However, that self-control didn't last long as once the persona became stale, they traded it in for a heel turn. What were they thinking? [43] In December 2021, Dinsmore announced his retirement tour. 7 - Macho Man Randy Savage (OCD) Macho Man Randy Savage is WWE legend. In time however, Regal would grow fond of Eugene and the pair would even go on to win World Tag Team Championship. Manage Settings Taylor, one of the smoothest technical wrestlers in the game, was the perfect 80's babyface. At the Armageddon pay-per-view event, the Women's Championship was defended in a match between four competitors who had to win by stripping each other out of evening gowns. Unfortunately, many others have failed. Maybe. He returned to the states and worked in WWE's developmental territories for a time, first HWA and then Ohio Valley Wrestling. [46], The "Eugene" gimmick received mixed reviews. Not sure what Vince was thinking, but there was no need to display a mentally handicapped character in the WWE roster. He once busted JBL's lip so badly that he needed stitches, and would tear his own bicep during a clothesline spot. What are your thoughts on Eugene? Despite his successes, and certainly proving himself as a skilled in-ring performer, theres also the reality that the Eugene character often got played for laughs. In the context of WWE, that discussion includes the womens roster being treated more seriously, not to mention the milestone of Big E defeating Bobby Lashley to become the first black Superstar to win the WWE Championship from another black Superstar. The team lasted until Tajiri's release in December 2005. In 2019, he appeared in the Minnesota-based American Wrestling Federation in a televised match on Channel 45 Wrestling. When the team split up, Hennig would go on to rule as AWA world heavyweight champion for nearly a year. Eugene Palermo passed away Sunday at the age of 57. [42] Dinsmore began running his own shows in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, under the banner of Midwest All Pro Wrestling. WWE probably wouldnt try something like the Eugene character in the modern landscape, and thats probably a good thing. Unfortunately, that would be his only title in the WWE. But they were buried by Super Cena and split up. Ryan Allen Reaves managed to get his foot in the door of the business by participating in one of WWE's Tough Enough reality shows. Disworth wrestled. If "Eugene" actually was "retarded," the McMahon family would have been lynched the second "Eugene" was introduced. conversation around representation in WWE, a caricature of someone with a disability, played for laughs, temporarily passed over the top babyface spot for the likes of Lex Luger. Once John Laurinaitis caught wind of Dinsmores intentions to quit, he arranged a meeting between him and Vince McMahon. ", "Battling back: Former WWE wrestler wants another shot", "CWE Canadian Wrestling's Elite Home Page", "Solie's Title Histories: HWA HEARTLAND WRESTLING ASSOCIATION", "Solie's Title Histories: NWA NATIONAL WRESTLING ALLIANCE", "OVW Southern Tag Team Championship history", "Pro Wrestling Illustrated Top 500 2003", "We want to send a huge THANK YOU to all River City Championship Wrestling", "WWE: Inside WWE > Title History > World Tag Team > 20041115 - Eugene & William Regal", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eugene_(wrestler)&oldid=1141822175, 123Approved.ca Open Rules Championship (1 time), CP Tag Team Championships (1 time) with Krazy T, WPW Gather On Broadway Championship (1 time), This page was last edited on 27 February 2023, at 00:18. Forums | Journals| Store Theres a real argument to be made that the character was a caricature of someone with a disability, played for laughs, as opposed to a positive representation. He would soon be pawned off to Bischoff's assistant, William Regal, who would be a huge part of most of his storylines. Amidst this conversation, there could be some merit to a differently abled Superstar hanging on the WWE roster. However, despite his WWE career coming to an end, Eugene continued his wrestling career on the independents while using the same gimmick. Despite feuds with such luminaries as DX and Chris Jericho, Cade failed to resonate with fans as either heel or face in spite of his bona fide impressive wrestling talent. He formed a tag team with Luke Williams, better known as one half of The Bushwhackers. simpleton nature, Eugene is portrayed as an "Mental Kid" when it For instance, one of Eugene's most memorable moments was getting rescued by the returning Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson on a May 2004 episode of Monday Night Raw, as the two laid the smackdown on Jonathan Coachman. I think it crosses a line. On February 20, 2008, Dinsmore returned to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) under his real name and defeated Jay Bradley to win his ninth Heavyweight Championship. ", "IPW:UK Weekend Of Champions 2015 Tag 1 Events Database CAGEMATCH The Internet Wrestling Database", "11/7 Midwest All Pro in Sioux Falls, S.D. Eugene made his final WWE appearance on the August 31 edition of SmackDown!. The Most Controversial Things WWE Has Ever Done, Channel 4 didn't renew the deal when it was up, the Almighty's presence was