Gene Snitsky

Gene Snitsky
Ring name(s)	Gene Snitsky[1] Snitsky[2] "Mean" Gene Mondo[1] "Mean" Gene Snitsky Gene Snisky
Billed height	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)[2]
Billed weight	305 lb (138 kg) - 307 lb (139 kg)[2]
Born	January 14, 1970 (1970-01-14) (age 41)[1] Nesquehoning, Pennsylvania
Resides	Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania
Billed from	Nesquehoning, Pennsylvania[2]
Trained by	Afa Anoa'i[1] A.J. Petrucci[1]
Debut	1997[1]

Eugene Alan "Gene" Snisky^[1] (born January 14, 1970)^[1] is a professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Snitsky, who is best known for his time spent with World Wrestling Entertainment. He had played college football at the University of Missouri and was on the pre-season roster in 1995 for the Birmingham Barracudas of the Canadian Football League. ^[2] He was released from his contract in 2008 and has since been seeking a role in acting.^[3]

Professional wrestling career

Snitsky wrestled in Ohio Valley Wrestling as "Mean" Gene Mondo, the brother of Mike Mondo. He signed with Allentown, Pennsylvania based World Xtreme Wrestling (wXw) under the name "Mean" Gene Snitsky (a name inspired by "Mean" Gene Okerlund) and won the tag-team championship along with his partner Robb Harper as the Twin Tackles. When he entered singles competition, he won the wXw Heavyweight Championship.

World Wrestling Entertainment (2004–2008)

Snitsky had a tryout match with the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) the day after winning the WXW Championship on October 20, 2003 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania at a Raw taping. Snitsky, wrestling as Gene Snisky, was defeated by fellow WXW wrestler "Smooth" Tommy Suede. It was following this match that he was sent to OVW for a developmental deal.

Raw (2004-2006)

He made his WWE debut on the September 13, 2004 edition of Raw^[2] as an apparent jobber against Kane in a no-disqualification match. As Kane, a heel at the time, prepared to injure Snitsky, he was distracted by Lita, who was (kayfabe) pregnant with Kane's child. Snitsky would use the distraction to hit Kane from behind with the chair, causing Kane to fall on Lita, and causing Lita to miscarry her unborn baby. When interviewed about the incident, Snitsky vehemently claimed that "It Wasn't My Fault" (which would go on to become the character's catchphrase). This facilitated a face turn for Kane.

He was then situated in a major feud with Kane, which led to a match at Taboo Tuesday 2004. In this match, Snitsky used a steel chair and crushed Kane's larynx. WWE used this angle as an excuse for Kane's absence, when in reality he was going to film the WWE-produced movie See No Evil. This feud resumed at the New Year's Revolution pay-per-view, when Kane returned and defeated Snitsky.^[4]

At Survivor Series 2004, Snitsky had an encounter with a character similar to his own, Heidenreich, in which they both exchanged their views on each other – "I like .. your poetry."; "I .. like what you do.. to babies." — while breathing hard, both their trademark ways of talking. At Royal Rumble 2005, the two met up again as Snitsky secretly partnered with Heidenreich, planning to interfere in Heidenreich's Casket Match with The Undertaker. It was later revealed that Kane was hidden in the casket, who pounced on both Snitsky and Heidenreich. They continued their fight in the crowd, before letting the Casket Match continue.

Gene Snitsky in 2005.

He was absent from WWE television between April and May 2005 due to a blood clot in his stomach. He returned to house show action on May 28, 2005, and reappeared on Raw on May 30, 2005, where he began in earnest his televised feud with house show opponent Chris Benoit.^[5] The feud concerned Benoit's appearance in the June 12, 2005 One Night Stand 2005 pay-per-view; Snitsky was a "hired gun" for Eric Bischoff's Raw volunteers, brought in to try to invade the pay-per-view and ruin the ECW reunion.^[6]

Snitsky was then used by Edge and Lita to attack Kane and by Eric Bischoff as punishment to anybody that he did not like. On July 11, 2005 Edge informed Snitsky that he knew about his female foot fetish and offered Snitsky to "have a go with Lita's feet" if he'd help him in a match against Kane.^[7] Lita and Snitsky's past was addressed when Lita actually thanked Snitsky for his actions nine months prior, saying that she was better off for not having birthed the spawn of Kane, and then gave him a kiss as a reward.

When his rivalry with Kane ended, Snitsky had a shot at the Intercontinental Championship, which then was held by Shelton Benjamin. Snitsky lost by disqualification after hitting Benjamin with a steel chair.

