Random dvd idea they haven't done yet: a set covering the Samoan wrestling family. If you're counting the Maivias and the Snukas (neither of whom are blood related to the Anoa'is or Fatus but are considered part of the family by relation) you could get a hell of a set, and load it up with matches and clips with all of them from Peter Maivia and The Samoans down to Roman Reigns and The Usos. Plus they can put The Rock on it and sell tons of copies.
Who would be interested in this set? Wrestling fans hated it and didn't watch first time round. MMA fans don't care. I doubt if Bart Gunn's family would even bother to buy it.
The company had Shamrock and Severn on the roster the same year they built a Lions Den cage, but never did a program....only to think a shoot boxing thing would be a great idea
I'd purchase a DVD done in a self-deprecatory way like the Are You Serious? series or Warrior's DVD, that included some interviews with those involved in creating the contest and fighting in it.
Am I advocating it's return? No. But as I one time experiment that went outside their comfort zone, it was fine. Plus, I'm glad in a way that it didn't go the way they planned it with Gunn winning for no other reason than it was unexpected.
I liked the Brawl for All. It just sucked that Dan Severn bowed out of the competition, since I thought he was going to win it. The WWF also screwed it up by making it a work after Bart Gunn beat Steve Williams.
I would buy a DVD of this, only if it were 90-minutes of Jim Cornette bad-mouthing the whole thing. Bonus Features can be an option to loop Butterbean knocking Bart Gunn's head into next week at WM XV.
I agree, when it first started, I thought it was genuinely interesting, but they definitely made it took big of a bracket. 8 men would've been fine, not 16, featuring one eyed Quebecer and roided German Dude, two guys who weren't exactly on TV a lot at that point.
I don't remember much, but I don't think any of the brackets were even announced ahead of time. Even Dr. Death's appearance came out of nowhere. You'd think someone would've hyped that for weeks, but he was thrown out with the same fanfare as jobbers Bob Holly, Savio Vega, Mark Cantebury, Pierre, Bart Gunn and Brakkus. It's hard to get behind anyone in such a tournament when you don't even know who's going to be competing.
Cena would challenge the winner of the whole thing immediately after it concludes to the title and win, because he rises above [insert flavor of the month.]
The point was for "Dr. Death" Steve Williams to win in a shoot… which of course is WHY it was such a disaster. If it's a shoot you aren't going to get the result you want. It's why wrestling is fixed in the first place.
Maybe that's why they had Severn pull out after his first match. I think he pulled out before Williams lost to Bart Gunn in the quarters, so maybe the WWF feared he would keep advancing and beat the crap out of Williams.
I honestly don't see those guys participating. Why would you risk injury in a shoot? If I remember correctly, lots of guys got legit screwed up because they did not know how to legit carry themselves in a shoot. If they wanted to get some ratings, they should run another one and put Brock in the field.
It's actually hilarious and fascinating how much of a disaster this whole thing was. You have the company trotting out rarely-seen nobodies on live TV for it, utterly BOMBING in front of live crowds, and boring-ass matches. Then half the guys end up injured (in some cases, quite badly), a charisma-less JTTS wins the whole thing, and the guys they actively WANTED TO PUSH either ended up dropping out, or getting beaten BADLY in public. It was so bad it actually ruined more pushes than it ever helped, and pretty much put the ax in Steve Williams' career.
Wasn't there one where Shamrock got pinned inside the octagon though? I remember reading how it was Vince symbolically showing how wwf was better then the ufc and showing shamrock where the power lies.
Even if Williams got the win I don't see WWF fans buying him as a legit main eventer in 1998. He looked old and slow and just wasn't up to task to be a main event heel anymore. Ross tried but there were too many in power that weren't gonna back.him anyway (pritchard, Russo, and even Vince himself). Also. Williams was known to be stiff and wreckless at times, so they were not letting him near the injured golden goose Austin.
I do not remember this. Hopefully after they release the brawl for all DVD the original email was looking for, they'll release a "Best of the Lion's den" retrospective.
Yeah, I can't imagine Austin going up for the Backdrop Driver. I think it was just an attempt at getting a temporary threat for Austin, though I'm not sure I've heard the "official" rumor on it or just random net rumormongering.
Yeah, I still remember when "Dr. Death" Steve Williams went down with a legit injury in that thing. He would have been a great corporate foil for Steve Austin in '98 too. Shame
I think either could have been an awesome Vince-sponsored corporate badass to feud with Stone Cold in '98/99. Dr. Death in particular could have been awesome in that role.
