Brawl For All 2012

[Matisyahu]

Back in the day the WWF had a tournament with some of their most legit toughest fighters in an almost mma like tournament where grappling and boxing were legal but kicks weren't. The tournament featured The Godfather, Bradshaw, 2 Cold Scorpio, Steve Williams, Bart Gunn, Dan Severn, Savio Vega, Droz, and others who werent really being utilized with a over filled roster. With no other use for great talent, it was decided that they should duke it out in a Tough Man tournament as the medium was VERY popular at the time. Plus it was a great alternative to the rest of the product.

The way it worked was you had three 1 minute rounds. Whoever scored the most hits got 5 points. Takedowns earned 5 points and knockdowns scored 10. KO's or decision won the match.

Some like Jim Cornette say it was the worst idea because you had guys like Bart Gunn who went on to win the tournament knocking out the likes of Bradshaw and others thus "exposing the business" and legit injuring many guys such as Dr Death Steve Williams. On the one hand you had an alternative to the theatrics and wrestling aspect with the tough guys (or who Vince could risk) beating the shit out of each other to see who the toughest really was. On the other hand when you have one guy knocking out someone higher on the card then them and you dont capitalize on it you ruin their momentum.

An example being; Steve Williams who was heavily favored to win, got beaten by Bart Gunn, he lost a lot of steam and in essence lost his push.

I thought it was a good change of pace to have this tournament even if guys like The Undertaker and Vader who are considered two of the toughest in the history of the business werent involved. But anyway I would love to see this idea return because it would be a great way to use up unused talent and maybe make someone a star in the process.

Anyone else want to see this return?

 

[Self High 5]

So the best way to use under-utilised talent, is to have them knock seven shades of shit out of each other in some form of human cock fighting?

No. It was a stupid idea then, and it's a worse idea now. I know kayfabe is dead as it is, but there's no need to dance on its grave like this.

Oh, also name me one person on the current mid/under card that you think is a legit tough guy?

 

[DirtyD79]

I actually did enjoy the original Brawl For All and think it would be cool to see something similar. Unfortunately with all the guys who got legit injured and the matches not playing out the way WWE hoped, I just don't see them trying it again.

 

[Nate DaMac]

No way, man. Did you see those fucking fights? Yeah there were a couple of cool knock outs and shit, but most of those were some of the most boring damn things I've ever seen. If I want to watch fights, I want to watch people who are professionally trained, not guys who wrestle for a living.

Besides, who wants to see any of these guys throw down? Ziggler? Miz? Kofi? Lets not ruin their credibility by exposing them for being soft.

 

[GameOver]

Better just have a No Holds Barred tourny where all matches are "No Holds Barred"

Brawl for All was boring. then again i find Boxing stupid and boring.
and who in WWE do we have atm that are legit big tough guys? very few....
Yeah Hornswoggle could enter since he wins anyway

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Oh, also name me one person on the current mid/under card that you think is a legit tough guy?

Supposedly, Santino is actually meant to be pretty tough which surprised me when I heard it. No idea if its true though, but I remember reading it somewhere.

Also, I'd expect the likes of Ezeikel Jackson to be a tough guy too, but looking at most of the roster...I can't really see that many that I would be able to name as "tough guys", which is totally different from other periods in history when you knew most of the WWE roster were hard men.

 

[xxxdaniel_ariesxxx]

The Brawl for All was intended to establish "Dr. Death" Steve Williams as a legit tough guy, and he got knocked out by Bart Gunn in the second round. The Bart Gunn, the winner and thus the "toughest fighter in WWE" was knocked out in less that 30 seconds by Butterbean at Wrestlemania... and the last time WWE tried to do something "legit" Daniel Puder almost made Kurt Angle tap out in a matter of seconds... I highly doubt that WWE would let something like that happen again.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

The simple reason WWE will not go down this road is that they do not want to be under the jurisdiction of State Athletic Commissions who would require both payment and each wrestler to be licensed ala boxing and UFC.

The term "Sports Entertainment" and Vince revealing it as a worked business was all to escape this back in the late 80's early 90's. No way Vince wants to go back to that.

The BFA tourney was a failed experiment best left in the toilet bowl of WWE history with the Gooker, Katie Vick and Mr. Ass!

 

[Carpathian Florist]

I think this would be a great idea and I'd love to see it return. WWE has so many horrible, bland characters these days (in my opinion) that I have little to no interest in seeing any of them besides the very few I still enjoy. Seeing them legitimately fight one another would definitely bring back my interest a bit. A lot of people on this board have mentioned the possibilities of drawing some of the UFC crowd or at least trying to undermine their popularity, they could have the winner compete against MMA guys for a big payday or something.
I don't think there is a chance in hell of it ever happening, but it's still a wonderful idea.
I'd certainly pay plenty of money to see Big Zeke destroying awful "talent" like Evan Bourne or Zack Ryder

 

[Mustang Sally]

The Brawl for All was intended to establish "Dr. Death" Steve Williams as a legit tough guy, and he got knocked out by Bart Gunn in the second round.

I always figured Dr. Death was a legitimate tough guy but I admit the knockout he suffered was one of the scariest things I've ever seen on TV. We wrestling fans have always been used to pre-arranged entertainment and when Brawl for All first appeared, I figured it was going to be more of the same, but that match took me away from the notion in a big hurry.

Watching Brawl for All became a guilty pleasure, as if professional wrestling had suddenly become a shoot sport instead of scripted programming. I wouldn't mind seeing it back, although I'd still cringe while watching it.

