Al Snow on Finishing Moves & False Finishes
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- Опубліковано 27 лют 2017
- Al Snow on "Finishing Moves" & "False Finishes:
6 Time WWE Hardcore Champion, WWE Tough Enough Trainer, WWE Tag Team Champion and current TNA Star Al Snow explains his views on how "Finishing Moves" should be implemented in wrestling as well as his definition of what a "False Finish" should be.
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He makes a great point about people not going for the 'knockout blow' of the finisher right away. This is one of the reasons Jake The Snake is one of the greats.
He was going for that DDT from the opening bell to the end. Because the man understood psychology.
But he’s a crackhead so people will never take him serious again
@@robertsparaney917 He's pretty clean now.
I always loved Jake's spot where he would grab his opponents head to go for the DDT. The opponent would slip out out of it and back away from Jake like they were shaken up. Jake would be on his knees holding his thumb and finger barely apart while saying "you were that close".
@@robertsparaney917 At the time he needed to be taken the most seriously, i.e. peak of his career, he made people take him seriously with his work- crackhead or not. Whether they take him seriously now (they actually do) or not doesn't do much for his legacy. Its already set. Whatever he gets now is bonus. Nothing to lose really
Addendum: I was wrong. AEW don't take him seriously. If they did, their matches wouldn't be such indie mark garbage.
Al here just described Checkov's Gun, how plotlines work, climax and anticlimax, sequel hooks and a whole hell of a lot more besides in just over 10 minutes.
Seriously, this dude should teach screenwriting too.
This is such a smart comment. Didn't think about it that way but you're totally right
Wow! I just saw a Rick Flair vs Jake Roberts match in my head.
I might search that up if it exsist.
best match I've seen in awhile
Ian Webb I couldn't agree more! I truly believed in my head it was going on.
That's why so many matches are shit now on tv, he told us a story and we could all visualize the match.
now some guy gonna come and tell you, ok so you do a 450 splash then you do a top rope huricanrana.
what fcking story are you telling me appart that you know how to do flips
Man I'm sitting here high, and this guy talking is blowing my mind.
You made a guy laugh a year later so win/win
Im here blown af, wondering how i got here
Aren't u cool
Al knows his shit bro
My mind was blown bro. As a musician you can apply this theory to encores.
Al seems like a great coach. very calm, explains it well, and seems patient.
I really miss the psychology part of wrestling. I feel like wrestling nowadays is more like an athletic performance instead of a story.
WWE comes across more as an acrobat show.
martinub40
I totally agree sir
danielsan7876 yea if you watch 205 live its all acrobatics, but raw & smackdown aren't even like that
"I really miss the psychology part of wrestling. I feel like wrestling nowadays is more like an athletic performance instead of a story." - - Absolutely right. I think it's because people today have NO imagination and NO attention span in order for the story to "develop". Some of those old Harley Race matches that went on for an hour would bore the audiences of today. However, Race was a master of slowing the pace and keeping you pulled in and interested. There was a lot more psychology involved and a LOT less sex and acrobatic ridiculousness.
Those old pros could put you in a headlock and have the crowd involved for a full 3 or 4 minutes...just working with the headlock. You couldn't do that today.
You should see some stuff in NJPW...great story telling at wrestle kingdom
Did this man just narrate a 5-star match? It makes so much sense now for the face to have a pop finisher and the heel a submission finisher.
Amazing work right there!
Bret was one of the few to have a submission finisher as a babyface.
@@ikill4klondikebars Bret was a heel first. Sting had a submission finisher until his crow gimmick where he started using the reverse DDT
That's why I never understood why John Cena had a submission finisher. Didn't fit the psychology of his character or his ring style.
ikill4klondikebars a lot of wrestlers with sub finishers started off as heels
Al Snow is so good. I was there mentally for that whole match. I was picturing all of that happening during the old NWA studio interview area right next to the ring back in the 80s. Great stuff
This is why squash matches were so important. It helped establish a wrestler’s finish.
