How A-Train Failed!
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- čas přidán 1. 03. 2024
- The A-Train/Albert is a wrestler that attitude era and ruthless aggression era fans will remember. Perhaps not fondly as Lord Tensai soured his image but the this big 6 foot 7 350 pounder is hard to forget. WWE probably thought he’d go a bit further. When he was the A-Train in 2003 he looked to be on the verge of the main event scene with his powerful move set and aggressive delivery. His matches were a lot of fun. But the character only lasted just over a year and this is the story of what went wrong!
www.patreon.com/user?u=27112575 - Komedie
This guy deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. He still works for WWE as A-TRAINer.
Agreed.
Sounds like Matt Bloom is a good trainer and human being, not a POS like Bill Demott.
@@joemusolf6657 Matt was in a movie called Dog Wedding where a girl hallucinates about pickles.
I just wanted an excuse to mention that movie.
@@joemusolf6657I love the fact that he used to teach handicapped kids. He was born to teach people and is surprisingly a decent wrestler. He looks intimidating if u didn't know him personally but the man is well liked and respected by his peers.
@@miguelladinodevera614 I think something that held him back is how weird looking he is. I don't mean to insult his appearance when I say this, but the way he he dressed and kept his head bald really made him look like a toe. I suspect they had him dress like that to make fun of him.
Albert had more movesets than some smaller guys, it's crazy.
Anyone with multiple movesets will no doubt have more than most guys who only have one
No wonder he heads up the WWE performance center
Sadly, he had some shiity gimmicks, with Tensai/Lord Tensai being the WORST. Pity after re-inventing himself in Japan, and coming back and playing a chubby white Great Muta ripoff
It's crazy to think that Albert is a former Intercontinental Champion and haven't competed in WrestleMania until he was A-Train.
@@lordevyl8317plus he has always struggled personality wise and connecting with the crowd.I compare to modern day Bronson Reed great in ring move set and moves impressive for his size but not interesting at all to stand out.That is why he did well in japan A train and Bronson reed because Japan is in ring orientaited.WWE is more charisma derivied and yes you can stand out with un ring ability like Bret Hart,Benoit,Cesaro but you have to deliver 4 stars or above matches,A train was pretty good but nobody was left saying "Oh my God did you see that A train match"!!
He was treated as big threat in Japan after he left WWE
Yep Giant Bernard and had a pretty damn good tag team career and a decent singles career too
There was so many big guys at that time. He needed to do something
Sadly, when he came back to WWE, they turned him into a chubby white Great Muta/Great Kabuki ripoff.
@@lordevyl8317 Turned him into a weeb...
@@jayharv285 I still insist that he is still Karl Anderson's greatest tag partner. They were a fierce tag team. And in singles he was pretty good too (Tanahashi has nothing but praise for him lol)
The worst thing that happened to Smackdown's monster heels was Lesnar becoming a bad guy again in July '03. At that moment, all the monster baddies went from having their own main event ambitions to just doing Brock's dirty work.
Team Brock! I remember those times
"baddies" 😂
A-Train used to get chants and signs of "Shave your back!" That was super fun for me as a kid that got body hair at 12. My wrestling friends used to chant it at me at sleepovers. Because of this, A-Train will always have a special place in my wrestling heart.
I know, I once bought a sign to a house show that he was on that said "Ape-Train"
I was at a WWF event in 1999 and will never forget how bad A Train wreaked. I was eating a slice of pizza and hot dog when his music hit to start the next match. As soon he came through the entrance I remember thinking WTF is that smell, which only got stronger as he got closer. By the time he was in the ring I had to stop eating and almost barfed right there. I kid you not, it was on deck and I had to try to hold it back as not to embarrass myself. Lucky for me his opponent was Shamrock who more or less squashed him. The odor actually lingered for a few minutes after he was gone. I’m dead serious, it was that bad
@MrWipenyou tell him
Matt Bloom always stuck with me because he was very vocal in the ring. Every move he pulls off is done with a "RRRRAGH!" or a "YES!", and getting hit you expect him to go "OOF!". It was rather comical in the way but it is what made me love to watch the guy.
truly an iron mike sharpe for the myspace generation
You beat me to it.
