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With the recent “innovation” of RAW Underground, which is like regular RAW but somehow (fake) grittier, there have been no shortage of comparisons between this “new” concept and the dreaded Brawl For All. But when I saw RAW Underground, I didn’t see Brawl For All, I saw something more obscure…and worse. That’s right, I’m talking about WCW’s short live concept, The Block.

As bad as it was, Brawl For All isn’t the appropriate comparison here. Don’t get me wrong, the event where Bart Gunn knocked out Dr. Death for the privilege to get knocked the f$#@ out by Jabba The Hutt’s great grandfather was bad, but it was bad for a different reason.

Brawl For All for better or worse (and it was worse) was an attempt to replicate Tough man contests, which were actually popular at the time. Hell, UFC back then was called “human cockfighting” and after seeing Tank Abbot punch a guy in the face 200 times, the comparison seems pretty apt.

The Block was something entirely different.

What was The Block?

Put simply, The Block was WCW’s attempt at Fight Club. Yes, I’m serious. Fight Club, for those of you who just came out of a coma, is a movie based on the book of the same name by Chuck Palahniuk starring Brad Pitt and Edward Norton about an insomniac who gets roped into an underground network of bare-knuckle fights by…himself that ends with him shooting himself in the mouth and blowing up banks. Don’t ask.

Anyway, this movie would become extremely popular following its release, leading all types of supposed “secret badasses” to decide they wanted to be in their own fight club. For many, this desire would change the minute they got punched in the mouth and realized they no longer wanted to be in their own fight club. The film was released in the US on October 15, 1999 and would become a cult classic almost immediately.

What does this have to do with wrestling?

In a truly just world, nothing. But that’s not what WCW was in late 1999. The Turner braintrust had sent Eric Bischoff home and had just hired a loudmouth named Vince to run their company. No, the other one. And that’s why Fight Club made its way to WCW programming. In the first segment, the announcers even refer to it as WCW’s version of a fight club.

Vince Russo is a professed pop culture junkie and seems to like wrestling only in that it paid him. So, as he would often do, Vince Russo used Fight Club as the inspiration for something kind of like it, but somehow worse. Now I’m not saying definitively this was a Vince Russo idea. I don’t know, I wasn’t there. But based on everything the guy has ever done in pro wrestling, yeah, this was a Vince Russo idea.

The Block was the framework in which lower card WCW guys would get into fist fights backstage at WCW shows. Kind of like how sometimes they did in real life, but now the fights would look fake and be on camera. It all started on November 15, 1999 where Jerry Flynn, who was in a civil war of sorts with fellow First Family members, challenged The Barbarian to a fight in The Block, which the scary Tongan accepted. Which brings us to our next question.

Where was The Block?

Basically, it was whatever backstage boiler room-esque area they could find in whatever building WCW was in that week. If there were pipes, concrete, and a glowing exit sign in the background, congratulations, you’re in The Block.

The “Rise”

Jerry Flynn would prove to be the biggest star and focal point of The Block (think about that for a second), challenging everyone from the aforementioned Barbarian (who in real life had fought off police, handcuffs, and mace) The Wall, The Maestro (in the biggest mismatch since Meng was left alone with all those puppies), and even WCW hardcore icon Norman Smiley.

The Block was sold as straight up fights, where only punches, kicks, and submissions were allowed, no actual wrestling moves. Which, if you ever saw Jerry Flynn wrestle, that’s probably a good thing. After the first week’s fight with Jerry Flynn knocking The Barbarian out with karate kicks (which immediately showed how fake these “real” fights were because, let’s be honest, The Barbarian would literally eat Jerry Flynn if given the chance/time), Flynn would go on to challenge more men to meet him in the ever changing Block.

The problem is that segments involving The Block were boring and long. Boy were they long. Think about the best fist fight you ever saw. Go back to middle school if you have to. Think of a movie if you don’t have any first hand experience. Now imagine that, two people throwing wild punches and kicks at each other, for 5 minutes or more. Do you see the problem?

The supposed draw of The Block was that these were real fights. And that’s the problem that everyone overlooked: real fights are boring. It’s one thing to see a pro wrestling match that features two guys trade chops or punches for a couple seconds before getting to the actual wrestling. Hell, it’s even different when two well trained fighters stand up and go shot for shot in a major league MMA promotion. But two pro wrestlers having worked “shoot” fist fights in a janitor’s closet for 5 minutes? That hard for anyone to enjoy.

And the live crowd let WCW know it, too. During the fight between Flynn and The Wall on November 29th (which ended after Berlyn entered The Block and attacked Flynn with a pipe. Yes, even their version of Fight Club had run ins), the live crowd actively booed the seemingly endless barrage or kicks, punches, and The Wall kicking open The Door of The Block.

Flynn would then go on to basically kill The Maestro on December 6th in a mismatch I can’t properly describe without getting into examples of war crimes.

The Fall

The following week, Jerry Flynn would end up fighting “Screamin” Norman Smiley while the latter wore full football gear because WCW.

This would involve interference by the also-fighting Meng and Tank Abbot, who would enter The Block during the course of their own unrelated backstage brawl. Smiley would run out of The Block screaming (of course) while Meng, for some reason, followed behind him. Tank Abbott would then proceed to fight Jerry Flynn. The entire segment ended as the two were still fighting when the announcers went to a replay of the fake fight then just moved on to the next segment. Alright.

The following week, this would lead to Jerry Flynn and Tank Abbott…having a regular match…in a ring. Sure. This was a No Holds Barred Match that boiled down to a bunch of punches and kicks. Which basically meant it was a Block match held outside The Block. For some reason. It ended after the two (shock) knocked out the referee and security tried to stop them. Security handcuffed Jerry Flynn for some reason, allowing Tank to punch a helpless opponent square in the face. Then again, if more of his opponents were in that position during his MMA career, Tank would have a better win-loss record.

And that’s pretty much it. After the Jerry Flynn-Tank Abbott classic, all mentions of The Block stopped. Probably because WCW got buyer’s remorse over Vince Russo and sent him home, taking his “can’t miss” ideas with him.

With The Block going back to just being a functional room in the building where all the pipes are kept, Jerry Flynn would continue in WCW in pretty much the same position he was in his entire WCW run. In case you’re wondering, his feud with Tank Abbott ended at Souled Out 2000 where Flynn got knocked out in 1:39. Flynn would be released from WCW in April of 2000 and Abbott would end up dancing for a fake boy band. Nothing I just typed is a lie.

So there you have it, the short-lived WCW take on Fight Club that still lasted longer than it should have.

Do you remember The Block? What was your favorite Block fight? I’m kidding, it was all awful. But if you have anything you’d like to share, feel free to comment below.