User:TravelingCat/Al Snow

Early career
Sarven attended Arn Anderson's tryout camp, where 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.

Sarven wrestled in various independent promotions throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, capturing both tag team and singles titles, but failed to make any big breaks. He gained a reputation as "the best-kept secret in wrestling". Sarven helped train future UFC Hall of Fame member and NWA World Heavyweight Champion Dan Severn. During this time he would sometimes wrestle as Shinobi, a ninja-style masked gimmick.

He wrestled in the November 19, 1994 tournament for the vacant NWA World Heavyweight Title. He lost to Chris Candido, the eventual winner of the tournament.

Extreme Championship Wrestling and Smoky Mountain Wrestling
After a tour of Japan, Sarven wrestled a match in Michigan against Sabu, an Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) regular, who suggested he try ECW. On February 4, 1995, Sarven made his ECW debut against Chris Benoit as "The Snowman" Al Snow, in a 15-minute match that was hailed as one of the best of the year.

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. However, Sarven soon found that he was not being utilized by ECW and went to Smoky Mountain full-time.

In Smoky Mountain Wrestling, Snow teamed with Glen Jacobs and defeated the Rock-n-Roll Express for the SMW Tag Team Championship. Both wrestlers caught the attention of the World Wrestling Federation and were signed by the end of 1995.