The Answer Man Who did Al Snow wrestle in his professional debut? Al Snow noted in his pre-match interview before facing Shane Douglas at ECW's WrestlePalooza pay-per-view that his debut occurred on 11/24/82. Two common Wrestling at the Chase matches from 1982 have Snow facing Hercules Hernandez and Kerry Von Erich. Either one of these matches could conceivably have been his pro debut. Snow started wrestling in 1982 after being trained by Jim Lancaster. Lancaster was a veteran wrestler who was appearing at the Chase at that time. Lancaster was on the 1975 debut of IWA (International Championship Wrestling). His first few years he did TV jobs for AWA, Poffo's ICW, St Louis Wrestling at the Chase, etc. He might be remembered as one of the "New Fabulous Kangaroos," teaming with Denny Kass.Before that as part of the Wild Bunch with Mike Kelly. Snow also attended Gene Anderson's one day workout. This was mentioned in the April 1995 issue of The Wrestler in an article called "The Veteran superstar that you never heard of! AL SNOW-Drifting Towards superstardom" This fact is also mentioned in the August 1998 edition of WWF Magazine (pages 14-19) in an articled titled "What happened to Al Snow?" Here is an excerpt from that article: A man who consistently earned praise from his fellow artists throughout his career, Al Snow's career began in the humblest of settings. Who would have thought, with the gallery he now possesses, his career very nearly never got started? Right after high school graduation in 1981, Snow sold his car for bus fare and the registration fee to try out for the Anderson brothers in North Carolina In his own words, Snow has described the ordeal as "barbaric." A group of about 20 young men from all over the country wanted to learn the art of professional wrestling from a renowned veteran. Instead, they paid $250 each to get their asses kicked. After what seemed like thousands of Hindu squats and push-ups and an agonizing array of sprints and dashes, it was time to get into the ring. The 18-year-old Snow just wanted to be a wrestler. He would now finally have his chance.With his legs quivering from having run the arena steps thousands of times and a lactic acid burn in every muscle of his body, Al Snow would soon lock up with Gene Anderson. First, he witnessed several other wannabes get a chance with one half of the Minnesota Wrecking Crew. Anderson punched, kicked, clawed and bit until each young man had had enough. With the ring cleared, it was Al Snow and Gene Anderson. Following the brutal pummeling, Snow went to take a shower. He saw Gene, who told him he'd never make it. With no money, he had to walk five miles to get to the bus station and back home to Lima, Ohio... The Job Squad web page, also mentions Snow's training with Anderson and Lancaster. Here is the excerpt from that site: It took two years of long distance phone calls before Al Snow ever reached step one of being trained more than 15 years ago. The Anderson brothers finally invited Snow to scratch up enough money and take a 24 hour bus trip to North Carolina for a try-out. Snow's first taste of the wrestling business would quickly become his first taste of frustration. He was forced to jog five miles, run all the stairs in the Charlotte Coliseum, do 500 squat thrusts, 400 push-ups and fight three students before Gene Anderson beat him up, threatened to take his eye out, and sent him back home on another 24 hour bus ride. But the will in Snow did not succumb to this first of 15 years of frustration as Snow finally found a teacher in Big Jim Lancaster. Al was elated just to be trained, even if it wasn't in a fancy gym, even if he had to take fall after fall on a concrete floor covered only by a 1/2" tumbling mat.