• That's funny how easily people get so influenced by Sonny's charisma that they alter the truth. It wasn't him who was getting punched, it was another Spetsnaz guy, Maxim Franz. Even though, Sonny is no doubt should hve been #1. OMG, I feel like a necromancer. Why I even comment on comments that are year old?

• That's funny how easily people get so influenced by Sonny's charisma that they alter the truth. It wasn't him who dropped the grenade in the washer, it was another Spetsnaz guy, Maxim Franz. Even though, Sonny is no doubt peculiar character and hell yeah, that cigarette lighting was impressive!

• Deadliest Warrior isn't nerd porn. It's testosterone, pure testosterone. That, and bad actors. OP hasn't met any nerds, methinks.

• oh, by the way, Snake Blocker is a total fraud... http://www.bullshido.net/forums/showthread.php?t=79721

• Another girl geek here... I love love love this show! I will drop everything to watch another episode. I only have one issue...I hate that they use pig carcass for some of their experiments. They have the gel tech. They dont need to use the animal flesh. If nothing else; its a waste of good pork!

• Sonny should be # 1. all those other guys are CLOWNS!

• Yeah that guy is pretty awesome. He goes way beyond just the Scottish stuff. Give him a pointy object and he can throw it accurately. ANY pointy object. Knives, swords, machetes, shovels, whatever.

• Max, if you guys ever do enter into "fantasy battle" please make this happen. Ewok vs Velociraptor

• I've read that Deadliest Warrior won't do Pirate vs Ninja until teh interwebs decide a winner. The show would get torn to shreds otherwise. And Sonny should have been number 1. Dude is scary. Like, he could kill you from the other side of the TV screen if he wanted scary. And as for the show, can you guys save the siege weapons for the squad fights? Or for that matter, do a "Siege" special testing various siege weapons against various fortifications or something?

• Did he just stare at it? That would have been awesome.

• Sonny is indeed completely legitimate, but I have a few doubts about your Green Beret expert..."E-Tool Howard?" Uh... Now I'm not military, but the GB/Spetz and GSG-9/SWAT matchups were pretty rigged. When you look at organizational history, what are the Spetznaz equivalents to successful operations of the Green Berets in Afghanistan, Vietnam, etc, and what SWAT team ever took down a terrorist-held plane in 20 seconds? I really don't know how SWAT teams can even be set up as counterterrorist experts. As far as I know, US SWAT collectively have near zero experience dealing with terrorism.

• Would it be possible for them to do Microsoft VS Apple in a huge office nerf gun battle? That sort of thing has been done before, and to amazing effect.

• :) :) :) I honestly hated that show until I saw that episode. It was great!!

• n/m that was knight vs pirate and samurai vs viking. I remember wrong.

• they already did it. google.

• Whoa! You got Max to comment? That's awesome. Anyways, I agree, Sonny should've been #1. Did you see him get punched just to show what he can take? He didn't even feel a thing! Anyways, hopefully Max will respond: How do you guys pick the fights you show?

• Holy shit dude, that comment killed me. That was good.

• I think I fell in love with him at that exact moment. Everyone took off when he dropped that grenade and he sits there and lights up a cigarette. How bad ass do you have to be?

• Please tell me you have an episode featuring a navy seal? And have you thought about doing a sci-fi episode or two? Like jedi vs.. neo? I dunno. haha. I know it'd be hard to stay factual, but something along the lines?

• Every time I watch, and I do enjoy the show, the uneven competitions and random weapon choices just piss me off. For example, the Spetznas grenade was put in a washing machine for seemingly no reason, while the American one was put in an open field full of test dummies. Guess which one kill more people. Secondly, Alexander the Great vs. Atilla the Hun. Random comparison, as should have been more like the Greek Army vs. Atilla's, but regardless, Alexander the Great gets a siege weapon and no bow, and Atilla gets a bow. It doesn't even make any sense. It's just a really stupid show sometimes.

