This is the best description of narrative tension in storytelling I have EVER HEARD! This INSTANTLY makes more sense than every explanation by a professor or writing coach I've ever had.
Because it was told to you by a man who actually did it rather than an overeducated professor who was only ever taught it. Always go right to the horses mouth if you really want to learn how things work.
Nothing beats experience and Al Snow is full of experience. Now if only so called modern day wrestlers could listen to the ones who've already done it...
Agreed. Seen/heard a lot of these teachers that just stretch the guy, show them a few moves, tell them what 'amazing' legends they've wrestled with..and piss off.
Seeing Al find success outside of the major promotions and providing his knowledge to the new generations of wrestlers is one of the greatest treasures in the industry. To a lot of guys he should be seen as the extremum terminum of wrestling, the final lesson at becoming the next big thing who was taught by the best.
That's bit about "fuck you, I'm not playing anymore" heat is a really important psychology lesson. You have to know how to read the crowd. It's always so disappointing watching a match and hearing the crowd build and build and build as the face is being cut off time after time, then the crowd just fades away, the face tries a comeback and the audience barely reacts apart from some sympathy noise when they beg for cheers with their signature gestures/motions.
I’m a guitar player and Snow’s point around 11:58 hits home in a funny way. I see loads of great guitar players who can play amazing lead guitar, but hardly any of them have any truly great songs. Like, the sweet child of mine solo is only as good as it is because it’s part of a great song with great verses and a great chorus. Feels like a strong parallel with exciting high spots that come in the endless mediocre matches. Performers/artists should focus on making the fundamentals excellent and then adding the showmanship as icing on the cake
Guitar player myself and it’s so true. Especially when you’re younger and the flashy stuff seems the coolest, then when you get older you realize why people say keep it simple stupid
That’s what makes slash such a legend he’s got great chops but his song writing and knowing when to play what. He never does too much or too little it’s always a compliment to the song as a whole. Same goes for Jimmy page.
exactly right, what's so cool about a lot of what he explains are the parallels of many other things - slightly different in specifics of course but principally the same
Interesting stuff...Al is great here. I remember seeing the heat generated in the old AWA with Superstar Graham, Nick Bockwinkel, and the GREAT Bobby Heenan. Those guys were masters.
@@robbyx6846 I think it got taken off UA-cam but there used to be a great video that explained what a jobber actually was. The term is nearly always misused due to misconception of what the person losing is doing and history of the people you saw losing on television. Al snow was not a jobber, he was a professional wrestler. His profession that he earned a living doing and was his primary source of income was wrestling for a company and get beat by wrestlers that company wanted enhance the popular of to get those wrestlers over. Al Snow worked as an enhancement Talent. Professional wrestling at least televised in the United States has not actually had a jobber on it for probably about 25 years. A "Jobber" was someone who did not work as a professional wrestler for a living, but came in to do it on the side as a part-time job. They did not travel with the company and wrestle full-time, they simply came in to do a job for the company usually once a week when they filmed television or for example in the territory days once a week when the company was doing a show in the town would come and be on the card. Wrestling was just a job not that persons profession. When they were done the job went back to their regular employment the next day. They would generally lose the match usually spectacularly in a squash match by the full-time wrestlers which is why people who were synonymous with the term jobber. Losing the match is not doing the job. The wrestler being paid by the boss to win and the guy being paid by his boss to lose are both doing the job they were being paid to do. Losing was "doing the favour" or doing the honours for your opponent because after losing a match the Babyface you would want to get revenge and have the favour returned by beating them in return. I am aware generally speaking when wrestling fans are talking about jobbers they are referring to somebody the losses on television a lot. I also in the past have been guilty of misusing this term but being a jobber is not accurately who or what they are doing.
The basics are so lost to the past few generations of wrestlers, that the "basics" are like lost knowledge. Any jobber in the 1970's could have told us this in a drunken stupor.@@xellestar
Movies can learn something from Al Snow! The good movies do exactly this! You get emotionally involved with the good guys, a desire to see them beat up the bad guy, and it's a back and forth the entire movie until at the end the good guy wins and you are happy! The bad movies just say, hey here's a good guy- cheer for him; here's a bad guy- boo him. They don't create heat because "it's not your car". In my opinion, the new Star Wars movies are exactly like this. You know who the good guys and bad guys are, but I never got emotionally involved (as much as I was trying)! However, the Avengers movies were different. (Spoilers ahead) A battle between good and evil until Thanos finally wins and kills half the universe. More back and forth until he is finally stopped and the theater cheers.
these videos were one of the greatest writing lessons I've ever had. I never realized it but every movie I end up watching beyond 15mins understands what Al's saying, but most don't.
Lol I played sports growing up and pretty much most of my life and there was always that one coach who does this…. However, in my experience, that one coach is the most knowledgeable of the entire staff.
Lol I played sports growing up and pretty much most of my life and there was always that one coach who does this…. However, in my experience, that one coach is the most knowledgeable of the entire staff.
