Reason why Vince McMahon stopped booking Eugene after one match
Nick Dinsmore (aka Eugene) revealed in an interview with Chris Van Vliet why Vince McMahon did not use him during his second WWE run.
After a two-year absence from WWE, Dinsmore returned to Vince McMahon’s company in 2009. His return lasted just two months, with his only televised match coming against The Calgary Kid (aka The Miz). Dinsmore explained that he was not in the best of shape when he returned, which is why Vince McMahon chose not to book him again.
“I wasn’t booked. That was just it. They hired me and I showed up. ‘Oh well, Vince didn’t like the way Eugene looked,’ so he was out.”
Dinsmore received his release before having another run in Vince McMahon’s company as a WWE NXT coach from September 2013 to October 2014.
Vince McMahon originally liked the Eugene character
Nick Dinsmore also told the story about the creation of the Eugene character. Before making it to Vince McMahon’s main roster, Dinsmore performed as “Mr. Wrestling” in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW).
One of his coaches, Rip Rogers, once gave him the Eugene idea. Dinsmore did not take the suggestion on board until Vince McMahon told him in a meeting that he wanted more character-based Superstars.
“Six to eight months prior [to meeting Vince McMahon], Rip Rogers gave me the idea that became Eugene. ‘How about a character that can’t put a square peg in a square hole, can’t tie his shoes, can’t do this, can’t socialize, but the minute when he gets into wrestling he does it flawlessly, he does it perfectly. Knows all the history, all the trivia.’
“Sitting in the meeting with Vince. Vince goes, ‘I want to get back to character-based wrestling.’ And I just blurted that [Rip Rogers’ idea] out and he goes, ‘Great, we’ll start on Monday.’”
Dinsmore recalled that his first match as Eugene took place against Garrison Cade in an untelevised match. Although he lost, the fans chanted Eugene’s name and Dinsmore received applause from Stephanie McMahon and Triple H backstage.
From that moment on, Dinsmore received a lot of opportunities in WWE and worked with big names including The Rock and Triple H.
Please credit Chris Van Vliet and give a H/T to SK Wrestling for the transcription if you use these quotes.