Bart Gunn

[6.0] "Poor Bart Gunn. He had decent tag run with Billy as the Smoking Gunns, winning some tag team titles before their split up. Then the next time we see him after the failed attempt of a feud with Billy was Brawl 4 All which destroyed his career in America. I know the WWF wanted Dr. Death to win the whole thing to build to a Steve Austin feud at Summerslam 1998, but Bart knocked his ass OUT cold in the first round and Vince decided to punish him. He won the whole tournament (which we were told the winner would get a WWF title show, they did not). Instead, Bart got a shoot boxing match with Butterbean at WrestleMania 15 as his punishment for knocking Steve Williams out. Then he went to All Japan (which I haven't seen but I hear that it is good.)"

[7.0] "WWE royally screwed this guy. He's one of the major examples of Vince's "You got to reach up and grab that brass ring" saying is complete BS. If Vince doesn't want to push you then you won't be pushed. Bart went on to atleast have a good career in All Japan. He won the World Tag Team Championship with Johnny Ace in 1999 [Their Movement Crush {where Bart presses a guy and tosses him into Johnny's Ace Crusher} is nasty. Makes the 3D look weak in comparison. ] The Stan Hansen Cup in 2002 with Jim Steele [who previously worked in the territory as Wolf Hawkfield [yes the Virtua Fighter Character] and he won the Korakuen Hall Heavyweight Battle Royal [their equivalent to the Royal Rumble] in 2001. He was also a Finalist in the 2002 Champion Carnival losing to Keiji Mutoh [Great Muta]. And along the way Bart and Dr. Death went 50/50 in a feud focused on the Brawl For All Fight. Then they would become allies [Doc was even his corner for his 2002 Champion Carnival match against Tenryu. And he was celebrating with Bart after he beat Genichiro Tenryu [who teamed with Koji Kitao to beat Demolition Smash and Crush at Wrestlemania 7]. Bart would even team with Doc and Mike Rotunda [Doc and Mike were teaming and revived the Varsity Club] in 6 Man Tag Matches. Why couldn't we get this payoff in WWF? Then when him and Jim Steele moved to New Japan they won the IWGP Tag Team Championships #1 Contenders tournament with Jim Steele in 2003. If there were secondary titles in Japan like there are in the US promotions [Intercontinental, US, etc] then he more than likely would have had more title reigns. He had 2 tryout matches with Jim Steele for the WWE. They won both, but ultimately weren't signed. He also had a nice scrap with Perry Saturn in TNA and unfortunately broke his hand during the match during this time as well. He appeared in WWE RAW's 15th Anniversary Battle Royal. He quietly retired after this. The Man is well over due for his flowers."

[4.0] "Imagine being the Marty Jannetty to Billy Gunn's Shawn Michaels? You have got to feel for the poor sod. Other than the Smoking Gunns, he is best known for Brawl for All and the even more stupid decision to put him in with Butterbean at 'Mania that murdered any chance he had to keep his career going in a major promotion in the States. He had a pretty acceptable career in Japan after this but I would struggle to recommend you need to go seek it out."

[5.0] "Billy Gunn needed *someone* to tag with on his way to solidifying his career as being borderline legendary. Now, with that being said: what else can we say that's glowing and positive about Bart Gunn? He looked the part, played the role and didn't look out of place when in the ring against your Owen Hart's and British Bulldog's. What of his career post Smoking Gunns? yikes - not good."

[7.0] "One of the WWF's most unforseen sensations in my opinion. Because Bart, who I can only assume kayfabed his past as a legitimate tough guy from the boys / the WWF while he was there, changed pro wrestling's entire outlook on him via the punching power in his left hand during the brawl 4 all. I believe he called it "The Golden Left" when he was in All Japan. He went from being looked at as this solid tag specialist who more than held up his end of the team in every team he was apart of, heck the smoking gunns I think were 3 or 4 time tag team champions, to being this bad ass on television that no one saw coming. I don't think it was ever truly capitalized on it afterwards."

