Nick Dinsmore, who portrayed the ‘Eugene’ character on WWE television in the 2000s, recently made an appearance on Eric Bischoff’s podcast, Bischoff on Wrestling. During the conversation, Dinsmore and Bischoff spoke about their on-screen uncle-nephew pairing when they were together in the WWE.
According to ‘Eugene’, it was a golden opportunity for him as he was straightaway getting to work with the likes of Eric Bischoff and William Regal, that too on the WWE’s flagship show, Raw. It was even bigger for him because some of his friends worked for a long time on the now defunct Sunday Night Heat show but he was made part of a mainstream storyline at such an early stage.
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Here’s what Nick Dinsmore had to say:
“That was like a golden platter. I was given instant credibility by being the nephew of the GM and one of the greatest minds in professional wrestling history, Eric Bischoff. I was going to be paired with William Regal who is one of the most phenomenal performers we have. Just to be on RAW and not starting on Sunday Night Heat. Being presented as a character on RAW right out of the gate still blows my mind.
I saw a lot of the other guys like let’s take my friend Lance Cade for instance. Murdoch & Cade started on Heat and they just kind of moseyed there and they didn’t get a push for a long time. I was put in the forefront with a big storyline right from the get go. It was awe inspiring and to get to work with some of the biggest names was a dream come true.”
While expressing his point of view on the ‘Eugene’ storyline, Eric Bischoff went on to explain how he approached his job in the WWE. From the very beginning, he claimed to have developed a mindset that he was working as a performer for the company and tried to do whatever he was asked to do in the best possible manner. Bischoff stated:
“When I made the decision to go to work with WWE and I hung up the phone with Vince McMahon I knew I was going as a performer and as a character. As soon as I signed on the dotted line and agreed to take the money then I never really looked at anything they gave me creatively and dissected it.
Except to figure out how the be the best part of that scene that I could be. Or, be the best character I could be considering what they were asking for. I just never looked at anything subjectively. It was just, 'This is what they want me to do. I’m going to figure out how to be the best I can be doing it’.”
The former WCW President went on to add that he had similar expectations when he handled talent and wanted them to enact whatever role they were given in the best way they could. He asserted that he approached the ‘Eugene’ character in the same way and always tried to figure out the most effective manner to work with him.
“That’s what I expected when I hired talent and integrated talent in to storylines. It’s not that I didn’t want to hear their opinions were necessarily but at the end of the day there was a vision. There was a story and I expected them to act as actors. Have some input and bring some ideas to the table but it was never a yes or no situation,” he said on his podcast.
Bischoff added, “That’s the way I approached everything. So, when the Eugene character came to me my only thought was, ‘Ok, how do I be the best performer I can be in the scenes that I am in with the character Eugene.”
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