Ric Flair was a master at this. When I was a kid I couldn't stand him because of his cheating tactics, always one step ahead of Sting or cheating to keep the belt from Luger.
Stop hiring a team of soap opera writers and start hiring guys like Al Snow to help plan out matches and book angles. TV/movie writers can offer some fresh perspective and (in theory) help write dialogue, but most of them simply don't understand wrestling psychology well enough.
This is by far the best video I've ever watched regarding the wrestling business. He has been saying everything I've been complaining about same pacing same comebacks same fighting style it's so bad and uncreative. This is why lesnar and the old legends have to come back. No one draws anymore
This is why the territories era was so great. The performance Center and NXT are great but if thats really the only major place to turn out wrestlers, obviously ya everyones gonna look the same, which is why I think so many people dislike the current WWE product so much. The few guys that people do like WWE, most of them spent years in ROH or NJPW and learned a different style and experience.
Al states the job is to get baby faces over. I am confused. Some of the longest wrestlers who held belts are Ric Flair, Nick Bockwinkle, Harley Race. These guys were more heel than baby face.
You had wrestlers who drew in multiple territories. NWA Champion had to be someone fans in multiple territories would accept as a champion. Ric Flair, Harley Race, Dusty Rhodes, Terry Funk, David Von Erich, Adrian Street, Gerald Brisco, Rock & Roll Express, and Midnight Express worked well in multiple territories.
Al snow is right towards the end. My last match that I saw what he described when asking about the last match where a story was told was when triple h vs undertaker w/hbk as special guest referee told a remarkable but athletic story between two accomplished individuals looking to cement an end to an era with one more notch on there belts with another looking to make a fateful choice...
Al's final point about nobody being unique makes perfect sense, especially in WWE. Where they will just give a guy a goofy name (Michael McGillicutty, Lucky Cannon, Husky Harris etc.) with no gimmick and no reason to have fans care about them and then expect them to get over. Look at how many guys flopped because they were given nothing to work with or to standout.
Nobody in WWE expcted Michael McGillicutty or Husky Harris to get over. Those are the guys they are planning to keep them forever in low card. Until they develop better plans for them. Example: Husky Harris transformed into Bray Wyatt
@@meciocio dude you missed the entire point if his post...generic first last name wrestlers gave no chance of gaining mainstream appeal. Especially with wwe burying everyone at any given chance...hhh sucks, Vince sucks, Stephanie is a man. Shane is the only good character right now but WWE is booking that into the dung heap since mania.
So well said by Al at the end there! Vince and WWE are always obsessed with the "look" of a wrestler instead of the mind and mouth of a wrestler. They'll push someone with physique that can't talk for shit, can't come up with an original character idea, can't come up with a unique moveset, and certainly doesn't understand heel/face dynamics on any level close to what Al laid out here. And while they're forcing those clowns down fan's throats, they ignore and won't get behind guys like Bryan or Punk that aren't that impressive to look at physically, but know how to sell the shit out of a line of dialogue and can build a feud to an absolute boiling point all while being interesting and fresh week in and week out. Muscles might get someone's attention, but what their mind cooks up and how their mouth delivers it is what keeps fans interested and invested emotionally. And without that, you're left with watching steroid guys have fake scripted fights. Not good.
Look is important, guys like Bryan and Punk are generic, why would i pay to see a guy that looks like a uber driver, now Roman Reigns or John Cena are the one you don't see very often.
@@flyingfck9838 looks only get you so far - Al Snow is absolutely right in what he is saying. Look at Bray Wyatt - his character is what makes him over, not his physique! I would might rather watch guys like Daniel Bryan, than big-muscle guys, as characters and ability is so much more important than looks
@@jamestracey2006 so over that WWE have record low ratings now, and speaking of Daniel "5 foot goatboy" Bryan his push sent ratings in the free fall. Wrestling is fake look is what sells it.
Wrestlers today aren't workers, they're acrobats. Why was The Rock so compelling on the mic in the late 1990s? Why was Stone Cold Steve Austin so popular in 1998? Because they knew how to work the crowd and draw heat. They could talk asses into seats. Even CM Punk back in 2011 was amazing.
You also gotta take into consideration that back then those promos werent scripted so Rock & Austin could say whatever they want.Austin had said multiple times that that is a big issue on todays WWE. Also there are amazing workers who are force to wrestle the "wwe style" and are told to hold back a lot.
Hate to burst your bubble but that's not accurate at all. Rock and Austin were very much scripted, they just knew how to deliver lines better. They were given permission to go off-script wayyyy after they had become top guys, because by then they were trusted. But they absolutely were not allowed to improvise during their prime attitude era runs.
Versace Pancakes and I heard the Rock say they weren't and he had a favourite writer. So between the guy that says he had scripts from writers that helped him, and the guy who said it was all him, which of those two do you think is working you?
