Well, if James Cameron's show gets off the ground properly, this sort of robot combat will be back on the air in a pretty big way, but I think I really must disagree with you when it comes to innovation.
The big problem in the UK right now is that spinners aren't allowed at the heavyweight level due to the arena ceilings not being able to handle them. The sort of money that a television show would bring in would probably fix that (especially considering that one of the reasons the current UK arenas can't handle the spinners is due to the need for portability), and you'd start seeing a full range of robots again.
Also, I think it is worth pointing out that what drives innovation in this sort of contest is the arms race created when somebody comes up with an otherwise off-the-wall idea. If you asked me the two most important robots in the UK robot wars, I'd say Chaos 2 and Hypnodisc, no contest. Both of them were obsolete by the end of the television series, but it was thanks to them that a lot of the armour and robot weapons developed as they did. So, that sort of innovation is not something you can really impose from the outside - you need another Hypnodisc or Chaos 2 to force roboteers to react. And that requires the enthusiastic participants.
(Oh yes - and welcome to the forum, fellow fan!)
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