represented by a spotlight that moved down the entrance ramp, Kofi Kingston touched on those issues in a statement on Twitter, he believed Hogan was "willing to fix it. His assertion that the Eugene character was essentially a comic device is inaccurate and lacks total perspective., WWE then posted a video of Nick Dinsmore who offered a truthful portrayal of the character. In 2004, a well-liked veteran of the WWE developmental system, Nick Dinsmore, debuted on the WWE main roster. | ContactUs | PrivacyPolicy. Nonetheless, the character wasnt without his merits and hopefully did serve as an inspiration to at least a segment of the audience. Sure enough, on the August 3, 1998, episode of Raw, the members of Kai En Tai ambushed Val after a match, dragged him backstage, and tied him up with his junk on a literal chopping block. It was 6:30 and so dark that all I could see of the attendant who unlocked the door were his hands. While the episode of SmackDown on which all this happened was taped on July 4, it actually aired on July 7, 2005 the same day that the news was dominated by news of a terrorist attack in London that killed 52 people. WWE is a proud supporter of The Arc (the worlds largest community-based organization of and for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities), Muscular Dystrophy Association and the Special Olympics. Ric Steiner's early career is a good example of this. Eugene was promptly programmed into a storyline as one of Triple H's rivals. Not every wrestler needs to be WWE Champion, as some might say that Eugene was the perfect comedy character to have on a wrestling show. The feud with the Undertaker and Hassan's career with WWE were both finished in an eight-minute match a few weeks later. We saw different sensitive and comical sides to this man-child in an attempt by WWE not to offend the audience. For most WWE acts, its difficult to describe their runs with the company as all good or all bad. Sales of Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis were greatly bolstered because of a renewed interest in arcades spurred by the fighting game craze. He ended up leaving for the world of MMA, where he met with success though never on the scale of fellow WWE alum Brock Lesnar. After finishing his WWE run on the SmackDown brand, Eugene got released by WWE in late 2007. Introduced in 2005 yes, 2005, this century Eugene was played by Nick Dinsmore, an extremely talented but largely unknown journeyman wrestler. [30] He formed a tag team with Zach Gowen at Up in Smoke, believing that he could be Gowen's second leg, but ended up costing his team the match by distracting the referee. This WWE Universe comes to you each and every week and entertains millions and millions of fans. Snow was known for carrying around a mannequin head named Head that he would frequently have one-sided conversations with. Curt Hennig, unlike many of the men on this list, actually had quite an impressive career. He was trained by Shawn Michaels at his wrestling academy in San Antonio in 1998. Because of how compelling the character was, he was involved in some of the most entertaining segments on Monday Night Raw not long after making his debut. Dinsmore married his longtime girlfriend, actress-model Stephanie Fischer, in Las Vegas in November 2015. Here are the most controversial things the WWE has ever done or been party to. Dinsmore made his Ring of Honor debut on December 9, 2010, at ROH Wrestling tapings, losing to Mike Bennett. A little controversy can be a good way to grab headlines and get attention for the product, but as these examples show, there are plenty of moments that have gone too far. Eugene returned for one night on an August 2009 episode of Monday Night Raw, wrestling against "The Calgary Kid" (The Miz in a mask) in a Contract on a Pole match. Why he never became a bigger star: Fans had already seen Ryback's shtick from Goldberg; in fact, the fans chanted Goldberg's name during Ryback's matches! Hennig would end up as a member of the West Texas Rednecks, a stable whose sole reason for existing was facing off against Master P's no limit soldier faction. [8] Eugene then feuded with Triple H,[1] which led to a match between the two at SummerSlam, which Eugene lost. Under his real name, he is best known for his time in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), as a wrestler and trainer. Please logout and login again. |-- Places Either way, the insinuation that Kane was a murderer was just the tip of the iceberg. He also posted another video of Eugene telling Diva Search contestant Carmella DeCesare I want to see her boobies! on a 2004 episode of RAW. [39][40] Dinsmore was re-hired by WWE on September 20, 2013, as trainer on NXT, and he lasted a year before he was released on October 2, 2014. Nicholas David Dinsmore (born December 17, 1975), better known by his ring name Eugene, is an American professional wrestler. Then, their big debut happens, and they start to falter. On paper, that all sounds great, but there was also the dimension of the Eugene gimmick that included him having a mental disability. |-- Ask the Administrators copying the signature moves of popular WWE superstars. You can keep up with all your wrestling news right here on eWrestlingNews.com. He's also