That's true wrestling today maybe more athletic today then during the early 2000s, but they fresky choke when they have to improvise a promo. Just ask kalisto
This reminds me of why Jesse Ventura wanted to be a heel. He said you get more creative control in the ring. Pretty much goes along with what Al Snow is saying here.
You can get heat by just being a bully (in kayfabe). pull cheap shots, never pick on people your own size, and always be a coward when you meet somebody you can't outpower or control. Generally speaking, most people can not stand a bully. Maybe they themselved were bullied, or they just don't like assholes. But acting like that will definitely get you over as a heel.
Always thought a woman beater gimmick would draw the hest heel heat potentially. A over possesive wrestler that beats on his girlfriend in front of the crowd would get nuclear reaction. Dunno if it would be allowed in wrestling today.
I remember watching Al Snow back in the 90s with his head mannequin. I always thought of him as a psycho because of that persona. He's very smart in real life!
Al was always super underrated , he was at the right place at the wrong time his era was stone cold , the rock, Bret Hart undertaker HBK HHH etc, with all that super talent on the roster he kind of got overlooked....
Al Snow was heavily appreciated during that era. He was not going to be a main eventer - few are at that level of performance, but he was beloved. He did get some weird storylines though, like being fed his own dog by Bossman
He’s basically telling them everything that’s wrong with today’s wrestling. I know this is a few years old now and it feels like no one listened to advice like this because if you watch AEW or ROH The last six years it was open it did look like kids in the backyard just doing moves for the sake of doing moves.
I like how a lot of the comments here are bashing only WWE like its just them who dont get this anymore. this whole bullshit that we have today started on the indies. its still on the indies but its in WWE now too. wrestling in general sucks these days because not enough wrestlers care to learn shit like this. I wont say everybody but almost everybody.
I don't get this kind of mentality. Everyone thinks Vince McMahon is the Anti-Christ, and think WWE sucks but they patently ignore all the dumb shit in the indies that's arguably worse. They say AEW is "real wrestling" but it's literally everything Al Snow is talking about here: guys not selling, no heat, no payoff, no attempts at making things believable in the slightest. Their awful attendance and poor ratings is an proof enough
Basically Roman is the car that none of the fans care about because they feel he doesn't resonate with them the way their own car would... But they care enough to pay attention just for the sake of it...as you would when someone elses car is in danger. Holy fuck. WHY IS THIS GUY NOT RUNNING NXT AND INSTEAD WE HAVE FUCKING MATT BLOOM
On the flip side, Daniel Bryan, especially during his big Wrestlemania run, felt like he was our family in our car. Everyone cared about him, wanted to see him succeed, and push past the massive barriers in his way. And you'd get PISSED when someone cheated him out of what we all wanted to see him attain, either in or out of the ring.
Wow Al Snow just helped me figure out why I can't watch today's product. The last few minutes of this speech opened my eyes yeah there's all these wonderful high spots but everybody's the same there really is no creativity it's a shame I used to be a huge wrestling fan I can't make it through 20-30 minutes of today's programming whether it's WWE, aew, New Japan, so on and so forth you name it it's all pretty much the same. I've been trying to figure out what it is myself that makes me not like it. This just made me really sad
I got a question. What happens when two faces fight? Tanahashi and Okada, for example. There is no heat. Both of them are babysfaces. Both of them have their followers. Where i heat when, Tenzan fight Tomoaki Honma, or when Kojima fight Makabe? Or when Liger would fight Great Sasuke. They are all faces, None of them use "heel tactics". How do you get heat there? I mostly watch Japanese wrestling and over there, faces often fight each other. Misawa was face. Kobashi was face. How often did the fight? How crazy the audience got? Without ANY heels. What am I missing.
That's why face/face matches are harder to promote. Look at Hart/Piper from WrestleMania VIII to see how to work a double face match right. Piper came right to the edge without going full heel a couple of times, and those tactics worked the crowd like magic. It's all about listening to the crowd and giving them a little conflict, like when Piper's standing over Hart with the ring bell. Would he return to his heelish ways like in the 80s? Ultimately he didn't (and it cost him the match and the title), but for just a moment you weren't sure. That's how to work an effective babyface match. Of course, in Japan, they appreciate a technical face/face match more than Americans do because for them, it's about the art of wrestling more so than the conflict (sometimes).
@@nevermorenovelist Thanks. Thats why to me, Japan would be Golden Standard of Wrestling. Those guys can write a story out of TWO faces wrestling and have their personalities come out. Best example: Misawa vs Kobashi. They also have LOTS of "Tweeners". Yuji Nagata (LOVE HIM). Satoshi Kojima (LOVE HIM). I would LOVE to be stories more involved than just "Face vs Heel". Maybe that's why I am not a big fan of US wrestling. Besides, Japanese guys are JUST BETTER...
