This week marked 19 years since Bart Gunn knocked out JBL to win WWF Brawl for All. This is also the week undefeated boxing champion Floyd McGregor will step in the ring with UFC lightweight king Conor McGregor.
It seemed like just an interesting coincidence two fights between men wearing boxing gloves, promoted like pro wrestling and with a made-up title on the line would happen around the same time on the calendar, but there may be more to it than that.
The Brawl for All championship could be involved in Mayweather vs. McGregor. It might even be up for grabs. It doesn’t seem like both things can be true however, and it all depends on which version of the rules you ascribe to Vince McMahon’s shoot fight experiment from the late 90s.
As our own Geno Mrosko explained here, Butterbean defeated Bart Gunn for the title at WrestleMania XV. The above video scripted by Bloody Elbow’s Fraser Coffeen gives you a quick recap of what’s happened since, and this excellent piece from David Bixenspan covers it in more detail.
In a nutshell, observers have followed the title across promotions and even sports - to determine the lineal Brawl for All champion.
Butterbean lost a boxing match in 2001 to Billy Zumbrun. Following that trail puts the belt on a man born with a great pro wrestling name, former heavyweight champ Tyson Fury.
BUT... many argue the Brawl for All championship has to be defended under mixed martial arts rules, in which case Butterbean’s loss in a straight boxing match doesn’t count. In that scenario, he dropped the title to Genki Sudo in 2003. And if you chart the course from there it leads to, you guessed it - Conor McGregor.
Unfortunately, using the MMA rules stipulation required to make The Notorious One reigning Brawl for All champ means MayMac doesn’t qualify, as it’s being contested under boxing rules (despite Money’s own pro wrestling career). And saying boxing matches count means the strap doesn’t belong to Conor.
Still, we all know a real “don” like Vinnie Mac can change the rules as the story dictates... maybe WWE can promote a version of the fight suggested by Coffeen in the video above?
Fury vs. McGregor in the Brawl for It All.