It was announced today that Former WWE Champion and current Fozzy frontman Chris Jericho will host a new show on the Syfy Channel. The series is called Robot Combat League and the project has been kept under wraps until today. The action resembles a real-life version of last year’s hit movie Real Steel, with large menacing robots pounding away at each other in a satisfying shower of sparks and gushing hydraulic fluid. And just like in the film, the ‘bots will be controlled by shadow-boxing operators whose movements are translated into metal-on-metal punches.

Robot Combat League will have 12 teams. Each consists of a fighter (dubbed a “robo-jockey”) and a robotics engineer (a “robo-tech”). The fighters and techs are from various backgrounds, such as a race car driver, an Olympic athlete, a National Guard helicopter pilot. One of the robo-jocks, for example, is MMA fighter Amanda Lucas (Star Wars visionary George Lucas’ daughter). Each team is paired with its own unique robot, all designed by Setrakian, that will have unique strengths and vulnerabilities. And, of course, the robots will have a colorful names, such as “Steampunk” and “Sgt. Smash.” (If there’s a second season, I hope Lucas gets to control a giant gold robot named C-3POW).

Fights consist of three rounds, with the winning team advancing to the next competition. The winning team claims a $100,000 prize. Jericho will set up each fight and provide play-by-play commentary. “They are complete boxing matches,” Stern says. “If a robot is disabled, the team has 20 minutes to get it functional again and back in the ring.”

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