JBL looks back on Brawl for All.
Brawl for All remains one of the most controversial ideas in WWE history, as the tournament featured shoot fights. It was derailed by changing rules, plans going wrong, and competitors getting injured. The tournament ended with Bart Gunn beating JBL via knockout.
Speaking on Something to Wrestle, JBL recalled how Bruce Prichard pitched Brawl for All to him
“Bruce called me on a Thursday morning, and he goes, ‘You wanna be in a shoot fight on Monday?’ I said, ‘Why would I be in a shoot fight on Monday?’ He goes, ‘We’re having a shoot tournament.’ I said, ‘Why are you having a shoot tournament?’ I said, ‘Why are you having a shoot tournament?’ He goes, ‘Well, we think it’s kind of a fun idea to put this shoot tournament together.’ I said, ‘Legit shoot?’ He said, ‘Yeah.’ I said, ‘You understand we have two UFC champions in our dressing room?’ I said, ‘Are they in it?’ He said, ‘Yeah, they’re in it.’ I said, ‘Can you do me at least a favor? Put me in a different bracket so I have a chance of winning one fight at least before I get to those guys?’ He goes, ‘Will you do it?’ I go, ‘I’ll do it, but this is the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard.’ Nobody knew Bart Gunn could hit like George Foreman. Nobody had any idea. I told Bruce this. I said, ‘Hey, you’re gonna find somebody, you’re gonna find somebody like Bob Holly, that’s what heavyweight champs look like nowadays. A guy like Bob Holly’s gonna win this thing. Doctor Death ant gonna win it.’ You knew right away they put it together for Doc. I said, ‘Doc is not gonna win it. Doc is not the same guy he was 10 years ago. This is not the same Doctor Death.’ He’s had concussions, he’s had problems. He’s had problems. He’s not gonna win it.’ Bruce said, ‘Well, that’s okay, we’ll come up with somebody else.’ I said, ‘Bruce, this is possibly the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard,'" JBL said.
JBL also noted that he knew they would book him a Kane Henry Godwinn in the first round, and Bruce said the draw was a shoot, but he wound up facing Godwinn after all. He then recalled the pay.
“I said, ‘Yeah, I’m happy to do it.’ He told me the pay, which was great. It was five grand a fight, and if you got to the next fight, you got another five grand, and in the finals, you got 100 grand split 75 to the winner, 25 to the loser. I said, ‘Bruce, the pay’s awesome. I’m happy to do it. I’ve never done anything like this, this will be a lot of fun.’ I said, ‘But this is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,'" JBL said.
Ken Shamrock previously commented on turning down Brawl For All. Click here to see what he had to say.
Former WWE writer John Piermarini has said that Vince McMahon wanted to do the Brawl For All using NXT superstars. Check out his comments here.
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