Mauler

Mauler (initially known as Mauler 95 and then as The Mauler and/or Mauler 2000 and finally as Mauler 51-50) was a heavyweight robot that competed from 1994 to 2003. It was built by "Supreme Commander" Charles Tilford and his family (aka the South Bay Robo Warriors) in South Bay, California. Mauler's weapon was a horizontal spinning disc equipped with chisels and steel padlocks. It was notable for its various incarnations, each upgraded from the last, as well as its eccentric builders.

After Season 2.0, it became infamous for spinning wildly out of control. This was called "Pulling a Mauler". For the final two seasons of BattleBots, the design was changed from the spinning lid to a full-body spinner with two flails. However, the spinning forces of the robot caused the shell to bend in on itself, and at least once during the Season 5.0 competition the shell had to be changed due to this. Mauler was also well-known for taking more than one lid or shell to each competition, each with a unique paint job. In Robot Wars, Mauler was going to compete in the First World Championship, but it was disqualified as its weapon was deemed too unsafe for the arena to contain. The following year, Mauler fought in the unaired MTV pilot, where it became the champion, defeating Spike and frenZy, effectively getting revenge on the latter for Long Beach 1999.

For Season 5.0 the team turned Mauler 2000 into a superheavyweight named M2K02. It did not do nearly as well as it was when it was a heavyweight, losing in the first preliminary round.

The "51-50" (fifty-one fifty) in Mauler's name was a reference to the corresponding section of the California Welfare and Institutions Code, which states that a qualified officer can hold an individual with a mental disorder in institution if they deem the person a threat to themselves or others.

Mauler 51-50 fought in one competition after BattleBots as HellFire 666, but lost all three of its fights and retired due to battle damage sustained in its final fight.

Despite being retired, one of Mauler's old weapon shells went to the ABC BattleBots reboot, where it could be seen in the crowd with Ray Scully on several occasions.

Mauler originally competed at the very first US Robot Wars in 1994 as South Bay Mauler, taking on and losing to X1 for the single-battle Middleweight title but it did win the all-weight-class Open Melee. It moved up to the Heavyweight Division thereafter and was quite successful, reaching the Semi-Finals in 1995 and 1997. It competed under its original name in 1996 but lost in Round 2.

Robot History

US Robot Wars 1995

Mauler 95 won its first battle when The Mulcher was disqualified then lost to the eventual Champion The Master in the Semi-Finals.

US Robot Wars 1997

Mauler defeated Bubba, Mash-N-Go and Z before once again losing to the eventual Champion in the Semi-Finals, this time to BioHazard.

UK Robot Wars Series 3

Mauler, representing the USA, was due to fight Cyprus representatives and UK series competitor Cerberus in its first round battle. However, during testing, the producers considered Mauler's weapon too powerful for the arena to contain safely, disqualifying Mauler and putting Cerberus through to the Quarter Finals by default.

BattleBots Long Beach 1999

The Mauler's first match of the competition was against frenZy. frenZy won by crowd vote and The Mauler was now in the loser's bracket, where it faced Punjar. Punjar won by crowd vote and The Mauler was eliminated from the tournament.

The Mauler wasn't finished, however, as it participated the gigabot royal rumble at the end of the tournament. The Mauler started spinning at full speed and manages to hit Rhino from the front. The Mauler stopped spinning and after getting hit by S.L.A.M., BioHazard got underneath The Mauler and was almost flipped over. BioHazard continued pushing The Mauler until the rumble was halted because Juggernaut started catching fire and it was extinguished immediately. After the rumble started again, The Mauler managed to escape and started spinning its disc again. The Mauler gets slammed by Punjar and it was being lifted by BioHazard again. However, BioHazard got its lifting arm stuck underneath The Mauler and pushes it against the arena wall multiple times before the time ran out. Razer was declared the winner of the gigabot rumble and The Mauler lost overall.

Robot Wars MTV Pilot

Mauler defeated Spike and Frenzy to become Champion.

Season 1.0

Mauler's first match in Season 1.0 was against Nightmare. Both bots inched forward, spinning at full speed. However, Mauler, having a horizontal disc, pushed Nightmare's disc to the side and hit Nightmare's left wheel, taking it off. Mauler struck Nightmare again, causing it to slide into the spikestrip. Mauler then ground at the dead Nightmare's frame with its spinning chisels until the match was declared over. Mauler won by KO and advanced to the quarterfinals, where it faced KillerHurtz.

