Gladiator BBQ

Gladiator BBQ is a competition barbecue team with 6 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2022 and 2023. Their best overall finish is 4th of 22 at the Outdoor Cooking BBQ Championship (2022). They are ranked #2969 of 6,476 teams in the KCBS power rankings.

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At a glance (the record in numbers)

Power ranking

#2,969

of 6,476 rated · rankings

Rating

1507

peak 1517 · rated over 6 contests

Contests

in the data

First seen

Feb 5, 2022

latest Aug 19, 2023 · 1.5 years on the trail

Grand champs

0 reserve

Category wins

1 podium

Overall top-10s

17% of 6 contests

Avg finish

top 52%

overall standings

Best overall

683.4168 / 720

Master · Outdoor Cooking BBQ Championship

Perfect 180s

Current form

660.04 ▼

last 5 Master vs avg 663.94 (-3.90)

Walk rate

67%

contests with a top-10 call

Best single call

176

Pork · DuPont-Hudson's Bay BBQ Competition

Consistency

±15.58

spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)

Strongest meat

Pork

avg 168.45 · weakest Brisket (163.80)

Road miles

3,519

across 6 mapped stops · furthest 1,500 mi

Schedule strength

26%

of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1536)

Purse competed for

$63K

listed at 4 contests — purses, not winnings

State championships

0 🏅

won from 6 state-championship entries

Master avg

663.94 / 720

6 Master contests · 0 GCs

Storylines (6 found in their record)

Each card leads with the number behind the story, straight from their results.

High-water mark

683.4168 career-best overall

94.9% of a perfect 720

Their best day on record: 683.4168 at Outdoor Cooking BBQ Championship — 94.9% of a perfect 720.

Master
Feb 5, 2022

A tough matchup

5–1 behind in the head-to-head

RJs Smokehouse ahead in 83% of their meetings

RJs Smokehouse has come out ahead in 5 of their 6 shared contests.

The weak link

−4.7 points behind their best meat

Brisket is where the weekend gets away from them — it averages 4.66 points below their pork, and turns into a call 17% of the time against 50%.

Brisket avg 163.80
Pork avg 168.45
1 call in 6 entries

A strong matchup

4–0 ahead in the head-to-head

Ahead in 100% of their meetings

They've finished ahead of 503BACKYARDBBQ in 4 of their 4 shared contests.

Announced themselves early

4th at their very first contest

Finished 4 of 22 at their very first tracked contest, Outdoor Cooking BBQ Championship (Feb 5, 2022).

Feb 5, 2022
22-team field

The long haul

3,519 road miles between contests

Contest to contest, they've covered roughly 3,519 miles across 6 mapped stops — the longest single trip being 1,500 miles to American Royal World Series of Barbecue - OPEN CONTEST.

6 mapped stops
furthest 1,500 mi

Teams like this (closest power rating)

The teams rated closest to Gladiator BBQ, each with one reason worth a look.

110 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.

7.62 BBQ

#2,981 of the rated field

1506 power rating

Contests: 7
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 71%
Peak: 1523

Careers of much the same size, 7 contests to 6, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.

rated over 6 contests
last seen Jun 26, 2026

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Jack Wagon Smoking BBQ

#2,953 of the rated field

1507 power rating

Contests: 6
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 67%
Peak: 1515

Level with Gladiator BBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.

rated over 6 contests
last seen May 22, 2026

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SWEET CHICKEN

#2,979 of the rated field

1506 power rating

Contests: 6
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1509

Their last contest in the data was back in 2016, 7 years before Gladiator BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.

rated over 6 contests

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Guts Smokehouse BBQ

#2,970 of the rated field

1507 power rating

Contests: 6
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 17%
Peak: 1508

They were already cooking in 2013, 9 years before Gladiator BBQ's first contest.

rated over 6 contests
last seen Aug 28, 2015

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BARBECUE COMPANION

#2,983 of the rated field

1506 power rating

Contests: 8
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 25%
Peak: 1511

Their last contest in the data was back in 2015, 8 years before Gladiator BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.

rated over 7 contests

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BOONDOGGLE BBQ

#2,971 of the rated field

1507 power rating

Contests: 7
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1513

Their last contest in the data was back in 2015, 8 years before Gladiator BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.

rated over 7 contests

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Familiar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)

Opponent	Meetings	Ahead	Behind	Win rate
RJs Smokehouse	6	1	5	17%	⚔ compare
Small Axe BBQ	5	1	4	20%	⚔ compare
HOGGERQ	5	1	4	20%	⚔ compare
WARPIG BBQ & SAUSAGE CO.	5	0	5	0%	⚔ compare

By meat

Category	Entries	Calls	Podiums	Best	Worst	Average	Avg finish
Chicken	6	1	0	173.1428	158.2628	165.88	top 61%
Pork Ribs	6	2	0	173.1656	153.6800	165.80	top 55%
Pork	6	3	1	176	155.3828	168.45	top 42%
Brisket	6	1	0	169.7256	158.8572	163.80	top 58%

“Calls” = top-10 category finishes (getting called to the stage). Scores here are the final weighted totals KCBS publishes; per-criterion appearance/taste/tenderness marks aren’t in the public results feed.