GOD DAMN!! That match Al described is the best pro wrestling match I've seen in YEARS! If anyone started a promotion with matches like that, I would be John Q. Mark!
*guy in the back*
"Doesn't work for me, brother."
Hogan
ZF Music that’s frigging hilarious
🤣🤣🤣..."I am a real American" plays in the background
Did you lose your smile?
*_Stone Cold chose to go to an Al Snow training camp_* to prepare for his WWE career after injury.
And Al taught him a few submission moves to use in his Bret Hart matches.
*Nuff said.*
Seriously?
Wait what?
Al is awesome.
@@bvggsmxney Yes, really. Also Rock and Brock Lesnar trained with Curtis Axel to get rid off ring rust when they made their returns to wrestling
As a kid, I was always invested in Alberto Del Rio's matches around the time he debuted in the WWE. He was using the armbar as his finisher and would work his opponents arm throughout the match. It made it feel like he had an actual strategy which I don't often see in WWE matches today.
True. ADR might not have connected as a character, but his in ring work was of premier quality. He also added a mean streak into his matches following his 2nd heel run after double turn against Ziggler in Payback 13 that made his matches look brutal besides being technical
Great wrestler. Horrible human being.
@@charlesedman1887 Every allegation against him was false though
This was one of the most enlightening videos I have seen on wrestling in a very long time. Get this man an Audible series.
I just pictured that match in my head like a movie, and it was better than anything WWE has broadcast on tv in a decade or longer.
AL SNOW YOU THE INTELLIGENT OLD SCHOOL CLASS
Fack his ass and make him humble, sheiky baby
This is amazing! I want the Al Snow complete course on ring psychology.
Kurt Juergens
I forget who I heard saying they were trying to get a wrestling psychology course in a real university w/real accreditation.
I wanna say it was Al Snow but I’m not 100%
That sounded like a hell of a match
Why didn't Al ever have a good one then? (Being semi sarcastic but he did NOT have a good run in the WWF when it comes to match quality, lol)
@@toptenguy1 Al Snow had some great matches... WWF just never threw him a bone.
@@toptenguy1 Best coaches/analysts aren't necessarily best performers. Al never really got a proper shot in E though. So don't know if he could've done more. He was more respected outside of E as a worker
@@4zafinc That first part is very true. Like Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky being horrible coaches/team owners. They probably just think "Just be great! It's not that hard!" LOL
@@toptenguy1 Its exactly that. The best players/performers are some of the biggest natural talents and can get many things via instinct. The hard work is to help navigate that talent in a disciplined fashion. Whereas an average/mediocre talent would have to work his/her way to the top from the scratch and hence put his/her mind to think every step of the way. (Or sometimes its someone who has good talent and knows what's to be done, but doesn't have the nerve to not break in a pressure situation). That way they have a clear cut train of thought to to provide to anyone willing to listen. If someone like that have good man management, s/he is perfect recipe to be a good mentor.
As a student I had Algebra and English Grammar, the two things that came to me pretty organically. I figured out those two were the things I struggled the most to explain to anyone compared to other study material.
I've waited 30+ years to hear it explained EXACTLY how Al just did it. I could CLEARLY SEE THE STEP BY STEP in my head (much like muscle memory for musicians) just as easy as walking across the room here.
And to think I used to say to myself "it's noway I could have a match instructed to me in the back like these guys say it happens now. Always thought that was overthinking it and a big reason for the lack of fan interest. I figured calling the match in the ring , underbreath, live, would have to be my thing if i ever got a chance ... BUT I BE DAMNED IF THAT WASNT THE EASIEST THING TO FOLLOWTHRU WITH JUST BY WORDS.