On the July 18, 2005 edition of Raw, Snitsky faced WWE Champion John Cena in the Lumberjack match where Chris Jericho picked all heel lumberjacks to make the odds unfair for Cena.^[8]

After a few weeks mainly wrestling on Heat, Snitsky formed a tag team with an initially reluctant Tyson Tomko. In their first team match together, the pair squashed the tag team of Viscera and Val Venis. The pair would have some success as a tag team, earning the number one contenders spot for the World Tag Team Championships at one point. The pair were unable to win the titles from Big Show and Kane, both of whom Snitsky had feuded with in the past. The team was broken up in April 2006 when Tomko left WWE.

Following that, Snitsky turned face and formed a tag team with Goldust, defeating various teams of wrestlers on Heat, which eventually earned them an unsuccessful title shot against then-champions the Spirit Squad. However, this team was also broken up when Goldust was released from WWE.^[9]

Following the release of Goldust, Snitsky was primarily used as a mid-card talent on Raw, but was considered a major star on Heat.

ECW (2007)

Snitsky in his new gimmick of a shaven headed psychopath

On the February 6, 2007 edition of ECW on Sci Fi, a vignette aired of Snitsky (now bald and clean shaven, even his eyebrows) and was portrayed as a psychotic madman coming to ECW. To further defile his appearance, Snitsky also had dark yellow stained teeth and facial blemishes. Later during the same show, Snitsky debuted and assaulted Bobby Lashley.^[10] This re-established him as a monstrous heel, similar to Kane's unmasked heel character. Over the next several weeks, Snitsky would run into the ring after matches and attack various ECW superstars, including CM Punk,^[11] Hardcore Holly^[12] Balls Mahoney,^[13] and Matt Striker.^[13]

On April 3, 2007, Snitsky faced Holly in a match, which he won. After the match, Snitsky wedged Holly's arm in between two steel steps and repeatedly hit the steps with a steel chair, in storyline, breaking Holly's arm.^[14] Snitsky then began a short feud with Balls Mahoney.^[15] Then, he would begin another short feud with Rob Van Dam. During this feud, Snitsky would suffer his first ECW loss when he was defeated by Van Dam by disqualification.^[16]

Return to Raw and departure (2007-2008)

On the June 11, edition of Raw, Snitsky was drafted from ECW back to Raw as part of the WWE Draft. Snitsky made his return to the brand on the July 9 edition of Raw, defeating Super Crazy.^[17]

Snitsky continued to go undefeated on Raw throughout the summer, having pinfall victories over various wrestlers including Super Crazy, Val Venis, Rory McAllister,^[18] and Robbie McAllister.^[19]

On August 20, Snitsky competed in his first one-on-one main-event match since losing to John Cena on Raw in 2005, once again against Cena, which he lost via disqualification when Randy Orton interfered.^[20] This was Snitsky's first loss since returning to the Raw brand. Snitsky returned on the October 8 edition of Raw, defeating Val Venis while acting as a substitute for Santino Marella, who was in a feud with Venis.^[21] On December 3, Snitsky was pinned by Jeff Hardy in an Intercontinental Championship match, his first pinfall loss in the year.^[22] Snitsky then mainly fought on Heat, usually winning his matches. On the final episode of Heat, Snitsky defeated Super Crazy.

Snitsky last appeared on WWE television on the November 24, 2008 edition of Raw, losing in an Intercontinental Championship Tournament match to CM Punk.

On December 11, 2008, Snitsky was released from his WWE contract.^[23]

Independent circuit (2011)

Territory League has announced that Gene Snitsky will face Rikishi on August 27, 2011 in Sun Valley, California.

Other media

In 2009, Gene Snitsky appeared as a biker in the music video for the song "Free Your Soul" by Vyrus.^[24] He also appeared as an actor in the role of biker and criminal on ABC's Primetime: What Would You Do?, in February 2011. He has appeared in other episodes, including one where he played a person harassing a midget.

He will star in the film Manos: The Search for Valley Lodge, the sequel to the critically panned 1966 film Manos: The Hands of Fate.^[25]

Gene Snitsky started taking shots at Mike Mizanin via his Twitter account. He later stated that his account was hacked, even though both his tweets and the hacker's tweets came from an iPhone in Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania where he currently resides.

