Al Snow Weighs In on AEW’s Use of Stables, Launching His Own Clothing Line

Al Snow sees real potential benefit in AEW’s use of factions in its storytelling, as long as it’s executed well. Snow spoke with Wrestling Inc for a new interview and discussed the rise of stables like The Pinnacle and The Factory, his Powerbomb clothing line and more. Highlights are below:

On AEW’s use of stables: “It’s like prison. I can see them at catering trying to shank each other. It can be very interesting because it could be a very interesting dynamic that leads to creating great storytelling, and that’s all that really matters as long as you use it in the right fashion. Listen, within the realm of professional wrestling, because this is what it is, it’s an art form of physical storytelling within the context of a competitive situation. That’s the key. That’s the logic within it. That’s what allows an audience to follow it because without the context, without the framework for any type of story, then it’s just a bunch of random directions and no real character development, but you need that context, that framework of a competitive situation. Always in those situations, you have to ask yourself, if it were real in the context of professional wrestling, you’re a prize fighter. You’re trying to make a living. You win, you make more money. If you lose, you don’t make as much or not at all.

“It would behoove you, to benefit you to get people that would be willing to protect your back and watch a match, and at some point, maybe intercede on your behalf and ensure the fact that you’re going to win. Now, if there’s a group that starts doing that, i.e. the heels start doing that, of course babyfaces would want to band together to make sure that the odds were even that they were now watching each other’s backs because the other guys were as well. You can tell some great stories that way, and you can build to a jumping off point that takes the brand, the promotion in a whole new direction.”

On his Powerbomb clothing line: “I think I learned that lesson from Steve Austin because besides him just being monumentally over in the ring, if you were not even a wrestling fan, the shirts he sold were cool. He had a smoking skull on the front of his shirt, and you wanted to wear that and the average person wanted to wear that. And that taught me a valuable lesson. I did very well with the JOB Squad shirts, but when I went back to WWE, they wanted to take advantage of that. They licensed the JOB Squad from me, and then they couldn’t do anything with it because they kept trying to figure out how they could sell that to the common, average everyday person who wasn’t a wrestling fan. And meanwhile, I did an incredibly well with the t-shirts. I sold a really astronomical number through a very limited means in a very short amount of time. But meanwhile, Steve Austin’s t-shirts were in, quite literally, every store in the mall. They were at carnivals and fairs. They were at flea markets. They were at Walmart.

“They were at Target, and I tell young wrestlers all the time, you’re a product and you’ve got to make the decision. It’s all success, but do you want to market yourself, like the JOB Squad, just to a wrestling audience, or do you want to be Steve Austin and market yourself to Mr. and Mrs. Walmart, who are the largest percentage of the population in the United States. The money lies in the fame, and the opportunities lie with Mr. and Mrs. Walmart. Endeavor to be person that markets themselves to that.”

On deciding to launch the clothing line: “I wanted to start another project and wanted it to be a little different. Different designs, different take [and] reach a different audience within the wrestling community with a different vibe and a different feel. It’s no different than Heinz that has two different brands of ketchup. It’s kind of like that. I’m trying to create as much as I can in different ways and different manners, so that I can reach a broader audience. The designs are a little more to the degree spoofs through professional wrestling on modern pop culture. I know we’ve got one design out that’s already kind of reminiscent of The Office. They’re a lot more kitschy I’d say, and they take a lot of a lot of pop culture references as well.”