Eugene

[8.0] "it really annoys me that he's pretty much only been a serious wrestler in ovw. even post wwe, he could've gone and been mr. wrestling nick dinsmore in japan or tna or whatever, but he just sorta kept doing comedy gimmicks. the fans in louisville at the davis arena loved this guy, the biggest reactions on any given show would be for nick dinsmore, he had great matches and an endearing, if not especially grand, personality. i'm not saying he could've been a main eventer anywhere and everywhere, but he was great before he wasn't."

[8.0] "Not only is Nick Dinsmore a solid in ring character, but the Eugene character was great and only could have worked with Dinsmore. I didn't find the Eugene gimmick at all, it was entertaining, it was popular, Eugene was so over he turned Regal face and feuded with Triple H! Like what the hell is this autistic type character doing wrestling in a bloody steel cage match against Triple fucking H! His chemistry with Regal was fantastic as well, the proper evil cheat Regal was a perfect partner for the childish persona. So yeah, Eugene's character was not offensive, but his heel turn might have been one of the worst in history. I mean, shouting "I'm special" using his disability to get heat, feuding with Jim Duggan and Val Venis? Everything about this was wrong and super fucking hard to watch. They made up for it by making him wear a superhero style attire after they dropped the heel turn. So despite an abysmal, top 3 worst-worthy heel run that was as equally rejected as Jeff Hardy's 2003 heel run, Eugene was a great gimmick during a time where the character based stuff felt like a dying art. The antics he performed, especially during his peak, was gold and the tag team with William Regal was excellent. So yeah, Nick is getting a very high rating for me."

[7.0] "Nick Dinsmore is super underrated as a worker. He did the "Eugene" gimmick well and there were fun moments but it really did hide the fact he was a very good ring general. Watch some of his stuff before he debuted Eugene. He was one of the best of his generation. He just got saddled with a non-wrestling-based gimmick."

[4.0] "As a man who is on the Autism Spectrum, I can safely say that the Eugene gimmick is hit or miss in terms of offensiveness and empowerment. On the one hand, he was a good in ring wrestler and had some nice moments here and there. But on the other hand, it's hard to watch him get beaten up without thinking how cruel the heels are to beat up someone with a disability and watching his heel turn (I don't care what anyone says, I find it offensive). Overall, while Nick Dinsmore isn't the worst, the Eugene gimmick has had more misses and cringe moments that I can't give it a pass."

[0.0] "Absolutely horrific gimmick that this guy has kept using over fifteen years after he got released. Yeah, he was a good wrestler but how did not one person, including Dinsmore himself not look at this and say no? Especially after getting released. Incredibly offensive gimmick that made every single person involved look awful, whether it's someone across the ring from him, one of the stars who's moves he was using and of course making the entire company look abysmal. For every joke people make about gimmicks like Chilly McFreeze, the Mad Crimmer and even the original suggestion for Heidenreich, at least none of them made it beyond a single meeting before being shot down. The fact anyone let someone go out and play this character, let alone on internationally broadcasted tv shows and ppvs, is in my opinion the worst idea anyone has ever had in wrestling."

[4.0] "As an actual wrestler, Nick Dinsmore was pretty damn good. The biggest issue for him was his appearance, in my opinion. You just know WWE would look at him and either make him a jobber or a comedy wrestler simply based on how he looked. Which, turned out to happen when he became Eugene. The gimmick is... eh, I'm personally not offended by it. He brought a little bit of comedy to RAW during a time when everything was very "serious." I can understand some people finding it to be insensitive, but personally the gimmick doesn't bother me. I must say though, it got boring REAL quick. There was only so much they could do, and I think they peaked with the gimmick in 04 and possibly 05. Went on for way too long. He did do a very good job at his gimmick, so props to him on that."

[2.0] "Eugene was a travesty of a man who's in-ring work was previously spectacular. This man went from having great technical prowess to trying to be a hit man by punching a door. Comedy gimmicks are fun, but with this guy? It should have been much better dealt with instead of making him look like a complete moron."

[7.0] "Kinda shocked that Nick's not rated higher on here considering he had one of the biggest turn arounds that any wrestler ever had. He went from being the wrestler's wrestler that could do all of the holds, do all of the moves, and took himself and his wrestling seriously in the ring as "Mr. Wrestling" Nick Dinsmore. With his only draw backs being that he had absolutely no personality, couldn't talk at all, and had no facials. To going in the total opposite direction when he became Eugene and showed character, showed personality, had mannerisms, made you feel for him/ like him, took himself and his wrestling a lot less seriously than before, and was one of the most popular overall acts on the brand in his era, and worked with some of the biggest stars on RAW at the time. He also played a major role in helping train a lot the talent of the last 3 decades that became major stars while he was coaching at OVW (That is probably a hall of fame list in itself these days.)."

