Gene Snitsky Looks Back On Infamous WWE Angle That Defined His Legacy

When wrestling fans think of Gene Snitsky, there is one thing that instantly comes to mind.

While the former WWE star was with the company for a number of years, his earliest appearances were also his most famous. Brought in as an unknown opponent for Kane, Snitsky became a part of the Kane and Lita storyline when he struck The Big Red Machine in the back with a chair, causing Kane to fall onto the former Women’s Champion, who was also pregnant in storyline with Kane’s child at that time.

WWE later revealed that Lita suffered a storyline miscarriage as a result of the incident, leading to Snitsky stating on TV that it wasn’t his fault, which also became his catchphrase. While the storyline was controversial enough, and was also not the first miscarriage storyline WWE did, things got even more absurd down the road.

Interrupting Lita with a toy baby in reference to what happened, the former WWE star then punted the baby into the audience like he was trying to kick a field goal. With fans in shock over what took place, the moment still lives on in infamy and is remembered more than 20 years later.

Speaking with Chris Van Vliet, Snitsky first spoke about the segment and how he was previously a punter before finding wrestling:

“Well, here’s the thing, going back to like I was saying about football and all that, I was actually an all area punter my junior year of high school. I averaged like 37 yards as a junior in high school, so I had always had the leg to do it. And ironically, all these years later, that’s one of the things I’m known for. It’s kind of funny.”

When asked about how the pitch came to be, Snitsky recalled the conversation he had with Vince McMahon where he promised the former Chairman that he would not mess it up:

“No, like I said, I sat in catering and just waited for somebody to come and get me. Dean Malenko came and got me and said, they need you to ring for the first shot. But when we were doing a baby thing, Vince was there as well with that. A little bit of a funny story, we’re walking through it, Vince was like, ‘Then you’re going to kick the baby into the crowd.’ I’m like, Cool. I’m thinking to myself, I’m going to try to kick it as high as I could to hit the Tron thing up top. Then they give me the baby. I’m like, man, it’s gonna be kind of hard to do. Have you ever tried to kick a baby? It’s not easy.

You think it shouldn’t be that hard, but it’s actually pretty hard to kick a baby, though. But anyways, so in my head, I’m thinking I’m gonna whack this sh*t out of this thing. I’m gonna kick it as high as I can. And then Vince is like, ‘Whatever you do, don’t miss the baby. Make sure you kick it.’ I’m like, ‘Listen, Mr. McMahon, I was already a punter in high school. This is gonna be f*cking amazing.’ And he just looked at me and just left it at that. Then we went out. We did it in the whole spiel, and then back through the curtain, he gives me a big hug, he’s like, that was great. I’m like, I told you. I don’t have a confidence issue. I’m pretty confident in my ability, so I knew it was gonna be great.”

Gene Snitsky Addresses Bizarre WWE Legacy

Still an active wrestler to this day, Snitsky still appears on the independents and has repeated the infamous spot multiple times. When asked about the baby punting being a part of his legacy, Snitsky admitted that his rise to prominence was a shock to him:

“I don’t really know how to respond to that. When I got into wrestling, I never in a million years would have thought that whole storyline, just being thrown into it, because I had never done a dark match. Nobody knew who I was. I was just there, and then all of a sudden I’m the biggest heel on the show. It’s crazy, literally that quick.”

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Featured image: WWE