Al Snow on Bullying in Wrestling

Does anyone want it? One of the top stories over the last few weeks has been the alleged bullying issue between John Bradshaw Layfield and the now departed Mauro Ranallo. The events have sparked a long discussion on the subjects of locker room hazing and bullying in the wrestling business. Another veteran has now weighed in.

Al Snow was recently interviewed by Memorabiliaguy.com on a variety of subjects, including bullying in wrestling. Snow has wrestled since 1982 and offered several thoughts on the topic. While Snow doesn’t seem to be in favor of bullying, he says that it certainly exists and wrestlers need to be ready to deal with it. Here are some highlights:

On what it was like when he broke in:

“Basically, the older wrestlers would constantly test you, and initially they would test you physically, to see if they could crack you, or break you, and send you home. And then they would do it mentally and emotionally, on a pretty regular basis – just so you had to earn your spot in the locker room, for a very long time. That’s why I say you have to be pretty mentally and emotionally tough.”

On physical bullying in the ring:

“That kind of stuff doesn’t happen to that degree in any manner now, and I don’t say that it should, but be aware. This is a physical, mental and emotional business. Making a decision to get into it you now accept part and parcel what it’s gonna take to be in it.”

And on wrestlers being worried to stand up for themselves:

“The belief is now that wrestlers get fired. Wrestlers can’t get fired. Wrestlers are never hired. They’re not employees, it’s not a job, it’s not Tesco or Wal-Mart. Wrestlers are products and their have wrestling matches are advertisements to allow them to sell themselves. The relationship they have with the wrestling promoter is a business relationship.”

You can read the full interview here.

Opinion: This was a bit better than I was expecting as Snow is correct on several points. As he mentioned, bullying is going to happen in one form or another no matter what happens. If you stand up for yourself, there’s a good chance that it’s going to end or at least slow down. While it might not be as bad as it once was, that doesn’t mean you can pretend it’s gone, which means something about it still has to be fixed.