What if...the Brawl for All tournament was a success?

In the summer of 1998, the WWF held a tournament featuring wrestlers on their roster voluntarily competing in legit shootfighting contests that were not fake or pre-determined.

"Dr Death" Steve Williams is/was regarded as one of the real tough guys in the wrestling business, and many believed he would enter and win hands down. His presumed victory, on the part of WWF officials, would then place him in a position to succeed or become "over" with the fans of the Attitude era.

Some suggest that Williams' victory could have led to a small feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin, supposedly, on the basis of Austin sharing the same name of Steve Williams outside of wrestling.

Brawl for All was, by all accounts, a failed concept and resulted in actual injuries to the competitors (Hawk, Droz, Savio Vega). Unexpectedly, Bart Gunn (formerly of The Smoking Gunns, then with The New Midnight Express) knocked out Dr Death in their third round bout, eventually leading to Gunn's victory over Bradshaw in the finals, where $75,000 and $25,000 were handed out, respectively.

Gunn's victory over Williams was frowned upon by officials as their plan had been ruined; Williams competed in only a few wrestling matches (mostly squashes and dark matches) during his WWF tenure, before making his final appearance in late March of 1999. Bart Gunn faced off against pro boxer Eric "Butterbean" Esch at WrestleMania XV after his Brawl for All victory, and was disposed of in approximately 30 seconds. Gunn soon after left the WWF for Japan.

Had the tournament been a success with thrilling match-ups, few injuries and Dr Death as the sole survivor, the WWF may have capitalized on it more than simply a match with Butterbean at WrestleMania XV. According to reports at the time, Jakks Pacific was considering either a Brawl for All 4-pack or separate Brawl for All line during the BCA era.

The 4-pack would have consisted of Bart Gunn, Bradshaw, Droz and The Godfather, with a pair of boxing gloves included (not sure if they were to be kids size or for the figures, though). The separate line was rumored to have Dan Severn and Dr Death in it, too.

Also, a Butterbean figure was planned even before the tournament in late 1997, but none of the ideas mentioned ever made it to the prototype stage.

Several of the participants in the tournament received figures regardless, including Severn and Dr Death, but neither were particularly good sellers. If Williams had won the tournament, it could have resulted in more of his figures on the shelves, which may or may not have been a good thing.

Bart Gunn never received his long-awaited BCA figure, but chances are it would have been more likely had he not upset Williams (and WWF officials, one might say), but that wasn't the case with the Brawl for All tournament.

I don't know if wrestling figures in boxing gear would have been a success then, but Jakks was still willing to experiment with the WWF line and could have given us some cool accessories to go with the "brawling" figures.

It's an idea that I'm sure has been presented by many before me, but the Brawl for All tournament, as awful as it was overall, could have changed the dynamic of Jakks' focus at the time, as well as the WWF, if things had gone as planned.

But, as Vince McMahon often used to say, "Anything can happen in the World Wrestling Federation!!!"

...Dr Death Steve Williams learned that the hard way.

Until next time, thanks for looking and have a nice day!

- Alex