AWESOME
I could just imagine JR yelling "for the love of God somebody stop the dam match! " when the guy on crutches gets figure four'd. Miss those days
What I always liked about Jake's DDT is that he somehow turned that one move into so many different ways to sell it. Against Jobbers, he would always set up the Jobber with the short arm clothesline, then hit the DDT for the pin. When he would wrestle a mid carder or higher, he would usually hit it out of nowhere to win. So by the time he was in a main event, he'd always go for it early out of nowhere, and the guy would just barely escape getting hit with it. Later in the match he would hit the short arm clothesline and fans wound go nuts because they know the DDT is coming next and they've seen him beat 1000 jobbers that way. In a main event, though, I'm not sure he ever hit the DDT after the short arm. And that left the last DDT, that he would hit out of nowhere to win, or hit out of nowhere after he lost.
That's how truly brilliant Jake's psychology is.. Even more brilliant is that in a Main Event match, he rarely ever hit it to win a match. But fans were so rabid for it, that he could tease it three different times in the match, lose, hit it after the loss and he wouldn't lose one ounce of momentum.
Especially if you saw Jake’s pre-WWF matches.
I honestly never understood how much Al Snow knew about the business. If ever I had the chance to be in the business I would definitely want him as my mentor!
Eric Bischoff was asked hypothetically if he was to start up or or be put in charge of a new wrestling company ,who are the first five people I think it was that he would hire.
He said that his answer was probably going to surprise a lot of fans, but a lot of people in business would get it.
The first guy he would hire Is Al Snow. Al was a savant as far as psychology and the way Al understood and looked at the pro wrestling business on a level most people can't even comprehend. The second guy for very similar reasons would actually be Bubba Ray Dudley.
Al Snow wasn't a Tough Enough coach for nothing, the man knows his stuff.
WWE NEEDS Al snow in creative
J-mack 5000 nice Kap pic👊
True. WWE needs Al Snow but I'm sure Stephanie McMahon and Triple H don't want him they prefer the stupid sh*t they are passing off as wrestling these days. Its a joke.
Just something I don't like about him I can't put my finger on it
Both as creative and an agent for matches. Maybe trainer too
Wow, how incredible of an explanation was that. Dude knows his stuff
HHH's finishing move is talking on the Mic for 2 days!!
That move has put him up there with Goldberg and Asuka's streaks.
And it's super effective.
@@1krani One doesn't even have to be watching.
_from the other room_
Mom: Whoa!
Son: You okay, ma?
Mom: Uh... yeah... I just feel really slee... 🤔 Uh hey son are you watching wrestling?
Son: Yeah I'm watching...
Mom: ...Triple H give a promo?
Son: _Yawns_ Yeah, sorry. I'll change to NBC until he's done. I think _Joey_ is on.
I wonder if he has a name for that sleeper hold?
@@raym.778So effective in fact, that most viewers had to give up and change the channel.
I used to think that al snow was just some guy who wrestle with no epic matches...the knowledge and his experience he was sharing was incredible...he deserves respect and he’s earned it...
He and Bob Holly had one of the all time greats.
Al talks about one of the largest aspects that has ruined wrestling today. False finishes are way too hard to pull off now. In an important match, no one believes for a second that one finisher will put the opponent down.....so you're basically ending matches with a move that you have already done to your opponent. It's slightly less exciting to see a finishing move for the third time in one match.
Unless it's something like Stone Cold giving 7 stunners to Big Show
He used it in a more controlled scenario where there is ACTUAL build up and hints to how the finish could go. He's describing the match as a cat/ mouse set up where both wrestlers are making it visible that all they are trying to do is set each other up in their finishing moves continuously. It makes off a great interpretation of dedication to the match and storytelling amongst the two as well as in-ring psychology.
Unless its an end of days, red arrow, or any other hyper protected move
Raw/Smackdown, you end on 1 finisher.
PPV, takes 2-3 finishers.
Wrestlemania takes 3-6 finishers. lol
As al snow explained, the power of a struggle is what's important.
Finishers are no where near exciting anymore because the WWE is no where near exciting.
Aew however is what's keeping wrestling alive and I'm not even a fan
We need more videos like these.
