Posting this later than usual, but here are my overall thoughts on the first episode of Battlebots:
Sawblaze Vs Minotaur: I really thought Sawblaze could end up having a challenge against Minotaur after it showed early aggression. But that all changed when Sawblaze's saw-axe struck what is the most internal section of Minotaur causing it to smoke and losing its primary weapon in the process. Overall, it was a convincing win for Jamison Go and as for Minotaur, they will need to get something in their next fight to keep their qualifying hopes alive.
Uppercut Vs Gigabyte: After sufferring a shock loss against Ribbot last season, Uppercut punched out a knock-out blow on to Gigabyte as they started their campaign with a win. I thought that Gigabyte could had gone and attacked their exposed wheels but unfortunately their machine proved to be rather difficult control and as soon as they were not able to self-right, it was game over for them.
Switchback Vs Gruff: You can probably tell that despite having an innovative weapon, Switchback's lack of experience costed them the fight and gave Gruff their first win.
Tombstone Vs Capt. Shredderator: Had a feeling Ray Billings' was going to have a challenge against the full body spinner of Brian Nave's machine. Once again, Tombstone smoked out which gave Captain Shredderator their third-ever win in Battlebots.
Free Shipping Vs Blacksmith: This was probably one of the most exciting matches I had ever watched. Both machines showed great amounts of aggression, but it was Blacksmith who managed to edge out Free Shipping to get their campaign off to a winning start.
Deep Six Vs Pain Train: Pain Train had endured a poor run during last season and unfortunately they had even more pain inflicted as Deep Six sunk them down with a devastating blow.
EndGame Vs Hydra: The champions of last season kick start their campaign in which they face off against Jake Ewert's Hydra. Unfortunately for Hydra, they had reliability issues with their machine that started to smoke and their flipper configuration got stuck which meant that it is game over for Jake Ewart's machine as the champions got off to a winning start.