Early career (1982–1995) Sarven attended a professional wrestling try-out camp held by
Ole Anderson and
Gene Anderson. There he met Jim Lancaster, promoter of Ohio's Midwest Championship Wrestling, who agreed to train him. Lancaster later described Sarven as "a leader in the ring" who "had drive and natural ability". He made his debut on May 22, 1982. Sarven defeated Lancaster on May 5, 1985, for the Midwest Championship Wrestling title. It has since branched out with one of his trainers running "Bodyslammers" in
Ottawa, Canada.
Extreme Championship Wrestling (1994–1995) After a tour of Japan, Sarven wrestled a match in
Michigan against
Sabu, an
Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) regular, who suggested he try ECW.
Smoky Mountain Wrestling (1995) Sarven was also being courted by
Jim Cornette for his
Smoky Mountain Wrestling federation. ECW booker
Paul Heyman agreed to let him work for both companies. Sarven soon found that he was not being utilized by ECW and went to Smoky Mountain full-time.) The feud culminated at a "Kennel from Hell" match at
Unforgiven, which consisted of a regular cage which was surrounded by a
Hell in a Cell structure, with "a trained pack of wild dogs" in between the two, and the objective was to escape both cages without being attacked by the dogs. Snow won the match. Snow received some mainstream publicity in 1999 when
Wal-Mart pulled his action figure from their shelves after Sabrena Parton, a professor at
Kennesaw State University, complained that "Head" was a "decapitated woman's head" that sent an inappropriate message about violence towards women. Parton was quoted as saying "What kind of message would this toy send children about brutalization of women?" Sarven used the story as part of an
angle in which the controversy caused Al Snow to develop depression.
Various alliances and feuds (1999–2004) Snow would later team with real life friend
Mick Foley in October 1999 and became tag team champions with him for a short amount of time, but
turned heel by betraying him due to Foley's jokes about him in his
autobiography,
Have A Nice Day, and his growing jealousy of Foley's tag team partner,
The Rock. He would later turn face again due to fan reaction. Snow was often the butt of Foley's jokes during Foley's tenure as the Commissioner in 2000. However, they are close friends in real life. Foley continued to use Snow as the butt of many jokes in his second book,
Foley Is Good: And the Real World Is Faker than Wrestling. In early 2000, he began to team with Steve Blackman as an "odd couple" tag team called Head Cheese (the "cheese" part being given various explanations, including Snow's claim that Blackman was a voracious eater of cheese and later his attempt to force him to wear a
Green Bay Packers "
Cheesehead" hat). At
WrestleMania 2000 the two suffered a loss against Test and Albert. Also in the same year, Snow won the
WWF European Championship from
Perry Saturn. He then began a
tongue-in-cheek gimmick of entering the ring to various
European countries' native music, with his theme song sung in the language of the country, and wearing attire which would suit the stereotype of that country. This continued until he lost the title to
William Regal. In 2001, Snow tried to rally support from the fans to vote for him as the new Commissioner of the company following Foley's on-screen firing by Vince McMahon in December 2000. By March 2001, a match was set up between Snow and Regal to determine the new Commissioner, which resulted in Regal winning. Snow then took some time off from the ring in order to commit more time for the reality show
Tough Enough. He made his return to the ring in October 2001 during the
InVasion era and challenged
Christian for the WWF European Championship at
Survivor Series, which he lost. Snow's last championship reign came on March 11, 2002, when he defeated
Goldust to win his last Hardcore Championship. He lost the title to his former
Tough Enough student,
Maven, a few days later. He was drafted to
SmackDown! as part of the
2002 Brand Extension, where he teamed up with Maven. After taking time off again for another season of
Tough Enough, Snow returned as a member of the
Raw roster in October and eventually became a commentator for
Sunday Night Heat alongside
Jonathan Coachman. When Coachman sided with
Eric Bischoff, Snow followed suit, turning heel. The two feuded with
Jim Ross and
Jerry Lawler, and briefly replaced them at the
Raw announce table after a victory at
Unforgiven in 2003. When
Tough Enough IV came to
SmackDown!, Snow was on the scene and turned face once again. On April 12, 2004, episode of Raw, Snow dressed up as the
Five Star Ninja a portray of Shinobi which he lost to
Tajiri.