• Sonny FTW

• My theory as to why we haven't done Pirate vs Ninja is that it's an ace in the hole. Network is saving it for a special or finale that they can get everyone hyped up about. And personally, as a nerd working amongst nerds, I'd like to not spend the rest of my life having half the people I meet tell me I got their favorite fight "wrong," and should be made to walk the plank/seppuku.

• That is exactly right.

• Or it's an awesomely retarded show that is pretty damned hilarious to ex-history majors or other people with half a brain of historical contest just based on the incredulous premise. It's possible for dumb things to be dumb and still fun. Mario? Dumb. Fun? Yes.

• I was never a fighter, have no training in any kind of martial art, and am not a huge nerd, but I like this show. Even my wife likes it. We both like some history stuff and are just amazed at the kinds of weapons so many different cultures have used over the centuries. Our main question is, how do they determine the match-ups? Some of them are just plain odd.

• hi :)

• Sorry, my bad.

• We don't have the show (here in Botswana), but I saw MOST of the GB vs Sn on their YouTube Channel. To be honest, all I was looking forward to was seeing some sort of flying knife/hatchet attack (because it's the only real way to kill a terrorist).

• This is a retarded show that tries and fails at making history interesting to commoners through violence and trash talking. If a guy doesn't understand the concept of "context" in history he doesn't get to have a say on the subject matter.

• I think of the match-ups this way: They're like an old-school Star Trek style battle to the death on an Earth-like planet. - Each combatant is told they must fight, or their loved ones will all be destroyed, but that if they win they get some sort of ultimate prize (money, cure for cancer, etc) - They are then dropped onto the battle planet, complete with their standard compliment of weapons and tools, and told to "Your enemy is that direction. Go find him, and defeat him." - This is why you're getting single Romans instead of a squad, and why people from different eras are able to face each other. They're plucked out of time and placed on BATTLE WORLD by some powerful alien being. - I'm certain Deadliest Warrior would be pretty awesome with the Star Trek original series "fight scene" music playing in the background (dun da daa daa daa daa daa dada daaa daaaa!)

• What a fantastic article and what a great show. If you are looking for more deadliest warrior conversation head over to our podcast at jayandkirbyproductions.com. New content added every week.

• I know theres a few fights I'd like to see done just to appeal to my nerdy self. 1: Future Warrior suit/gear/etc Vs a well equipped Taliban/etc warrior to see how well the armor works, ranging from dragonscale to the exo suit, the.. OICW (if it's still called that, etc.) 2: Neolithic man vs a native american, both were master craftsmen of bone, stone and wooden weapons and so on, be interesting to see the matchup between the brawn and endurance of primitive man vs a agile bow using combatant skilled in knives and throwing weapons. 3: Inuit vs Russian/hussar? Both are cold adapted and have various weapons and such ranging from spears to swords, horseback tactics an so on. Sealskin armor verses uhm.. bear hide? 4: Vampire Vs Werewolf. Seriously. Cull the good data from the bad (IE NO SPARKLES) and compare and contrast the two in a pseudo victorian setting with the items and possessions they may have access too at the time. The show does gloss over/fudge some of the weapons functions and such, but overall it's good tv and does show off a lot of differing combat aspects and might be enough to put someone on the path to Learning one of the styles shown there.

• i was rather put-off by the pseudo-science and the posturing at first, and then things started blowing up and stage blood started flying and i was in love with it. there's nothing wrong with enjoying the spectacle of it all, and there's certainly nothing wrong with engaging in debates with fellow viewers about where you think the makers of the show mucked up. in fact, such debates just make it more fun, in my opinion.

• the first episode of this show i watched was the green berets vs. spetznaz one, and i have to say i was simultaneously terrified of and slightly enamored with sonny. when the apocalypse comes, i'm with him.