Yep. Classic example of Vince pissing away a potential draw in the name of measuring his dick against UFC (ala Brock vs. Cena). They could have done Shamrock vs. Severn in the Lion's Den in a semi-shoot sort of thing, even if to say "WWF can out-UFC the UFC" and rub their biggest money match in their face. Then whoever you have win that feud can lay down for Austin (the "Toughest SOB"). At least you get some mileage out of making UFC look weaker than WWF
"Why hasn't this ever been released on DVD?"
ReplyDeleteBecause it sucked, maybe? That's my guess.
Random dvd idea they haven't done yet: a set covering the Samoan wrestling family. If you're counting the Maivias and the Snukas (neither of whom are blood related to the Anoa'is or Fatus but are considered part of the family by relation) you could get a hell of a set, and load it up with matches and clips with all of them from Peter Maivia and The Samoans down to Roman Reigns and The Usos. Plus they can put The Rock on it and sell tons of copies.
ReplyDeleteWho would be interested in this set?
ReplyDeleteWrestling fans hated it and didn't watch first time round.
MMA fans don't care.
I doubt if Bart Gunn's family would even bother to buy it.
The company had Shamrock and Severn on the roster the same year they built a Lions Den cage, but never did a program....only to think a shoot boxing thing would be a great idea
ReplyDeletehttps://soundcloud.com/the-attitude-era-podcast/brawl-for-all
ReplyDeleteSeeing The Rise and Fall of Bart Gunn all at once is semi-interesting.
ReplyDeleteI'd purchase a DVD done in a self-deprecatory way like the Are You Serious? series or Warrior's DVD, that included some interviews with those involved in creating the contest and fighting in it.
ReplyDeleteLook, I'll admit it.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed it. I did.
Am I advocating it's return? No. But as I one time experiment that went outside their comfort zone, it was fine. Plus, I'm glad in a way that it didn't go the way they planned it with Gunn winning for no other reason than it was unexpected.
I liked the Brawl for All. It just sucked that Dan Severn bowed out of the competition, since I thought he was going to win it. The WWF also screwed it up by making it a work after Bart Gunn beat Steve Williams.
ReplyDeleteI would buy a DVD of this, only if it were 90-minutes of Jim Cornette bad-mouthing the whole thing. Bonus Features can be an option to loop Butterbean knocking Bart Gunn's head into next week at WM XV.
ReplyDeleteI agree, when it first started, I thought it was genuinely interesting, but they definitely made it took big of a bracket. 8 men would've been fine, not 16, featuring one eyed Quebecer and roided German Dude, two guys who weren't exactly on TV a lot at that point.
ReplyDeleteGorilla Monsoon's last WWF appearance was related to this inanity. That's just wrong.
ReplyDeleteas awful as this was, it is literally the one thing that would Get me to watch RAW again
ReplyDeleteBut wasn't that the whole point? That this was a legit opportunity for a bunch of lower level guys to make a name for themselves?
ReplyDeleteNo it's not.
ReplyDeleteThat wicked shot to the head Bradshaw took in the finals was worked?
ReplyDeleteThough of course, that was nothing compared to the shot Butterbean used to finish off Gunn.
I don't remember much, but I don't think any of the brackets were even announced ahead of time. Even Dr. Death's appearance came out of nowhere. You'd think someone would've hyped that for weeks, but he was thrown out with the same fanfare as jobbers Bob Holly, Savio Vega, Mark Cantebury, Pierre, Bart Gunn and Brakkus. It's hard to get behind anyone in such a tournament when you don't even know who's going to be competing.
ReplyDeleteIf you were to have Brawl For All II: Electric Boogaloo, and opened it up to any WWE Superstar that wanted to participate, could they get 16 people?
ReplyDeleteI'd guess that at least Punk, Bryan, Cesaro, and Swagger would give it a go. Would Cena be crazy enough to get involved?
Cena would challenge the winner of the whole thing immediately after it concludes to the title and win, because he rises above [insert flavor of the month.]
ReplyDeleteThe point was for "Dr. Death" Steve Williams to win in a shoot… which of course is WHY it was such a disaster. If it's a shoot you aren't going to get the result you want. It's why wrestling is fixed in the first place.
ReplyDeleteThey were expecting him to beat Dan Severn and/or Steve Blackman in a shoot?
ReplyDeleteThat in fact was the rumor, that they thought Williams would win the whole thing and that would lead to a big push for him.