[5.0] "Did just fine as part of the Smoking Gunns, then after Billy went onto better things after escaping a horrible gimmick, Bart Gunn got repackaged into a lame jab at Jim Cornette and then dared to mess up the infamous Brawl For All tournament by actually being good at legit boxing, then the WWF sent him out there to die on the biggest stage at Mania 15 and that was it for him pretty much in the US. Heard he did okay in Japan but haven't seen anything of it."

[4.0] "He was a halfway decent worker in an era where the halfway decent workers grew on trees, especially in the WWF. He had all the tools to be the "IT" guy, but like almost everyone from the Attitude Era, he was plagued by bad booking and had a lot of faults for a lot of upsides too."

[6.0] "The worse of the Smoking Gunns, and unfortunately Vince Russo killed his whole career in the Brawl For All. He's a pretty uninteresting worker but he isn't bad by any means. His work in Japan is pretty alright."

[6.0] "Actually not that bad. Go beyond his shitty Smoking Guns and NWA stuff and you'll find a competent, albeit basic worker who really got to good lengths in Japan and was semi-legitimate in challenging the top guys with his size and reputation. Sure, he was never going to cut the greatest promos or got anything of a actual strong singles push (outside of the 2001 Champion Carnival which somehow had him be the guy to almost take the full thing) but put him in with competent enough wrestlers and he can do not half-bad: not as great as everyone else, mind you, but reasonable."

[7.0] "I think he coulda feuded with Austin if he had the chance to continue to be a badass instead of wwe making him sit at home and then Butterbean beating him. He was a good safe worker and I think his work in Japan is quite good."

[6.0] "Had a decent career. Won three tag titles with Billy Gunn as the Smoking Gunns. After they broke up Gunn did not do well in WWF. He won the Brawl For All tournament which was silly. Great in the indies and Japan."

[8.0] "Bart Gunn was a badass thorough and through , it's sad that WWE never put him in the SmackDown! series , such a waste for them to not do so. Sadly after winning the Brawl for All WWE treated him to a 1 on 1 boxing match against Butterbean which K. O'd Gunn in only a matter of seconds. He won the Brawl for All , which proved that he was the best real fighter at the time in the WWE , and I loved the Smoking Gunns/Smokin' Gunns. The man was awesome."

[4.0] "Acceptable in-ring performer, kind of dull in terms of character and moveset though. Not bad but absolutely not exciting."

[4.0] "I first got into wrestling when the Smoking Gunns were around, so I have a bit of a soft spot in my heart for that team. For a while, the Gunns were actually booked as being credible and regularly were part of Raw's bigger matches. But once they split, Bart was DOA. He most notably won the worst tournament in WWE history in the Brawl for All, but that whole this was a train wreck, so him winning actually made him look like the biggest loser in the end."

[4.0] "Bart Gunn was a competent worker, but he lacked any quality that would have enabled him to rise above the middle of the card. In Japan, he got a push off of knocking out Steve Williams, but the lack of aforementioned qualities meant that the push had its limits."

[5.0] "Bart Gunn was well established as a tag team specialist as half of the Smokin' Gunns, which led he and partner Billy Gunn to three WWF Tag Team Championships. After that team split, he entered and ultimately won the Brawl For All tournament as a dark horse prospect. Though the tournament was a critical trainwreck, it came at a time of burgeoning popularity for MMA and toughman competitions, and it might have been Gunn's ticket to singles stardom - unfortunately, his reward for winning the tournament was a final Brawl For All match against toughman champion Butterbean at WrestleMania, where Gunn suffered a humiliating defeat in seconds. Though that effectively ended his career in the US, he went on to a decent run with All Japan, where he had a tag title run with Johnny Ace. He returned to WWE for one final appearance in the 15th Anniversary Battle Royal on Raw in 2007 before calling it a career."

[4.0] "Solid in-ring performer, but never a breakout star in the US scene. Very boring personality, his "Lefty" days were his best but were destroyed by Butterbean."