Giant Robot Gladiators Fight in a Detroit Church — and the Show Keeps Selling Out

On an unassuming stretch of 7 Mile Road, sandwiched between industrial lots and fast-food joints, nine-foot-tall metal warriors are shooting explosive projectiles at each other inside a church. 

And people are paying good money to watch.

Since its debut last summer, this live spectacle, dubbed Robowar, has been packing the house on a regular basis.

The venue might raise some eyebrows: Global Empowerment Ministries, a church founded by entrepreneur Art Cartwright, has transformed part of its space into a battleground for mechanical mayhem. Behind bulletproof glass, massive robots with glowing red eyes square off while more than 500 fans cheer from the pews, well, auditorium seats.

“We have these nine foot tall metal gladiators that shoot exploding projectiles at 20 rounds a second,” Cartwright told NPR’s Neda Ulaby.

The two enterprises, the church and the robot fighting league, share space but little else, Cartwright explained. There’s a method to the madness, though. He sees the spectacle as a way to get young people excited about robotics, especially since the Detroit area leads the nation in the field.

Inspired by sci-fi and superheroes

The robots on stage are far from the industrial machines used in car factories. Instead, they resemble giant mechanical superheroes with glowing eyes, heavy armor, and dramatic entrances.

Cartwright told NPR that comic book culture played a big role in shaping the show’s design.

“I’m a Marvel fan,” he said. “So I’m like, okay, let’s make some robots that look like superheroes.” 

Robot battles as entertainment have long captured the public imagination. The concept appeared decades ago in the 1956 short story Steel by Richard Matheson and later inspired the 2011 film Real Steel. Robowar taps into that same fascination, but brings it to life with performers inside nine-foot-tall mech-style suits.

Trash talk and dancing machines

The 572-seat auditorium has been selling out shows since the league launched. Tickets start around $50. Cartwright has even bigger plans: interactive streaming fights where remote viewers can buy virtual tokens to control the action. He’s already created AI personalities for robots representing 30 different cities.

“They talk cash money trash,” he said with a laugh.

The show also features actual autonomous robots from the Chinese company Unitree, robot dogs, and humanoids that dance and pose. Some models sell for under $20,000 at Walmart. During one segment, a human audience member performed in a dance competition against a robot named Halo, which pulled off impressive spins and flips.

Also read: Quadruped robots are moving beyond demos, with models now available for inspection, research, and industrial work in 2026.