Re-Booking Bart Gun

[The Condor]

I'd like to preface this thread by stating that I am bored.

In mid-1998 the WWF presented the infamous Brawl for All, a boxing-shoot fighting competition featuring a ton of directionless mid-carders (Brakus, Savio Vega), self-important jackasses (Steve Williams, Bradshaw), tag team specialists (Mark Canterbury, Quebecer Pierre), and legitimate tough guys (Dan Severn, Steve Blackman). Of course Bart Gunn, formerly of the Smoking Gunns and presently of the New Midnight Express, won the competition by displaying a killer left and unbefore seen charisma/possible star power (especially in his quasi-shoot rants to Jim Ross).

Of course after winning the competition in August of '98, his momentum was discarded and he was not seen until 6 months later when he came back for a hardcore title tiff with ex-partner Hardcore Holly. No one knew who he was, no one cared, and thus the Brawl for All was deemed a failure and monstrous fuck up.

My point here is to re-book Bart in the latter half of '98.

Firstly, put the Brawl for All finals on Summerslam '98 with a hot MSG crowd on possibly the best and biggest show of the year.The booking applies to whoever wins between Bart and Bradshaw, but for the point of the exercise we will assume that it is Bart.

At the next PPV, Breakdown, Austin loses the belt to abeyance when he is double pinned by UT and Kane and the next month, at Judgment Day, he is assigned the referee position in a title match between the brothers of destruction and his job is on the line if he doesn't declare a winner. Here is my revisionist idea.

Instead of Austin being a guest referee with his job on the line at Judgment Day, McMahon presents his new "project", Bart Gunn to take on Austin at Judgment Day, to knock his head off and injure and embarrass him badly enough that he wont want to show his face in the WWF again. Gunn has legitimate credibility for running through the roster in legit shoots and would add a different face to the rotating Kane/UT/Austin/Foley main event carousel of 1998. Austin could win with a chairshot or other rule-bending Austin means to keep Bart looking strong and then he could still meddle in the Main Event to both cost him his job and to keep alive the Deadly Games/Corporation angle for late '98. Bart could be allied to the Corporation with Bossman as a sort of bodyguard/enforcer role. If it doesn't work out then they can kick him out around the new year and turn him to see what happens. Either way, I believe that you turn the Brawl for All debacle into something positive, at least try something with Bart, and keep the great plans for the end of the year still on track.

On the positive side, Bart did produce to #1 highlight of Wrestlemania 15.

Still bored.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Probably would have fired Bart Gunn as soon as the feud with Billy's neck was over. It was obvious that Billy was the man of the group. They booked him better than he deserved. He sucked.

[#1-norm-fan]

I wouldn't have pushed him before the Brawl for All.

I would have pushed him AFTER the Brawl for All since they already fucked up a bunch of guys on the roster and unintentionally put him over as a bigger badass than the guys who were booked as badasses. At that point, you might as well roll with it and push him.

I wouldn't have fucked up my new "biggest badass" and all the ex-badasses that he beat by putting him up against a legit fighter to get murdered on the biggest show of the year.

Goddamn, Brawl for All was so fucking stupid. I don't know if they could have fucked up at every turn more if they tried.

[Big Vic]

I tried a similar thread like this before:

http://www.tpwwforums.com/showthread.php?p=2611642

My goal with Bart would be to build him up for a few months to have a new hotter star take him out (Rock could have taken him out since they were building him up around that time.)