On the Road

On the Road /Dave Lenker/ Inside Wrestling


After paying very close attention to Al Snow over the past few months, I have come to the conclusion that he really doesn't care whether he lives or dies. There has never been any sane reasoning behind Snow's actions or any consistency to his behavior. Returning to a federation in which he clearly wasn't wanted was a pretty strange move, but nothing has been stranger than his dealings with Mankind.

Snow should have realized a while ago that he's better off fighting with Mankind than fighting against him, but during a recent week in Florida, Snow put his body and life on the line a few times too many in his dealings with Mankind.The first event was a falls-count-anywhere match between Snow and Mankind.

Now, only a complete psychotic would agree to a falls-count-anywhere match against Mankind, who is virtually unbeatable once the rules are thrown out the window, but Snow didn't merely accept the match. He was actually boasting about how he was 'going to kick Mankind's butt' before the match even began!Before the bell rang, Snow charged at Mankind with a baseball bat, but Mankind was waiting with a chair.

That's the thing about Mankind: If you come up with a weapon, you can pretty much guarantee that he's going to have an even better weapon. Anyway, before the match was over, Mankind had done the following terrible things to Snow:double-armed DDT'd him onto a steel sign; clawed his groin with a pair of tongs; and bowled a bowling ball into Snow's crotch.At one point in the match, Snow and Mankind fought into the locker room. For some reason, the cameras didn't follow, so all we heard were noises. Painful noises. And the noises sounded as if they were coming from Snow.Not surprisingly, Mankind won the match.

A night earlier, The Rock 'n' Sock Connection had a great match against The Dudley Boyz. Rock 'n' Sock has turned into the most popular tag team in wrestling, and the Dudley Boyz, with their we-don't-care attitude and no-nonsense style, have been doing quite well for themselves as well. The match promised to be a great one, and it was.

The Dudley Boyz dominated the early going, but The Rock and Mankind took advantage by slamming The Boyz with a steel chair. the Rock scored with a spinning neckbreaker and a DDT on Buh Buh Ray, but couldn't get the pin. Mankind ended up getting double-teamed by the Dudleys, but he showed his usual resiliency in battling back.The Rock then took control, scoring with a Samoan drop on Buh Buh and a spinebuster on D-Von. The Rock covered D-Von for the pin, but Buh Buh pulled away the referee and knocked him out.

Then, suddenly, someone wearing a vince McMahon mask and referee's shirt came to the ring and made the three-count on Mankind, apparently giving the victory to the Dudleys. But the Rock hit a Rock Bottom on Buh Buh, and the real referee recovered to make the real three-count.The imposter Vince/referee turned out to be Al Snow.

This wasn't the first time Snow had interfered in a Rock 'n' Sock match, but it was his most outlandish and one-sided interference. Let's face it: Any man who takes orders from a mannequin head is missing a few screws. That's obvious. But don't we expect wrestlers to be a bit off the wall? After all, the very nature of the game appeals to lunatics, people who are willing to take a lot of punishment for a living. Mankind is not what I would call a normal individual, but at least was sane enough to write a best-selling autobiography.

Al Snow might not live long enough to write his autobiography. Mankind seems hellbent on running him out of wrestling on a gurney, and if Snow doesn't redirect his energy real soon, Mankind is going to succeed.The only possibility here is that Snow is trying to become a major star by becoming the prime target of two of the biggest stars in the WWF: Mankind and The Rock.

There are times when such a strategy works, but there are also times when the enemy of the major stars is the enemy of the major stars and nothing else. The stars remain stars, and the enemy remains an extra as the fans wait for the next enemy to show up. So far, the fans' interest in Snow seems lukewarm at best. I think they just like watching Mankind work his destructive magic on any poor soul. If it's Snow, fine. If it's somebody else, that's fine too,Here's my advice for Al Snow: Find another enemy. Better yet, pick a WWF Title (and don't make it the World Title--at least not yet).

Pick some opponents. Move up the ladder. Contend for the title. Maybe win it. Keep away from Mankind and The Rock for now. Find a good psychologist. Burn the mannequin Head. Well, I must be crazy. Expecting Al Snow to take sane advice? No way.