The Hypothetical 2014 Brawl For All

[Amazing Kitsune]

The real Brawl For All was infamous. People got hurt, the fighting was relatively boring, and it wasn't really a rating draw. Bart Gunn famously surprised everybody by winning, shocking the WWF by defeating Dr. Death, the man they booked to win the shoot tournament. He got rewarded for his victory by getting a match with Butterbean at Wrestlemania XV, wherein he was brutally knocked out.

In spite of this, the basic premise is interesting. You have a group of guys towards the middle of the card that you're not doing much with. A lot of them have reputations as legit tough guys. You want to give them something to do, draw ratings by doing something unique, and simply see which one is the toughest. Yes, it spits in the face of your product by saying "Well, right now these guys are really fighting" more or less.

Still, I find it to be an interesting thing to wonder about, even today. Who would exceed expectations? Who would win? Would any of it even matter in the end?

If the WWE had a modern brawl for all, who do you think would win? It has to be midcard guys who work full time, so for the sake of argument we'll eliminate the following: HHH, Cena, Orton, Bryan, Punk, Big Show, Mark Henry, Brock Lesnar, Taker, Kane, Del Rio.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say Jack Swagger has a decent shot. He's a big guy with a strong amateur background.

[TOK Is the Target Demo]

It would probably be Swagger just because of his size advantage. It would be interesting to see how Santino does, with his Judo background, but he's quite a bit too small to grapple with Swagger too well.

[angryfan]

In a straight up shoot? Swagger would have a great shot with his legit background. Regal might be pretty good with the Wiggen background, Ziggler as well.

ADR, though his career wasn't great, did have some skill in MMA. Lesnar, if he was in it, would have to be the favorite. Any of the guys with armature backgrounds. If it's straight up Brawl For All rules and it's basically kickboxing with takedowns, then Big Show in a straight shoot would have to be a threat. Yes he's slow, but if he lands one legit shot, or gets a hand on you, you're screwed if he's fighting for real.

[Chip]

I feel like Tensai would be a dark horse for the thing. We all know he can take a kicking, I wouldn't be shocked if he dish one out too.

[Amazing Kitsune]

I think Cody Rhodes could conceivably do surprisingly well. He was a top high school state wrestling champion. That's not quite on the level of Swagger's resume, but it means he has some skill.

I wonder who would be the best striker.

[CATCH_US IS the Conversation]

A dark horse might be Miz. He did manage to stand up with Daniel Puder in that "Dixie Dog Fight". Along with that, any shoot techniques he might've learned from the likes of Finlay in developmental or the fight training he learned while shooting the Marine 3, may help close the disparities between he and the more skilled guys.

[SEAN CARLESS]

Lesnar would outright obliterate everyone on the roster under the Brawl for All rules. He's the only one with high level fight experience, who beat top 5 contenders and not tomato cans, and could and would take down anyone at will. He even took down Cain Velasquez in their fight, and no one's done that since --and Cain is such a level above every other MMA heavyweight on earth right now it's not even close.

I know people want to trump up their favorites, (often to an absurd, almost laughable degree) or believe the fake hype carny story's certain urban legends have perpetuated, but safe money would be on the 280 pound guy with the highest wrestling credentials in the company, who fought professionally the most recently, against the best competition. His collective skill-set is just so much higher than anyone there that its not even close. That's really all there is to it.

[Deleted]

I would have never expected Bart Gunn to beat so much ass, so following in his legendary footsteps I nominate Camacho. If Barrett's brawling background is true he could have a shot as well, he's probably plenty pissed off at how bad his Bad News Barrett gimmick is.

[Drillbit Taylor]

Im going to ignore what the OP said, and Im going to go with Big Show.

[SEAN CARLESS]

Dec 7, 2013 18:34:10 GMT -5 @akeem said:

I would have never expected Bart Gunn to beat so much ass, so following in his legendary footsteps I nominate Camacho. If Barrett's brawling background is true he could have a shot as well, he's probably plenty pissed off at how bad his Bad News Barrett gimmick is.

Bat Gunn only won because no one besides Blackman (who was forced to redraw, with no mention of it made) tried a single takedown. It was just all lummoxes out there doing sloppy toughman boxing. A complete uncoordinated abortion out there.


Edit: Actually Severn did too, but he dropped out after realizing how much the whole thing could damage his credibility.

[thegame415]

If you were doing a modern Brawl for All, you should probably do it in an octagon with some MMA influences.

[Amazing Kitsune]

Dec 7, 2013 18:36:46 GMT -5 Drillbit Taylor said:

Im going to ignore what the OP said, and Im going to go with Big Show.

Why not? Everybody else is.

The reason I took several people out of competition in the post was for logical reasons. Nobody would risk putting main eventers in a shoot fight scenario--because they don't need it. Putting Lesnar in the tournament, for example, pretty much stacks it in his favor. Could somebody get a good punch in and beat him? Possibly. Is it likely? Hell no.