Japanese wrestling doesn't care about that stuff. It's literally just hitting each other hard for twenty minutes and fighting spirit with no selling. Japanese wrestling is crap and very overrated
@@andystegall7407 American wrestling is unwatchable. Japanese wrestling is very very technical. Americans wrestling is a bunch of muscle bound roided freaks making faces at each other and doing some very very bad acting.
@@lordpardus7348 Japanese wrestling is unwatchable. wrestling is a bunch of wrestler with no charisma, no character that doing flip, kick, flip, kick all over again.
Rock/Hogan, Rock/Austin. Incidentally, that was when WWE began its decline. Those matches were the pinnacle of the business. Hasn't really been a memorable one since.
Al should collect money from every aspiring wrestler who watches this, because i guarentee hes teaching more in ring psychology in 10 minutes than you will learn in any other class
Al Snow The Hannibal TV Playlist: ua-cam.com/play/PLvoIHF4T3-L5dsQ5gm2qVCFrzt5JWDqk6.html
This is the best description of narrative tension in storytelling I have EVER HEARD!
This INSTANTLY makes more sense than every explanation by a professor or writing coach I've ever had.
Because it was told to you by a man who actually did it rather than an overeducated professor who was only ever taught it. Always go right to the horses mouth if you really want to learn how things work.
Nothing beats experience and Al Snow is full of experience. Now if only so called modern day wrestlers could listen to the ones who've already done it...
Even if you didn't care about wrestling at all Al makes interesting and compelling remarks.
Couldn't agree more, I don't watch wrestling nor am I at all interested in it. Yet, I stumbled on this series and I'm bingeing.
He sounds like a wrestling scholar.
@@censor7157 t to r the r try it it could xylem ty it
what a great teacher! he doesnt stretch you and take your money.
Well, I'm sure he does, but that's not **all** he does. You actually get value for your money.
Agreed. Seen/heard a lot of these teachers that just stretch the guy, show them a few moves, tell them what 'amazing' legends they've wrestled with..and piss off.
The tables got heat in this video.
Wanted to see the disrespectful fucks dragging the table to go through it! 🤣 Pick it up!!
Seeing Al find success outside of the major promotions and providing his knowledge to the new generations of wrestlers is one of the greatest treasures in the industry. To a lot of guys he should be seen as the extremum terminum of wrestling, the final lesson at becoming the next big thing who was taught by the best.
That's bit about "fuck you, I'm not playing anymore" heat is a really important psychology lesson. You have to know how to read the crowd. It's always so disappointing watching a match and hearing the crowd build and build and build as the face is being cut off time after time, then the crowd just fades away, the face tries a comeback and the audience barely reacts apart from some sympathy noise when they beg for cheers with their signature gestures/motions.
Yes and the problem is , nobody likes a Stupid Babyface and stuff like Ref bumps need to be intricate now
"Heat's what puts meat in the seat"
Puts meat on the table
@@omerbrooklyn8716 You want a spectator on the table? For what?
@@Scyllax oh you know what I meant
@@omerbrooklyn8716
Oh you didn't know
That was cute.
I’m a guitar player and Snow’s point around 11:58 hits home in a funny way. I see loads of great guitar players who can play amazing lead guitar, but hardly any of them have any truly great songs. Like, the sweet child of mine solo is only as good as it is because it’s part of a great song with great verses and a great chorus. Feels like a strong parallel with exciting high spots that come in the endless mediocre matches. Performers/artists should focus on making the fundamentals excellent and then adding the showmanship as icing on the cake
Guitar player myself and it’s so true. Especially when you’re younger and the flashy stuff seems the coolest, then when you get older you realize why people say keep it simple stupid
That’s what makes slash such a legend he’s got great chops but his song writing and knowing when to play what. He never does too much or too little it’s always a compliment to the song as a whole. Same goes for Jimmy page.
100%.
exactly right, what's so cool about a lot of what he explains are the parallels of many other things - slightly different in specifics of course but principally the same
I honestly think this is probably one of the most important concepts in any art form, especially film making and Wrestling.
Al snow got a mannequin head over more than most of the current roster currently are or ever will be
Al Snow??? As in "What does everybody want?"...damn he's buffer than ever. Wow.
Interesting stuff...Al is great here.
I remember seeing the heat generated in the old AWA with Superstar Graham, Nick Bockwinkel, and the GREAT Bobby Heenan. Those guys were masters.
Yea so many people are so much alike. He ain't lying. I used to love Al Snow in ECW. That was the most unique shit on the planet back then.
I'm loving these in depth discussions shame no one else does this online
For a sport that is considered fake, the athletes involved take it all very seriously. So much to consider. Wrestling is mucho hard work!
This is PhD level Wrestling philosophy.
This is PhD level story telling. You could apply this to any genre of fictional writing.
But a jobber
@@robbyx6846 I think it got taken off UA-cam but there used to be a great video that explained what a jobber actually was. The term is nearly always misused due to misconception of what the person losing is doing and history of the people you saw losing on television.
