Ruthless Aggression & New Generation Era Stars Make In-Ring Returns

In unexpected news, a former Ruthless Aggression star and a talent from WWE's New Generation era both returned to the squared circle over the weekend at MLW's Battle Riot V event in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Saturday, April 8. 

The show was main-evented by Major League Wrestling's Battle Riot, a 40-man rumble for a future shot at the MLW World Heavyweight Championship. The bout featured the likes of Willie Mack, Calvin Tankman, Microman, Mance Warner, Raven, and Shigehiro Irie but also saw two surprise names in action in Gene Snitsky and Duke "The Dumpster" Droese. Former WWE manager Ricardo Rodriguez was also involved in the Battle Riot at one point. 

PWInsider Elite reported that Droese trained MLW executive Jared St. Laurent and the promotion originally wanted to book him to be the special guest referee for a Dumpster Match a few months ago but he had a last-second conflict. Snitsky and Rodriguez, meanwhile, appear to have been booked for the show as they are local to Pennsylvania. 

Gene Snitksy was a featured talent during the Ruthless Aggression era of WWE TV in 2004 and 2005 and infamously caused Lita to have a miscarriage during his programme with Kane. Snitsky repeatedly said the miscarriage was not his fault which involved him punting a baby doll at one point. The big man was used less and less following 2005 before he was granted his release in 2009.

Snitsky performed on the indies following his release and even had one match for TNA in 2014. He hadn't wrestled at all since October 2020 until MLW Battle Riot V. 

Duke "The Dumpster" Droese was featured during the New Generation era between 1994 and 1996. He had a run in Germany in 1997 following his WWE departure but Droese has hardly wrestled since 2001 when he was involved in the WrestleMania X-Seven Battle Royal, with his last match before Battle Riot taking place in October 2019.