Al Snow and Mankind's Rivalry

Al Snow and Mankind's Rivalry by Too ra yay

Is there any explanation behind this odd verbal rivalry going on between Mankind and Al Snow that we've been seeing lately? Yes, I know that Mankind gave Al a chair shot in a recent match, but it wasn't something to build a feud off of, especially since Al's occupied with the hardcore title and Bob Holly and Mick's consumed with Paul Wight and the Corporation. Here's the very funny verbal jabs that have taken place in the last two nights:

 1. Heat: During Mr. Socko's "birthplace" celebration, Mankind goes in to a totally unrelated side note about Al Snow landing an endorsement deal with La-Z-Boy, which he finds odd because he "didn't think Al sold chairs". Very funny little remark for the smarks, but why the hell did he bring it up at this time?

2. RAW: As Mankind looks for the boiler room, he passes a man at a desk and asks him for directions. Mick asks the man if he played for the Red Wings, then makes a remark about how He and Al Snow used to play "tonsil hockey". Pretty oddly funny moment, but a real WTF moment as well.

3. RAW: Al Snow comes out for commentary during a Hardcore rules match. Apparently in delayed response to Mick's comments, he mentions something about the odor of Mankind. I can't remember exactly what he said, but again it was totally out of context at the moment it was said.

The question is what is the purpose of this? Is this foreshadowing a feud between the two (which would seem badly timed considering Snow is a midcarder at best and Foley is a bona fide main eventer)? Or is this a little friendly rivalry they happen to be having backstage, considering their long history of working together? It wasn't too long ago that Al and Mick were allies in the WWF, and there hasn't been any real reason to expect them to feud other than the inconsequential run-in several weeks ago.

Posted in Deja News

Editors note:There was also Mud Slinging by Mick at the Special that aired the Night before the PPV about Mick going to a museum and finding in the back hidden away in a corner a video tape of Al Snow's last good Match,and Mick also said"On behafe of all WWF wrestlers....and Al Snow"

I know for a fact that Al and Mick are very good friends and drive to house shows together,so this was pretty much just two friends making fun of each other

webmaster Wayne


The Informer/Raw Magazine July 1999

All good fun? The one-time playful rivalry between Mankind and Al Snow is no longer funny to either man. It seems that the cheap shots each have suffered at the hands of the other have taken their toll on what was once a solid friendship. There are rumors floating around now that this backstage rivalry may be brought to TV hardcore-style.

First, a little background, the informer, know it....Mick and Al traveled together when Snow returned the the WWF in 98. As a way to pass the long hours in the car, riding partners will verbally spar and Foley and Snow are no different.

Once they made it to the building, each would claim victory in the "put down" department to others in the locker room. Over time, Mankind began to amass a group of "cronies," as Al refers to them.

Whether they were funny or not, these locker room "cronies" laughed at every Mankind joke and purposely yawned at every Snow offering. Sides were drawn in this comedic battle, but it was all in good fun.

Durning a Hardcore incident on raw March 1 from Cleveland's Gund Arena, Al Snow was brutally beaten with a chair. Conventional wisdom suggested that Al stay down after the first, but Snow's desire to show his toughness(or insanity) made him get up. After the 4th one, Al finally stayed and sustained a concussion in the process. This rubbed some in the locker room and in the front office the wrong way, specifically Mankind.

Remember it was Mick who had been hit with a chair 12 times at the Royal Rumble only five weeks earlier. If anyone was going to have patent on self-destruction, it appeared that would be Mick Foley. Was Al wrong for doing what he did or did he simply step on Mankinds toes?

Regardless, Al was apparently in the doghouse with the front office again.  In time, heat with the office dissipates naturally. However, Al felt that Mick was causing it to linger by making references to it behind the scenes and on TV.

Mick felt this was nothing more then the harmless ribbing he and Al had traded for nearly a year. Tension was beginning to build and it boil over in April at the party celebrating Mr. Socko's birth. Instead of possibly giving credit to the man who suggested to Mankind that he use a sock puppet to cheer the ailing Mr. McMahon, Mick used the socko party to lob another salvo at Al regarding the chair incident, which Al hoped had been forgotten about.

The following night on raw, Al wrongfully took away from a hardcore match involving Hardcore Holly and D'lo Brown to try to even the score with Mick while appearing on commentary.

The two haven't been the same since. The friendship is tainted and they don't even ride together anymore. We're not talking about another "Bret-Shawn" deal, but feelings have definitely been injured. Would either be interested in settling the score, which is really about respect, in the ring?

According to numerous anonymous sources, the offer is going to be made at some point to let these two have at it in a match, more than likely with Hardcore rules in effect. In the words of Vince McMahon: "Respect has to be earned."


