Paul London Looks Back At Royal Rumble Spot With Gene Snitksy, Says WWE ‘Hated It’

Paul London looked back on his elimination by Gene Snitsky in the 2005 Royal Rumble, which he says WWE “hated.” Snitsky turned London inside out during the elimination, which saw London on the apron of the ring. Snitsky delivered a vicious clothesline that saw London flip over on his way to landing face down on the floor.

London spoke about the moment during his interview on Insight With Chris Van Vliet. He noted that the Rumble was his favorite event and that at the time, he “got in trouble” for the moment. You can see the highlights below:

On The Moment Being Called One Of the Greatest Royal Rumble Eliminations:

“Got in trouble for that one too… At the time, they hated it. Royal Rumble is my favorite event. That was my favorite of the traditional four, as it should be still, pay per views. And you know, that was one of the four pillars, Royal Rumble, Survivor Series, WrestleMania and SummerSlam. So Royal Rumble is my favorite. That was in the first magazine I ever picked up, coverage of the Royal Rumble. So I had to figure out what pro wrestling was. I had to figure out what the hell a battle royal was through images and in a magazine, and it was just these Gladiators, and it appears that they’re trying to tip each other out over the top. I love the Royal Rumble.

“We get to the building, I think it was in Fresno. I’m like, ‘How does this work? How does the Royal Rumble, the battle royal of all battle royals. How does it work?’ I was super intrigued. Get us into the room. There’s these big dry erase boards with like 30 names here, and like 30 names here. It was basically like, in parentheses, I think who’s eliminating you. And I love Snitsky. Always have, Gene’s always been awesome. I love him. He’s who I would hire to be Jason Voorhees. But that’s just me.”

On Snitsky Being a Punter Before WWE:

“I believe it. So when I saw him eliminating me, it wasn’t like I wanted Shawn to super kick me out or whatever. But I think this is well after his ‘Not my fault’ stuff. So I thought I feel like that was just kind of like an afterthought. ‘Well, who’s gonna eliminate [London]? Well, just have him [Snitsky] take this guy.’ That’s what it felt like.

“So I thought, ‘Well, how can we do this?’ I love David and Goliath. Easiest story to tell in wrestling. So easy. I said to my students all the time, and so it was a matter of just, how do I get [eliminated]? There are moments in that spot that I don’t like. There’s a pube of hesitation on my part before he clotheslines, but that was my idea. Gene’s like, ‘You know I’m gonna have to bring it.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, please.'”