Al snow was not a jobber, he was a professional wrestler. His profession that he earned a living doing and was his primary source of income was wrestling for a company and get beat by wrestlers that company wanted enhance the popular of to get those wrestlers over. Al Snow worked as an enhancement Talent.
Professional wrestling at least televised in the United States has not actually had a jobber on it for probably about 25 years.
A "Jobber" was someone who did not work as a professional wrestler for a living, but came in to do it on the side as a part-time job. They did not travel with the company and wrestle full-time, they simply came in to do a job for the company usually once a week when they filmed television or for example in the territory days once a week when the company was doing a show in the town would come and be on the card. Wrestling was just a job not that persons profession. When they were done the job went back to their regular employment the next day.
They would generally lose the match usually spectacularly in a squash match by the full-time wrestlers which is why people who were synonymous with the term jobber.
Losing the match is not doing the job. The wrestler being paid by the boss to win and the guy being paid by his boss to lose are both doing the job they were being paid to do.
Losing was "doing the favour" or doing the honours for your opponent because after losing a match the Babyface you would want to get revenge and have the favour returned by beating them in return.
I am aware generally speaking when wrestling fans are talking about jobbers they are referring to somebody the losses on television a lot. I also in the past have been guilty of misusing this term but being a jobber is not accurately who or what they are doing.
in a sense, but also he is conveying the bone basics of pro wrestling
The basics are so lost to the past few generations of wrestlers, that the "basics" are like lost knowledge. Any jobber in the 1970's could have told us this in a drunken stupor.@@xellestar
Movies can learn something from Al Snow! The good movies do exactly this! You get emotionally involved with the good guys, a desire to see them beat up the bad guy, and it's a back and forth the entire movie until at the end the good guy wins and you are happy! The bad movies just say, hey here's a good guy- cheer for him; here's a bad guy- boo him. They don't create heat because "it's not your car".
In my opinion, the new Star Wars movies are exactly like this. You know who the good guys and bad guys are, but I never got emotionally involved (as much as I was trying)! However, the Avengers movies were different. (Spoilers ahead) A battle between good and evil until Thanos finally wins and kills half the universe. More back and forth until he is finally stopped and the theater cheers.
these videos were one of the greatest writing lessons I've ever had. I never realized it but every movie I end up watching beyond 15mins understands what Al's saying, but most don't.
Al Snow: *Asks question.*
Student: [Educated guess.]
Snow: "What's that?"
Student: *Repeats educated guess.*
Snow: "No."
NEVER. FAILS.
😂😂
I hate people who set you up like that….😂😂😂
Lol I played sports growing up and pretty much most of my life and there was always that one coach who does this…. However, in my experience, that one coach is the most knowledgeable of the entire staff.
Lol I played sports growing up and pretty much most of my life and there was always that one coach who does this…. However, in my experience, that one coach is the most knowledgeable of the entire staff.
Incredible video. Literally defining the industry and nuances of it.
Ric Flair was a master at this. When I was a kid I couldn't stand him because of his cheating tactics, always one step ahead of Sting or cheating to keep the belt from Luger.
Exactly. I also hated the Honky Tonk Man.
Al really is a smart dude...
WWE seems to be slowly forgetting about this stuff.
Yes and its infuriating. And it's also partly cause of smark morons that are now the niche fan base wrestling has become
Stop hiring a team of soap opera writers and start hiring guys like Al Snow to help plan out matches and book angles. TV/movie writers can offer some fresh perspective and (in theory) help write dialogue, but most of them simply don't understand wrestling psychology well enough.
Because most of Vince's agents never drew money, and never got heat.
Nice try. It's the flippy dippy indie midgets that have forgotten this. Or more accurately, they never knew this.
Heat is an amazing movie from the 90s starring Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Val Kilmer.
This is by far the best video I've ever watched regarding the wrestling business. He has been saying everything I've been complaining about same pacing same comebacks same fighting style it's so bad and uncreative. This is why lesnar and the old legends have to come back. No one draws anymore
That table screeching was the true heel. Al missed a golden opportunity.
the guy doing it made a face turn tho
I've been enjoying these Al Snow tutorials.
This is why the territories era was so great. The performance Center and NXT are great but if thats really the only major place to turn out wrestlers, obviously ya everyones gonna look the same, which is why I think so many people dislike the current WWE product so much. The few guys that people do like WWE, most of them spent years in ROH or NJPW and learned a different style and experience.
Every exactly alike wrestler on their roster is an Indy darling.
Al states the job is to get baby faces over. I am confused. Some of the longest wrestlers who held belts are Ric Flair, Nick Bockwinkle, Harley Race. These guys were more heel than baby face.
@@mrbobevans Get them 'over', not put them 'over'.
You had wrestlers who drew in multiple territories. NWA Champion had to be someone fans in multiple territories would accept as a champion. Ric Flair, Harley Race, Dusty Rhodes, Terry Funk, David Von Erich, Adrian Street, Gerald Brisco, Rock & Roll Express, and Midnight Express worked well in multiple territories.