When The Laughter Ends How Mick Foley and Al Snow's Friendship Was Tarnished

By: Kevin Kelly

It begins so innocently. A gentle poke here, a friendly jibe there eventually turns into hurt feelings and severed ties. Such may be the case with two long standing friends here in the WWF, as Mick Foley and Al Snow's off-camera friendship was cooled. But a rib is just a rib, isn't it? Yes, but perhaps their problems run much deeper, perhaps sounding the death knell on their once close bond. It may indeed be a case of professional jealousy that has affected Mick and Al.

     I have to admit I was a big part of it, a conduit of ribbing between the two. It was tough playing both sides the way I did. I guess it was my rib on them. When one would rib the other, I was brought in by the impacted side to come up with a response. Some of the ribs were classic.

Leading into this years Royal Rumble, Mick had a promo idea for The Rock. With "Mr. Socko" leading the way, Mick wanted to go to a bakery, name the goods correctly and end with "Mr Socko says, Know your rolls!" When Mick told me about this, I went to Al and had him cut the exact same promo with "Head," which we recorded exclusively for this rib and played back for a shocked Mick Foley. He knew he's been had, but at this time it was still fun.

The two rode together and would play a continuous game of one-upmanship as to who could knock the other the worst. Usually, the jokes were absolutly filthy and could never be reprinted without a plain brown wrapper around the outside. Still, it was all in good fun. Traveling together on the road has its ups and downs. There are days when one wants to kill the other, and other times riding partners can't live without each other. Mick and Al split "trans"-car rental costs, tolls and gas. They shared hotel rooms on occasion as a way to save money. So, where did it go wrong?

     At the 1999 Royal Rumble, Mick Foley was blasted 12 times by a chair swung by the Rock. A few weeks later, the Road Dogg drilled Al Snow four times, swinging a chair on RAW. Both were sadistic answers to the questions about each man's toughness. Unprotected chair shots are metallic reservations for the "Alsheimer's Hilton" and competitors in this business try to avoid them at all costs. But while both were stung by the steel, Al Snow was hurt in another way. The office chastised him. Perhaps after Mick's experience at the Royal Rumble, Al's journey into "Concussionville" was too painful a reminder for everybody and he was wrong and it shouldn't happen again.

     Fine. Let's move on. But now, on the road following this incident, Mick began really putting the verbal boots to Al. In an effort to be funny, Mick made light of the chair incident when Al just wanted to drop it. Foley would bring it up when office people were within earshot. Al wanted to get out of the doghouse, but Mick's reminders kept Snow penned up. Al got mad and Mick apologized. But the bitterness lingered. Mick's getting Al in trouble with the office could have an adverse effect on Al's career and his ability to earn a living. Considering what Al had done for Mick, maybe that shouldn't have happened. But then again, what Mick had done for Al was pretty great as well.

     What did Al do for Mick? He thought of Mr. Socko. Al thought of a pathetic sock puppet show would go nicely with Mankind's appearence at the bedside of a hospitalized Mr. McMahon. It certainly has been a nice addition for Mick. But what did Mick do for Al? Plenty.

     Many say that Mick Foley was the one who broke the barrier here as far as hardcore-style action. Not just the first champion, Mick was allowed to introduce implements of destruction as a way of telling a story in a match. if it wasn't for Mick, there would be no Hardcore Division and you have to wonder if a character like Al Snow's would exhist in the federation without the changes in philosophy. Not to say that Al couldn't get over on his own, but he certainly was a natural fit for the hardcore way of life. To Al's credit, he has furthered the division by creatively setting up the matches that have seen him fight all over arena.

     The apparent good-natured joking continued despite the tension that now existed between both men. At this point, Mick began to gain momentum by cornering the market on co-conspirators. I was one of them, although I acted more as a double agent, continuing to play both sides. Any Mick Foley joke at Al's expense was greeted with uproarious laughter by the crew that Al called "Mick's cronies" or "miserable suck-ups." Owning what Mick has described as "the best fake laugh in the business," I was usually right there for most of the barbs. Of course, any Al Snow offering or reply was met with stone-faced silence from Mick and his gang.

It was time to put up or shut up. Once and for all, the question needed to be answered. Who was the funniest of the pair? And the stand up routine challenge was issued. Again, I was part of that inasmuch as I played both sides. What I proposed was a five-minute window of opportunity to display all their comedic wares-put both acts up on WWF's web site and vote on "who's funnier." Mick, who held the Federation Championship at the time, thought it was a great idea. Al balked at the suggestion, feeling that as Mick was never more popular than right now, there was no way he could lose. Al eventually agreed under protest. What Mick didn't realize was that the contest wasn't real. It was a rib on Mick that Al and I had conjured up. The voting was going to be bogus and when the results were to be announced, Al was going to win by slightest of margins, sending Mick into a certain tizzy.

