Al Snow

Allen Ray Sarven (born July 18, 1963, in Lima, Ohio) is a professional wrestler better known by his ring name of Al Snow. He is best known for his work in Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment.

World Wrestling Federation (1990s)
In the mid-1990s, following a notable run in Smoky Mountain Wrestling, Sarven began working for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) when he signed a contract in August 1995. Sarven wrestled under numerous gimmicks in the WWF, such as Avatar (a superhero gimmick with Sarven putting on his mask right before starting a match) and Shinobi (a generic Ninja-style gimmick). He also competed in and lost a match against Marty Jannetty under the name Steve Moore. Sarven received his first mainstream exposure with the WWF as Leif Cassidy, the heel tag team partner of Marty Jannetty. The duo was promoted as "The New Rockers", a throwback to the original Rockers of Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty. Eventually, the storyline was dropped, and Sarven was reduced to jobbing for mid-carders. In the late 1990s, WWF and ECW began to cross-promote their organizations to counteract the success of WCW; Sarven was one of the wrestlers sent to ECW.

Extreme Championship Wrestling (late 1990s)
Within this new environment, Sarven found success as the character Al Snow. In this role, Sarven received a lot of fan and management support for his J.O.B. Squad storyline, which promoted him as being angry with and driven mad by his years as a jobber for the WWF. He would come to the ring with a mannequin head that he talked to as if it were a real person, which prompted ECW crowds to chant "We want head", an intentional double entendre. ECW promoters handed out styrofoam mannequin heads at wrestling shows, and audience members started waving them and shouting, "Head! Head! Head!" in time to his entrance music. The entire audience would then throw the heads into the ring before the match started. Once in his ECW career, he wrestled for the ECW Heavyweight title, losing to Shane Douglas at Wrestlepalooza 1998.

1998-2000
Just two days before he was booked to win the ECW Heavyweight Championship, Sarven was recalled to the WWF, where he continued his gimmick of talking to "Head," creating some of the more memorable humorous skits of the "Attitude Era." He was a face during this period.

Snow received some mainstream publicity in 1999 when Wal-Mart pulled his action figure from their shelves after Sabrena Parton, a professor at Kennesaw State University, complained that "Head" was a "decapitated woman's head" that sent an inappropriate message about violence towards women. Parton was quoted as saying "My sons are 6 and 11. What kind of message would this toy send them about brutalization of women?" Snow used the story as part of an angle in which the controversy caused him to suffer from depression. In one skit, Snow called his mother (kayfabe), observing that the stores wouldn't sell his action figures, but would sell shotguns and ammunition. This led Snow to dump Head and his ECW persona, eventually overhauling his gimmick but not before an infamous feud and match with the Big Bossman during the autumn of 1999.

In early 2000, he began to team with Steve Blackman as an "odd couple" tag team called Head Cheese (so called because of Snow's attempt to get Blackman, a Wisconsin native, to wear a Green Bay Packers "Cheese" hat).

Later Snow would side with real life friend Mick Foley, but turned heel by betraying him due to Foley joking about him in his autobiography, Have A Nice Day. He would later turn face again due to fan reaction. Snow was often the butt of Mick Foley's jokes during Foley's tenure as WWF Commissioner in 2000. However, they are close friends in real life. Foley continued to use Snow as the butt of many jokes in his second book, Foley Is Good: And the Real World Is Faker than Wrestling.

Also in 2000, he won the European Championship from Perry Saturn. He would then start to enter the ring to certain European countries' native music and wearing attire which would suit the stereotype of that country. Before long, he lost the title to William Regal.

2002-2007
He was drafted to SmackDown! as part of the 2002 brand extension, where he teamed up with former student Maven. After taking time off again for another season of Tough Enough, Snow returned as a member of the RAW roster and eventually became a commentator for Sunday Night Heat alongside Jonathan Coachman. When the Coach sided with Eric Bischoff, Snow followed suit, turning heel. The two feuded with Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler, and briefly replaced them at the RAW announce table. When Tough Enough IV came to SmackDown!, Snow was on the scene and turned face once again.

Prior to returning to WWE's active roster, Snow was pinned by MWF Heavyweight Champion "Sudden Impact" Dylan Kage of Paul Bearer's Trifecta at MWF Fireworks On The 4th.

In 2006, Snow returned to wrestling full-time as a member of the new ECW brand of World Wrestling Entertainment. His first appearance in the new brand was in the WWE vs ECW battle royal at the "WWE vs. ECW Head to Head" special, where he was accompanied by Head. He was eliminated from the match. On the June 13 2006 debut of ECW on Sci-Fi, Snow participated in an Extreme Battle Royal, which was won by Sabu. Over the next six months, he was used sporadically, mostly as a jobber, losing to people such as Test and Kevin Thorn.

On January 18 2007, Snow was released from his wrestling contract with WWE, along with several other superstars. However, he remained with the company as a trainer at OVW. He resides in the Louisville Kentucky area with his girlfriend pro wrestler Cynthia Lynch. On the February 3 2007 OVW TV tapings, Al Snow was named the new OVW Troubleshooter by Danny Davis in response to Danny Basham's WWE release.

Championships and accomplishments

 * Border City Wrestling
 * BCW Can-Am Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Denny Kass


 * Jersey All Pro Wrestling
 * JAPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)


 * Midwest Championship Wrestling
 * MCW-ICW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
 * MCW Midwest Tag Team Championship (2 times)
 * MCW Midwest Territorial Championship (1 time)
 * MCW-ICW United States Tag Team Championship (6 times)


 * Midwest Territorial Wrestling
 * MTW Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
 * MTW Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Ray Roberts


 * Motor City Wrestling
 * MCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
 * MCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Denny Kass


 * Smoky Mountain Wrestling
 * SMW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Unibomb


 * USA Pro Wrestling
 * USA Pro Heavyweight Championship (1 time)


 * USA Xtreme Wrestling
 * UXW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)


 * World Wrestling Alliance
 * WWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Mickey Doyle


 * World Wrestling Federation
 * WWF European Championship (1 time)
 * WWF Hardcore Championship (6 times)
 * WWF World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Mankind


 * Pro Wrestling Illustrated
 * PWI ranked him # 329 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003.


 * Wrestling Observer Newsletter
 * Most Underrated Wrestler in 1996


 * Other Titles
 * GWA Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
 * GWA Tag Team Championship (5 times) - with Mike Kelly