Nick Dinsmore Discusses Genesis Of WWE Character Eugene

Former pro wrestler Nick Dinsmore, best known for portraying Eugene in WWE, has recalled how the character was created. 

Eugene was the kayfabe nephew of Eric Bischoff and an intellectually disabled wrestling enthusiast. Dinsmore recalled in a recent interview with "Developmentally Speaking" that he was working dark matches at the time and was told by Jim Ross that he had no personality, following which he created the character. 

"So that's when I decided I'll just turn it up as far as I can, turn it up and make the faces bigger than I should and overplay it. And it was Rip's son, genius of a kid, but he has autism. Rip's idea came to me in 2003, so what about an idea for a wrestler like that?"

After developing the character and adding that he'd be a wrestling enthusiast, he pitched the character to many coaches, but the idea was rejected. He later sat in a meeting with both Vince and Stephanie McMahon to discuss it. 

"Vince goes, 'I want to get back to character-based wrestling.' And I just pitched out that character right there. Austin walks in and Vince goes, "Steve, did you ever see this guy wrestle?' And he goes, 'No, I don't think so.'" 

Dinsmore told them that he was trained by Nightmare Danny Davis, which gave him a vote of confidence from Steve Austin, leading to getting the green light from McMahon. He noted that he wanted his character to stand out on television and chose to push for a kid's comedy character. 

"Everybody still wanted to be a cool, strong heel that got all their moves in. I wanted to be the complete opposite. I wanted to sell and be a babyface and just have fun out there."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Developmentally Speaking" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.