Wrestling legend slams WWE for trying to push second-generation star
WWE legend and former Intercontinental Champion Al Snow recently sat down for an interview with WSI - Wrestling Shoot Interviews. One of the topics that came up during the interview was WWE's One Night Only PPV from 1997, which took place in the UK.
At One Night Only, Al Snow wrestled former WWE star Tiger Ali Singh. WWE had high hopes for the Canadian-Indian wrestler, who came from a wrestling family. Tiger Ali Singh was the son of Canadian wrestling legend, Tiger Jeet Singh.
Snow didn't agree with WWE and Jim Ross' assessment that Tiger would help them make inroads with Indians living in the UK. Snow explained that TIger just wasn't good enough to draw a fanbase on his own:
"They felt very confident that Tiger [Ali Singh] was going to help then break in, at that time, into the UK market and attract that Indian fan base. I remember talking to JR and I was being very frank and I go, your reasoning is ridiculous. I go, Tiger is okay, he's not great, but your thought process of 'well, he's Indian so the Indian population will come to see him,' I go, that's not how this works. You can be of any particular race, creed or religion. If you're not good, they're not going to pay to see you."
Al Snow on WWE "drinking the Kool-Air"
Al Snow used the Tiger Ali Singh example to explain why he felt that WWE is at the top of "drinking the Kool-Aid," something that is often attributed to wrestlers in Paul Heyman's ECW.
Snow feels that WWE is more about following Vince McMahon's agenda and supporting his ideas than doing what has the best chance of working:
"It's funny, you know they used to talk a lot about WBO, ECW and drinking Paul Heyman's Kool-Aid. Let me tell you something, the people that have the biggest bowl of Kool-Aid that you can drink, and it's the most potent and is the most prevalent, is in the WWE. It's insane how they create an agenda or Vince [McMahon] has one that they now want to support and they all jump on the old Kool-Air train."
#OnThisDay in 1997: WWF One Night Only UK PPV: Tiger Ali Singh defeated Leif Cassidy. pic.twitter.com/8HHXZzmYrH
Even though WWE had high hopes for Tiger Ali Singh at the time, his run in the promotion just did not work out. Unfortunately, he suffered a career-ending injury in 2001 and was forced to retire the following year.
If any quotes are used from this article, please credit WSI and add a H/T for Sportskeeda Wrestling.