Reading through all the potential names that WWE were looking to sign in order to bulk out their roster ahead of the draft, one of the more standout ones for me was Nick Dinsmore aka Eugene. So let me take you through some of the highs and lows of the Eugene character.
Prior to his main roster debut, Dinsmore had made a bit of a name for himself down in OVW as an excellent worker, heck he even won both the Tag Team Championships with Rob Conway in a team called “The Lords Of The Ring” and he won the OSV Heavyweight Championship. Some articles say he won both titles 10 times, not sure how accurate that is mind.
In April 2004 Eugene was born. He debuted on the main roster as the “Special” nephew of Raw GM Eric Bischoff. Bischoff did he best to keep Eugene away and eventually put him under the “care” of William Regal. Eugene’s first feud would be with Jonathan Coachman of all people. In only his second feud on the main roster, he got to go one on one with Triple H at Summerslam of that year, not a bad start for him right?
From here he would feud with Uncle Eric for a few months, which eventually lead to a “Loser Loses Hair” match with Eric, which Eugene would of course win, as we all love Bischoff getting beat.
In November that year Eugene won his only WWE title when he teamed with William Regal to win the Tag Team Championship by beating La Resistance. Shortly into the new year Eugene got injured from miscuing a dropkick, casing Eugene to miss 6 months worth of action.
Upon his return Eugene jumped straight into a massive feud. He took up the Kurt Angle Invitational Challenge and won Kurt’s Olympic Gold medals, which Kurt would later win back at Summerslam. Eugene then got paired with Tajiri for a few months until Tajiri left the company, which is where Eugene’s problems began.
Dinsmore got his first suspension for a “Wellness Violation” in November 2005, and didn’t return until the 2006 Royal Rumble where he got eliminated by Chris Benoit.
From here Eugene’s star had massively faded. He found himself in low end feuds with the likes of Matt Striker and even found himself teaming with Hacksaw Jim Duggan, then got relegated to the Raw B Shows, and eventually got drafted to SD where he would job a couple of times before failing a second drugs test and getting released in 2007.
Dinsmore has since returned to, and left the WWE on a few occasions, including a very short stint as a trainer. It really is a case of what could have been for Nick Dinsmore. He obviously had the right people behind him by having very early feuds with the likes of Triple H and upon his return from injury with Kurt Angle, but his drug issues stopped him from being so much more.
For me Dinsmore did brilliantly with a hard gimmick to pull off such as Eugene and he could and probably should have been so much more. It would be nice to see him return as Nick Dinsmore and for him to be given a solid midcard role and at the age of 40 he could have a couple of solid working years left in him, but alas it’s a case of what could have been for Nick Dinsmore.
What are your memories of the Eugene character? Would you be happy to see Dinsmore return for a short stint without the Eugene gimmick? Tweet me to let me know. If you would like to see me look back at someone else’s career, let me know who and i’ll choose one. Until next time peeps, thanks for reading.
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