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Former WWE Superstar Nick Dinsmore, best known for his run as Eugene, recently opened up about how he came up with the gimmick.
Speaking on James' Wrestling Shoot Interviews on YouTube, Dinsmore said that he originally got the idea for the character from Rip Rogers while he was in OVW. During a meeting with Vince McMahon, Dinsmore pitched this character to the Chairman, and the gimmick eventually became Eugene.
"Rip Rogers had given me the idea for a character," Dinsmore explained. "His son has autism and he's like, 'What about a character that isn't very social, he can't tie his shoes, can put a square peg in a square hole, but he knows wrestling perfectly, he knows all the moves, he knows all the history, all the trivia.'"
" When I was escorted into that meeting with Vince [McMahon], I just spit that out," Dinsmore continued. "He goes, 'Great, you'll start on Monday.' Then all of a sudden I'm like, what am I going to do? Because I had no idea who the character was. Now they would do character research, and they would flesh that character out in their performance skills class and find out who the character is. I had to kind of go out there and do it. At the time, RAW and SmackDown were split brands, and The Hurricane was the only kids character. And I knew there was a kids character needed on RAW."
Dinsmore also described how, while everyone wanted to be a cool heel at the time, he found success as a comedic babyface.
Eugene had a memorable run in WWE
Eugene made his WWE debut in 2004 when he was introduced as RAW General Manager Eric Bischoff's nephew. The character quickly became popular, and a few months later, Eugene was a part of a classic segment that also involved The Rock.
Eugene's only title in WWE was the World Tag Team Championship he held as William Regal's partner. WWE surprisingly let Dinsmore go in 2007, ending his initial run with the company.
He briefly returned in 2009, but the company released him shortly thereafter. Dinsmore later held a coaching role in WWE.
If any quotes are used from this interview, please add a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling and credit the WSI - Wrestling Shoot Interviews.
