How The Rock helped Eugene in WWE
Nick Dinsmore (fka Eugene) discussed his career in WWE and the wrestling business in an interview with Chris Van Vliet. One of his most interesting comments came when he spoke about the segment he took part in with The Rock in May 2004.
Dinsmore worked with lots of high-profile names in WWE, including the likes of Kurt Angle and Triple H. However, he believes working with The Rock is what took him to the next level in the fans’ eyes.
"When they put me in the ring with The Rock, that elevated me like oh my God. Then people knew who I was and then fans really got endeared to me because I was The Rock's friend. They liked Eugene and he was funny and he was building, but that just put it over the top. It went from a slow build to oh my God, you're a top guy now. You're made."
Eugene’s segment with The Rock
Eugene and The Rock shared the ring together on the May 17, 2004 episode of WWE RAW. Nick Dinsmore explained that he was told earlier in the day by La Résistance’s Sylvain Grenier that he was due to work with The Rock.
Although he did not believe Grenier at first, Dinsmore soon realized that he really had been booked in The Rock’s segment that night. In Dinsmore’s own words, he kept “flubbing his lines” while going over his promo before the segment.
When they got out to the ring, The Rock helped Dinsmore out by feeding him the line that he was supposed to say.
“In the ring, live on TV, I had no idea where we were on TV and I would’ve flubbed it. He just walked around, and as the people are chanting, he just walks by and goes, ‘Here’s your line, kid.’ Then says, lays it right to me, fed it to me, he just spoon-fed it to me. That made me, 15 seconds.”
The segment began with Jonathan Coachman berating Eugene for being an “embarrassment” who fans did not really like. As Eugene began to exit the ring, The Rock appeared and told Eugene to stay.
The two men went on to fight off Coachman and Garrison Cade, while The Rock even allowed Eugene to hit a People’s Elbow.