In wrestling

Snitsky prepares to wrestle Brian Kendrick in 2007

• Finishing moves

• Egoist Schwein^[1] (Pumphandle slam)^[1][2]

• Signature moves

• Clothesline^[1]
• Front powerslam^[1]
• Running big boot^[1]
• Side slam^[1]

• Entrance themes

• "It Wasn't my Fault" by Jim Johnston
• "Unglued" by Jim Johnston

Championships and accomplishments

• Athletik Club Wrestling

• ACW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Robb Harper^[26]

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated

• PWI ranked him #83 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2005^[27]

• World Xtreme Wrestling

• WXW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[28]
• WXW Tag Team Championship (1 time)^[28] – with Robb Harper

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n} "Gene Snitsky Profile". Online World Of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/g/gene-snitsky.html. Retrieved 2008-03-23. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} "WWE Profile". WWE. Archived from the original on 2007-12-25. http://web.archive.org/web/20071225172817/http://www.wwe.com/superstars/raw/snitsky/bio/. Retrieved 2007-12-27. 
3. ^ http://www.pwmania.com/newsarticle.php?page=276648618
4. ^ "New Year's Revolution 2005 Results". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/shows/newyearsrevolution/history/2005/results/. Retrieved 2008-01-05. 
5. ^ "A Barabaric Batista". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/archive/383310/. Retrieved 2007-11-20. 
6. ^ "One Night Stand Results". WWE. June 12, 2005. http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/history/ons05results/. Retrieved 2007-11-20. 
7. ^ "HBK challenges Hogan for SummerSlam". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/archive/07112005/. Retrieved 2007-11-20. 
8. ^ "Cena overcomes the odds". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/archive/07182005/. Retrieved 2007-11-20. 
9. ^ "Goldust released". http://www.deadparrottavern.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10978. Retrieved 2008-01-05. 
10. ^ Louie Dee (February 6, 2007). "Making trouble". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/archive/02062007/. Retrieved 2007-11-20. 
11. ^ Craig Tello (February 13, 2007). "Well-bred". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/archive/02132007/. Retrieved 2007-11-20. 
12. ^ Craig Tello (March 6, 2007). "Rattlesnake's venomous visit". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/archive/03062007/. Retrieved 2007-11-20. 
13. ^ ^{a b} Craig Tello (February 27, 2007). "To hell and back". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/archive/02272007/. Retrieved 2007-11-20. 
14. ^ Craig Tello (April 3, 2007). "Fatal fallout". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/archive/04032007/. Retrieved 2007-11-20. 
15. ^ Bryan Robinson (April 24, 2007). "Making painful statements". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/archive/04242007/. Retrieved 2007-11-20. 
16. ^ Bryan Robinson (May 15, 2007). "Focused on Judgment". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/archive/05152007/. Retrieved 2007-11-20. 
17. ^ Lennie DiFino (July 9, 2007). "Bulldozed in the Bayou". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/archive/07092007/. Retrieved 2007-11-20. 
18. ^ Corey Clayton (August 6, 2007). "Checkmate". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/archive/08062007/. Retrieved 2007-12-27. 
19. ^ Greg Adkins (August 13, 2007). "Rhodes keeps on rolling". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/archive/08132007/. Retrieved 2077-12-27. 
20. ^ Corey Clayton (August 20, 2007). "Royally wrong". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/archive/08202007/. Retrieved 2007-12-26. 
21. ^ Greg Adkins (October 8, 2007). "In a Snit". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/archive/10082007/. Retrieved 2008-01-02. 
22. ^ Greg Adkins (December 3, 2007). "Pioneer Pin". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/archive/12032007/. Retrieved 2007-12-04. 
23. ^ "Snitsky released". WWE. 2008-12-11. http://www.wwe.com/inside/news/snitskyreleased. Retrieved 2008-12-12. 
24. ^ Gene Snitsky Appears in a New Music Video For Vyrus
25. ^ [1]
26. ^ "Athletik Club Wrestling profile" (in German). Athletik Club Wrestling. http://www.acw-pro.de/index.php?content=wrestlerextern&id=11. Retrieved 2009-06-06. 
27. ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated Top 500 - 2005". Wrestling Information Archive. http://www.100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/pwi/pwi50005.htm. Retrieved 2008-07-13. 
28. ^ ^{a b} "World Xtreme Wrestling Title Histories". Wrestling Information Archive. http://www.100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/other/wxwtit.htm. Retrieved 2008-07-05. 

External links

Professional wrestling portal

• Online World of Wrestling Profile

Persondata
Name	Snitsky, Gene
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	January 14, 1970
Place of birth	Nesquehoning, Pennsylvania
Date of death
Place of death