Whatever happened to wrestlers working the leg or arm in a match? Now it's just ban submission tap out with the working the leg or arm in a match
still can't believe how good snow looks in these videos.
Hes friggin JACKED
ThunderousWrath better living through pharmaceuticals.
Yeah, AL looks way better now, than ever! Which is usually the opposite for most ageing Wrestlers! Some of them look absolutely horrendous!!!! 😵😲😨😱
In 6 years, when I hit 35, I am going to highly consider TRT.
fuckin' sign me up!
he needs to be in the Hall of Fame.
I’m not a wrestler, but I am learning a lot about the business and the psychology of wrestling by listening to Al Snow and Jim Cornette. Nothing can teach you more than experience. I have nothing but respect for Al Snow.
His talking through a match is the most excited I've been for a match in a LONG time.
Al was always one of my boys. My all time favorite is Jake Roberts, and it's for a very similar reason that I like Al Snow. They worked solid, and they used psychology for a purpose. And both of them can go through a story or gimmick and make you drool in awe of their words. This is real wrestling! Fuck!
that was the best match i ever played out in my head...nice.
Anyone else want to see the match Al is describing? Sounds like an instant classic!
Honestly!!
Sounds like almost every match I saw in the 80's. The reason wrestling largely abandoned this formula was because it became super predictable.
And that's why Al Snow is the Man. What a great teacher. If I were a young prospect I would love to learn from Al and the Great AA Arn Anderson.
This was so cool to hear. As a fan we all know a lot of the tricks on the inside. But there were some things I learned here... and it was really cool to understand that logic. Explained it in the old school type of way too.. to make it easier to comprehend. I would watch this dude tutor and teach for hours.
Al Snow...a great wrestler. Even more amazing....maybe even a better teacher. Incredible series of videos.
I always though Al Snow was underrated. I could watch him talk about wrestling ALL DAY
Why the hell can't we get this good of writing in the WWE now?
Because instead of using older wrestlers as bookers, they use writers that have never actually wrestled
Watch a Bayley match. her psychology is always flawless.
'Cause they believe wrestling is just bunch of spotless jumps, flips and kicks. Ya know, the Meltzer and Cornette's mindset.
I have never commented on a video before, but damn, that was amazing. Must watch other Snow videos now. He’s amazing.
I remember that one time on Raw when Mick Foley gave Al snow Head!
This man,this legend has an ability to explain himself and the in and outs of pro wrestling like a college professor would if said professor had charisma
Man this is great stuff. I found myself getting excited about the match and the angle, and it was all pretty simple.
Love when OG wrestlers droppin game
I created two characters in my head, and visualized everything Al was saying and was more entertained by that than anything WWE has done in the last few years. WWE needs to re-hire Al Snow for the performance center pronto, because the current roster in WWE are being lead astray of what makes wrestling wrestling. Wrestling psychology and the art of one character telling the story that he's/she's trying to beat the other every way he/she can seems so non-existent now. It's what made Andre/Hogan the biggest match in WrestleMania history. It's what made Warrior/Hogan amazing, and what made Rock/Austin the classics they were. In this day and age they do matches for the sake of athletic spot fest performances, and showing they can do flips and kicks as if anyone gave a shit, as opposed to telling any type of built-up story between two workers. It's not what wrestling is supposed to be.
The heads of WWE creative probably wouldn't hire him unless they actually were wrestlers or wrestling fans, since people who don't have that background can't even viscerally feel what he's describing.
Wglass90
What’s with all the He-She’s in your wrestling ?
Watch the women's division.
I just ran across these videos they are great. Thanks for the post
Hmmm Always thought that a finish was for getting a pop /momentum for that crescendo. I'd listen to old timer teaching ring psychology all day. Edit : Goddamn that sounds fun to work like that too. Easy and fun. I hate flippy BS and matches on indie scene that never ends after a huge move anyway... I'd prefer an old school type booking like he just said in the vid. Makes a LOT more sense.