Commentator and ECW (2004–2006) In September 2004 Snow left
Sunday Night Heat as a commentator and went to
Velocity. He continued to coach for
WWE Tough Enough season 4. He did not wrestle any matches for WWE in 2005. Instead, he continued working in the independents. In June 2006, Snow returned to wrestling full-time as a member of the new
ECW brand. His first appearance in the new brand was in the WWE vs ECW
Battle Royal at the "WWE vs. ECW Head to Head" special, where he was accompanied by Head. He was eliminated from the match. On the June 13, 2006, debut of
ECW on Sci-Fi, Snow participated in an Extreme Battle Royal, which was won by
Sabu. Over the next four months, he was used sporadically, mostly as a
jobber, losing to people such as
Test and
Kevin Thorn. Snow was taken off the ECW roster in October 2006.
Developmental and departure (2007–2008) Snow then returned with the company as a trainer at
Ohio Valley Wrestling in 2007. On the February 3, 2007 OVW TV tapings, Snow was named the new OVW Troubleshooter by
Danny Davis in response to
Danny Basham's WWE release. On Raw XV, the 15th-Anniversary special on December 10, 2007, Snow participated in the 15th Anniversary Battle Royal where he eliminated
Doink the Clown and
Gangrel. He was eliminated by
Flash Funk. After WWE ceased affiliations with Ohio Valley Wrestling in February 2008, Sarven was released from his position as a trainer.
Independent circuit (2003–2006, 2007, 2008–present) Snow was allowed to compete on the
independent circuit while under contract with the WWE. Snow would feud with
Chris Candido for Northeast Wrestling in Connecticut in the fall of 2004. On May 7, 2005, Snow teamed with
D'Lo Brown losing to
Mick Foley and
Shane Douglas at Mark Curtis Memorial Reunion in Johnson City, Tennessee. In 2006, Snow was pinned by the
Millennium Wrestling Federation (MWF)
Heavyweight Champion "Sudden Impact" Dylan Kage of
Paul Bearer's Trifecta stable at
MWF Fireworks On The 4th. Snow would return to WWE's active roster full time in June 2006. After being released in February 2008 by WWE, Snow has regularly competed in several independent promotions in the U.S. and Europe, especially in the U.K. and Germany. In March 2009, he made an appearance in
Chikara's
King of Trios tournament, teaming up with
Glacier and
D'Lo Brown. On October 21, 2022, Snow and Kal Herro won the OFE Tag Team as the Newest Rockers. Snow wore attire that he wore as Leif Cassidy.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling / Impact Wrestling (2008–2017) In the lead-up to the December 7, 2008, TNA show
Final Resolution,
Mick Foley assigned himself as the
special guest enforcer for the match between
Kurt Angle and
Rhino. Angle said he had hired "another former World Champion" and someone who had co-held a world tag team title with Foley. This person would debut during Angle's match to "take care of Foley". And on the night in question, Al Snow revealed himself to be the mystery ally of Angle, who interrupted the match by slapping Foley. The distraction allowed Angle to beat Rhino. In March 2010, Sarven received a tryout as an agent for TNA Wrestling. He made his return to television on the July 15, 2010, edition of
Impact!, aligning himself with fellow ECW alumni
Tommy Dreamer,
Raven,
Stevie Richards,
Rhino,
Brother Devon,
Pat Kenney and Mick Foley in their invitation by Dixie Carter to TNA. The following week, TNA president
Dixie Carter agreed to give the ECW alumni their own reunion pay–per–view event,
Hardcore Justice: The Last Stand, as a celebration of hardcore wrestling and a final farewell to the company. At the event Snow was defeated by Rhino in a three-way match, which also included
Brother Runt. After that, he appeared onscreen in his real-life role as company agent on multiple occasions, often alongside fellow agents Ace "D'Lo Brown" Conner and Pat Kenney. Sarven currently holds the title of producer for the company. In Spring 2011, Snow returned to OVW, dividing his time between his TNA duties and work as a show producer for OVW. In November of that year, OVW became TNA's official developmental territory. In May 2012, Snow began appearing as a judge in the monthly
Gut Check segment on
Impact Wrestling. The following July, Snow started a storyline rivalry with
