10 Precise Moments When WWE Ruthless Aggression Era Careers Ended

5. Snitsky

Shawn Michaels Lance Cade
WWE

It wasn't his bloody fault, alright?!

Ahem, sorry, but this writer has a bizarre need to stick up for forgotten WWE man Gene Snitsky. OK, not really, but he's a curious case for sure. On the surface, the hulking giant had everything that Vinnie Mac would look for in a worker during the 'Ruthless Aggression' days.

Things didn't work out for the baby-punting foot fetishist though. His last showing came on the 24 November 2008 episode of flagship show Raw. On that card, Snitsky lost an Intercontinental Title contender tournament match to one CM Punk before requesting his own release by mid-December.

Big Gene had shaved off his hair and gone for a new look before that 2008 reprise. It failed to grab attention (both in front of the fans and with power players backstage), and Snitsky could see that he wasn't going anywhere.

He elected to jump before WWE pushed him, basically. That move he's going for in the screen grab above would be reversed into Punk's GTS finish.

Contributor

Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.