ReplyDeleteMaybe that's why they had Severn pull out after his first match. I think he pulled out before Williams lost to Bart Gunn in the quarters, so maybe the WWF feared he would keep advancing and beat the crap out of Williams.
ReplyDeleteGorilla looked so bad at WrestleMania XV. I felt really bad for him.
ReplyDeleteI honestly don't see those guys participating. Why would you risk injury in a shoot? If I remember correctly, lots of guys got legit screwed up because they did not know how to legit carry themselves in a shoot. If they wanted to get some ratings, they should run another one and put Brock in the field.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Godfather's incredible sell of having his jaw jacked, that was HBK level stuff there.
ReplyDeleteSevern pulled out. After hearing the official rules change. He figured it wasn't a scenario for him and it would make him look bad
ReplyDeleteA lot of the original intent was indeed for that but the rules that implentented eventually caused both guys to say no to it
ReplyDeleteInteresting. I did not know that. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteNot that he'd EVER do it but I'd pay alot of money to see HHH get involved.
ReplyDeleteTangent topic: does anyone remember the match where Shamrock got pinned in like a UFC type octagon? Was it vs Owen? I can't find a video clip.
ReplyDeleteSuch a Vince move...bow down to the wwe bitch!
Obviously TNA couldn't figure out how, as they stripped Severn of his NWA World Title.
ReplyDeleteIt's actually hilarious and fascinating how much of a disaster this whole thing was. You have the company trotting out rarely-seen nobodies on live TV for it, utterly BOMBING in front of live crowds, and boring-ass matches. Then half the guys end up injured (in some cases, quite badly), a charisma-less JTTS wins the whole thing, and the guys they actively WANTED TO PUSH either ended up dropping out, or getting beaten BADLY in public.
ReplyDeleteIt was so bad it actually ruined more pushes than it ever helped, and pretty much put the ax in Steve Williams' career.
Shamrock/Owen had two gimmick matches. Owen won the first one in Stu's dungeon, and Shamrock won the second in the octagon.
ReplyDeleteShamrock beat blackman in a octagon match as well
How did they think guys would be able to wrestle with huge boxing gloves on?
ReplyDeleteWhat a clusterfuck.
Summerslam 98
ReplyDeleteWasn't there one where Shamrock got pinned inside the octagon though? I remember reading how it was Vince symbolically showing how wwf was better then the ufc and showing shamrock where the power lies.
ReplyDeleteThat I don't remember. I remmeber they used a "Lion's Den" cage at Summerslam 98 and 99.
ReplyDeleteEven if Williams got the win I don't see WWF fans buying him as a legit main eventer in 1998. He looked old and slow and just wasn't up to task to be a main event heel anymore. Ross tried but there were too many in power that weren't gonna back.him anyway (pritchard, Russo, and even Vince himself). Also. Williams was known to be stiff and wreckless at times, so they were not letting him near the injured golden goose Austin.
ReplyDeleteThe lions den was their ufc style cage. I think even Vince got a victory over ken in there after interference in spring 99.
ReplyDeleteI do not remember this. Hopefully after they release the brawl for all DVD the original email was looking for, they'll release a "Best of the Lion's den" retrospective.
ReplyDeleteWhy was it called the lions den anyway?
Yeah, I can't imagine Austin going up for the Backdrop Driver. I think it was just an attempt at getting a temporary threat for Austin, though I'm not sure I've heard the "official" rumor on it or just random net rumormongering.
ReplyDeleteThat's what Shamrock called his training centre- sorta like the Harts' Dungeon being their basement.
ReplyDeleteThey could do a list of the Top Ten Bitch Tits in Wrestling. It'd involve the same guys.
ReplyDeleteI think cancer put the ax in Steve Williams' career.
ReplyDeleteYeah, but he only agreed to do the job once he saw the writing on the wall post-Brawl.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I still remember when "Dr. Death" Steve Williams went down with a legit injury in that thing. He would have been a great corporate foil for Steve Austin in '98 too. Shame
ReplyDeleteI think either could have been an awesome Vince-sponsored corporate badass to feud with Stone Cold in '98/99. Dr. Death in particular could have been awesome in that role.
ReplyDeleteYep. Classic example of Vince pissing away a potential draw in the name of measuring his dick against UFC (ala Brock vs. Cena). They could have done Shamrock vs. Severn in the Lion's Den in a semi-shoot sort of thing, even if to say "WWF can out-UFC the UFC" and rub their biggest money match in their face. Then whoever you have win that feud can lay down for Austin (the "Toughest SOB"). At least you get some mileage out of making UFC look weaker than WWF
ReplyDelete