Flips are great for modern live crowds, but don't work for weekly TV unless there's more behind it. The ability to put purpose behind athleticism is what makes AJ Styles the best in the world.
That flippy dippy shit that indy smarks love is annoying.
Sylas Grayson then don’t watch.
@@TheWrestlinEra That's right. I don't.
Sylas Grayson good for you, I love ALL kinds of pro wrestling.
As someone who wants to get into wrestling I find Snow's commentary from videos online as one of the best things I've listened to for advice.
I honestly hope that once I get training from the school near me that I can wrestle matches like Snow described where I work for my finish while having all my other moves inflict damage to the area I want to target for the finish.
So for example if I want my finish to be a Boston crab then I'd work his back and legs like mad by hitting top rope splashes or an elbow drop to the back, backbreakers, backstabber, multiple suplex variations so again I'm working to it if I can't hook it in right away.
I'd also love to meet Snow at some point. Guy seems amazing as a teacher.
Most informative bit I've ever seen about the business. Wish I'd seen this 20 years ago when working live steel combat shows at Rennaissance Faires.
Being someone who aspires to do this soon. Thank you. This will be good for building my foundation
As a kid practising and training in wrestling i would have been in awe of access to these ring lessons, soak it up kids its free!!
Uncle Ben I want to see Uncle Ben in a wrestling match!
Al hit all the points. True ring psychology. Anytime anyone gets a chance to learn from him, they’re getting not only their money’s worth, but points about their in ring product to last ten for decades if executed properly as instructed.
Al Snow is what wrestling needs...
What does everybody need?
@@alb5632 Al Snow's Head
Al just came up with a whole match & a reason to have a feud based off of the fact that Wrestler A) uses a figure four & Wrestler B) does a DDT.
He basically just wrote 3 weeks of tv on that little info.
The original match where both guys do everything they can to set eachother up to hit their finishers. Heel wins w/finisher- keeps hold on after the bell - gaining heat for himself, establishing credibility in his finisher. He got sympathy for his babyface opponent, while creating a reason to see face seek revenge.
Then you have the return of the babyface selling the injury that leads to a challenge for another match when injury heals.
The heel attacks the injury further getting heat on himself and more sympathy on the face.
Then you can have the return match that now means something and you can either add more layers onto the story or blow off the feud.
How did everyone take something that was SOOOO SIMPLE & bastardize it into something that they act is more complex but in reality it just doesn’t make logical sense. They unwittingly made it more difficult, and now less people benefit.
Modern writers don't understand the idea of "less is more". And that's not just an issue in wrestling.
Al Snow could be the Master on my Dungeons and Dragons group
Need a rogue in your guild??
Al snow re heated my love for wrestling with his beautiful promo match that doesn't even exist with 2 ppl i dont even know.
9:07 best line ever, love it lol
He's like the Yoda of wrestling.
Bro this was magic , I could literally visualize everything he said and I was becoming invested in the story already
Cas and point is the Bruno Sanmartino/Larry Zbyszko feud and how they worked the first match. It was the perfect story around Larry being better and being able to escape Bruno's hold. If you have not watched the match, you should find it, there is a whole video of their feud on UA-cam - masterpiece
this is the best lessons on everything wrestling and if we saw more matches like the ones al described wwe would be so entertaining
The only real "finisher" today is Randy Orton's kick to the head.
Is the only that always work and cause kayfabe injury.
This comment sadly didn't age well.
Major respect for al snow , a real wrestling mind, very entertaining and informative , love it !
I can't wait to tune in for Al to tell us about the rematch!
Now I know why when Doink turned face, he used his Whoopie Cushion finisher exclusively, whereas as a heel he would use the Stump Puller submission.
Excellent storytelling! Damn, I got into it
Fantastic breakdown
Love these videos.
The insight he is giving us! Amazing. This match that he is " calling" crazy,how skilled he is.makes his whole " head " character that much cooler!
This video needs to be seen by everyone in wrestling. Thank you AL Snow.