     Even though we never actually recorded the comedy segments, the idea of doing a stand-up routine intrigued Mick. At the WrestleMania XV Rage Party, Mick was given an interview segment, in which he proceeded to crack "Al Snow jokes" for the better part of five minutes. No response from Al, however, as he wasn't given TV time. That night the complexion of the relationship really began to change.

     It deteriorated even further on a post-WrestleMania run through East Lansing and Detroit, Michigan. During the celebration of the birthplace of Mr. Socko, Mick once again made Al the butt of all the jokes. Desperate for a comeback, Al was given an opportunity to sit in on Raw commentary the following night and he opted instead to knock Mick. Al got into trouble once again, made worse by complaints from Mick. Al's argument? "When Mick does it, it's fine; but when I do it, it's wrong."

     That double standard got him heat first for the chair shot parade and now for his ill-fated comedy effort.

     The next day, in Grand Rapids, I told both Mick and Al I was not going to be in the middle anymore. It had to stop and a ceasefire was called. I never thought that I would get to this point.

     The reasons for the escalating animosity can perhaps best be explained by the playground axiom, "It's all fun and games till somebody gets hurt."

     To both Mick and Al, I am sorry if I aided your friendship being affected. As I said, I never thought it would come to this.


Excepts from Mick's ABCNEWS.com chat 2/3/2000

Charlie writes: Are most wrestlers easy going like yourself, off stage? Any wrestlers ever get carried away off ring with their wrestler personalities?

Mick 'Mankind' Foley: I'll go on record as saying the only wrestler who's a real jerk is Al Snow. I hate Al Snow. I hate his guts. More accurately, I hate every inch of him.

Blake France writes: Mankind, Who was your toughest opponent? Why? What makes a wrestler popular/successful?

Mick 'Mankind' Foley: You know, I've got a couple of toughest opponents. Terry Funk, he took as good as he gave. And also the Undertaker, because he's been wrestling at well less than 100% for the past few years, and still giving it his all. There's no real formula - I just pretty much look at what Al Snow is doing and do the opposite.

Dawn Fraley from Cincinnati asks: What will you most miss about the sport?

Mick 'Mankind' Foley: I will miss the money! No, actually I will miss a lot more than the money. I'll miss being around the guys, except for Al Snow - I won't miss that at all. And I will miss the fans.

Excepts from an Interview with Mick from IGN Scoops


Foley: I'm retired now! And when I wasn't falling 16 to 20 feet in my spare time I didn't like to be in any pain whatsoever! Which is why I rarely watched Al Snow matches. (insane cackle)

Al: After everything you did in your book to Al

Foley: Well, he's going to get me back in his book I understand.

Al: Book?

Foley: It's going to be so thin that it only has one side.

Al: More of a pamphlet really.

Foley: Exactly!

Al: Where did you two meet?

Foley: Believe it or not, the first time I met Al was at the Eddie Gilbert Memorial luncheon before the show. The one thing in my book that I said I definitely regret not doing was taking part in that show. But we met there, we were seated at the same table. Al, Dan Severn, and myself. Actually I briefly met Al at an indy show in Michigan when I wrestled Sabu. Very briefly, but it was the first time we got to talking. I never really guessed upon that first meeting that I'd grow to hate him so much.

Al: A very bitter feud.

Foley: Very bitter. It's the only feud I'm aware of that carried through real life onto television and into a book.

Al: He was in your first book so much, does Al make it into the children's book?

Foley: Absolutely! Would you like to hear a little bit of it?

Al: I'd be honored.

Foley: The elves filled out the children's list, They gave them what they planned.

They even made some Al Snow dolls…

The one's the stores had banned.

Not bad right?

Al: It's beautiful!


Al: We're going to be talking with Al Snow a little bit later, so are you up for a little game?

Foley: Sure!

Al: Like the Newlywed Game. Let's see how well you and Al know each other.

Foley: Sounds good.

Al: What would you say was the most embarrassing character Al Snow has portrayed? You've got your Shinobi, your Avitar, your Leif Cassidy, and of course Al Snow.

Foley: I think (laughs) I think the Al Snow 'look at me I'm nuts' character. I was the guy who told Al when he turned on me, 'maybe you should do away with that "Help Me" on your head, maybe people will take you more seriously'. In all honesty when Al started being Al, I thought he was tremendous. But the few weeks there when they had the angle with The Blue Meanie coming out and saying, 'thanks to medication Al Snow is all better'. I thought that was kinda' weak. So I'll have to say it's the 'look at me I'm nuts' Al Snow.


Al: Finally, if they were going to make "Al Snow: The Movie" tomorrow, who'd play Al Snow?

Foley: (Laughs) I think Al Snow would have to play Al Snow. Even if you had a casting cattle call, nobody is showing up at that audition. Al Snow by process of elimination. There's no manager or agent in the world that's going to send a client to an Al Snow audition!

Al: Best of luck with the new book!

Foley: Thanks…Have a Nice Day!!!