• I like the show conceptually, but it annoys the hell out of me in practice. The juvenile trash talking and posturing is a major problem. I know the show is targeting Spike TVs demographic, but come on. There's a lot of flawed methodology involved, such as the aforementioned discounting of the ninja's black egg. That's not as much of a problem as is the case for Mythbusters, it's an excellent excuse to revisit things. The re-enactments are just bad in many cases. Much of the time they don't remotely reflect the simulation results. Or just make no sense. Such as the Gladiator/Apache fight. Yes, the Apache won finally, but that's only because in the re-enactment the Gladiator did something that makes no sense for a trained fighter. He hit the downed Apache just once with the Cestus. And then stopped for no apparent reason, admiring his work I guess. Now regardless of whether anyone we be able to get up after being pounded square in the face(Doubtful.), anyone trained in combat is not going to stop until their certain the opponent is down, especially in combat using deadly weapons. So to sum up, ditch the posturing. Tweak the re-enactments or get rid of them entirely. And work on the methodology of the weapons testing to accurately account for things other than what weapon makes the most gore fly.

• I also think Sonny should have been clser to #1. The pulling of the pin of the grenade, dropping it in the washer, and calmly walking away while lighting a cigarette was pretty impressive to me. Especially since everyone else ran away.

• Way to reference!

• fantastic show, i just wish it were more concise sometimes. i feel like spike stretches it to an hour because they know they have a good thing on their hands. my father had the same job as mr blocker up there, so i can attest that you DO NOT fuck with someone with those credentials. they don't have to act like a badass....they ARE badass.

• If they could just take out the annoying smack talk and focus on the task at hand this show would be awesome. It's fun to watch but when the two teams start having a bitch fight about who is stronger I tend to change the channel.

• Sonny, is what Batman would be if he was in the Russian Army

• As long as the DICKDOUCHES who were the "Viking" """experts""" (extra threatquotes intended) remain nowhere near this list. I have never seen a worse example of cock-brained, illiterate, know-nothing SHITHEADS being passed off as having anything more than a comic-book-and-album-cover knowledge of ANYTHING! Everything they said was PURE BULLSHIT, and every weapon they brought was PURE BULLSHIT! They not only allowed, but encouraged with their idiotic behavior, the continued misconception of the Norse Warrior as a dull, plodding, inarticulate caveman! READ A FUCKING BOOK BEFORE YOU CLAIM TO BE AN """""""""EXPERT""""""""", you FUCKFACES!!!

• Snake Blocker is deep, deep American. My patriotism compels me to root for him the way I rooted for the Green Berets against the Spetsnaz. And yet, I am a realist. I know that whoever goes up against Sonny will get raped.

• good list overall but i have to agree with the mass of comments stating that sonny should have been number 1. also i feel like tetsuro shigematsu (the little samurai guy) shouldve been on here, if only for having given BY FAR the most badass archery demonstration on the show so far.

• When I read the name of the list, I automatically thought of Sonny Puzikas. He is number one. Actually, he is the entire list.

• great list, though i also think that Sonny should've been higher up love the show and i can't wait for the Vlad the Impaler vs. Sun Tzu episode...

• My buddy and i have a few suggestions for matchups, so Max if you're reading this get back to us on them. Vlad the Impaler VS Guan Yu Conquistadors VS British Redcoats Me with a Wiffle Bat VS Fifty very determined toddlers Buzz Aldrin VS David Bowie

• Absolutely. I debated actually finishing the list when I saw his name at the bottom. This guy was no posturing, overgrown weapons Geek, he was quiet, respectful, and polite. Oh, and he's been conditioned to end the lives of his fellow human beings as casually as you or I might swat a mosquito. No disrespect meant to Snake Blocker, but How Sonny didn't win this baffles me.

• having any kind of TV show indicates you are not the best expert. Best ones are never seen or heard of

• That knock on your door is Chuck Liddell coming to kick your ass for not including him on your list.

• Sonny Spetznaz... I'm an Iraq War vet, and--as some TR readers might remember, once beat up Jason. I can honestly say that I don't scare easily. Sonny scared me. THROUGH THE TELEVISION.

