Gene Snitsky says Vince McMahon personally came up with the drastic character makeover that accompanied his move to WWE’s version of ECW, telling him he would be positioned as one of the brand’s main heels.
Speaking with Bryan Asbury on Developmentally Speaking, which is available through the show’s official YouTube channel, Snitsky recalled McMahon approaching him without warning with a new direction for his character.
“Vince just came up to me out of the blue.”
According to Snitsky, McMahon personally laid out both the creative direction and the physical transformation he wanted.
“We’re going to be starting the ECW. I’m going to make you a main heel, but I want you to change your appearance, shave off all your hair, and go to the makeup lady and see if there’s something that you could get your teeth all grimy with.”
Snitsky said he was not particularly enthusiastic about shaving his head and adopting the dirty-teeth presentation, but the fact that the idea came directly from McMahon made it difficult to dismiss.
“But when Vince comes to you personally and it’s his idea, you know, and he tells you you’re going to be the top heel in ECW…”
Snitsky ultimately followed McMahon’s direction, debuting the new look during his 2007 run on ECW. The presentation featured a shaved head, grimy teeth and a more aggressive character as Snitsky began running through opponents on the brand.
WrestlingHeadlines previously covered Snitsky discussing the same makeover in 2023, when he explained that McMahon wanted him transformed into a “killer heel” and personally instructed him to shave his head and alter the appearance of his teeth.
The run took place during WWE’s attempt to establish ECW as a third television brand alongside Raw and SmackDown. WrestlingHeadlines has also covered Rob Van Dam’s retrospective thoughts on WWE’s ECW revival and how the relaunched brand differed from the original promotion.
Snitsky said the direction became confusing once his ECW push gained momentum. He previously recalled Stephanie McMahon telling him that her father loved what he was doing on the show and therefore wanted him drafted back to Raw.
That move effectively ended the ECW-specific version of the push McMahon had originally presented to him.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit Developmentally Speaking with Bryan Asbury, with a h/t to Wrestling Headlines for the transcription.