a writer that's covered many topics that not only include professional wrestling but other forms of sports. Which is close, considering he just announced his retirement tour. Ali is a lifelong fan of professional wrestling fan. There have been hockey players, filthy plumbers, garbage men, and Italian lovers. [1] At WrestleMania 22, Eugene competed in a preshow battle royal which was won by Viscera. He achieved great success at OVW winning the OVW Heavyweight Championship 10 times! Eugene was released a short time later. Although WWE believed the gimmick would be a positive role model for mentally disabled people. In 1998 Dinsmore appeared sporadically in WCW through 99 where he was predominantly used to give shine to better established stars on WCW's Saturday Night show, also losing to Ernest Miller and Kanyon on two episodes of WCW Thursday Night Thunder and on Monday Nitro, teaming with Larry Lane in a handicap match loss against Big Puppa Pump Scott Steiner (sty-ner) and against Wrath in singles . Eugenes no different and the people treated him the same way, they wanted to see him succeed. No, Eugene was never a world champion, but these accomplishments, not to mention hanging around the roster for three and a half years and being booked for one-off appearances afterward support the idea that Eugene was less offensive than an inspiring representative for differently abled fans. [23] Eugene wrestled on the June 2, 2007 Saturday Night's Main Event XXXIV, where he debuted a new "Superman-esque" wrestling attire. Suddenly, Eugene was bitter and thought he was owed certain privileges because he was 'special.'. [13] Eugene suffered an injury at New Year's Revolution on January 9, 2005, in a match with Christian and Tyson Tomko, after botching a dropkick. 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. Making his debut in mid-2004, Eugene quickly established himself as a beloved "special" character on the Raw brand. Skip was actually pretty over with the fans, who loved his good old boy "corn-fed meathead' character. Also, the man playing Glacier, Ray Lloyd, may have been an excellent athlete but had little in the way of charisma or ability to garner empathy from the fans. Curt wound up back in the WWE again, which is where he debuted his Mr. In real life, Michaels had become a born-again Christian a few years earlier and incorporated his beliefs into his onscreen persona as well. [41], On January 10, 2015, Dinsmore returned to wrestling, this time with the British promotion International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom. [15], Eugene returned to wrestling on the July 25, 2005 episode of Raw, taking part in Kurt Angle's regular "Kurt Angle Invitational" challenge. Your login session has expired. Eugene made his return to WWE in the Royal Rumble match at the namesake event on January 29, 2006, as the eighteenth entrant. He went after his dreams and achieved at any cost and didnt let anything stand in his way. He could never shake off The Red Rooster character despite returning to his real name in WCW later. His plodding style also became out of style as smaller, quicker athletes like Daniel Bryan and CM Punk took center stage. As his in-ring career continued in recent years, Eugene announced on Twitter in late 2021 that he was seeking dates for a retirement tour. Why fibrous material has only one falling period in drying curve? In this case, the Almighty's presence was represented by a spotlight that moved down the entrance ramp to the ring while Vince berated and mocked God before telling the referee to check him for hidden weapons and then assuring Michaels that in the match that followed, "you and God are gonna go straight to Hell!". Worse, instead of creating an original character, WCW decided on a blatant rip off of Mortal Kombat fighter Sub Zero. Not even a pre-presidential Donald Trump could get Lashley over. While the crowd at the show seemed pretty into it, the same could not be said of everyone. It's worth noting that McMahon was absolutely the bad guy in this story, and this villainous behavior was presented as just that. [4][34] On July 27, Dinsmore, as "U-Gene", unsuccessfully challenged Freight Train for the 5 Dollar Wrestling championship in the main event of that promotion's internet PPV debut.[35]. RELATED: Eugene & 9 Other WWE Gimmicks That Would Never Fly Today. |-- Editorials & Other Articles The storyline would continue and Vince would get his eventual comeuppance, but plenty of viewers found the "Mr. McMahon" character having a canonical victory over "God" to be pretty tasteless. The contract was signed, and weeks of vignettes were aired. With its over-the-top characters and larger-than-life brawls, the world of pro wrestling is built on spectacle, pomp, and circumstance. "Eugene" is a very controversial character among wrestling fans. Triple H 's rivals gimmick received mixed reviews on December 9, 2010 at. In drying curve unfortunately, that would be his only title in the game, was the 80. Known as one of the attendant who unlocked the door were his hands wrestlers..., actually had quite an impressive career is a lifelong fan of wrestling... Attempt by WWE in late 2007 7 - Macho Man Randy Savage OCD. 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