Triple H allegedly didn't want to face former WWE Superstar but Vince McMahon overruled him

Nick Dinsmore, known in WWE as Eugene, recently recalled how Triple H had reservations about facing him at SummerSlam 2004.

Dinsmore portrayed a controversial underdog character who struggled with learning difficulties. His Eugene persona appeared in segments and storylines with some of WWE’s biggest names between 2004 and 2007, including Kurt Angle and The Rock.

Speaking on Rene Dupree’s Cafe de Rene podcast, Dinsmore revealed that The Game allegedly did not want their feud to result in a pay-per-view match. However, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon liked the storyline and decided to book the two men against each other at SummerSlam:

“Someone had said, I don’t know if this is true, he (Triple H) didn’t feel like Eugene was the right guy he probably should have wrestled at SummerSlam. But Vince was like, ‘No, this is the blow-off, we need a pinnacle here.’ I don’t know, but Triple H definitely had fun with it because all of a sudden he’s got a guy who can work a different character.”

The SummerSlam 2004 match lasted 14 minutes and ended with The Game picking up the win after hitting Eugene with a Pedigree. Three weeks later, the feud concluded when The King of Kings defeated his rival on the September 6, 2004 episode of RAW.

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WWE fans booed Eugene and cheered Triple H

Although Dinsmore’s Eugene character was supposed to be viewed as a babyface, WWE fans in Toronto treated him as a heel.

The one-time WWE Tag Team Champion enjoyed working with his experienced opponent even though the raucous crowd turned against him:

“The whole crowd turned the s*** on me and cheered Hunter. I wanted so bad to get some heat on him and give him a big comeback, but he wanted to have our [planned] match and he’s the general, so I did it. It came off great, it was fantastic.”

Dinsmore briefly returned to WWE in 2009 as Eugene but he only competed in one televised match. The 46-year-old also worked as an NXT trainer in 2013 and 2014.

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