Brawl for All is one of the most infamous tournaments in WWE history and the Hardcore Legend Mick Foley recently looked back at it. People often say that Attitude Era is the best time period in WWE history and everything was so cool about it. But people often forget about staff like the Brawl for All which also featured during the Attitude Era.
It was a shoot fighting tournament featuring WWE stars who had no experience on such things whatsoever. The tournament caused legit injuries to WWE stars and ultimately it turned out to be a disaster with lot of criticism. Former three times WWE Tag Team Champion Bart Gunn won the tournament by defeating Bradshaw in the final.
Remembering Brawl for All: Mick Foley’s Candid Account of the Disastrous Experiment
This tournament was originally designed to put over Steve Williams as a top star but it did not happen. Winning the tournament did not help Bart Gunn either. WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley recently looked back at the infamous Brawl for all tournament and explained why it failed. Here is what the former three times WWE World Champion had to say;
On the night Steve Williams got knocked out by Bart Gunn in the tournament: “The upside was supposed to be the making of a new star in ‘Dr. Death’ Steve Williams, but then he got knocked out by Bart Gunn. I was there with Doc in the dressing room. … He had hurt his knee [from] the violent, backwards knockout, [and] you’re dealing with guys [who have] a lot of wear and tear on their knees anyway.
Brawl For All Took Place In 1998
“The physical rebuilding of ‘Dr. Death’ would be a lot easier than the emotional rebuilding. It was like he was shattered, and I was there trying to pick up the pieces for him. It was one of the saddest nights of my life, seeing somebody who I knew would never be the same.”
On why the tournament was a mess: “They forgot that Marc Mero was a heck of a boxer. It was just a mess. You had guys suffering serious knock-outs and then driving home.”
On Bart Gunn: “Bart Gunn got more over than he was supposed to. He did come back, and got knocked out by Butterbean, which just called into question how good Bart could’ve been if he got knocked out that quickly, even though [Butterbean] hit him with a punch that would’ve knocked a mule out. So no — no, there were no real winners, except for Bob Holly. Bob mixed it up with Bart Gunn, came back, and said, ‘That was fun.’ And it kind of became the dawn of the ‘Hardcore’ Holly era.”
Bart Gunn went on to face professional boxer Butterbean at WrestleMania XV in a shoot fight match. Surprisingly it was an unscripted match, and Butterbean literally destroyed Bart Gunn in this match. It was a big humiliation for him and he could never get back from it. So winning the Brawl of all turned out to be a curse for him.
H/T – eWrestlingNews.com