 

[Jdulemba1001]

It cant happen. Like you said in your own post, Cornette said it exposed the business. Hes right. Lets say Santino were to win Brawl for All. The following week he has a match against say, Big Show. Big Show squashes him. How would you feel? Wouldnt your first thought be "Santino can knock people out with one punch, he did it in the Brawl for All"

If you did the Brawl for All, youd have to use guys like Cena, HHH, and Orton that we all think are legit tough to begin with. That way, when it turns out that they are, we arent shocked.

 

[BaconBits]

Please, for the love of God, NO!

Nobody wants to see a bunch of fake fighters really fighting. Especially when one can change the channel and find some form of mixed martial arts almost every night and see some guys (and girls, for that matter) who know what they're doing.

It would only chase even more of the fanbase off to mixed martial arts.

 

[Rampage Bentley]

No way, man. Did you see those fucking fights? Yeah there were a couple of cool knock outs and shit, but most of those were some of the most boring damn things I've ever seen. If I want to watch fights, I want to watch people who are professionally trained, not guys who wrestle for a living.

Besides, who wants to see any of these guys throw down? Ziggler? Miz? Kofi? Lets not ruin their credibility by exposing them for being soft.

Honestly... Bart Gunn vs. Bradshaw was a better fight than 90% of your typical UFC card. Those two just ran in and went at each other as opposed to the backing off and dancing around that's become commonplace in MMA.

But I do agree with you about a lot of these guys being soft... you do have guys like Jack Swagger, Santino and CM Punk who can legitimately fight, but it's not worth jeopardizing Punk and it might damage other guys when Santino beats the piss out them...

I liked BFA, glad WWE did it, but I ultimately agree... it's not something that should be repeated.

 

[BaconBits]

I think this would be a great idea and I'd love to see it return. WWE has so many horrible, bland characters these days (in my opinion) that I have little to no interest in seeing any of them besides the very few I still enjoy.

Getting their untrained asses kicked isn't going to make anybody like anybody.

Seeing them legitimately fight one another would definitely bring back my interest a bit.

And you'd be in a serious minority. The people that want to watch real fighting already watch the UFV/Strikeforce'/Bellator/etc...

A lot of people on this board have mentioned the possibilities of drawing some of the UFC crowd or at least trying to undermine their popularity, they could have the winner compete against MMA guys for a big payday or something.

Any trained mma fighter with a big enough name to make it worth it would DESTROY everybody on the current roster with ease, with the exception of maybe Jack Swagger, who could perhaps wrestlefuck a one-dimensional kickboxer.

I don't think there is a chance in hell of it ever happening, but it's still a wonderful idea.

No it's not. That's why it's never happening again.

I'd certainly pay plenty of money to see Big Zeke destroying awful "talent" like Evan Bourne or Zack Ryder

There is no guarantee that would happen. In fact, I would bet the farm on either over Zeke. Zeke's cardio is abysmal to begin with and anybody who has ever fought will tell you that every time you get hit it saps even more energy. He'd totally gas within 30 seconds.

 

[Huey]

I have no interest in this. The stories of wrestlers being tough guys, like Haku's antics, are far more entertaining than watching them with boxing gloves in the ring.

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

There are very few people who could legitimately compete in this gimmick today, and even less could make it LOOK good. There's too much going on in the MMA world today for an idea like this to do anything but hurt the product - with how popular their industry is, the last thing you want is a UFC Champion talking to the press about how stupid WWE's "Brawl for All" thing is.

If it were to happen - because stupid things DO happen in the WWE - there's actually more potential than I think some are giving the roster credit. It would have to come down to Sheamus and Wade Barrett though; the "Bare Knuckle Champion" versus the Irish bad-ass that loves to fight... Ezekiel Jackson's a pretty bad dude, David Otunga isn't exactly a small man, and Hunico/Camacho have that Mexican gangsta' thing going for them. I wouldn't really want to throw down with Mason Ryan either... William Regal is a brawler, Tyler Reks is a pretty intimidating guy, and if we throw in the main event talent I'd give Mark Henry, Big Show, and/or John Cena more than a fighting chance...

You know what, here's a pretend tournament bracket, just because I think the idea COULD work if done right. Not that it SHOULD, because it really REALLY is stupid and likely more harmful than productive, but it COULD be alright...

ROUND 1
Sheamus vs Hunico (w/ Camacho) -- Sheamus wins

Big Show vs David Otunga -- Show wins

Mason Ryan vs Wade Barrett -- Barrett wins

Mark Henry vs Ezekiel Jackson -- Henry wins

ROUND 2
Sheamus vs Mark Henry -- Sheamus wins

Big Show vs Wade Barrett -- Barrett wins

ROUND 3
Sheamus vs Wade Barrett -- Wade Barrett wins

So Hunico, Otunga, Ryan, and Jackson get (literally) knocked out in the first round. No big deal, they lose all the time anyways, and this way it at least gives them SOME exposure for being considered for the tournament. Sheamus over Henry makes sense, because although Henry is a tough guy he wouldn't necessary have the stamina to go through two opponents in this kind of environment. Barrett over-coming Big Show has some storyline implications, just because Barrett is a "bare knuckle fighter" and could probably legit take Show out. And then it all comes down to Sheamus vs Barrett... In real life, Barrett wins this and we all know it; why not give him the win in our pretend tournament as well?

Everyone gets some exposure, the two with history square off in the finale, and it gets a much deserved heel a rub and potential main event push. Maybe put a shot at the World title on the line for the tournament? I think it would have to be tweaked to work - get rid of the 3-fall idea and just make it a No-DQ brawl with the first person unable to get to his feet in a five or ten count losing. No pins, no submissions, just a quick Last Man Standing-style match for each of them. THe best part about my bracket is that it can all be done on Smackdown, where gimmicks like this are more easily accepted.