10 Times Pro Wrestling Got Way Too Real

4. The Brawl For All

The Brawl For All must have seemed like a good idea at the time but, in practice, it was something of a disaster for the WWF. The concept was simple – stage a legitimate tough guy tournament on Raw – but the results were very damaging for the company.

The idea was pitched by Vince Russo (who else?) and was supposed to be a way to use a bunch of guys who weren’t getting a lot of TV time or who creative didn’t have anything for at that moment. Each match consisted of three one minute rounds. Competitors wore gloves and, in the event that there was no winner, it would go to ringside judges.

With it being a real competition, injuries were inevitable. Steve Blackman, Road Warrior Hawk, Savio Vega and 2 Cold Scorpio all sustained or aggravated injuries during the tournament. Steve Williams, who was the favourite to win the tournament but was knocked out in the quarterfinals, sustained several injuries that put him out for months.

The biggest blow had to have been to Williams’ pride though: he was supposed to win the tournament and then feud with top star Stone Cold Steve Austin but he was battered by eventual winner Bart Gunn. Bart’s reward for his tournament victory? A 35 second defeat to professional boxer Butterbean at WrestleMania XV.

The Brawl For All might have been a good concept on paper but in practice it was really poor. A shambles from the start, fans in the arenas turned on the contest and chanted ‘boring’ and ‘we want wrestling’ while fights were in progress.