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Brawl For All: When Wrestling Tried To Be Real
In 1998, at the height of the Attitude Era, WWF introduced the Brawl For All — a legitimate fighting tournament featuring its own wrestlers. No scripts. No choreography. Just real punches.
The plan was simple: prove Dr. Death Steve Williams was the toughest man in wrestling.
That’s not what happened.
In this Controversy Autopsy episode of Smarks, Spotmonkeys & Superkicks, we break down how Brawl For All exposed the risks of mixing reality with scripted entertainment — and why WWF spent years trying to forget it ever happened.
Was it ahead of its time… or a catastrophic misunderstanding of what wrestling actually is?
New episodes weekly.
Next week: Royal Rumble 1992 — the opposite of Brawl For All, and why it worked.
View all episodes
By Shawn ThimasIn 1998, at the height of the Attitude Era, WWF introduced the Brawl For All — a legitimate fighting tournament featuring its own wrestlers. No scripts. No choreography. Just real punches.
The plan was simple: prove Dr. Death Steve Williams was the toughest man in wrestling.
That’s not what happened.
In this Controversy Autopsy episode of Smarks, Spotmonkeys & Superkicks, we break down how Brawl For All exposed the risks of mixing reality with scripted entertainment — and why WWF spent years trying to forget it ever happened.
Was it ahead of its time… or a catastrophic misunderstanding of what wrestling actually is?
New episodes weekly.
Next week: Royal Rumble 1992 — the opposite of Brawl For All, and why it worked.