• Yeah I love the show and watch religiously, but you hit the nail right on the head. The guys sort of arbitrarily decide what weapon is better (usually based on its gee-whiz factor) then weight it so the computer overly favors it in its regression (or whatever). My other issue is the smack talking. I don't find it to be entertaining, I find it to be irritating. That's why Sonny Puzikas is such a farking badass. He doesn't need to give some goofy Hulk Hogan vignette about what he's going to do to you. You just look at him, say OK, and back away slowly.

• Great list, and even greater commentary by both the writer and Max. I gotta say one of the funniest damn things I've ever read online is this line: Just how do you pronounce Xyston? It's pronounced "Call Barry." Brilliant.

• I enjoy the hell outta this show. Oddly enough, as guy-centric as it's supposed to be, it's one of the only TV shows my girlfriend likes to watch as much as I do.

• Now this is why Topless Robot is the first thing I read during the day, right after I check my emails. Not only do you cover one of my favorite shows, you also got Max — who is too cool for words — to comment. Outstanding. That said, Sonny should have been #2 since I'm betting a tie for #1 was not allowed. He didn't talk shit and was the very definition of a professional, letting his skills talk for him. But, yeah, Snake Blocker was fucking awesome in too many ways to count. When I watched him, I almost cried because my late and beloved granddaddy, a Native American who referred to himself as "an Injun," would have loved to see such an example of original occupant badassery. I can't wait for the next season.

• But that's not Tommy Bonnano. That's the other Mafia expert. Tommy's much older. Click the link.

• Correct me if I'm wrong, but the wrong person is pictured under Thomas Bonanno's entry. I knew something was up when the first couple sentences talk about how he looks different from most of the other experts who are "buff" and "younger." When I watched the video link, that confirmed that you'd posted a photo of Joe Ferrante instead.

• Hell no he didn't. He never had to. You just look into his eyes and FEEL him killing you. Did you watch the Aftermath episode that had him in it? Some kid commented on his rolling-around moves when he had the rifle, and said it was BS 'cause you get lit up when you try to do that in paintball. Sonny's response to the paintball remark was cool and controlled. I have no doubt that the kid who posted that comment was dead 3.17 second later, wherever he was.

• Snake Blocker vs. Sonny Puzikas. Who. Is. DEADLIEST?! That's an ep I'd like to see. And to hell with the simulation. Just drop 'em in the forest and let 'em rock and roll. ;-)

• Wow, Sonny is not number one, but is dead last on the list. Interesting. That man literally had any emotional response ripped from him by the Soviets years ago. BTW, I think the other guy from the William Wallace team played "Blade" from the Masters of the Universe movie.

• Ok, to those of you complaining about them not doing Pirate v Ninja... Unless I'm quite mistaken(maybe Max can back me up), they said they were NOT going to do it because they didn't want to get 10 million pieces of hate mail from those who were on the side of the losers. And honestly, can you blame them? There's a video game coming out, you can do it yourself.

• Love the show but one thing bothered me about the IRA vs Taliban episode. Why would the IRA use a slingshot? (or a flamethrower for that matter). Im from Donegal in Ireland (borders Northern Ireland) and Ive never heard about either of these weapons being used. Maybe they happened before my time but still seems strange.

• This show is the best and only show on TV I will watch anymore. Being a history nerd I love seeing the damage a bow and arrow can do or what happens when you get hit in the head with a morning star. My favorite ep was pirate vs knight I knew flat out the pirate would win. It was (as said at the end) technology that had the edge but the look on the knight expert's faces was priceless when the results were read.

• Snake Blocker sounds like a good name for a militant feminist...

• cool list. agree with all the choices though would have waited till number one for sonny and would have had snake blocker which can not believe that he goes around with that name as a tie for number one.

• Payday!

