Number 8 - Bronco

Bronco is the greatest flipper robot of all time. It has sent some of the greatest robots of all time flying through the air to their dooms. My next post will explain why it is ranked above new fan favorite HYDRA, and why it is perfectly sensible to think so. Bronco debuted in season 1, knocking Witch Doctor out in 27 seconds to earn the 4th seed in the round of 16. It disposed of Plan X in one hit that round, and launched the legendary Stinger out of the arena in only 78 seconds in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Bronco met Tombstone. Bronco lost, but it fought one of the greatest fights of all time and caused perhaps the most damage that anyone had ever done to the feared horizontal spinner. In season 2, Bronco dominated the well built Blacksmith in the qualifying round to earn the 2nd seed in the round of 32, behind only Tombstone. It met 31st seed Chrome Fly, and although Chrome Fly wasn't much of an opponent, Bronco destroyed it in one of the most violent fights ever. Bronco knocked out Razorback in the round of 16 and met 7th seed Minotaur, a ferocious drum spinner, in the quarterfinals. Bronco chose to go with a wedge design to counter the drum, but that meant that they couldn't add wheel armor. Bronco veered from its strategy and decided to attack Minotaur head on with its flipper, and started out well, but the flipper had problems launching Minotaur more than a couple feet, making Bronco easy prey for the deadly Minotaur. Bronco survived for 2:54 of the three minutes, but it couldn't last the distance. Minotaur moved on to the semifinals, and Bronco was knocked out of the tournament. In season 3, Battlebots adjusted the tournament format, giving each robot four qualifying fights before a final tournament at the end of the season. All four of Bronco's fights were featured as a main event, and it went 4-0 with two knockouts over such great opponents as Bombshell (the runner up in season 2), Lock Jaw, DUCK!, and SawBlaze. At 4-0, Bronco was chosen for the round of 16 and seeded 2nd. It quickly knocked out 15th seed WAR Hawk, but lost out to Whiplash in the quarterfinals when the batteries that controlled the wheels simply gave out. In season 4, HYDRA first came up and was starting to get popular, but Bronco had the least successful season of its career. It lost to defending champion Bite Force in its first fight, a main event, but since practically nobody ever beats Bite Force, there was no shame in the loss. Bronco then fought Free Shipping, and when it lined up for a flip, its flipper split in half, giving Bronco another loss. This can be blamed on a bad batch of titanium, but Bronco still fell to 0-2 and was starting to get desperate for a victory if it wanted to make it back into the round of 16. Its third opponent was HUGE, and the battle was the night's main event. The two fought to a very close judges' decision, but Bronco lost again. Think about it - HUGE, number 26 on this list, is a legitimate contender, and season 4 was its best season ever. Bronco, in its worst season ever, almost beat HUGE, a robot that is essentially immune to flippers. At any rate, HYDRA was 3-0 and some fans were starting to doubt if Bronco was really the best flipper anymore. Bronco had been the only robot with a flipper since 2002 that was ever considered any kind of contender to win anything. This being said, Bronco was not designed for any other flippers. In 2019, HYDRA joined it on the list, an the highly anticipated match was also a main event. HYDRA won because it had the lower ground and flipped Bronco onto a spot in the Battlebox where it simply got stuck. Bronco failed to make the round of 16 and its season was over. Shortly afterwards, it participated in a small tournament in Las Vegas. It got its revenge on Free Shipping with a dominant knockout but lost to season 4 runner up Witch Doctor in the finals. Bronco did not appear in season 5, but is planning to come back in season 6. Bronco's record is 12-8 (.600) with ten knockouts. For a ridiculous amount of knockouts, wins over some of the greatest robots of all time, and for being one of the top three robots across the first three seasons, Bronco is a member of my top ten Battlebots of all time.