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There was a time that WWE was experimenting with various ideas to give time to talent onscreen, and the Brawl For All Tournament was born. The tournament was pitched as a legitimate shootfighting contest where pro wrestlers would "fight" for real in three one-minute rounds.
The competitors in the tournament were Steve Blackman, Marc Mero, Mark Canterbury, JBL (Bradshaw), Brakkus, Savio Vega, Droz, Road Warrior Hawk, Bart Gunn, Bob Holly, Quebecer Pierre (PCO), Steve Williams, The Godfather, Dan Severn, 8-Ball and Scorpio.
Vice's Dark Side of the Ring will be covering the infamous tournament on this week's episode, and none other than The Rock chimed in on Instagram about enjoying the show. When asked how he would fare on the tournament, The Great One said that he would have gotten knocked out. He said:
"I would have introduced them to the hammer brothers, Slege and Jack (his hands) and then I would have gotten knocked out..(laughing) but I would go down swinging."
As mentioned earlier, the Brawl For All didn't go as planned. For one thing, "Dr. Death" Steve Williams was the hot favorite to win the tournament but lost in the second round. Bart Gunn won the competition, but his career went nowhere after that.
He was booked in a real boxing match against pro boxer Butterbean at WrestleMania 15. Gunn was knocked out in the first round in under a minute.
In an interview, Gunn reflected on his loss to Butterbean and said:
"I was very green. Looking back on it now, I should have done things a little bit differently. It was really different, because everything I did was wrong. When you look at the Brawl For All, I was a sloppy fighter. I look at it now and know what I did wrong."
Interestingly, most of the people who participated in the 1998 tournament were mostly mid-carders, and no one like The Rock or Stone Cold Steve Austin participated in the event. It probably was for the better as the event itself was poorly received, and going by what happened to Gunn, it would have to put a dent in their persona.
Considering that The Brahama Bull himself declared that he would fare poorly exemplifies how the tournament was organized. Nevertheless, the competition will always hold an infamous place in WWE History.
If The Rock's quotes from this article are used, please H/T Sportskeeda Wrestling.
