Reason why WWE released Eugene three times
Nick Dinsmore (fka Eugene) has opened up about his WWE career in an interview with Chris Van Vliet. The former WWE Tag Team Champion gave details on all three of his WWE spells, including the reason why he was released each time.
Dinsmore’s first full-time run with WWE lasted from 2004 to 2007. His time with the company came to an end after he violated the newly introduced Wellness Policy.
“Right at the beginning of the Wellness Program, I failed a test and it got me fired pretty much right away. Before when I was on the road, it was three fires [three chances] but, you know, they had sent me to rehab, came back, and I don’t know. It was a difficult road, it was a different time.”
Eugene’s three WWE spells
In 2009, Nick Dinsmore received his release again within two months of returning to WWE. His only televised match came on the August 10, 2009 episode of WWE RAW when he lost against The Calgary Kid (aka The Miz).
“Then when I got rehired in 2009, I probably wasn’t in the shape that I should have been in. And so when I came back, it was like, ‘Ah, we’ll pass.’”
Dinsmore went on to work as a trainer in WWE NXT from September 2013 to October 2014. He admitted that working with so many big names made him nervous and it ended up affecting his work.
“I don’t know. I just know that I probably wasn’t putting out my best performance because I was in an environment where I was uncomfortable. These were people that I looked up to that I was in there with. Terry Taylor, there was Dusty Rhodes, there was Triple H sitting next to me, and I would get nervous sometimes.”
The former WWE Superstar added that he took more of a laid-back approach and he preferred to stay quiet and assess situations. In hindsight, he believes people in that environment need to be “on and going” and make more contributions.
Please credit Chris Van Vliet and give a H/T to SK Wrestling for the transcription if you use these quotes.