By field size and state

By contest size

Field	Contests	GCs	Avg finish
Medium (20–39)	5	0	top 45%
Large (40+)	1	0	top 86%

By state / province (where the contests were held)

Where	Contests	Avg finish
OR	3	top 54%
WA	2	top 31%
KS	1	top 86%

More numbers

Busiest season 2022 4 contests

Contests a season 3 across 2 seasons in the data

Most contests held in OR 3 of 6 contests · 3 states in all

Contests visited 6 a different one every time

Opponents faced 584 finished ahead 148 times, behind 502

Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)

20232 milestones

Aug 19 Career-best single call (Pork)176 DuPont-Hudson's Bay BBQ Competition
Aug 19 Most recent contest DuPont-Hudson's Bay BBQ Competition

20226 milestones

Feb 5 First tracked contest Outdoor Cooking BBQ Championship
Feb 5 First call Outdoor Cooking BBQ Championship
Feb 5 First overall top-10 Outdoor Cooking BBQ Championship
Feb 5 First overall past 90% of a perfect score683.4168 Outdoor Cooking BBQ Championship
Feb 5 Career-best overall score683.4168 Outdoor Cooking BBQ Championship
May 28 Peak power rating (1517) BBQ, Blues & Brews on the Bay

Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)

📈 Biggest rating jumps

Swing	Contest	Date
+12.1	Outdoor Cooking BBQ Championship	Feb 5, 2022
+4.6	BBQ, Blues & Brews on the Bay	May 28, 2022
+3.6	DuPont-Hudson's Bay BBQ Competition	Aug 19, 2023

📉 Toughest weekends

Swing	Contest	Date
-8.6	American Royal World Series of Barbecue - OPEN CONTEST	Sep 29, 2022
-2.9	Sweet Home Icebox Cookoff 2022	Jul 2, 2022
-2.2	Icebox Cookoff	Jul 1, 2023

Scores over time (% of a perfect score — tap a meat to add it)

Overall finish over time (top-% of field, lower is better)

Where they finish (overall)

Best vs average (by meat)

How entries end (by meat)

Season by season

Season	Contests	GCs	Top-10s	Category wins	Walk rate	Avg finish	Best overall (% of perfect)	Avg overall (% of perfect)
2023	2	0	0	0	100%	top 52%	92.9%	92.8%
2022	4	0	1	0	50%	top 52%	94.9%	91.9%

Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)

Date	Event	Overall	Chicken	Ribs	Pork	Brisket
Aug 19, 2023	DuPont-Hudson's Bay BBQ Competition 🏅 DuPont, WA	13 / 30 (667.9088)	15 (169.6800)	27 (160.5488)	2 (176)	18 (161.6800)
Jul 1, 2023	Icebox Cookoff 🏅 Sweet Home, OR	23 / 38 (669.0288)	33 (162.8116)	23 (166.2860)	5 (175.4056)	28 (164.5256)
Sep 29, 2022	American Royal World Series of Barbecue - OPEN CONTEST 🏅 Kansas City, KS	436 / 505 (631.8856)	431 (158.2628)	463 (153.6800)	448 (155.3828)	263 (164.5600)
Jul 2, 2022	Sweet Home Icebox Cookoff 2022 🏅 Sweet Home, OR	21 / 34 (666.7996)	25 (165.1200)	14 (169.7256)	17 (168.5256)	22 (163.4284)
May 28, 2022	BBQ, Blues & Brews on the Bay 🏅 North Bend, OR	11 / 27 (664.5712)	14 (166.2856)	5 (173.1656)	16 (166.2628)	19 (158.8572)
Feb 5, 2022	Outdoor Cooking BBQ Championship 🏅 Puyallup, WA	4 / 22 (683.4168)	4 (173.1428)	6 (171.4172)	7 (169.1312)	6 (169.7256)

Gladiator BBQ

At a glance (the record in numbers)

Power ranking

Rating

Contests

First seen

Grand champs

Category wins

Overall top-10s

Avg finish

Best overall

Perfect 180s

Current form

Walk rate

Best single call

Consistency

Strongest meat

Road miles

Schedule strength

Purse competed for

State championships

Master avg

Storylines (6 found in their record)

High-water mark

A tough matchup

The weak link

A strong matchup

Announced themselves early

The long haul

Teams like this (closest power rating)

Familiar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)

By meat

By field size and state

By contest size

By state / province (where the contests were held)

More numbers

Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)

Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)

📈 Biggest rating jumps

📉 Toughest weekends

Scores over time (% of a perfect score — tap a meat to add it)

Overall finish over time (top-% of field, lower is better)

Where they finish (overall)

Best vs average (by meat)

How entries end (by meat)

Season by season

Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)

Career map (orange GC · green top-10 · grey the rest — tap a pin)