Oleksandr Usyk Now The Lineal WWE Brawl For All Champion?
Is boxing's new Undisputed Heavyweight Champion also the lineal WWE Brawl for All Champ?
Having emerged victorious against Tyson Fury in what was billed as one of the biggest fights in the history of the sport, not only is Oleksandr Usyk the first Undisputed Heavyweight Champion the boxing world has seen in 24 years, but the Ukrainian is seemingly also the lineal WWE Brawl for All Champion.
As picked up by Reddit user dmw1997, Usyk supposedly has the unique honour of being the latest holder of a title that was originally won by Bart Gunn back in 1998.
On his way to winning this most infamous of shoot fight tournaments - one of Vince Russo's dumbest ideas, which says a lot - Bart went through his tag team partner Bob Holly, famed hardman 'Dr. Death' Steve Williams, and spectacularly knocked out Bradshaw in the final to become the winner of the, to date, only ever Brawl for All competition.
While Bart was hopeful this win would result in a run against 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin in the main event scene of the then-WWF, things were brought to a crushing halt for Gunn when a shoot boxing match at WrestleMania XV saw him sparked out by legendary knockout artist Eric 'Butterbean' Esch in barely 30 seconds. As such, Butterbean technically became the lineal Brawl for All Champion, and some view that mantle as having remained in the boxing world in the years since - with that logic also including the iconic Wladimir Klitschko and later Tyson Fury as both having been the lineal Brawl for All Champ.
As a side note to this fun tidbit, some fight fans actually view Floyd Mayweather as the current lineal Brawl for All Champion. For that logic to work, one has to widen the net from straight-up boxing to the grander world of combat sports and also discount a 2001 boxing loss to Billy Zumbrun. That viewpoint sees the Brawl for All title enter the MMA world when Butterbean lost to Genki Sudo for the K-1 promotion in 2003, with the 154 lbs Sudo then taking that 'championship' into the lightweight ranks of MMA.
With your writer being somewhat of an MMA nerd with a little bit of time on their hands on a slow news day, that logic sees the lineage of the Brawl for All Title as follows:
- Norifumi Yamamoto defeated Genki Sudo by TKO at Hero's 4 in December 2005
- Joe Warren defeated Norifumi Yamamoto by split decision at Dream 9 in May 2009
- Bibiano Fernandes defeated Joe Warren by submission at Dream 11 in October 2009
- Hiroyuki Takaya defeated Bibiano Fernandes by unanimous decision at Dynamite!! 2010 in December 2010
- Robbie Peralta defeated Hiroyuki Takaya by split decision at Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley in April 2011
- Akira Corassani defeated Robbie Peralta by unanimous decision at UFC on Fuel TV: Mousasi vs. Latifi in April 2013
- Dustin Poirier defeated Akira Corassani by TKO at The Ultimate Fighter Nations Finale: Bisping vs. Kennedy in April 2014
- Conor McGregor defeated Dustin Poirier by TKO at UFC 178 in September 2014
- Nate Diaz defeated Conor McGregor by submission at UFC 196 in March 2016
- Conor McGregor defeated Nate Diaz by majority decision at UFC 202 in August 2016
- Floyd Mayweather defeated Conor McGregor at The Biggest Fight in Combat Sports History in August 2017
As such, that school of thought has Money Mayweather as the lineal Brawl for All Champion.