Former WWE Superstar Gene Snitsky recently joined Gerald Brisco and JBL on their “Stories with Brisco and Bradshaw” podcast, offering a look into his athletic background, his unorthodox journey to WWE, and the origins of one of the most talked-about angles of the Ruthless Aggression Era—the “baby punt.”
Snitsky, an accomplished multi-sport athlete in high school, discussed his initial focus on football, where he was an all-area punter. “Ironically, I was my junior high school at Panther Valley High School, I was the punter and I was all-area punter. I averaged 37.8 yards a punt in high school,” he shared. This early skill would later play an unexpected role in his wrestling career. His path to WWE wasn’t immediate after football; he first trained with Afa Anoa’i Sr. at the Wild Samoan Pro Wrestling Training Center and toured extensively, often working with Samu. “I was out for a whole month, my very first tour with those guys, breaking me in the business… I took a beating every night, and I knew not to complain.”
His official call-up to WWE in 2004 was anything but ordinary. After a dark match tryout in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, in October 2003, where his agent was listed as Afa, he received a call from WWE’s John Laurinaitis (Johnny Ace) in March or April 2004. “I was living with my parents at the time, because as a struggling wrestler, I think I had 10 bucks in my pocket,” Snitsky recalled. “I was sitting on my mom’s in my underwear, and Johnny called me, and I was literally running around the house in my underwear. My mom’s like, what the hell’s the matter with you. Like, I just got signed to WWE, awesome. It was like, I won the lottery.”
Snitsky was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) for further training under Bill DeMott and Lance Storm. His main roster debut was then fast-tracked in a surprising manner. “Finlay had come down to OVW to work me out on a Wednesday… I must have wrestled 60 matches that day,” Snitsky said. “Saturday… or Sunday morning, I got the call from Howard [Finkel], ‘Mr. Snitsky, we’re going to send you to Seattle.’ Okay, great… Still don’t know what I’m doing… Dean Malenko came up to me, and he’s like, ‘they need you out at the ring.’ I’m like, okay, so go out to the ring, you know, walk through the whole thing with Glenn [Jacobs/Kane] and Lita… I literally had no idea what I was doing until I got out to the ring.”
This debut involved him in a major storyline with Kane and Lita, where Lita was (in storyline) pregnant with Kane’s child. The angle famously involved Snitsky causing Lita to miscarry after Kane fell on her when Snitsky hit Kane with a chair. This led to his memorable, oft-repeated catchphrase. Snitsky detailed its origin: “Jr [Jim Ross] was interviewing me, and I just happened to say, like, ‘well, it’s not my fault she was in the ring. She shouldn’t have been in the ring.’ And then I can remember Stephanie [McMahon] coming up to me, and she’s like, ‘You say that every single interview… no matter what they say to you, say, It’s not my fault…’ I’m like, okay.”
The storyline then led to the infamous segment where Snitsky punted a prop baby into the crowd. He shared Vince McMahon’s direct instruction: “I remember walking through it with Vince, and Vince says to me, ‘whatever you do, don’t f*** it up.’ And I said, ‘Mister McMahon, I was all-area punter in high school. It’s going to be amazing.’ He just shook his head.” Gerald Brisco, co-host, commented on the execution: “You line that up just like you’re doing a Super Bowl punt, man, you’re holding that baby, and it’s perfect how you’re holding the baby… you dropped it just perfect where the foot hit the baby, just perfect man. And that damn baby took off.”
Snitsky reflected on the moment’s surprising longevity: “Looking back on it, like I said I was just having fun. I’m like, you know, this is great. Like, and now, 21 years later, we’re still talking about it, and people still get excited talking about it. It’s it’s crazy to me, but I’ll take it.” He even mentioned fans sometimes bringing baby dolls for him to sign or kick at appearances, a testament to the segment’s bizarre legacy.
The interview also touched upon Snitsky’s post-WWE career, including co-producing and starring in a horror movie, “100 Acres of Hell,” and his current venture, Priority One Surplus, a military and survival gear store in Hamburg, Pennsylvania, where he primarily employs military veterans.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Stories with Brisco and Bradshaw with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
