round 2 | vs. Manta | Won |
| Heat B, Final | vs. The Bat | Won |
| Grand Final, Round 1 | vs. Tricerabot 3.0 | Lost |
| Tag Team Terror Competing with Black Widow, Champion | ||
| Round 1 | vs. Joker & The Falcon Mark 2 | Won |
| Round 2 | vs. General Chompsalot 2 & The Termite | Won |
| Final | vs. G-Force & Sir Force A Lot | Won |
Wins/Losses[]
- Wins: 6
- Losses: 1
Series Record[]
Rocky-Bot-Boa in the pits
| US Series | Rocky-Bot-Boa Series Record |
|---|---|
| Season 1 | Did not enter |
| Season 2 | Grand Final, Round 1 Entered with Black Widow |
| Nickelodeon | Did not enter |
Outside Robot Wars[]
- Douan Bigham: "I had dyslexia when I was younger, and so I had a kind of learning disability, but I was able to pick up other things a lot quicker."
- Tanya Memme: "Though reading sometimes posed a challenge for him, electronics were second nature. Douan learned at an early age he had a knack for building things, in fact he built his first robot with lightning speed."
- Douan Bigham: "I decided to take some of my remote control car parts that I had laying around, and make a prototype, and took sheet metal from where I was working and cut it down and put it together, and I built it in 3 days in my living room."
- — Douan Bigham describes building his first robot on Robotica[3]
Before entering televised competitions, Douan Bingham built his first robot, a featherweight called Rampage, using sheet metal and parts from remote control cars.
Douan Bingham also competed in the second season of Robotica with Zero, which he built with his wife Tonya, Kevin Pooley and Chris Hannold.
- "In the mean time I started working on the rebuild of RipOff, our super-heavyweight BattleBot competitor. I hadn't done a lot when Douan Bingham called me from Wilmington. He had been chosen to build and compete something in Series 2. There was only one catch. He didn't know where to start. He had an idea of the bot he wanted to build but didn't know how to go about it. He asked if I would help. I hadn't really planned to go to BattleBots because it was being held in San Francisco again. Too expensive. I agreed to help and Project Zero by Team TSR was born..."
- — Chris Hannold on working with Douan Bingham[4]
Zero was built in just 2 months.
- "Douan built "Zero" ( his first bot) in 2 months. ... Kevin Dooley was our weapons designer for Zero. After Zero he became more involved in designing the Robots. Kevin is a Physicsist, who owns Domatco Inc. Domatko specializes in industrial robotics."
- — Tonya Bingham on the TSR Robotics website[5]
Zero lost to KaNuckle Buster in the Gauntlet, but then beat it in the Labyrinth to progress to the Fight to the Finish, where it lost to The Killa Gorilla.
Tonya Bingham would also fight with PSHHHT! in the third season.
Rocky-Bot-Boa also competed as a Super Heavyweight at the North Carolina Street Fight in 2002, replacing the chainsaw with a pair of lifting forks. It fought Isoceles[6], Black Dawn[7] and Black Hawk[8]
Trivia[]
- When ranking all competitor robots by their win-loss ratios, and undefeated robots are excluded, Rocky-Bot-Boa ranks in fifth with its 85.7% win ratio of six wins and one loss, behind Panzer Mk, TR2, Roadblock and Typhoon 2. This makes Rocky-Bot-Boa the highest robot in the list to have not achieved at least third place in a domestic championship.
- Rocky-Bot-Boa was the only US Championship Grand Finalist (excluding Manta, who is deemed a Semi-Finalist) to have won any form of side competition in Extreme Warriors.
- Rocky-Bot-Boa was the most successful competitor in any series of Robot Wars to use a chainsaw.
- The Tag Team Terror Final was the only time Rocky-Bot-Boa fought teams that had not fought in Robot Wars prior to Extreme Warriors Season 2, as the team behind The Bat had previously fought in Robot Wars with FrenZy in the War of Independence.
- Top Secret Robotics and Mick Foley had a recurring joke, which appeared in most interviews between the two. Mick Foley would tell Douan Bingham "you remind me of myself in my prime", to which Bingham would respond with "well at least you had a prime, Mick!". This was turned on its head after Rocky-Bot-Boa won the Tag Team Terror, where Bingham claimed that he was in his prime.
- Trilobyte and Mad Cow Bot also appeared in the same two episodes that Rocky-Bot-Boa did.
Honours[]
See Also[]
References[]
- ↑ TSR Robotics website - Bio (Archived)
- ↑ TSR Robotics website - Bio (Archived)
- ↑ Robotica 2x01 on Internet Archive
- ↑ Litewav Robotics website, MiniRip (archived)
- ↑ TSR Robotics website - Bio (Archived)
- ↑ YouTube - Rocky Bot-Boa Vs Isosceles
- ↑ YouTube - Rocky Bot-Boa Vs Black Dawn
- ↑ YouTube - Rocky Bot-Boa Vs Black Hawk
[]
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