One of the refs posted his take on the fight. It's a little word vomitty, but I've bolded the portion about the unstick and the count-out.
To the BattleBots community, I want to address a couple of points that pertain to last night's finals. First, I can assure you that the producers have never asked the refs (or anyone that I know of) to manipulate the fights in anyway. As refs, our goal is always to be as consistent as possible and follow the rules. Of course, we are not perfect and the referees themselves don't always agree. Some of what we do is subjective but we believe that we follow the rules to the best of our abilities. We understand that being a referee is not easy and that we need to be able to take criticism. We are completely open to that, are always listening and learning. But no, the fights are not manipulated by the referees in anyway. The most challenging part of BattleBots is dealing with controlled movement. As I read through many of the social media post, I see lots of different opinions/viewpoints on who won last nights fight between Minotaur and Witch Doctor. I (ref John) believe Minotaur should've been counted out. Obviously, the other ref did not. Looking back at the fight, I think Dave (the other referee) made the right call to let it go. I was also the one that called the time out to unstick. Unfortunately, the numerous and sticks that have happened both in this season and many of the seasons past have never been shown on TV and have always been edited out. So I don't blame fans one bit for feeling like the rules have been manipulated because they had never seen that before. But there have been many times we've called timeouts to unstick. And let's remember, the rule state that the unstick timeouts can be called in specific situations and not in others. So I believe we've been consistent with that but from a fan standpoint it may not look that way. And that is totally fair criticism. During the Minotaur v. Witch Doctor fight, an edit was made to shorten the time (I guess for TV) that it looked like the timeout was called immediately. It was not called immediately however, I probably could've given it another two or three seconds. Always learning lessons. If you read the rules you will clearly see that certain places in the arena allow for a referee to call a time out and to unstick. There are also times when the BattleBots officials feel that it is not safe to unstick and therefore send it to the judges. Sometimes this makes television and sometimes it doesn't. But in no way does it change the outcome of any of the fights. Maybe you agree with the decisions of the referees or maybe you don't. Certainly we welcome any and all feedback. We have thick skin and we've been doing this for a long time.
As for the judging, we have three judges for a reason. Sometimes they see things differently than me and other times they do not. But I do see a lot of split decisions and I never feel that judges show favoritism. They seem to have their system and they follow it. During breaks, I've asked them why they made a decision and they've always had good feedback to support what they believe. Personally, I would love to see and hear from the judges after each fight. That would certainly help them explain why they scored a fight in a particular fashion. I've gotten to know all the judges over the years and I know them to be dedicated and unbiased. I don't believe they would ever do anything to intentionally stack the deck against any particular team. Things happen very fast in the Box, and while they have a monitor for viewing, their vantage point is clearly from one side of the arena. They are also sitting down and are closer to the arena floor where as the referees are standing up and have a better vantage point. Referees can also move around. It does get challenging for referees when we have large number of teammates and a very limited amount of space for viewing. We try to stay out of their way while also maintaining eye contact. Not always an easy task but nonetheless part of the job. As for the judges, I don't believe they've manipulated the outcome of any fight nor have have I seen anyone else for that matter. The judges do disagree with each other but mostly I hear them talk about wanting to get it right and how important that is. All three of them are former competitors and they personally know what it's like to win and to lose.
BattleBots is so fortunate to have the best teams in the world and they all want to win. They put their heart, soul, and a lot of time and money into the sport. Every bit of passion shows and they are great at what they do. I love watching them get excited and its important for them to feel comfortable letting me know their feelings in the heat of the moment or at any time for that matter. I don't fault them in anyway for feeling frustrated when they feel like something has been taken away from them. But I can assure everyone, I have seen nothing that would indicate anything nefarious.
Our fans are equally as passionate as our teams and I absolutely love when they engage in the sport. You can agree or disagree on just about any aspect of reffing, judging and the rules. Its great to see and hear from our passionate fans. I always welcome that. We also listen to what many of you say and take that into consideration. This season is no exception. The rules have evolved since day one and we will continue to refine them. We try to be as proactive as possible and anticipate any potential challenges that may arise. Sometimes we get the rules right and sometimes we dont. But we always do our best to make them fair and reasonable. The referees also started a new tradition of trying to get around and talk with each team prior to the beginning of filming. The purpose of this is to clarify any rules and or listen to any challenges the teams might have. Because of this, we were able to adjust some of the rules and clarify things that some of the teams really were frustrated with. We went to bat for the teams because we also felt that the rule wasn't written very well. As the sport evolves so will the rules. There will be times when things work and there will be times when things don't. But I can assure you that when they don't, they will always be looked at and we will make every effort to fix them.
But let me be clear, no fight in any way has ever been manipulated by the refs nor do I believe any fight has ever been manipulated by a judge. Nothing is fixed. The producers do not dictate the outcome of any fight. We strive to be perfect but know we are not. BattleBots can and should do a better job of explaining the rules during the show (i.e. stuck under the rail of the deck verses stuck leaning on the deck). I know this would help the fans a lot. Rules need to be cleaned up and clarified (i.e. controlled movement). All of these things are already in progress.
I believe that BattleBots is so truly loved and cared for by the fans that it's only right they have a voice and express both their pleasures and displeasures with the show. Please know, you are loudly heard and we know you care.