• I love the show, but whole-heartedly agree with you about the recap-ad-infinitum problem done in editing. What the hell, guys? We JUST SAW this. I know you're working with limited footage, but you can flesh it out a bit. We don't need to see the same stuff recapped over and over. - Otherwise, awesome job; The show rocks, and I have to admit a small man-crush on Geoff Desmoulin. Something about that guy is just so damned charismatic, curse him!

• Max, I have to ask this, and maybe you've gotten it and are sick of it, but I still have to ask: - As a self-proclaimed geek, WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU GUYS DO PIRATE VERSUS NINJA?!?! - I mean, yeah, Pirate vs. Knight was cool, but you wasted the opportunity to answer the Great Question once and for all! - That being said, I'm a fan of the show. It's a lot of fun and fascinating stuff. Eventually, however, you're going to run out of historical warriors to pit against each other. What then? Fictional warriors? (Conan vs. Zorro? Robin Hood vs. King Arthur?) - Finally, here's my suggestion Max. Take it and run with it, please: - 1990s-era Crips (or Bloods) gang versus The 1970s-era Hell's Angels biker gang. - Please, suggest it. We all know it would be a wonderfully entertaining episode, especially considering that you can probably get some very interesting experts for both sides.

• I second that! Gangsta close range weapon: Heavy Letter on gold chain. Pimp close range weapon: Slap (of course!)

• I agree with those who bemoan the lack of tactics and other elements in the final match-ups. (I loved the bit where the Roman centurion just happened to have a scorpion set up in the middle of the woods. You know, like you do...) For that, the show probably causes more debates than it settles. But who cares, really? Bring on the gel torsos and animal carcasses. Watching a guy punch the guts out of a pig with a katar never gets old. Or the dude who decap'd the gel body with one clean swing of a sickle? More, please. The show is just one huge helping of blood-soaked cotton candy. :-)

• Agreed - there are lots of things (mental state, training, etc.) that are not really possible to quantify, and I wish they could be taken into consideration. However, I still fucking love this show. I think my gleeful cackling when something awesome happens scares my boyfriend sometimes.

• I love the show, but good lord, do they have to recap everything we just saw five minutes ago over and over and over? You could edit the show down to half an hour and not miss a thing. A match-up I'd like to see would be Davy Crockett vs Boadicea.

• This list is great! I love the show.

• This show rulz! one of my fav TV shows, currently on.

• My dad had to kill a goat in Ranger School after it had been a part of their unit for a week. I guess if you can do the goat easily enough then Charlie isn't far behind.

• Hooray for Sala Baker! I met him once. He seemed like a nice guy, albeit one that could kick your ass into next week. Also - Snake, you're awesome!

• The hell with that. I'm still waiting for them to do Pirate Vs. Ninja and have them settle that stupid debate once and for all!

• There are so many reasons why I watch this show. Because Im a big lady-Nerd, because of the history, the slaughter, the blood, Max and Geoff and Armand going "OH GAWD" in the background, and, my favourite, the eye candy. Normally at least one team member is pleasant on the eyes - this pleases me. Sonny was by far, BY FAR the most baddass expert of any, all, and every episode. I may not always agree with it, but this show is CRAZY good. Shame its like me, and three other people in Australia who know about it. XD

• Zande Warriors!!!!! NumNum!!!NUMNUM!!!!NumNum!!!NUMNUM!!!!NumNum!!!NUMNUM!!!!NumNum!!!NUMNUM!!!!NumNum!!!NUMNUM!!!!NumNum!!!NUMNUM!!!!NumNum!!!NUMNUM!!!!NumNum!!!NUMNUM!!!!NumNum!!!NUMNUM!!!!NumNum!!!NUMNUM!!!!NumNum!!!NUMNUM!!!!NumNum!!!NUMNUM!!!!NumNum!!!NUMNUM!!!!NumNum!!!NUMNUM!!!!NumNum!!!NUMNUM!!!!NumNum!!!NUMNUM!!!!NumNum!!!NUMNUM!!!!NumNum!!!NUMNUM!!!!NumNum!!!NUMNUM!!!!NumNum!!!NUMNUM!!!!NumNum!!!NUMNUM!!!!NumNum!!!NUMNUM!!!!NumNum!!!NUMNUM!!!!NumNum!!!NUMNUM!!!!

