Eugene established himself as a rising star in the WWE. He was a fan favourite during his run in the promotion. So, what happened to him?
Eugene, real name Nicholas Dinsmore, came up to the WWE main roster from their developmental brand Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). He achieved great success at OVW winning the OVW Heavyweight Championship 10 times!
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He worked as an enhancement talent for the WCW in 1998/99. However, failure to land a contract with the promotion saw him return to OVW where he would stay for a few more years. Despite being one of the best wrestlers in the company, Dinsmore continued to frustratingly wait for his call up to the main roster while other wrestlers around him continued their upward mobility.
The Birth of Eugene
A brain storming session with former wrestler and OVW trainer Rip Rogers gave birth to the character of Eugene; a mentally challenged character who could outwrestle anyone in the ring. Rogers had apparently based the gimmick on his autistic son.
The character was yet to be unleashed however. Dinsmore kept it with him for when he would need it. In the time being however, he was growing increasingly frustrated with his inability to make it to the main roster and contemplated moving to japan instead.
Once John Laurinaitis caught wind of Dinsmore’s intentions to quit, he arranged a meeting between him and Vince McMahon. Dinsmore suggested the character Rip Rogers had come up with and the WWE Chairman loved it.
Eugene would soon be introduced to the WWE as Eric Bischoff’s nephew. The then RAW general manager placed him under the care of William Regal who saw Eugene with complete contempt. In time however, Regal would grow fond of Eugene and the pair would even go on to win World Tag Team Championship.
Unfortunately, that would be his only title in the WWE. He did however, have a decent run where he worked in programs alongside and against some of the biggest names in WWE such as Triple H, Kurt Angle, Hulk Hogan and even The Rock.
The beginning of the end
During his time with the WWE, Eugene failed two drug tests and even had a very public overdose on Somas and prescription pills. The whole ordeal was made even worse by the fact that WWE legend Eddy Guerrero had just passed away four days ago with anabolic steroid abuse on his death certificate as a contributing cause.
The WWE acknowledged the incident and announced that he was being sent to rehab. On the same day they also announced that that they were starting a new drug testing program as part of a larger plan that also included heart exams.
Eugene’s stock within the company began to drop soon after. Barring a handicap match win over Vince and Shane McMahon, with the DX’s interference, he lost all his feuds before being drafted to WWE heat.
He would eventually be released from the company in 2007 before resigning with them in 2009. However, in his second run with the company, he only featured once on television; losing to the Calgary kid who turned out to be The Miz.
He joined the WWE once again in 2013 as a trainer and was let go a year later.
Dinsmore married his longtime girlfriend, actress-model Stephanie Fischer, in Las Vegas in November 2015. He currently runs an independent promotion and training center called Midwest All Pro Wrestling in Sioux Falls, S.D. In 2019, he appeared in the Minnesota-based American Wrestling Federation in a televised match on Channel 45 Wrestling.
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