The champions job was to put butts in seats in the hopes that the baby face local would beat them.
great vid, Al's in great shape
Hes looking jacked, right?
Sure is
Steriods cmon
Or not. Dude just knows how to work out. Not every wrestler is on steroids, dude.
TheSPEEZY99 do you even lift? Smh....dude get the gym and lift b4 you accuse people of being on supplements
Al Snow makes me happy to be from Ohio. Him and Foley are also living proof that chairshots can't kill THAT many braincells.
Ohio folks are overlooked, overworked, underestimated but still a key to Americas greatness
these concepts apply in so manny things i love it
You never woulda guessed that so much went into a bunch of "grown men fake fighting in their underwear."
Seeing all these Al Snow videos the first time, he's a really intelligent guy. Very well spoken.
"How are you gonna sell tickets when you're all just alike?" 😮
3 yrs later I wanna see the wrestlers in Al's class here, they learned what is not taught to these other wrestlers today.
This is absolutely fascinating!
Al needs a podcast so badly.
I'm not a wrestler but as a fan I really enjoy Al Snow videos because he is speaking facts.
Al just keeps getting better and better at teaching.
Al snow is right towards the end. My last match that I saw what he described when asking about the last match where a story was told was when triple h vs undertaker w/hbk as special guest referee told a remarkable but athletic story between two accomplished individuals looking to cement an end to an era with one more notch on there belts with another looking to make a fateful choice...
He is a great teacher.
That table pushing noise though
Hussain Abdul Rehman
Al was about to snowplow those guys lol
Most of the WWE roster needs to be in these meetings.
Al's final point about nobody being unique makes perfect sense, especially in WWE. Where they will just give a guy a goofy name (Michael McGillicutty, Lucky Cannon, Husky Harris etc.) with no gimmick and no reason to have fans care about them and then expect them to get over. Look at how many guys flopped because they were given nothing to work with or to standout.
Just Joe
Nobody in WWE expcted Michael McGillicutty or Husky Harris to get over. Those are the guys they are planning to keep them forever in low card. Until they develop better plans for them. Example: Husky Harris transformed into Bray Wyatt
@@meciocio dude you missed the entire point if his post...generic first last name wrestlers gave no chance of gaining mainstream appeal. Especially with wwe burying everyone at any given chance...hhh sucks, Vince sucks, Stephanie is a man. Shane is the only good character right now but WWE is booking that into the dung heap since mania.
Well this thread aged well as all of those names have been released. 😬
Al Snow is the fucking man.
he just is. he just fucking is.
So well said by Al at the end there!
Vince and WWE are always obsessed with the "look" of a wrestler instead of the mind and mouth of a wrestler. They'll push someone with physique that can't talk for shit, can't come up with an original character idea, can't come up with a unique moveset, and certainly doesn't understand heel/face dynamics on any level close to what Al laid out here.
And while they're forcing those clowns down fan's throats, they ignore and won't get behind guys like Bryan or Punk that aren't that impressive to look at physically, but know how to sell the shit out of a line of dialogue and can build a feud to an absolute boiling point all while being interesting and fresh week in and week out.
Muscles might get someone's attention, but what their mind cooks up and how their mouth delivers it is what keeps fans interested and invested emotionally. And without that, you're left with watching steroid guys have fake scripted fights. Not good.
That's most of the guys now I find!!!
Look is important, guys like Bryan and Punk are generic, why would i pay to see a guy that looks like a uber driver, now Roman Reigns or John Cena are the one you don't see very often.
@@flyingfck9838 looks only get you so far - Al Snow is absolutely right in what he is saying. Look at Bray Wyatt - his character is what makes him over, not his physique! I would might rather watch guys like Daniel Bryan, than big-muscle guys, as characters and ability is so much more important than looks
@@jamestracey2006 so over that WWE have record low ratings now, and speaking of Daniel "5 foot goatboy" Bryan his push sent ratings in the free fall. Wrestling is fake look is what sells it.
@@flyingfck9838Roman reigns succed tick.
Wrestlers today aren't workers, they're acrobats. Why was The Rock so compelling on the mic in the late 1990s? Why was Stone Cold Steve Austin so popular in 1998? Because they knew how to work the crowd and draw heat. They could talk asses into seats. Even CM Punk back in 2011 was amazing.
You also gotta take into consideration that back then those promos werent scripted so Rock & Austin could say whatever they want.Austin had said multiple times that that is a big issue on todays WWE. Also there are amazing workers who are force to wrestle the "wwe style" and are told to hold back a lot.
Hate to burst your bubble but that's not accurate at all. Rock and Austin were very much scripted, they just knew how to deliver lines better. They were given permission to go off-script wayyyy after they had become top guys, because by then they were trusted. But they absolutely were not allowed to improvise during their prime attitude era runs.
