10 Wrestlers Who Couldn't Survive Without WWE's Attitude Era

6. Al Snow

From the start of his WWF career, Allen Sarven was swimming upstream without the aid of anything even resembling a paddle. Initially cast as losers Avatar and Shinobi, the performer struggled with the cartoon-like gimmicks. Such characters were exactly what was making it difficult for the WWF to appeal to a mass audience, and things had digressed into being so tame that the excitement had faded for many. Sarven's next gimmick wasn't exactly a step forward. Redubbed Leif Cassidy, he formed one half of The New Rockers with Marty Jannetty. Of course, Jannetty had earlier been part of The Rockers with none other than Shawn Michaels. Following Michaels proved an impossible task, and the guise was flawed from the very beginning. Thankfully, Sarven would develop a character upon his departure from the WWF and return to ECW. Known as Al Snow, the new character was schizophrenic and bizarre. Carrying a mannequin head with him to the ring and acting unhinged, Snow was extremely over with the ECW faithful. The WWF picked up on this, and rehired the man in 1998. The most fruitful run of Sarven's career followed. Before the 'Attitude' Era, all the company had for him were awful opening match gimmicks, but the new direction of the promotion and his freedom to develop the character himself enabled him to find success.