The match started and Mauler spun up to full speed. KillerHurtz charged Mauler and was hit with the full force of its spinning maces. After a few more clashes, KillerHurtz attempted to back into Mauler to try to slow its weapon down. However it was of little effect because a piece of KillerHurtz' lexan was easily ripped off by Mauler. KillerHurtz then attempted to attack Mauler with its pickaxe, but Mauler easily ripped it off and launched it across the arena. KillerHurtz bumped Mauler one last time, and the impact sent Mauler into the killsaws and caused Mauler's radio receiver to become disconnected and all of its systems to stop. KillerHurtz hit Mauler again, but it was unnecessary because Mauler was knocked out. Mauler was counted out, causing one of the largest upsets in BattleBots history. KillerHurtz won by KO and Mauler was eliminated from the tournament.

Mauler wasn't finished, however, as it participated the heavyweight royal rumble at the end of the tournament. In the beginning, Mauler was destroying Knome II immediately and it was bumped by BioHazard shortly after. Mauler was then getting hit by Blendo and Mauler stopped spinning. Mauler was then being pushed around the arena by Punjar and Mauler escapes. Mauler was being lifted by Vlad the Impaler and Kill-O-Amp pushes Mauler right in front of Monster. Mauler was then pushed on the front of the immobilized Suicidal Tendencies and moments later, Mauler was being attacked by the axe combinations of frenZy and Suicidal Tendencies. BioHazard separates the two axe robots and flips Mauler onto its back. The flipped Mauler was against the spikestrip and was left there before the time ran out. BioHazard was declared the winner of the rumble and Mauler lost overall.

Season 2.0

Mauler returned for Season 2.0, this time with a completely different look. This new revision was dubbed Mauler 51-50. It was shorter, sleeker and faster. Gone was the psychotic void replaced with a horned monster's face. The weapon now consisted of two hard steel flails.

Mauler came into Season 2.0 facing Bigger Brother. The match started and Bigger Brother tried to maneuver around Mauler 51-50, afraid of the spinning blades. When the two finally met in a shower of sparks, Bigger Brother was hurled across the arena, breaking a weld on Mauler 51-50's flail that hit Bigger Brother and sending the flail flying, causing Mauler 51-50 to become unbalanced and eventually end up on its back. Bigger Brother pushed Mauler 51-50 into the pulverizer, causing smoke to spew from its exposed underbelly. This image of Mauler 51-50 unbalancing itself became one of the most iconic moments in BattleBots history, and from then on any time a full-body spinner unbalanced itself, it became known as the Mauler dance. Bigger Brother won by KO and Mauler was eliminated from the tournament.

Mauler 51-50 wasn't finished however, as it participated the heavyweight consolation rumble at the end of the tournament. Mauler 51-50 started spinning and moves to the center of the arena. Mauler 51-50 managed to hit Kill-O-Amp, OverKill and Mjollnir in a matter of seconds, but neither robot suffered any damage from the spinning flails. Mauler 51-50 stopped spinning and Bigger Brother flips Mauler 51-50 onto its side and then on its back. The flipped Mauler 51-50 was being attacked by the weaponless Mjollnir and the knife blade of OverKill. Mauler 51-50 was left alone shortly after and time ran out soon after. OverKill and Punjar were declared the winners of the consolation rumble and Mauler 51-50 lost overall.

Season 3.0

Mauler 51-50 returned once again for Season 3.0, and because of its previous performance in BattleBots it was able to skip the preliminary rounds. Its first opponent in this season was Dreadbot. This match was an easy victory for Mauler as Dreadbot drove forward at full speed and rammed straight into the spike strip on the opposite side of the BattleBox. It stopped moving after this and Mauler drove in to deliver a few blows before it was counted out. Mauler won by KO and advanced to the round of 32, where it faced Incoming. Incoming won on a close 25-20 judge's decision and Mauler was eliminated from the tournament.

Mauler made one more appearance in Season 3.0 during the heavyweight consolation rumble, but after delivering a crippling blow to Greenspan's weaponry it was caught and overturned by Little Sister (coincidentally a relative of Bigger Brother, as both are made by the same team), which eliminated it from the rumble.

Season 4.0

Mauler 51-50 was revised for Season 4.0, now donning a full-body spinning shell with a flail on each side. Due to its seeding, Mauler was allowed to skip the preliminary rounds of Season 4.0, where it eventually faced Jabberwock. Mauler didn't do very well in this fight, as Jabberwock's first ram caused Mauler to become unbalanced and do its namesake spin onto its back. Once inverted it could not self-right, and it was eventually pushed by Jabberwock over the killsaws and then into the pulverizer. Mauler was being counted out and Jabberwock won by KO. This meant that Mauler was eliminated from the tournament.