That was wonderful. Nicely done Mr. Snow.
Very true, they kick out of "finishers" way too often nowdays in WWE. In NJPW they almost always finish the match after the finishing move is hit. Omegas finisher for example. Makes the move more credible to the audience.
Lol he made me understand, this popped up when I was watching bjj vids. Never watched wrestling in years. I now have a new understanding and I’m going to watch again ASAP.
We often talk about wrestling not being as good as it used to be. I think a lot of that is nostalgia, but not all of it. This is a concrete example of why we are right.
I didn’t even need to see that match to know I want to see that match again.
[Al Snow's description of a match is the best match I've witnessed since the Attitude Era.]
I don’t know why this has been popping up on my suggestions but I’m glad it did
I love this! The psychology and theory!
Bret Hart was so good at this. Setting up the sharpshooter from the get go.
Dammit, why didnt I discover this knowledge like 15 years ago? I could have been a wrestler instead of working in intranets while listening to this awesome stuff
Part of the reason, I believe, the f5 still looks strong. He tries it as soon as he can, which makes sense.
Yep, and it fits into Brock's character. He's not getting paid by the hour, so "Show up, try to win as quickly as possible, and go back home" lol
@@toptenguy1And yet he wastes valuable minutes for pointless suplexes.
This "explanation" is more entertaining than anything WWE is doing right now in the ring.
True
It's official! I actually fucking learned something about the wrestling business! After videos of "screw jobs", behind the scenes and so on I learned something about pro fucking wrestling! Al snow said more in ten mins than any other UA-camr has mentioned in hours... Thank you...
What a fucking genius, great teacher, and awesome wrestler. Badass
He needs to talk about how ridiculous it is for wrestlers to have regular moves with the same set up as their finishers.
If Brock Lesnar has someone in the fireman’s carry, why is he doing a Samoan drop instead of the F-5? It always seemed ridiculous to me
That's a great point.
The F5 is much easier to counter than the Samoan drop. To execute F5 the opponent has to be so worn down that they can't just put their legs under them. With the Samoan drop the lock is in place until the opponent hits the mat.
Think about it. How many times have you seen the F5 countered? Have you ever seen a Samoan drop countered?
Al snow is so awesome! Always respected him. Great worker and teacher
Listening to him talk WRESTLING makes WRESTLING fun qnd enjoyable.....
This was great to watch
Dude i needed this. I in my head pictured that whole scenario he played out. This is why the legends are legends. You don't need 343 backflips in a match just good fucking story telling. FLAIR and HOGAN matches are insane. Just watching him work hogans legs and hogan selling is amazing
Such a brilliant wrestling mind
Wow great insight.
I have just realized why I don't watch as much wrestling as I use too. 😔😔
Holy shit! I kept trying to answer his questions, and every time I was confident, Mr. Snow laughed at me. I guess I really am a mark.
I would pay a PPV to watch the outcome of the feud between DDT and FIGURE 4
If you watch old pros do false finishes they very rarely ever actually kick out. Generally the count is stopped by some kind of outside interference. I guess this way they can raise the stakes while still protecting their gimmick.
Right on the money. Only a very few kicked out of finishers and those were considered to be really tough guys that you had to hit with everything in the book and then some to pin cleanly. I remember a few where someone got hit with a finisher, somehow kicked out and got a comeback going but the next finisher came out of nowhere and got them.
That's why I hate the Taker vs HBK latter day matches, they keep kicking out of their finishers for no reason other than to create drama (badly).
That's deep there's some stuff behind wrestling that I truly didn't know about.
That was a better fight than I've seen in WWE for years.
Al Snow is so smart when it comes to wrestling. I always learn something new from him.
i love how al snow came up with that entire story off the top of his head, thats knowing the business. very cool guy. always loved al snow gimick with head.
back when wrestling wasn't an entertainment sport. The way he described that was what I remember watching in the 70's with my grandmother and going to the civic center to see live matches. ahhh, the memories!