Battle Dome

American television series

Battle Dome is a syndicated American television series that aired from September 1999 to April 2001. It combined elements of American Gladiators – inspired athletic competition – with scripted antics more reminiscent of professional wrestling. Recurring character athletes known as "Warriors" competed against weekly contestants in a variety of physically demanding (and sometimes dangerous) events. The series was filmed at the Los Angeles Sports Arena and produced by Columbia TriStar Television. The entire second season of Battle Dome is available for purchase on iTunes and Amazon Video. Mill Creek Entertainment announced the complete series on DVD.

A Warrior typically entered the show's arena accompanied by his own bombastic theme music and in several cases a comely female sidekick; in later episodes, weekly contestants were also allotted female companions, courtesy of Perfect 10 magazine. The announcer for the show was Steve Albert (brother of Marv and the uncle of Kenny); Scott Ferrall provided color commentary. Seth Stockton served as referee for the entire run. Downtown Julie Brown appeared in early episodes, as a sideline correspondent but was replaced by Kathleen McClellan for the run of the show. The "Chairman", whose face remained off camera, oversaw the proceedings. Halfway through the show's run, Ferrall and Brown were replaced by Ed Lover and Brien Blakely, respectively, and "The chairman" was dropped from the show. Battle Dome was also broadcast in the UK, on the Challenge and Bravo networks, as well as on Channel 5, now "Five." It was also broadcast in Ireland on TV3. Three male contestants competed in a series of four or five events, which varied in intensity and danger factor. After the fourth or fifth event, the two highest scoring competitors advanced to the Battle Dome final. In addition to facing the contestants, the Battle Dome Warriors were in a show long competition against each other for the Battle Dome Warriors Championship belt. The Warriors were ranked before the competition started and could move up or down the list depending on either how well they performed during the show or how well they politicked with the chairman or his on camera assistant, Bobbie Haven (played by model Bobbie Brown, who prior to this was best known for her appearance in the video for Warrant's "Cherry Pie"). If the second and third place players were tied, the tie was broken in a rather novel way. Both players would stand on platforms on two separate metal discs, with the discs being pulled back and rammed together at high rates of speed. The intensity of the hit grew until one player fell off, at which point they would be going home. This also would help determine the Warriors champion if the championship was in question at the end of a show. After all ties and championships between the Warriors and contestants were settled, the two remaining players moved into the Battle Dome for the final round, in which the two competitors wrestled each other in an attempt to throw the opponent off an elevated platform. Doing so won the match, a cash prize, and a Battle Dome championship ring. The winner would also advance in the Battle Dome tournament, with the winner getting a large cash prize, a motorcycle, and a Battle Dome Championship belt at the end of the season.

The Battle Dome Warriors Championship and Warrior Championship Belt were removed. In addition to the male competitors, season two added a female special where five women competed against each other with the warriors acting as "Coaches". The Battle Dome Cage event changed significantly. Wrestling was no longer permitted with the emphasis put much more onto martial arts style fighting, in particular kickboxing. The aim was to remove your opponent from the platform. if both men fell, the battle would restart. this final event had no time limit. Most of the Battle Dome Warriors' valets (among those who had them) were replaced by the Perfect 10 models that the contestants were accompanied by. With the exception of T Money, who kept "The Posse".

In fall of 2000, the stars of Battle Dome and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) began a brief cross promotional feud. It kicked off when WCW wrestlers disrupted a Battle Dome taping. In retaliation, on the November 6 edition of Monday Nitro, T Money, Cuda, Mike O'Dell (husband of WCW star Midajah), D. O. A., and Bubba King began heckling in the audience as Diamond Dallas Page spoke to the Chicago crowd. Rick Steiner, Ernest Miller, and Buff Bagwell came to Page's aid before security ended the physical dispute. The feud between these men continued as far as November 20, mere months before the buyout of WCW by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).