Number 43 - Toro

 

Toro is a pneumatic flipper Battlebot built by Inertia Labs, which has also found great success with middleweight flipper T-minus and modern Bronco. It competed as a superheavyweight in seasons 2.0 through 5.0. In season 2.0, its debut fight was against Tortoise, which it won by a judges' decision of 45-0. Its next fight was against Tripulta Raptor (as seen above) and it scored a 55 second knockout to advance to the quarterfinals. It met Atomic Wedgie that round and flipped it eight times, dominating the fight until its drivetrain quit, resulting in a crushing loss. In that season's Superheavyweight Royal Rumble, Toro won, taking out four opposing Battlebots, in a dominant performance. In season 3.0, Toro won two fights aainst tough opponents in quick knockouts, including a 37 second gem over Phere. It faced Minion in the semifinals and lost by a 27-18 judges' decision. Minion was one of the robots that Toro had knocked out in the Royal Rumble, so it had its revenge. Toro then captured the Superheavyweight Royal Rumble crown again. In season 4.0, Toro dominated Maximus and knocked out one of the toughest classic Battlebots ever built - The Judge - on its way to the quarterfinals again. This time it faced the reigning champion Vladiator, which was generally regarded as the top robot around, and was expected to get killed. Instead, Toro won in a 32-13 judges' decision and took its next two fights to become the superheavyweight champion. The Judge got revenge on Toro in the Rumble, taking the win over Toro, who also performed very well, as expected. In season 5.0, however, Toro met famous full body spinner robot Phrizbee-Ultimate, which won in a 25-20 decision, eliminating the defending champion in the first round of competition. I could not compete in the rumble on account of mechanical issues. Toro's all time tournament record stands at 9-3 (.750) with four knockouts. Even though it was simply dominant, Toro doesn't crack my top 40 because the technology was so different ten or twenty years ago. Nevertheless,its design and success in Classic Battlebots would probably signify that it would be a contender if it made a comeback some day.