This Day in Wrestling History, August 24, the WWE concluded their first endeavor into legitimate fighting as the Brawl for All tournament ended with Bart Gunn winning the $75,000 reward.
This has been widely panned as one of the worst ideas in professional wrestling as several wrestlers ended up with legitimate injuries.
It came about party because some of the WWE’s real tough guys didn’t have a lot to do as the roster was a little bloated, and John Bradshaw reportedly said he could beat anyone on the roster in a bar fight.
Vince Russo had the idea of putting him in his place, to the Brawl for All was okayed by Vince McMahon.
Not according to plan
From the start, fans tuned out and booed the matches and chanting “boring” and “we want wrestling.”
Still, the expected payoff would come when Steve Williams, the projected winner, would win the tournament and establish himself as a legitimate tough guy and threat.
He would then face Steve Austin in a pay-per-view match, according to Jim Cornette on “Dark Side of the Ring.”
Things didn’t go as planned as Gunn defeated Williams in the third round of their second round fight by knock out after Williams injured his hamstring.
He went on to defeat the Godfather in the semi-final, and then Bradshaw in the finals, all by knock out, which vindicated Russo wanting him to lose.
Gunn received the $75,000 and Bradshaw was given $25,000 as the runner up.
Buried
This was the height of Gunn’s run in the WWE despite reportedly being on the verge of taking the next step.
Things came to a close when Gunn faced professional boxer Eric “Butterbean” Esch. Butterbean won by knocked out in 35 seconds and unofficially ended Gunn’s WWE career as he was released shortly afterwards.
There’s a common belief that his and Gunn being buried following the tournament was because he cost the company a lot of potential money with the expected Williams and Austin match.
For his part, Vince Russo regrets coming up with this idea and while he deserves his fair share of the blame, we have to remember Vince McMahon thought it was a good one or it never would’ve happened and become a This Day in Wrestling History moment.
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