• I totally agree. It appears to be a lot of pseudoscience but it's still a hell of a lot of fun to watch.

• I would've googled those two to give you a snappy answer, but honestly, they're ringing no bells for me, and I'm curious to hear WHY you'd want them... oh wait. Yeah, so a quick google later, I see they're flying aces. That could be cool, if we had anywhere near the wherewithal or format to do planes. :(

• What? Sonny Puzikas is 7th deadliest? That guy was awesome and deserves to be number 0 and number 1. He's definitely my pick of the all time favourite expert. Probably because he never succumbed to the pointless posturing and bickering.

• This show is tons of fun, and I love it, but their system of deciding is seriously flawed. You got matchups of people who used stealth vs people who fought in open combat. Sometimes you got warriors who's entire strategy was to build a wall of armor (Spartans, Roman Legionnaire)and pit them against someone who fights more or less one on one type tactics. Tactics are never figured into the equations. Also "weapons" that are meant as a distraction or disable attack (ninja black egg, etc) are dismissed. Frankly If I blow glass dust in your eyes it doesn't matter what weapon you have if you can't see me. I can quickly pull out my sword and chop off your head. Great show and the match up is pure win, but the decisions are iffy at best most times. Some are well set up like the Green Beret and Soviets. They are similar tactics and weapons. They are close enough that it depends a lot on weaponry at that point. Same with Mafia Yakuza. Both are untrained and have no set training.

• Well Snake Blocker definitely deserved the number one spot. I remember watching the Apache vs Gladiator ep and just being blown away by everything he did with those knives. Sonny should have been # 2 he did no posturing and just delivered on everything he did.

• As a nerd girl, I must now publicly announce just how much I freakin love this show. I will drop everything to watch badass guys with badass weapons hack into gel torsos like so much bloody lunchmeat. I love crazy macho crap!

• Boys, this is Snake Blocker. Tell 'em what you do, Snake. ... ...KILL FROGS!

• I love this show. It's one of the few that can make me genuinely cackle with glee.

• So... how do I end up on the Blocker Dojo mailing list? I don't even want to reply, I just want to see it.

• i'd like to see pimp vs gangsta next.

• The fact that you got a source from the show to comment for this list puts it a step ahead of the rest. Nice job.

• awesome list and I totally agree with the order. it couldn't get any better unless they somehow got Batman to battle Superman in RL.

• Actually, there is. Read the Kieron Elliot entry.

• Not even a mention of Anthony Delongis? (from the William Wallace team.) Dude. Not cool.

• Thomas Bonnanno looks like a real asshole in that pic. Probably cause he is.

• I don't care what people say, this show is pure, turn off your brain badassery. I mean, the IRA fight the Taliban! And a samurai fights a Viking! And there's a bunch of guys who use old weapons to hack away at jelly people full of guts, and you want to say they're sad but you know they could probably hand you your ass. Anyway, nice list.

• Snake Blocker was pretty cool, but how Sonny Puzikas wasn't number one on this list, I'll never know. I guarandamntee you that man has killed like forty people with his bare hands and remembers what each of them tastes like.

• A great show! Shows you the real impact on some of the greatest weapons ever created. Think a tomahawk in a video game isn't all that special? What until you see what one can really do! Daaaamn! Hell, even a pistol butt to the top of the head is impressive!!

• Max, if you're reading this, how about a Deadliest Warrior match up between Pappy Boyington and Erich Hartmann? Not the usual match you guys do on the show, but I'd love to see it happen.

• It is an entertaining show, some of the smack talk gets to be a bit much but it is fun to watch.

• I've never seen the show...looks like fun...

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