He is the epitome of evil lead hecnhman. Just a big unsavoury character. He didn't even need to do much talking to get that across.
Yes I remember that.
I remember him yelling "TAKE THIS! While punching.
Still remember the tag team turmoil match at SummerSlam '99 when Albert and Droz entered. Lawler said that nobody cares about the football careers of Droz or Prince Albert. JR responded with nobody cares about your mayoral campaign either.
The lex lugar selling
I like a train, but that roast on the sign was fire. 'A-train Xmas wish list 1. Razor 2. Talent' Jesus someone is a straight savage.
The camera quickly cut away from it 😂
I once had a sign at a house show where he was wrestling that said "Ape-Train".
I was rewatching this era of Smackdown when I was sick for a week, and honestly I didn’t realize just how good A-Train was. Kind of depressing that he never got further than just being either someone’s heavy or they sidekick that took the losses.
I hope you r doing good now
Prince Albert, Albert, A-Train, Tensei... Whatever you call him... He was a great utility guy. There were bigger guys around him either physically or personality but he got the job done when he was needed. His biggest problem, imo, is he was never a monster by himself. He was used as a sidekick much like Bull Buchanan.
Had he had his own thing going he would rank as high as Val Venis but he's underneath like Chaz.
Matt's a super nice dude. Saw him in the airport once and talked for a few minutes. Really nice guy.
The problem is he was a very good big man in a sea of big men. If in his category are Big Show, Taker, Lesnar, Kane, Batista, Matt Morgan, Nathan Jones and on and on, he had no room on either show. And it's a shame because he was good.
I liked Albert, but yes, he suffered for being the smallest big man in a stacked roster. He also had the least physically impressive build of the strong men. Worse, combining those traits with having actual talent put him in the role of being the big strongman who loses. And when combining all of that, it is easy to snowball into the joke that loses fast.
Nathan Jones? The guy literally had one move, a spin kick. The guy had a good look, but he was nearly as awful as Great Khali.
@@lordevyl8317 And they spent a year building him at the expense of A-Train. Same with Matt Morgan.
Not to mention A-Train cannot use some of his moves that got him over in Japan. The Bicycle Kick? Sheamus claimed it. The elevated powerbomb? No, Undertaker uses it as the Last Ride. The Fire Thunder Driver? Absolutely not, although being a piledriver move, this one is understandable. Imagine being handicapped so badly in a sea of big men. No wonder A-Train could not get over.
That is the problem with having just big guys or small guys because no one stand outs
Something I always liked about Albert was his intensity in the ring. Same with Benoit and Jericho.
Always thought big Albert was underrated. Solid mid card act back in the day. I’m glad he’s able to transfer some of his knowledge as a good/safe worker to others now. Lord knows the wrasslin business needs it these days
Giant Bernard vs Tanahashi was legit phenomenal. By the time Tana bested him you really felt it was an accomplishment - the man was Godzilla level threat in NJPW
Man I always go back to him vs Brock Lesnar in NJPW. It wasn't a 3 minute WWE squash, it could've went either way. He was a product of bad booking decisions made by WWE.
yeah he had a pretty significant career in Japan
They had the System down in Japan having done Vader before
@@twilliamspro they just love big white dudes lol. Stan Hansen, Dr Death, Terry Gordy, Johnny Ace, Albert, the Steiners, Gary Albright, Vader, etc
@@artirony410 most of these were in All Japan. It took a while for NJPW to figure out monster gaijin - Vader is the first modern one and then they went with legit hitters like Frye (he was good actually) before going back to workers like Albert. Too bad Jakob Fatu is not working NJPW him versus Okada or Naito would be biblical
I liked that in kayfabe, Paul Heyman says in an off comment that he is the first line of the offense, and he is their A-Train. Albert cuts him off and says, " I like that name. I'm A-Train" which is the origin of the name.
He is a bigger hairy version Perry Saturn
Disappointed this isn't titled "How The A-Train was derailed"
Something tells me that this was NOT an inspiration for a character from The Boys.
Can't stop the a train 🗣️🗣️
His appearance kind of made me think of George "the Animal" Steele.
No, this A-Train was way cooler than that douche.
