WWF Brawl for All

Throughout 1998, the WWF experienced a growth in roster size but due to limited amount of TV time a number of their more genuine "tough guys" were left without much to do. As a result, the idea for a legit tough guy tournament was bandied about as a way to both utilize some of these men and capitalize on the recent interest in Toughman Contests around the country.

According to John "Bradshaw" Layfield, Vince Russo came up with the idea when Layfield wanted to create a hardcore wrestling division in the WWF. Russo said he devised the tournament as a consequence of Bradshaw claiming he could beat anyone on the roster in a bar fight.[1] Jim Cornette also reported that it was Russo's idea.[2] Participation in the tournament was strictly voluntary.

Each match consisted of three one-minute rounds. Whichever wrestler connected with the most punches per round scored 5 points. In addition, a clean takedown scored 5 points and a knockdown was worth 10. If a wrestler was knocked out (decided by an eight-count rather than a ten-count), the match ended. The matches were scored by ringside judges including Gorilla Monsoon.

According to Jim Cornette, "Dr. Death" Steve Williams was the WWF's favorite to win the tournament, with the company looking towards a lucrative pay-per-view match between Williams and Stone Cold Steve Austin;[2] Bob Holly claimed that Williams had already been paid the $100,000 prize money before his second round fight against Bart Gunn.[3] During the fight, Williams sustained a hamstring injury and was knocked out by Gunn.[2] Bart Gunn went on to defeat Bradshaw by KO on the August 24, 1998 episode of Raw is War to win the tournament and $75,000. Bradshaw received $25,000.

The WWF roster at the time had two well-known former UFC fighters, Dan Severn and Ken Shamrock. Shamrock declined the opportunity to take part, while Severn defeated The Godfather in the first round but then withdrew from the tournament, stating he had nothing to prove. In a radio interview, Severn asserted that the WWF at first had not allowed him or Shamrock to compete at all and that they removed Severn from the tournament after his first-round victory over The Godfather.[4] However, Steve Williams recalls Shamrock "backing out" and Severn withdrawing because of his "frustration at the rules and the idea of having to wear boxing gloves".[5]

Along with Williams, a number of other wrestlers sustained legitimate injuries during the tournament. The Godfather was injured,[2] and Steve Blackman and Road Warrior Hawk were unable to work in usual WWF capacities for a while after. Savio Vega aggravated an old arm injury and would never work for the WWF again. Brakkus sustained injuries to his knee and shoulder that led him to retire in 1999.

Fans in attendance initially voiced their disapproval of the tournament, with booing and chants of "Boring!" and "We want wrestling!" being audible during the fights.[6] The reception improved and ratings for the weekly segment grew as the tournament continued, as confirmed by creator and head writer Vince Russo: "At the beginning people thought it was a work so they were booing it out of the building, but once somebody got knocked out the lightbulb went off and people were like 'holy shit, they're not working'. Then when you looked at the ratings and saw the response of the audience it was growing week by week by week by week."

Then-WWF official Jim Cornette has described the tournament as "the stupidest thing that the WWF has ever done". He argued that the WWF misjudged the appeal that legitimate fighting would have to their audience, considering that the WWF had promoted the idea that their matches were merely entertainment. Furthermore, because the fighters were trained to work professional wrestling matches and not to fight, they risked both injury and the possibility that a defeat would hurt their marketability. Cornette also criticized the WWF for failing to use the tournament to promote Bart Gunn as a new star wrestler.[2]

In the WWE documentary The Attitude Era, Jim Ross stated that it was "one of those ideas that looked really cool on paper", but John "Bradshaw" Layfield added that the execution was "a bad idea". Layfield also stated that "nobody knew Bart Gunn was that good."[7]

The series Dark Side of the Ring covered the Brawl for All in the fourth episode of their second season.

Immediately prior to the Brawl for All, Holly (as "Bombastic Bob") and Gunn (as "Bodacious Bart") had been a tag-team called The New Midnight Express with Jim Cornette as their manager and as The New Midnight Express they had won the NWA World Tag Team Championship after defeating The Headbangers on an episode of Raw. After winning the tournament, Bart Gunn feuded with both Bob Holly, now known as Hardcore Holly,[8] and Steve Williams, both angry at having been beaten in the tournament, the latter masking himself and pushing Gunn off a stage.

Gunn was later matched against professional boxer Butterbean at WrestleMania XV in a Brawl for All match; Gunn was knocked out 35 seconds into the bout and was fired by the WWF afterward. Jim Cornette was critical of Gunn being placed in a match with a pro boxer.[2] Bob Holly claimed that Gunn's inevitable loss to Butterbean was a punishment for defeating the company's desired winner, Steve Williams.[3]

Most of the other participants departed the company within a year after the tournament; Steve Blackman and The Godfather left in 2002 and Bob Holly stayed with the company (now renamed WWE) until 2009.

KO - knockout; TKO - technical knockout; Pts - points; Dec - referee's/judge's decision

¹ Steve Blackman won the bout, but was forced to withdraw due to an injury sustained in training. Mero was advanced to the next round.
² Drozdov advanced as Road Warrior Hawk was injured during the bout.
³ Dan Severn won the bout, but he withdrew, saying he had nothing to prove. The Godfather was advanced to the next round.

• Results at Pro Wrestling History.com