History
The Gladiator was Frank Difeo’s entry in the yo-yo mod contest at the 2004 World Yo-Yo Championships. An all-aluminum evolution of the Spike-Fly concept, it was produced in two versions: one with solid aluminum spikes pressed into side cups, and one with full bearings pressed into the spike tips for frictionless spin-top play. Both versions were custom made-to-order only — no standard production run existed.
In 2015, Frank revisited the concept with the Gladiator Slave, which reused the name and some design philosophy but replaced the spikes with a clean butterfly profile and modern response.