I love how Maven said that wrestling Albert was like hugging a wet carpet because he was one of the only guys who didn't shave lol. Dude also had a pretty significant career in Japan
Now you have to do the tensai from almost main event to straight jobber
WWE was like "guy was big in Japan" but thought "hmm, certainly it wasn't because he beat people up and looked scary".
Fr. wwe's mistake was giving him that weeb gimmick. Should have just brought him back as A-Train since the crowd was already chanting "ALBERT" at him
Bro went from beating John Cena to dancing in lingerie.
Seeing A Train doing a swing is probably the scary as hell
One of the problems with A train was his character was a lot of the time "he's a big ol hoss Is A train!", then he'd hoss his way to beat some cruisers, then hoss his way to lose to a star, then repeat...they never found anything interesting to do with him
As much as I was a huge fan of the A- train my problem with him was that he could be never taken seriously. It's hard to take a guy seriously when either somebody else is talking for him or he's always in a tag team or faction
JBL's "DINGDINGDING" music always throws me off. I think it's A-Train, then quickly become disappointed...
All these years thinking it was just me. I was expecting that train foghorn to sound.
Worst of all, I was 9 or 10, and I wanted JBL's head on a swivel since I still believed. Now I'd love to meet Layfield and tell him that, it's a compliment for the best wrestling heels.
Seeing Benoit take head damage in that game clip gave me head damage. RIP or whatever you say about the best performer who ended up..... yeah.
Yapanese
he was the best, just like Bret, gave a whole bunch of people their greatest match
Crazy that A-Train is one of the few superstars to defeat Stephanie McMahon.
Always loved his moveset- usually make an Albert CAW in games.
Right guy right character wrong time wrong federation. If he was 20 years sooner in the territories as a traveling heel it would've worked. Its no surprise to me he was big in Japan to me that's where a gimmck like A Train would thrive
Honestly, I couldn't care less about him when I was younger.. but man!! I didn't know how talented he truly was! It's a damn shame they drop the ball on him. That delayed butterfly facebuster was incredible!
Loves your vids! Keep 'em coming! 🤓
He had one of the best movesets in Here Comes The Pain
WWE fans dont care about "moves."
He cant talk, and thus he wasnt over.
He certainly could've been a solid U.S./I.C. Champion contender, even champion but he wasnt going further than that with the ability to talk
You know what's so cool about Matt Bloom? At 1:37 he casually pulls off a Military Press Michinoku Driver. Ye sure it was done to Rey Mysterio, but the thing is, he was such a beast, he could do it to a good half of a roster. I'm glad he still has a job in WWE and keeps training ppl
I legit digged his theme. Maybe because it sounded like a Thomas And Friends theme which had a great sound track in its own right
His run in New Japan was actually good
I'm sorry, what was that? Brian Kendrick had a random streaker gimmick once?
His time when he was Spanky was… interesting lol.
Yeah, it was when he was trying to get a "job" on smackdown.
Bruh, A-train should've had so much more man. One of my fav big man ever.
Great video Hawk. I recommended Big Shows ECW run in 06.
Albert looked like a human equivalent to grizzly when he was doing the A-Train gimmick big hairy bully that kinda felt real with his previous flop gimmicks
That Benoit match with chair botch was nasty, great match though.
I am the NAIL-TRAINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN.
You have to do a lord Tensai video
I’m glad he’s the head trainer at the WWE Performance Center now. He was never the guy but his in-ring abilities and psychology were great.
I agree. A Train was Alberts best persona. 👍
And Tensai was his WORST
@@lordevyl8317 I agree with that as well. 👍
Kane Sean O'Hair and A train are my top 3 all time favourite wrestlers
Ohair is amazing good pick
*O'Haire
I met him in Nashville at a ramen shop. Such a nice guy.
Nowadays he's a trainer at the Performance Center. He was a great worker with a move set that was amazing.
I did like Albert for most of his career for the reasons you mentioned in the video. He was a big dude with a variety of nice power moves, which is something most big guys lack for some reason in today's wrestling world.
You probably could've put him in a spot where he'd be a pretty big threat for midcard titles, like IC or US belts and even letting him win those a few times, and every now and then you build him up to have maybe a World Title shot where not only can he get the champion over by having them beat him, he also has the ability to put on a great match to go with that.
