Al & Marty, as the New Rockers...



Al as Avatar, with a look ripped off from Hayabusa, in FMW...



Al as Shinobi, the Ninja...



Al got his start in the early 80s, and worked on the ICW tv show as a jobber, in this match...



Al worked mostly in the Midwest, through the 80s, including in the dying days of the WWA, where he worked with Don Kent as a revived version of the Fabulous Kangaroos. He worked a match in Michigan, against sabu, which led him to working for ECW, then picked up bookings in Smoky Mountain, for Jim Cornette. Corny & Heyman agreed he could work both places; but, his ECW bookings were low and he went to Smoky Mountain full time, where he teamed with Unibomb, aka Glenn Jacobs, who would go up to the WWF as Dr Isaac Yankem, then Fake Diesel, then, finally , Kane. Snow got a gig around the same time, doing Avatar, inspired by the Power Rangers.



The mask is a Hayabusa mask...



He worked as Shinobi, as a hired assassin, paid for by Cornette, to attack Shawn Michaels.



No idea if they thought the Shinobi gimmick was done or if they ran into issues with the video game people. He became Leif Cassidy after this, without his moustache (which he had in ICW and WWA, up through Smoky Mountain).

Really, it took a second chance with Heyman and ECW to get Al over, with Head.



Point of trivia: Al Snow trained Dan Severn fro pro wrestling and acted as his coach and trainer, and was in his corner, at UFC4. Al had a legit background in karate, as well as his training for pro wrestling, and used to incorporate martial arts elements in his matches.

Al was one of those "best unknown" guys in wrestling, by the early 90s, promoted by such guys as Dave Meltzer and the Apter mags as one of the best guys on the indie scene.

Indeed!

There are so many dream matches I think about. 1992 Vader vs Brock Lesnar. IWGP Hogan vs 1994 Shawn Michaels. The Road Warriors vs The Mega Powers. So many...

We spoke about Elizabeth a few pages back. This was a really credible and memorable moment, one of many where wrestling just felt more real:






I've always known wrestling was scripted. In the same way I know the Autobots are CGI in the Michael Bay movies. But during the wrestling show/movie, I want to believe. And in an era where kayfabe was stronger, it was easier to believe. Such intensity in that video above.

I think wrestling lost its magic over time. The Montreal Screwjob fallout didn't help. Vince Russo's "meta-fiction garbage" didn't help, whether it be Buff Bagwell discussing the script of a match backstage or the Hogan/Russo stuff at Bash at the Beach 2000. And, as time has gone on, well wrestlers are more open on social media. I mean, imagine back in the 80s, if Twitter had existed, seeing Warlord tweeting off-duty pictures about his barbecue or Hogan and King Kong Bundy openly discussing working together.

I know we can watch actors sit together. Christian Bale and Tom Hardy could have shared a couch on a late-night chat show, no problem. But they would have been there as Christian Bale and Tom Hardy, not Batman and Bane. Wrestlers sort of live, or should live, the characters 24/7. Many of which are just amplified versions of themselves. So I think a little of their mystique can be destroyed when they openly discuss feuds, scripting, share social media pics of barbecues, etc.

As I've posted about before, so many little factors help. Commentary is one. The commentators I watched as a kid all treated it like a real sport, e.g. Gorilla Monsoon saying something like, "He can choke him all he wants, but if he does not let go, the referee will disqualify him." Or Vince McMahon, during a WWF title match (featuring, say, Bret Hart), saying, "Did you see that? It's entirely possible the WWF championship could change hands tonight."

Treat it like a real sport - and us suspension of disbelief sorts will accept it.

I would say Jim Cornette, Kevin Nash and Al Snow provide the most entertaining insight into wrestling via the Kayfabe Commentaries series.

I believe if Cornette was elected president, the nuclear button would be pushed hours after he took the oath...