For unknown reasons, Mauler didn't participate the heavyweight consolation rumble at the end of the tournament.

Season 5.0

Mauler, unfortunately, was no longer seeded for this tournament and therefore had to go through the qualifiers again. It first met up against Incisor. Incisor was the aggressor in this fight, able to get under Mauler and lift it, but Mauler caused more damage and won on a 23-22 judge's decision. Mauler then fought Spinning Mayhem. As the match started, both robots spun up, but Spinning Mayhem backed up from Mauler's approach. Spinning Mayhem took one hit and stopped moving, while Mauler chewed on the carcass. This quick knockout brought Mauler to the final preliminary round against Fatal Encounter. Fatal Encounter came out wedge first, but Mauler manages to cripple the lifter arm on the first blow. The second hit sent Fatal Encounter's wedge flying. Fatal Encounter tried to use the spinner, but a few hits rendered it useless, then sent it flying. Mauler started damaging the side armor on Fatal Encounter before its driver tapped out.

Mauler had managed to get back into the TV rounds and it went up against SlamJob. Mauler won by KO and advanced to the round of 16, where it faced MechaVore. Both robots spun up and took damage from each other, Mauler taking a few gouges in its shell from MechaVore's spinning disc. After the first big hit, Mauler's weapon stopped spinning, and after a few more hits MechaVore stopped spinning as well. As a result, the match became a pushing match, which neither robot really won. Eventually MechaVore was able to get its disc back up to speed and hit Mauler a few more times, but then the match ended. MechaVore won a 33-12 judge's decision and Mauler was eliminated from the tournament. The reason Mauler's weapon quit working was because of a misplaced nut on Mauler's weapon system, which kept the shell from moving around. After the first big impact, the weapon moved due to the missing nut, keeping the weapon from spinning.

Results

Series	Event	Round	Opponent(s)	Results
US Robot Wars 1995	Heavyweight Division	1	The Mulcher	Won (by default)
		2	The Master	Lost
US Robot Wars 1996	Heavyweight Melee Rumble	N/A	Nemesis, Punjar, Killborg	Draw
	Heavyweight Melee Final		La Machine, The Master, DooMore, Tazz, Punjar, Nemesis, Killborg, Red Scorpion, Merrimac, Namreko, Gut Rip, Marvin	Lost
US Robot Wars 1997	Heavyweight Division	1	Bubba	Won
		2	Mash-N-Go	Won
		3	Z	Won
		Semi-Final	BioHazard	Lost
	Heavyweight Melee Rumble	N/A	La Machine, Tallywhacker, Gut Rip, Badger	Lost
BattleBots Long Beach 1999	Heavyweight Division	1	Frenzy	Lost
		Loser's Bracket	Punjar	Lost
	Royal Rumble	N/A	Rhino S.L.A.M BioHazard Juggernaut Punjar Razer	Lost
UK Robot Wars Series 3	1st World Championship (Representing United States)	Eliminator	Cerberus (Cyprus)	Disqualified
MTV Robot Wars	Pilot	Eliminator	Spike	Won
		Final	Frenzy	Won
BattleBots Comedy Central Season 1.0	Heavyweight Division	Round of 16	Nightmare	Won
		Quarter Final	Killerhurtz	Lost
		Royal Rumble	Knome II BioHazard Blendo Punjar Vlad The Impaler Kill-O-Amp Monster Suicidal Tendencies Frenzy	Lost
BattleBots Comedy Central Season 2.0	Heavyweight Division	Round of 32	Bigger Brother	Lost
		Consolation Rumble	Kill-O-Amp OverKill Mjollnir Bigger Brother Punjar	Lost
BattleBots Comedy Central Season 3.0	Heavyweight Division	Round of 64	Dreadbot	Won
		Round of 32	Incoming	Lost
		Consolation Rumble	Greenspan Little Sister	Lost
BattleBots Comedy Central Season 4.0	Heavyweight Division	Round of 32	Jabberwock	Lost
BattleBots Comedy Central Season 5.0	Heavyweight Division	Round of 256	Incisor	Won
		Round of 128	Spinning Mayhem	Won
		Round of 64	Fatal Encounter	Won
		Round of 32	SlamJob	Won
		Round of 16	MechaVore	Lost

• Wins: 11
• Losses: 15
• Draws: 1