I heard Stone Cold himself said on the his podcast they were not scripted, so should believe the man himself or you?
Versace Pancakes and I heard the Rock say they weren't and he had a favourite writer. So between the guy that says he had scripts from writers that helped him, and the guy who said it was all him, which of those two do you think is working you?
That's true wrestling today maybe more athletic today then during the early 2000s, but they fresky choke when they have to improvise a promo. Just ask kalisto
I could listen to this guy all day, i hope wwe hires him back in some kind of producer or writer role or something,
This reminds me of why Jesse Ventura wanted to be a heel. He said you get more creative control in the ring. Pretty much goes along with what Al Snow is saying here.
I’d love for al to be a surprise in a royal rumble one year, it would get such a huge pop
If you apply Al Snows teachings in the wwe 2k23 game it works the same way
You can get heat by just being a bully (in kayfabe).
pull cheap shots, never pick on people your own size, and always be a coward when you meet somebody you can't outpower or control.
Generally speaking, most people can not stand a bully. Maybe they themselved were bullied, or they just don't like assholes. But acting like that will definitely get you over as a heel.
That’s why MJF is so over. Classic heel.
Always thought a woman beater gimmick would draw the hest heel heat potentially. A over possesive wrestler that beats on his girlfriend in front of the crowd would get nuclear reaction. Dunno if it would be allowed in wrestling today.
@@mr.speyside5240 lol mjf is a miz and del rio rip off. Not original heel at all. Hes good on the mic thats it.
“How are ya’ll gonna sell tickets when you are all alike?” What a way to end it.
At 5:09 after annoying al with the table noises you can see the work in the background motion to the others to pick it up 😂😂😂
"and then we've got X pac heat" lol
Which is what Al talked about. The "eh, I don't care, it's not my car."
Very good explanation
I remember watching Al Snow back in the 90s with his head mannequin. I always thought of him as a psycho because of that persona. He's very smart in real life!
what does everybody want?
what does everybody need?
HEAD!
ProSketch Heat*
i was gonna answer financial security...but Head is also an acceptable answer
LOL I thought you were going to say heat
HEAT
Al Snow has to write a book about all this with a test at the end. If you pass the test you get certified al snow 101 certificate
Makes me think of my favourite Jesse the body Ventura quote. Win if you can, lose if you must but always cheat.
2:45 Al is talking about the generic comeback, but the big $ comebacks (Hogan, Austin) start with a punch
BRockin25
But in those particular matches, when the heel cheats, is he using an illegal punch, or a different tactic?
Could be either or
Al was always super underrated , he was at the right place at the wrong time his era was stone cold , the rock, Bret Hart undertaker HBK HHH etc, with all that super talent on the roster he kind of got overlooked....
Al Snow was heavily appreciated during that era. He was not going to be a main eventer - few are at that level of performance, but he was beloved. He did get some weird storylines though, like being fed his own dog by Bossman
wow, that was good. learned alot from this. Good man up there!!!
Snow is 30 years older than these guys and it would take 5 of them to beat him in a bar fight.
When you watch all these videos, you realize that these are all things that Ric Flair does better than anyone. That's why he's the GOAT.
0:17 proper dave brent moment
Maxwell Jacob Friedman, MJF = Best heel in the business today!
Miz lite
Al Snow looks like he can still go.
WWE wrestlers today are the cars without our families in them. We don’t care.
Too overdone
Also AEW
The most embarrassing thing I’ve ever read
This is literally the ending of Back to the Future when George punches Biff. Wrestling is everywhere if you look close enough!
"I wish we could make some more fucking noise in this building."😂😂😂😂
Al is the ultimate instructor
Someone send this to Vince. NOW
Al Snow forgot more about the wrestling business then most know!
Heat is what puts Shawn Stasiac in the seat
This is theater school for bodybuilders. In this case, the acting coach is explaining how to bring structure to an improv performance.
It almost seems like Roddy Piper took a class from Al Snow on how to get heat.
He’s basically telling them everything that’s wrong with today’s wrestling. I know this is a few years old now and it feels like no one listened to advice like this because if you watch AEW or ROH The last six years it was open it did look like kids in the backyard just doing moves for the sake of doing moves.
Love this.
After watching this and stone colds podcast I feel like I’m in the business
Lmao love how Al Snow takes that shit hella seriously.
and in the words of foley (maybe, probably Snow) avoid brick in the TV heat.
"When you just do spots and do moves, no one is gonna give a shit."
Al Snow predicted AEW.
I like how a lot of the comments here are bashing only WWE like its just them who dont get this anymore. this whole bullshit that we have today started on the indies. its still on the indies but its in WWE now too. wrestling in general sucks these days because not enough wrestlers care to learn shit like this. I wont say everybody but almost everybody.
