Full Career Retrospective and Greatest Moments for Al Snow

There are few performers who have undergone as many character transformations over the course of their careers as Al Snow.

From masked martial artist to a New Rocker to the unstable, mannequin head-carrying hardcore star, he has proven capable of withstanding numerous failed gimmicks to remain relevant and continue living his dream in the pro wrestling industry.

A solid, if unspectacular, wrestler, it was ultimately his personality and determination that got him over and made him one of the more recognizable midcard stars of the critically acclaimed Attitude Era in World Wrestling Entertainment.

An excellent teacher and trainer, his work on WWE's breakout hit Tough Enough remains some of the greatest and most memorable of his decades-long career.

Now an agent for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, Snow continues to influence some of the most promising stars of this generation.

In celebration of one of the most unselfish performers to ever lace up a pair of boots, enjoy this look back at the career of Al Snow via his finest matches and moments.

A Frustrating Start

To say that things were not necessarily easy for Snow early in his career would be an understatement.

Very much a journeyman competitor, he jumped from territory to territory, winning the occasional championship but never really making much of a dent. He was a good worker and could have solid matches but was never really capable of catching the promoter's eye.

Earning the nickname "wrestling's best kept secret" thanks to his in-ring ability, Snow finally appeared at WWE in the early 1990s, participating in squash matches against the likes of The Undertaker. Unlike more recognizable jobbers such as the Brooklyn Brawler and "Iron" Mike Sharpe, Snow was just another face in the crowd.

Then he unexpectedly donned a mask and became known as a Shinobi, a ninja of sorts.

It was the first awful gimmick with which he would be saddled.

Determined to make it, to become a bigger star than he was allowed to be at WWE, Snow traveled to Japan and then to ECW before finally finding success in Jim Cornette's Smoky Mountain Wrestling promotion, where he captured tag team championships.

His partner?

Unabomb, better known to today's fans as Kane.

The New Rockers

At some point in 1996, with the tag team division at its worst and most depleted state in years, Vince McMahon decided that what WWE fans really wanted was a retread of the legendary Rockers duo. 

With Shawn Michaels the top star in the industry, Marty Jannetty was in need of a new partner.

Enter Snow, working as Leif Cassidy.

A child of the 1960s lost in the '90s, Cassidy was fun, goofy and entertaining, but nowhere near the type of character fans wanted from wrestling at that point in time. After a few months together the team fell apart, and Cassidy was left on his own.

To his credit, he wrestled some excellent pay-per-view bouts, most notably against Flash Funk and "Wildman" Marc Mero, but he was essentially an enhancement talent, never winning.

Again, frustration set in, and Snow began wondering when he would finally get an opportunity to prove what he was capable of between the ropes, on the mic and in character development.

He would find out when he was shipped to Extreme Championship Wrestling in 1997.

Finding Head

ECW and owner Paul Heyman were regularly giving stars who had been lost in the shuffle opportunities to change up their characters and enjoy creative freedom, and Snow capitalized on it.

He developed the Al Snow character, a deranged schizophrenic who talked to a mannequin's head. It was a fresh, unique and interesting character at a time when the industry lacked them and instantly got Snow over.

With a crowd full of rabid fans waving their own foam heads in the air, Snow entered the ECW Arena to what Heyman once called a "rave-like atmosphere" in the 2004 WWE Home Video release The Rise and Fall of ECW. 

Snow became one of the most over stars in the extreme promotion and soon found himself battling Shane Douglas for the heavyweight title.

He did not win the match but certainly caught the eye of Vince McMahon, who did not hesitate to bring Snow back into the fold.

Hardcore Cornerstone

Al Snow returned to WWE in the spring of 1998 and wasted little time making an impact.

His first feud was with Jerry Lawler, Brian Christopher and Scott Taylor, with The King trying desperately to oust Snow from the company. It was a lackluster, B-level feud but did give fans a taste of what they could expect from the character.

It was not until WWE introduced the Hardcore Championship and a division to go along with it that Snow enjoyed his greatest success.

As the cornerstone of the hardcore division, particularly in 1999, he feuded with The Big Boss Man, "Road Dogg" Jesse James and Hardcore Holly, delivering some of the hardest-hitting matches in company history.

Their bouts spilled out of arenas and into restaurants, blizzards and even the Mississippi River.

With his rivals, Snow was instrumental in establishing the hardcore division and ensuring its success. Without him and his creativity, it would have simply been a weak attempt to mimic the action seen in ECW, with guys hitting each other with weapons but never really telling a story or changing things up much.

Throughout his career, Snow amassed six reigns with the hardcore title, making him one of the best to ever hold it.

Heel Turn

One of the more underrated stories from late 1999 featured the wacky pairing of Snow and Mick Foley as a tag team. Real-life friends, they were goofy and fun and made for great partners. With that said, Foley always had a tendency to poke fun at Snow.

By the time The Rock re-entered the picture and Foley opted to team up with him again, despite the fact that The Great One regularly treated him poorly, Snow snapped, turning heel and becoming the enemy of both his longtime friend and wrestling's most electrifying Superstar.

He competed in high-profile matches against both, but unfortunately, the road to WrestleMania 2000 got in the way, and he never really enjoyed a sustained run at the top of the card.

By the time The Showcase of the Immortals rolled around, he was again a babyface, lost in the midcard shuffle and teaming with Steve Blackman in the short-lived Head Cheese tag team.

Odds and Ends

In 2001, Snow became the head trainer on WWE's Tough Enough. 

It was there that the veteran really gained the respect of the audience, imparting his knowledge on the young men and women searching for the opportunity to become WWE Superstars. Stern and strict when he needed to be but also knowledgeable and inspirational, he was an extraordinary teacher and a big reason for the success of the show.

Two years later, he and Jonathan Coachman briefly feuded with Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross over the position of head commentators for Monday Night Raw. At Unforgiven 2003, he and Coachman even beat the legendary duo to take over announcing duties for a week or so.

Snow would make sporadic appearances over the next handful of years before being released from his WWE contract in 2007. 

Now a member of TNA Wrestling, Snow continues to help develop the young stars of today into men and women capable of starring at the highest levels of the sport. He also makes the occasional appearance on television, recently competing against Grado in a teacher-versus-student angle.