Edge & Albert always had good chemistry together
Always a fan, whether he was crippling Rey Mysterio or "dig-dancing" his way to the ring next to Funkasaurus! Entertaining guy.
Im with you, Mark. His work was good and that Bicycle Kick was more devastating than any Big Boot or Superkick.
A Train was awesome
Honestly, I'm in agreement with Marky on that one. Kind of baffles me that the WWE never took advantage of his potential when he looks intimidating and has the in-ring ability to back it up, especially at a time when Vince was more obsessed with beefy wrestlers than ever and basically turned him into a joke with each of his gimmicks.
It's because he came off as a Rick Steiner Copy. I don't know how old you are, but I was in Prime Wrestling Watching Years back then. The Fans did not like him, they did not hate him...they were entirely indifferent to him, and even having Trish Stratus and going by the tag team name "T and A" didn't help him. The moment Trish started working with others, nobody cared about Test or Albert ever again. He may be skilled, but he just didn't have "it".
@@justinlast2lastharder749L take, nobody’s saying he had to be a main eventer. You only need to have “it” to be a main event player. But Albert should have been United States champion a few times at least.
Hey Marky. Thanks for this video, I was exactly like you, younger me thought A-Train was great in 2003, I loved his move set and I liked being him on SmackDown Here Comes The Pain! Me and my mate at the time used to play on that game all the time and we'd each be a GM of either Raw or SmackDown, we'd draft our own rosters and do shows etc... and we used to argue over who'd get A-Train! Sounds lame now but at the time it was amazing haha. Anyway, yeah another great video shining a spotlight and giving an opinion that isn't normally said on something.
Also, as well as having similar tastes as kids it looks like we do in adulthood as I too get videos about The History of Robot Wars and why everyone hates MK Dons suggested to me ! 😆
Vince wanted to paint him in blackface and call him the “Ayo Train”
Honestly I knew him more as Giant Bernard than Albert! My grandpa would get a lot of NJPW videos form his time in Japan!
I always liked Albert but a big reason he wasn't used well was he complained about everything backstage. Even other wrestlers such as RVD have said he was a whinger and it hurt his career
I feel the same way about Mike Knox’s main roster run. He had more losses than wins, but had a cool look and a lot of fun matches with guys like Rey, Finlay and Kane. Love the guy!
It's sad to see a lot of people forgetting his Giant Bernard gimmick and remembering Tensai so vividly. He was presented as an absolute unbeatable monster in AJPW, moved to NJPW and competed for the IWGP Heavyweight Title and was instrumental in the rise of Tanahashi as a main event talent. He looked even bigger in Japan and also had a really good tag run with Karl Anderson. Kickass moveset too.
Funny that you played a clip from Smackdown vs. RAW, because that's where 80% of my memories of this guy come from. He was one of the best "jobbers" (83 overall of less) in the game.
Every time I see A-Train the first thing I think of is that scary F5 botch, it's amazing he didn't get seriously hurt there
I can never forget A-Train in my life
Yippie video makes my day thanks man and I’d you know a wrestler who could do the job at the ha wk
I sadly never appreciated A-Train while he was actively wrestling. But looking back, he had some pretty fun matches.
I didn't know you were a fellow fan of the A-Train, Marky. He was an odd favorite (partly because of the SHAVE YOUR BACK chants, but partly because he was intense and memorably LOUD as fuck). Cheers, man!
Damn it felt like A-Train lasted much longer.
i just wanted to let you know you are making the world better.
A-Train was a great monster heel at that time but his run was such a wasted opportunity.
Albert had the unfortunate experience of looking more like a henchman than than the big bad.
i first started watching wrestling in 03 and loved A-train. He was just different. The hairy back was really rememberable. Was so happy when i heard he was coming back over from Japan and, well, less said about that the better.
You should cover Ryback’s main event run. I don’t think he was bad as people say he was. He was extremely over for a little while there.
I don't think he was as bad as people make him out to be either, guy had a cool moveset and he was one of the most over guys on the roster for a little bit, guy definitely had a lot of potential but it seems like backstage he was a headache to deal with and nowadays nobody can stand him, which I don't blame them for.