I don't get this kind of mentality. Everyone thinks Vince McMahon is the Anti-Christ, and think WWE sucks but they patently ignore all the dumb shit in the indies that's arguably worse. They say AEW is "real wrestling" but it's literally everything Al Snow is talking about here: guys not selling, no heat, no payoff, no attempts at making things believable in the slightest. Their awful attendance and poor ratings is an proof enough
If wrestling is missing selling and creativity, why can't Vince use that "genius" of his to fix it?
Genius! (Robert Roode music plays)
Because Stephanie and triple h have been booking for over 15 years
Basically Roman is the car that none of the fans care about because they feel he doesn't resonate with them the way their own car would... But they care enough to pay attention just for the sake of it...as you would when someone elses car is in danger.
Holy fuck.
WHY IS THIS GUY NOT RUNNING NXT AND INSTEAD WE HAVE FUCKING MATT BLOOM
On the flip side, Daniel Bryan, especially during his big Wrestlemania run, felt like he was our family in our car. Everyone cared about him, wanted to see him succeed, and push past the massive barriers in his way. And you'd get PISSED when someone cheated him out of what we all wanted to see him attain, either in or out of the ring.
UA-cam comments that aged poorly👆
@@andystegall7407 lmao! I have no idea what I was on about. Pretty sure this was a drunken comment
I like the idea of getting heat with a single punch and paying it off with a single punch in current year.
I feel like I’ve watched way to much wrestling cause I can answer all of his questions correctly
Wow Al Snow just helped me figure out why I can't watch today's product. The last few minutes of this speech opened my eyes yeah there's all these wonderful high spots but everybody's the same there really is no creativity it's a shame I used to be a huge wrestling fan I can't make it through 20-30 minutes of today's programming whether it's WWE, aew, New Japan, so on and so forth you name it it's all pretty much the same. I've been trying to figure out what it is myself that makes me not like it. This just made me really sad
Al still could wrestle today dude got them guns
Idk why I keep watching these😂
al should be head of creative and/or booking
The man is a genius
I got a question. What happens when two faces fight? Tanahashi and Okada, for example. There is no heat. Both of them are babysfaces. Both of them have their followers. Where i heat when, Tenzan fight Tomoaki Honma, or when Kojima fight Makabe? Or when Liger would fight Great Sasuke. They are all faces, None of them use "heel tactics". How do you get heat there? I mostly watch Japanese wrestling and over there, faces often fight each other. Misawa was face. Kobashi was face. How often did the fight? How crazy the audience got? Without ANY heels. What am I missing.
That's why face/face matches are harder to promote. Look at Hart/Piper from WrestleMania VIII to see how to work a double face match right. Piper came right to the edge without going full heel a couple of times, and those tactics worked the crowd like magic. It's all about listening to the crowd and giving them a little conflict, like when Piper's standing over Hart with the ring bell. Would he return to his heelish ways like in the 80s? Ultimately he didn't (and it cost him the match and the title), but for just a moment you weren't sure. That's how to work an effective babyface match.
Of course, in Japan, they appreciate a technical face/face match more than Americans do because for them, it's about the art of wrestling more so than the conflict (sometimes).
@@nevermorenovelist Thanks. Thats why to me, Japan would be Golden Standard of Wrestling. Those guys can write a story out of TWO faces wrestling and have their personalities come out. Best example: Misawa vs Kobashi. They also have LOTS of "Tweeners". Yuji Nagata (LOVE HIM). Satoshi Kojima (LOVE HIM). I would LOVE to be stories more involved than just "Face vs Heel". Maybe that's why I am not a big fan of US wrestling. Besides, Japanese guys are JUST BETTER...
Japanese wrestling doesn't care about that stuff. It's literally just hitting each other hard for twenty minutes and fighting spirit with no selling. Japanese wrestling is crap and very overrated
@@andystegall7407 American wrestling is unwatchable. Japanese wrestling is very very technical. Americans wrestling is a bunch of muscle bound roided freaks making faces at each other and doing some very very bad acting.
@@lordpardus7348 Japanese wrestling is unwatchable. wrestling is a bunch of wrestler with no charisma, no character that doing flip, kick, flip, kick all over again.
Does Al Snow still wrestle ? He looks like he's in great shape.
Yes. He wrestled that night in this match: ua-cam.com/video/TPM_WfPrpvQ/v-deo.html
Cool thanks man. That was you wrestling him eh
i think the last time i saw a really different match it was Mr Snow.
Rock/Hogan, Rock/Austin. Incidentally, that was when WWE began its decline. Those matches were the pinnacle of the business. Hasn't really been a memorable one since.
if he had that body while in the wwe in 98-99 when he was at his peek in terms of merch sales he would have been wwf champ
Yeah it does but every time every time I’m in there working on the hotspots Johnny comes through they kicked me out I don’t understand
I just called
Al should collect money from every aspiring wrestler who watches this, because i guarentee hes teaching more in ring psychology in 10 minutes than you will learn in any other class
The Best Teacher