Joey Ryan, who had been denied a spot on the TNA roster, following his appearance on TNA Gut Check. After Snow tricked Ryan into signing a contract for a match, the two met on October 14 at
Bound for Glory, where Snow wrestled only his second match for TNA, losing to Ryan, following interference from
Matt Morgan. On January 12, 2013, Snow took part in
Joker's Wild (which aired May 3, 2013), teaming with recent rival
Joey Ryan, in a loss against
Matt Morgan and
Robbie T. On the August 7, 2014, edition of
Impact Wrestling, Snow returned to team with
Team 3D (
Bully Ray and
Devon) and
Tommy Dreamer against
Ethan Carter III,
Rhino,
Big Rycklon and
Gene Snitsky in an eight-man Hardcore War in a winning effort. On the February 13, 2015, edition of
Impact Wrestling (which was taped on January 29), Snow returned to TV as a heel, where he was seen in the
SSE Hydro, calling out Scottish wrestler and
British Boot Camp 2 contestant,
Grado. Grado would come out to the ring where Snow would give him the opportunity to retire from wrestling, Grado would not take the offer. On the February 20 edition of
Impact Wrestling (also taped January 29) Snow would face Grado in a losing effort, after which he would then go on to shake Grado's hand turning face in the process. Afterwards, the
Beat Down Clan (BDC) would go on to attack both Snow and Grado, but were saved by the debuting
Drew Galloway, would fend off the BDC and who would then stand tall in the ring alongside Al Snow and his friend, Grado. At
Bound for Glory 2015 Snow competed in the Bound for Gold Gauntlet. On the March 29, 2016
Impact Wrestling Snow returned as a heel attacking Grado backstage. On the April 5, 2016
Impact Wrestling TNA Management Director
Billy Corgan suspended Al Snow for the week without pay and said next week he must apologise. When Al Snow returned from his suspension week, he entered the ring and said the ease new talents get today with earning respect and a name in the professional wrestling business, drove him crazy as he and others of his and generations before him needed to get some for quite a long time and fight hard to prove themselves worthy back then. He invited Mahabali Shera to the ring and apologized to him for attacking him and Grado, breaking Grado's arm in the process. Shera shook hands with him, only for Al Snow to betray and attack him once they went out of the ring. At a backstage segment, Al Snow said angrily he doesn't need to apologize and explain himself to rookies and if they want his apology and respect they need to defeat him in a match. A week after, Al Snow had a match with Shera in which before and a bit during the match he has blamed the wrestling changes on the fans and said they are cowards for sitting behind the barricades and not coming to the ring to face him. Shera gave a good fight, but Al Snow eventually won the match. In the May 10 episode of
Impact!, Shera and Snow had a rematch where Al Snow played games and almost won with his cheating tactics, however, he eventually failed to win due to Grado involving himself in the match, making sure Shera wins. At backstage, a bit later, Al Snow was interviewed and talked angrily, cursing Grado and Shera in the process. On May 24 episode of
Impact!, Al Snow went on to win a back and forth street fight against Grado with the help of the debuting
Basille Baraka and
Baron Dax, thus forming the tag team faction known as
The Tribunal. On November 10, episode of
Impact, The Tribunal attacked him until Shera made the save, turning face once again in the process. On December 8 episode of
Impact Wrestling, Snow and Shera defeated The Tribunal in a Double Strap Match to end the feud. On June 19, 2017, Al Snow was released from Impact Wrestling.
Ohio Valley Wrestling (2018–present) On April 7, 2018, it was reported Snow purchased
Ohio Valley Wrestling. In January 2021, Snow sold a majority interest in OVW to a group led by radio host
Matt Jones, and former
21c Museum Hotels CEO and current mayor of
Louisville, Kentucky,
Craig Greenberg. Snow continues to run the promotion's day-to-day operations. On August 27, 2022, Snow and
Doug Basham defeated Adam Revolver and Joe Mack at OVW The Big One. Snow was heavily featured in the docuseries
Wrestlers, a
Netflix released series focused on OVW that was released September 13, 2023. Following the series release, OVW had their first Thursday night sold-out show in eight years. ==Acting career==