It has been a while since I last reviewed an episode of Dark Side of the Ring. While doing research I noticed that I had forgotten to review an old episode that occurred on Season 2 of the documentary series. It covers the WWE “Brawl For All” which has been widely regarded as one of the dumbest ideas done in WWE ever. It often has gotten the label of killing careers in WWE and being one of the cons of the Attitude Era. Well after watching the episode there are many takeaways and information given out regarding the “Brawl For All.”
10. Why Vince Russo Came Up With The Brawl For All

The man who came up with the idea was Vince Russo. Russo admits that he was not a fan of JBL and thought he had a big mouth about his toughness and said if this was real he would beat everyone up. Yeah, Joey Styles would have a different response to that. This wasn’t mentioned, but Joey Styles had enough of JBL’s antics and knocked him out. JBL also got a black eye from the punch and it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. With JBL running his mouth, Russo wanted to do the “Brawl for All” to see JBL get beat up. I mean knowing the many bullying scandals involving JBL, can you blame him? When Russo pitched the idea to Vince McMahon, he approved of it, and thus the “Brawl for All” was born.
9. Bart Gunn Doesn’t Believe The Names Or Rules Were Done At Random

There have been constant stories told of how the parings were done for the “Brawl for All.” A common story that was told us the pairings of the tournament were done randomly by drawing names out of a paper bag. The problem is, I am not so sure if I 100 percent believe that and Bart Gunn would agree. Bart at the time was in a tag team with Hardcore “Bob” Holly and they faced each other in Round 1. Which was quite convenient.
Bruce Pritchard in many interviews has claimed that the idea things were fixed for Dr. Death is ridiculous. The problem with that statement is it’s Bruce Pritchard, and he’s not the most trustworthy source. This is the same man who once claimed that fans only hated Hulk Hogan because “He was successful and it’s enough vouge to hate people who are successful.” Then why aren’t legends like Austin, Bret Hart, and Undertaker booed when they come out for special appearances?
Even Jim Ross calls Bruce Prichard out on his BS. He admits that it was quite a coincidence that “Dr Death” got paired with Pierre Ouellete who is blind in one eye. It was obvious the plan was to ensure Dr Death got the win.
8. Bart Gunn Pushed For His Fight With Steve Williams To The Finals

With “Brawl For All” occurring Bart was training for this like crazy. He was in good shape and requested the final fight would be him against Williams. Creative denied this as they had all the faith in “Dr Death” to win no matter who he faced. Bart then asked around the locker room and Creative if he would get heat for beating Doc. Almost everyone was laughing and Pat Patterson did it in front of his face, which royally angered Gunn. When he faced Dr Death almost everyone was by the curtain to watch. It seemed like everyone in the locker room wanted Dr. Death to lose.
Steve Williams Tore His Hamstring In The Match
It’s judgment day when the “Brawl for All” is in the Quarter-finals, Bart Gunn vs Dr Death Steve Williams. Bart Gunn had one goal in mind to win and that’s knock out Dr Death. Well, Bart Gunn accomplished that goal. That’s not all that happened as in the middle of the fight Dr Death also tears his Hamstring. Cornette watching this behind the scenes was not happy as he knew that it killed Dr Death’s chances of a successful career in WWE. Which it ultimately did as not one year later he was released from the company. This is a shame as Steve Williams was a very good professional wrestler and I enjoy his matches in AJPW and WCW.
6. The Godfather Also Got Injured

It wasn’t just Dr. Death who suffered an injury in the “Brawl For All.” So did the Godfather and it also happened in a fight with Bart Gunn. This was surprising as Godfather had some boxing skills and Bart knew it was going to be a challenge for him. Luckily for Bart, Godfather was too confident and also completed while high on marijuana. Bart wins the fight, but Godfather suffers a serious leg injury. Heck, he even showed a photo of his leg after the fight and he had a ton of bruises. He was in so much pain that he had to use a wheelchair for a bit while he was healing.
5. Vince Russo May Have Won The Battle With JBL, But Was In A War With Jim Cornette

