Gene Snitsky appeared on the v2 Wrestling Podcast and was asked a range of questions about his five-year tenure with WWE that started with an infamous “baby killing” angle. Highlights from the interview are as follows:
On his debut when he knocked Kane into Lita, causing her to miscarry: “The whole storyline was kind of cool I thought. It was so different, it was pushing the envelope. Let’s be realistic, everything’s been done in wrestling that can be done, and back then it wasn’t as corporate so you could get away with a little more. Nowdays, that storyline would never ever be able to take place. A lot of people don’t realize, it was only supposed to be that one incident, and I was then gonna go back to OVW and keep training until they brought me back up. But it got such a reaction that it took off and had a mind of its own, so they rolled with it. I knew it was gonna be good as soon as I hit him with the chair and he fell on her, the whole crowd started chanting “baby killer”. When that happened, I was like, This is great, this is gonna be good.”
On the angle where he punted a baby doll: “I don’t remember exactly who came up with it, but I remember rehearsing it with everybody involved and Vince was very adamant on me kicking the baby doll, and he’s like “You better not f— it up”. And I was like “Don’t worry Vince, I’m not gonna f— it up, I was an all-area punter on my football team in high school. I ain’t gonna f— it up, trust me”. So after we did it and it came off so good, I remember coming back through the curtain and he gave me a standing ovation. The thing that surprised me was that it stayed in once piece; i thought for sure that the head would have popped off it or something. The little brat took it like a champ!”
On his infamous encounter with Heidenreich: “I don’t think two guys ever pulled off a creepier, more homoerotic backstage segment in the history of wrestling.”
On being in the company for the rise of John Cena and Batista: “If the writers want to push a certain character, or Vince wants to push a certain character, they’re getting thrown to the top, whether you like it or not. Once Vince picks his guy and goes with him, he’s gonna go with him. When they made me shave my head and paint my teeth, it was Vince’s idea. Once Vince gets an idea, you do it.”
On why he left WWE: “Basically it was just creative differences. I didn’t like the direction my character was going, and for about six months I would go back and forth with the writers. They were always real big on incorporating your input, so I’d shoot them ideas, and week after week they’d get shot down, and I didn’t really like how they were taking it. It just got to the point where it was best to part ways, but I left on good terms.”
On whether he watches the current WWE product: “I DV-R it every week, and I sort of keep up with it but I fast forward through a lot of it. A lot of it’s too normal for me. I’ve always been an off-the-wall guy, going back to high school, I was always the guy who would do anything to get a reaction. Going to parties and running through walls and stuff like that. To me, that’s fun. The stuff that you see guys doing now is kind of boring if you ask me. They don’t do anything out of the ordinary any more.”
On his foot fetish: “I always liked Torrie Wilson, she was always one of my favorites, and we still joke about it. I’d always tell her, you have such nice feet, and she’d just kind of chuckle. But we’re still friends, I did some bodyguard work for her boyfriend Alex Rodriguez so I still keep in touch with her, she’s really cool. There’s a lot of them that have nice feet, but you don’t walk around backstage and say ‘Can I suck your toes?!'”
The audio interview is available here.
