Bronco

Bronco is a heavyweight robot which competed in the first two seasons of ABC's BattleBots reboot. It was built by Alexander Rose and Reason Bradley of Inertia Labs. As with most Inertia Labs robots, its weapon was a powerful pneumatic flipping arm (in fact, the arm it used was the spare from The Matador) and has almost three times the power of Toro. Bronco was a crowd favorite in the first season, throwing robots out of the BattleBox effortlessly and making it to the semi-finals before being defeated by Tombstone.

For the second season, two models were built, one's for fighting robots with spinning weapons and the other is for fighting robots with other weapons and can have the wheel guards from the first season bolted on top for robots with axe weapons. Both models are longer than the model from the first season and both have six wheels instead of four.

Robot History

ABC Season 1

Bronco's first ever match was against Witch Doctor. In the match, Bronco got off to a quick start scoring a flip on Witch Doctor, but it quickly righted itself. Shaman then got under Bronco and started using its flamethrower. However, Bronco activated its flipper to get away but then drove itself into the wall where its flipper got stuck underneath. Witch Doctor used this opportunity to strike, with Shaman spraying fire on Bronco just as Witch Doctor struck it with its blade. This freed Bronco from the wall, and it quickly flipped Witch Doctor again, knocking it onto the screws just as it righted itself. This resulted in Witch Doctor being stuck on the wall with no means of freeing itself. While Shaman attempted to fight Bronco, they were counted out due to the main bot being incapacitated. Bronco won by KO in 42 seconds and advanced to the round of 16, where it faced the No.13 seed Plan X.

The match against Plan X was very short. Both robots maneuvered around the BattleBox for a few seconds until, 9 seconds into the match, Bronco flipped Plan X on top of the screws. Plan X was upside down and could not move, and the match was counted as a KO about 30 seconds later. Bronco advanced to the quarterfinals, where it faced the No.5 seed Stinger:The Killer Bee.

In this match, both robots went straight at each other and Bronco gave Stinger a small pop from its flipping arm. Bronco tried to flip Stinger again, but flipped itself onto the screws. Bronco was able to use its flipper to get off the screws, but it landed upside-down on the floor. Bronco was able to right itself, but Stinger got underneath and began driving Bronco around the BattleBox. Bronco then escaped, but drove itself onto the killsaws. Bronco then finished the match with a series of flips that ended with Bronco getting underneath the rear of Stinger and flipping it out of the BattleBox for an automatic KO at 1:18. This win put Bronco through to the semifinals, where it faced the feared No.1 seed Tombstone.

For this match, Inertia Labs decided to extend the length of Bronco's flipper, in hopes that it would be long enough to flip Tombstone before it struck. In the beginning of the match, Bronco moved to the corner of the BattleBox while Tombstone spun up its blade. Both robots slowly moved toward each other, and Bronco struck first, flipping Tombstone onto its back. Tombstone then got a hit on Bronco, which caused it to miss its next flip. Bronco tried to get underneath the left side of the flipped Tombstone, but it missed and took another hit from Tombstone's spinning blade. This hit damaged the left side of Bronco enough to cripple that side, so it could only move in circles. Tombstone then tore the right-side wheel guard off of Bronco, and Bronco retaliated by popping Tombstone into the air. Bronco managed to flip Tombstone one more time, but the collision between the two robots ended up knocking Bronco onto its back. After seven attempts, Bronco managed to flip itself back onto its feet, but it took a massive hit from Tombstone, which ripped the front right wheel off of Bronco. Tombstone delivered one more hit to Bronco, immobilizing it completely. While Bronco tried to get moving again by firing its flipper, it was unsuccessful and it was counted out. Right before the match ended, Tombstone struck Bronco one last time, sending Tombstone flying and causing its battery packs to eject from the robot. However, Tombstone still won the match by KO at 2:26 and Bronco was eliminated from the tournament.

ABC Season 2

Bronco's first match in Season 2 was against Blacksmith. For this match, Bronco's wheel guards were placed on top in order to absorb blows from Blacksmith's hammer. After the two robots dodged around each other, Bronco launched the first attack, but missed a flip. After dodging a hammer blow from Blacksmith, it then flipped the newcomer numerous times in succession, eventually flipping it onto the screws. After several more flips, Blacksmith's hammer broke off during an attempt to self-right. Bronco struggled to get a flip in after this as Blacksmith started to play defensive, but eventually it caught Blacksmith side on and flipped it into the BattleBox side wall. Blacksmith ended up high-centered on the screws, where it could not escape. In celebration, Bronco flipped Blacksmith's broken hammerhead to the ceiling as Blacksmith was counted out and Bronco won the match by KO at 2:16. This win put Bronco to the round of 32 with its No.2 seeding, where it faced the No.31 seed Chrome Fly.

Deciding to use this battle as a "test", the team used the spinner model and it was turned around to drive at Chrome Fly wedge first. In the beginning of the match, Chrome Fly got its spinning blades going and Bronco made contact with it, leaving a small shower of sparks. Both robots were moving around the BattleBox and Bronco got its rear wedge under one of Chrome Fly's spinning blades. This hit caused Chrome Fly's spinning blade to rip off its top armor and stopped moving immediately. Bronco backed away and went straight at the immobile Chrome Fly. This hit ripped off one of Chrome Fly's spinning blades. Bronco then got underneath the sheets of lexan added to Chrome Fly and flipped it on its back toward the pulverizer. Bronco tried to flip Chrome Fly out of the BattleBox, but it landed on the railing and left it there. As Chrome Fly was being counted out, Bronco went after Chrome Fly's immobilized drone and tried to flip it, but it wasn't successful as it missed two times. Despite this, Bronco won by KO at 1:00 and advanced to the round of 16, where it faced the No.15 seed Razorback.

This match was fairly even as Bronco decided to use its tail armor to fend off Razorback. Razorback made multiple attempts to attack Bronco's wheels, but Bronco was always facing with the rear plow. Eventually, Razorback managed to attack but got far enough on the back of Bronco and was launched into the air. After more maneuvering, Razorback again rolled up the back of Bronco and was launched into the air, once again landing on its wheels. However, when this happened again, Razorback ended up on its side and was unable to move due to a design flaw. Razorback was counted out and Bronco won by KO at 1:21. This win put Bronco to the quarterfinals, where it faced the No.7 seed, Minotaur.

The match started off rather poorly for Bronco as it managed to flip Minotaur but not with the usual power it was known for due to a problem with an air valve. Minotaur wasn't having much luck damaging Bronco initially either but eventually got around to Bronco's side and attacked one of the wheels. Bronco was not able to defend itself well and took more damage to not only its underside but its wheels. As the match progressed, Bronco was losing wheels to Minotaur' s deadly drum and got down to half the wheels remaining. After Minotaur tore off another wheel, Bronco was left hopelessly trying to stay alive with a bent up flipper and only two wheels. Minotaur manged to corner Bronco and take off the remaining wheels. Bronco could no longer move and was counted out, giving Minotaur the win by KO.

Wins/Losses

• Wins: 6
• Losses: 2