[Amazing Kitsune]

Dec 7, 2013 18:34:10 GMT -5 @akeem said:

I would have never expected Bart Gunn to beat so much ass, so following in his legendary footsteps I nominate Camacho. If Barrett's brawling background is true he could have a shot as well, he's probably plenty pissed off at how bad his Bad News Barrett gimmick is.

Is there any proof of that background? If so, then that would make him an interesting competitor.

[TOK Is the Target Demo]

Dec 7, 2013 18:34:10 GMT -5 @akeem said:

I would have never expected Bart Gunn to beat so much ass, so following in his legendary footsteps I nominate Camacho. If Barrett's brawling background is true he could have a shot as well, he's probably plenty pissed off at how bad his Bad News Barrett gimmick is.

I was going to say Barrett, but what proof is there that he isn't just amazing at working us with his back story? I'm genuinely interested in this.

I forgot about Tensai, working in Japan for years must have gave him some skills in shooting. He's incredibly agile for a 330 pound man, too.

The thing is, if this were to happen, there'd need to be some sort of weight classes. Because, if for instance, Swagger was going against Ziggler, even though Ziggler had a great amateur career in his own right, he would get demolished just because of the 60 pound weight difference. Ziggler apparently was in the 165 weight class, and Swagger was in the 215 class in college. If I can toss around my 150 pound friends at 200 pounds, I wouldn't even want to see two trained wrestlers at their size go at it legit.

I'd even take Swagger over Tensai, Brodus Clay, or Big Show if it came down to it honestly. While he gives up 130 pounds to the bigger guys, he's trained in a way the others aren't.

[angryfan]

OK, missed the important part, I s'pose. If we limited it only to full time midcaders, then we'd still have some exceptional talent in there. Ziggler and Swagger both have very impressive amateur wrestling backgrounds at the college level, Cody did at the high school level.

I don't know of anyone who has any kind of striking background.

[Bad Moon]

Dec 7, 2013 18:41:16 GMT -5 thegame415 said:

If you were doing a modern Brawl for All, you should probably do it in an octagon with some MMA influences.

I'd much rather have it done on an olympic mat or in a ring than in an octagon. I like watching MMA but I hate that every major promotion puts on their fights in cages, it makes me feel like I'm watching a B-movie from the 80s starring Jean-Claude van Dam and not a serious sport.

[Tha Don]

A modern day brawl for all would be pre-planned no doubt.
But if they would decide to go legit again then probably Heath Slater...that's probably Bart Gunn equivalent.

[Deleted]

Dec 7, 2013 18:38:45 GMT -5 SEAN CARLESS said:

Dec 7, 2013 18:34:10 GMT -5 @akeem said:

I would have never expected Bart Gunn to beat so much ass, so following in his legendary footsteps I nominate Camacho. If Barrett's brawling background is true he could have a shot as well, he's probably plenty pissed off at how bad his Bad News Barrett gimmick is.

Bat Gunn only won because no one besides Blackman (who was forced to redraw, with no mention of it made) tried a single takedown. It was just all lummoxes out there doing sloppy toughman boxing. A complete uncoordinated abortion out there.


Edit: Actually Severn did too, but he dropped out after realizing how much the whole thing could damage his credibility.

To me that's all it should have ever been because it is one of the most poorly thought out things in wrestling history. Supposedly it was designed for Dr. Death to win and show how tough that he was, but Dr. Death hadn't wrestled(Olympic) competitively in like 20 years prior, Marc Mero was a golden gloves winner, IIRC Scorpio was at least a golden gloves contender, Severn was a legit fighter and could have stretched anyone had he stayed in, Blackman was a legit fighter, Bradshaw and the Godfather are big barroom brawler types. The E being stupid enough to make it a shoot rendered any chance of it being anything other than a clustersmurf nil from jump street. The wild brawling is the only thing that saved it from being completely ridiculous. It's hard to even verbalize how stupid that it was all around.

[Deleted]

Upset City: Dolph Ziggler with that Kent State wrestling background FTW.

[SEAN CARLESS]

Ok. I'm going to let everyone in a little "shoot" secret. There are no secret tricks wrestlers know or have known that are not already known and taught in MMA training camps at a much higher level. People hear these mythical tales of guys like Thesz etc., but fail to realize that his knowledge was basic armlocks and heel hooks Joe Blow can learn today, surrounded by housewives at a strip-mall Gym.

Thesz, Stu Hart, etc. all came up in a time where 99% of all wrestlers were big cornfed farmboys who played some football before getting hurt. But the hookers had an advantage because, in those days, no one had any concept of joint manipulation or submissions. Wrestling was almost exclusively big rawboned dudes Mongoing their way around, being bar tough, and maybe thinking they could hold the World Champ down on purpose and defy the promoter. So guys like Thesz learned basic (then revolutionary) hooks to keep these lugs in line, if in fact anyone thought of doing something stupid.

So, ya, it's not a magic trick. It's lunch-time MMA.