I really liked him. He had a great variety of moves and looked mean. Could hang with the main eventers in the ring too. You’re 💯 bout him needing better booking, and a more interesting storyline woulda made a big difference too.
I agree. He got the short end of the stick in favor of folks the company thought were more interesting. Nonsense.
Albert was a great wrestler but his looks and mic skills really let him down but very underrated in ring, probably reason why he's head trainer in WWE development program
I also loved him as a kid and his unique moveset
T&A was a great tag team. Albert was a beast and a lot of fun to watch
I always liked T&A, both guys had impactful and impressive move sets and were 2 of the better big guys around. Test was the one they went with and Albert/A-Train never got the big midcard feuds he could win to step up. A shame but with how stacked the roster was at the time there were always going to be some that got lost in it all
Albert vs Kane in 01 was freaking amazing!
7:09 God... You reminded me of all the gimmicks Chuck Palumbo had. Far more than Albert between WWE and WCW and with just as long of a tenure.
I always loved him as a kid. I remember the first time I saw him overhead press Kane (my favorite wrestler). I always loved his Baldo Bomb too. I'm pretty sure he's the reason why Undertaker also has The Last Ride. Albert was using a sit out version (later dubbed the Bernard Bomb) until 'Taker adopted it as his finisher.
dude,you gotta check out his work in Japan as Giant Bernard,that will definitely washed away the sour taste that you get when you consider his wwe tenure. The man definitely treated as world-ending threat over there instead of just lost in the shuffle.
Very nice guy. I met him at an outdoor music festival. During his nxt training days.
His theme song was pretty unique. I loved playing as him on SD here comes the pain. His look was pretty strange. Chest hair is fine but come on leave the back hair until retirement. The bottom line is Paul was looking to elevate 6 guys on SD. A train wasn't one of them.
It's been forever sense you've done a tag team on The Ring Of The Hawk. I've suggested the Mexicools for years but the next best thing would be Tons Of Funk
I liked A-Train in 2003. I wanted him and Big Show to win the tag titles. A combined weight of 850lbs is too cool a line to have not put the titles on him. Poor Albert. Always in a team that should win the tag titles but never getting them.
Good stuff as always The Hawk. Loved the 2003/04 SmackDown, and A-Train's booking was incredibly disappointing.
The start of his theme sounds like JBL. Also his match with Bradshaw was great, really hard hitting
Honestly to me he was such a convincing monster heel I completely forgot that he always lost.
He had a bizarre career 🤣 all his characters entertained me though 😂🤣
I always liked Albert he always stood out as a really decent mid carder and during the invasion angle he was seen as one of the top wwe mid carders like billy gunn was and I remember him being over
Do video on rhino one of the most underrated wrestlers in my opinion
Imagine this man is the main guy teaching wwe new blood and doing the greatest job in that shows he was a great wrestler/ performer imo
Good, I am glad to hear you were a fan, so I hope somewhere in this video you cover our shared outrage when Undertaker casually said "oh hey I like that lifting powerbomb move you do, I am taking it and now it is mine forever and you can go to hell" edit: O.K. watching this video I actually think Undertaker must have stolen the Last Ride before the switch to A-Train. And I love your final comparison to Test, as it really is as simple as "Vince was turned on by Test's sexy muscles and disgusted by Albert" as to how each of them fared
Actually 100% agree, loved A-Trains work, obviously he would never be a main eventer but upper mid for sure. Made more sense for him to be IC Champ as A-Train than Albert
Albert always looks like a video game character even when its really him. I think its that huge shiny chest.
i was thinking about asking for this. I was an A Train fan too, i liked his move set but not his look or how they used him after mid 2000s
I felt the exact same about Albert - didn't care for him as Prince Albert or Lord Tensai, but I was a fan of A-Train and really thought it could go places.
Failed or not but matt bloom was one of the most underrated big men of all time dude was phenomenal, loved his team with big show.
A very very underrated talent BUT like many guys he was bigger in another company he was amazing in Japan
I was an a-train fan when him and big show were a tag team.
Maybe somewhere down the line you could look at his run as Giant Bernard. All I ever heard was that he was incredible with that.
12:24 Never in my life did I ever think I would see a Prince Albert in a dress doing the Pee-Wee Herman dance. But here we are. The promised land.