In the finals of the “Brawl For All,” it is Bradshaw (JBL) vs Bart Gunn. It’s a domination where Bart Gunn knocks out JBL and rewatching it it’s scary how he went down. However, to Vince Russo, he loved it, who didn’t was Jim Cornette. Cornette is annoyed with how Russo doesn’t understand that he did wrong and calls him a skid mark in the wrestling business. Ahh some more Russo vs Cornette hatred, and I love it with how crazy both can get.
To be honest, neither of them comes off well at all from this public fighting. Russo doesn’t come across well with his carefree attitude and awful booking. Jim Cornette I think comes off worse. One thing is for sure, Russo may have won the battle with JBL but started a war with Jim Cornette.
4. Bart Got Heat For Winning the “Brawl For All”
With the original plan of the “Brawl For All” falling apart, the winner of the tournament was Bart Gunn. It was known that the plan was for whoever to win to get a bigger push and Bart thought the creative department would change plans. After all, the creative didn’t think anyone could take Dr Death off of his feet. What did they do with Bart Gunn, absolutely nothing and got a ton of heat with people behind the scenes.
Instead, WWE had a different plan for him at Wrestlemania XV. Bart Gunn was going to face boxer Butterbean at the show. The documentary actually got Butterbean to come and speak about it also admitting he was Bart’s punishment. Butterbean looks really rough in the documentary, but thankfully nowadays he’s in much better help. Again thank Dimond Dallas Page who helped him during Butterbean’s low point.
3. Even Butterbean’s Kids Were Upset With Him Knocking Out Bart Gunn
Butterbean has his boxing match with Bart Gun and my goodness does Butterbean dominate. Butterbean kept telling everyone behind the scenes including the Godfather and told him he was going to knock him out in seconds. Well, he did and Vince apparently was smiling knowing what was going to happen next. Either that or he knew he was going to get WrestleMania in the papers with Butterbean’s involvement. Butterbean admitted he hoped he stayed down after the first few punches as Bart was wobbling. But when he got up Bart gets knocked out. No joke, Buttebean revealed that his kids were so upset because other friends told them that he killed a man on live TV. As for Bart, that killed his professional wrestling career and he left the company not long afterwards. This wasn’t mentioned, but Gunn did have a lengthy run in Japan and a brief stint in TNA, but his career ended in 2004.
2. The Terrible Accident With Droz
The documentary got to interview Darren Drozdov and you can’t have him without talking about the terrible accident that happened with him. Droz was in a preshow match with D-Lo Brown and in the middle of the match they were going to go for a powerbomb. Well, in doing the move something happened where Droz slipped and he fell on his neck. Droz immediately knew something was wrong when he heard a crack and it paralyzed him. D-o who is haunted by the incident kept apologizing to him for what happened. Droz didn’t carry a grudge, by forgiving him and calling him a great guy. Unfortunately, Darren Drozdov is no longer with us as he passed away on June 30th, 2023.
This wasn’t mentioned in the documentary, but apparently, there is footage of the accident. Photos do exist of Droz’s injury and one was shown in the documentary. A portion of Droz’s injury was part of a Don’t Do This At Home advertisement by WWE when Droz was carried out of the ring on a stretcher. As for where the footage today it is allegedly in the WWE Vault with the label Never To View, Copy, Or Destroy. It’s apparently in the same location where footage of the Owen Hart accident is. It is terrifying to know that there is footage of that accident that exists.
1. Vince Russo Even Regrets Doing It

At the end of the documentary, Vince Russo reflects on the “Brawl For All” and he admits it was a bad idea. He feels bad watching some of the fights and it’s scary what was now known about concussions. Russo admits he would never advise anyone to do something similar. Says the same man who once claimed he advised Shane McMahon how to run Raw Underground. The “Brawl For All” sucked. I agree with Jim Ross when he said it was done to help create new stars and new opportunities and it didn’t work. It killed more careers than helped.
My Thoughts On “Dark Side Of The Ring: Brawl For All”

Not a ton of new information was covered here. The biggest takeaway from me is despite how great the Attitude Era was it wasn’t perfect. A big negative was the Brawl For All and it was never going to work. People came to watch professional wrestling, not boxing. One thing many said is it killed careers, I don’t think it did excluding Dr. Death Steve Williams.
What happened to Droz is awful and I think he came off the best in this documentary. He always seems like a chill guy and he always seems so positive and has a strong mental toughness. Bart Gunn also came off well in this as well. I do wonder what if WWE did get behind him and got a push in a feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin. We will just never know!
Another big feature covered in this episode was the public feud between Jim Cornette and Vince Russo. In my opinion, I don’t think either of them comes off well at all with their public hatred. It’s like what is going on with Dave Meltzer and Eric Bischoff. Meltzer hasn’t come off well with his reporting lately. Eric Bischoff is just a complete malcontent, and the dude is infatuated with Meltzer.
Overall this was a good documentary. However, if you go in expecting to learn more information about “Brawl For All,” you will be disappointed.