Gene Snitsky hails from Nesquehoning, Pennsylvania--and he was actually born Gene Snisky--no "t". He has been in the wrestling business since 1998, training under Afa and Sika (the Wild Samoans of WWF fame) and working for their WXW (World Xtreme Wrestling) promotion based in Allentown. Originally Snisky wanted to be a pro football player instead of a wrestler; it was only natural that he was part of a tag team called the Twin Tackles with Robb Harper. The two would go on to become that promotion's tag team champions for a time.
Snisky got a run as a singles star in WXW as well, as a huge babyface who ultimately became their heavyweight champion. He was actually one of the biggest draws of the promotion and there is even a "Best of Snisky" DVD that became a topseller for them.
As with several other WXW stars, it wasn't long before WWE came calling. In 2003 Snisky was sent to Jim Cornette's OVW and given the ring name "Mean Gene Mondo." Eventually WWE officials liked what they saw in his size and ability, and brought him to the big show (not Paul Wight) in September 2004. What made his debut different was that he wasn't heralded by vignettes or even hints on TV. He essentially came out of nowhere.
On 9/13/2004 Kane, then in the middle of a fairly successful, if badly booked, heel run, was given a match with Gene Sni(t)sky by Raw's GM Eric Bischoff. The idea was that Kane could have a punching bag on whom to take out his frustrations after losing the night before (Unforgiven) to a returning "HPK" (Hair Plug Kid) Shawn Michaels. Remember at this time Kane had just "married" Lita and she was supposedly carrying his baby. Keep all this in mind as you read on.
Snitsky, who had never been on WWE TV before (not even Velocity or Heat as local talent, to the best of my knowledge), was shown already in the ring awaiting the monster Kane. The two proceeded to have a match which wasn't too spectacular until Lita got involved, trying to stop Kane from inflicting anymore damage on Snitsky. Snitsky, steel chair in hand, waffled Kane when Kane's back was turned, forcing him to fall on Lita, thus causing a "miscarriage"--or something. Bad booking aside, this made Snitsky an automatic name on Raw.
Snitsky would later claim that he was "just doing a job" and that "It wasn't my fault" what happened to Lita but it didn't stop him from making her life hell and alluding to it constantly, even punting a baby doll and bringing out a baby carriage containing a lead pipe at various points.
Kane, the psychotic rapist who forced Lita to marry him, was now a babyface by default here (!) and of course wanted his revenge on Snitsky. This led to a "Weapon of Choice" match at the WWE inaugural "Taboo Tuesday" PPV in October. Essentially a weapon picked by the viewers was legal and whichever man got to it first could use it. Snitsky got to his chain first and beat Kane beyond recognition, causing the Big Red Machine to disappear from TV for three months. The injuries were a cover so Kane could film a movie for WWE productions, alternately called "Eye Scream Man" or "Good Night" whichever you prefer. In the meantime Snitsky became a hated heel, even landing himself of Triple "Preparation" H's team at Survivor Series. Kane returned in January and the two resumed their feud, including a match at New Years Revolution and a cage match on Raw.
After a brief feud with Shelton Benjamin, Snitsky disappeared from television...only to return on Raw on May 30! Snitsky only made a brief appearance, knocking out Chris Benoit, but a feud between them is set to develop from here as it relates to Eric Bischoff's attempts to ruin the upcoming ECW PPV with a team of Raw guys. Snitsky has been back on the house show circuit working off the ring rust, and should be better than ever....
Gene is now involved with the hideous Edge-Lita-Kane angle. While it gives him a chance to showcase himself, it's a shame that it has to be in an angle that is a perverse spoof on a real life situation. Nonetheless, he was pretty damn funny during the wedding segment of Raw a couple weeks back. Once again Gene is making the most of a less than ideal situation...because it isn't his fault. Now as far as being Big Show's ragdoll, that's a whole other issue. I won't get on a rant about Big Show, this is neither the time nor place. But if WWE does want to build a feud between them and call it "the battle of the giants" as the reports go from house shows, it's doomed. It will work about as well as WCW's Battle of the Giants between Kevin Nash, seven feet tall, and Mike Awesome, 6'5ish. Awesome sure looked like the tiniest giant in history, and Snitsky will as well. At least he's still under contract, though! Let's all us Snitsky marks keep our fingers crossed that he'll survive this round of firings. Since Gene is now a regular on Raw again, that should give us some hope.
Stay tuned for more updates as this bio page, as you can tell, is evolving into an ongoing newspage...