[5.0] "Unfortunately, Nick Dinsmore was settled with a gimmick that sounded bad on paper. Somehow the crowd actually gave this gimmick sympathy from taking ass-kicking beat downs from heels, especially from Triple H. He was a good wrestler, but settled with a gimmick that should've never been created in the first place."

[7.0] "A good wrestler with a bad rap because of a stupid gimmick. It must've been awful for Dinsmore when he found out this is what he was going to have to work with, and it was either that or go find a day job because 99% of talent at the time had no say in their creative. That being said, this dude still got over *playing a mentally retarded person*. Not even Cuba Gooding Jr. could do that. So imagine if he had been given, like, any other gimmick possible. His OVW stuff is a pretty good insight if you're willing to seek it out. Really sucks for Nick to have gotten the short end of that stick 20 years ago but he's made it work, somehow."

"What many don't understand is how talented Nick Dinsmore is. He is very smart in the ring and does all his moves picture perfect. Eugene was a hard gimmick to carry and only few could do it. Some might not like Eugene but when he arrived to WWE he was over like no tomorrow."

[5.0] "Good wrestler, dumb gimmick which got over with crowd sympathy but then they hit the ceiling early on and couldn't figure out what to do with him. Kind of a one note gimmick."

[2.0] "I can only judge him on his WWE work, which is all I've seen of him and obviously his most famous work. Obviously, the Eugene character was trash. It was probably palatable and endearing if you're younger than about 10, but if you're older than that then it just feels really cringeworthy and really, really weirdly exploitative. We all know what sorts of conditions/disorders Eugene was written in mind with, and even if he was played up as a babyface, he was always still the butt of the joke because of how 'unusual' his character's condition was. I'm definitely not the sort of person to make a big fuss about any random insertion of reality or offensive content in wrestling, but this particular character just feels really insulting. That's not to mention that, despite supposedly being an actually good wrestler, Dinsmore's portrayal of Eugene's wrestling style was thoroughly unconvincing, since it was always focussed on incredibly cheap comedy and low-effort homages to older, genuine wrestling stars, rather than him doing anything truly competitive- or convincing-looking. Making him the hero of children or whatever the hell that was, was also really embarrassing. This whole character is your brain on "sports entertainment", and I'll admit it's somewhat entertaining, but only in a "jfc this is soooo bad and idiotic but I can't look away" way, which has no lasting value."

[6.0] "He was always a good, solid mid-card worker who like anyone else who goes to WWE from development, was saddled with a bad gimmick. It was at times, distasteful, and maybe shouldn't have been done in such an abundant capacity. The "Eugene" character was crammed so far down the throats of WWE fans that it just became sickening after a while. That is in no way a reflection of Nick Dinsmore as a talent or as a human being. It's a reflection of WWE wanting to try something different. I think the ultimate undoing for Eugene was his Summer Slam 2004 match versus Triple H. Had he won, maybe his character would have had more credibility."

[2.0] "The Eugene character doomed him. Whatever else he could do in the ring, there's no coming back from one of the more cringey gimmicks of a very cringey era."

[6.0] "I mean, he was a pretty solid in ring talent, but the Eugene gimmick he got paired up with was a one trick pony, and that one trick got very tired, very fast. 2004 was probably the peak of his career in losing to Kurt Angle in less than 5 minutes. Doesn't help how terribly offensive it is as well and how it basically typecast the guy behind the gimmick, to the point where he can't even really do much on the indies without committing to the gag again. Good wrestler, shit gimmick."

[8.0] "The Eugene character was very entertaining and Dinsmore could go in the ring. Would be cool to see him make an appearance in WWE again."

[4.0] "The Eugene character was too much hype and lame. He was not that great in the ring. He was great in OVW."

[6.0] "In-ring wise, he was good. Unfortunately, his Eugene character ruined the image of him as a potential upper-midcarder."

[4.0] "Of course Vince couldn't help but to make a mentally challenged character. I mean... what can you really do with that? I guess it got over in some respect, but I never cared for it. I didn't find it offensive... but just dumb. It created poor television. Isn't interesting. Just low brow. Nick did his best. But there are some things that even the best in the world can't save."

[6.0] "Nick Dinsmore was a solid worker, the proverbial 'good hand', but his career never recovered from the Eugene gimmick. The gimmick did make Dinsmore very hot, for a short time, but the nature of the gimmick meant that once it had run its course, Dinsmore's credibility was completely destroyed. You just couldn't book Nick Dinsmore as a serious wrestler because of the stench of the Eugene gimmick."

[6.0] "At the time I loved the gimmick of Eugene Dinsmore he was given in the WWE but looking back it mainly seems to be cringe worthy but that said he played the part well and it was evident from watching his other work that he was a very good in ring performer."

[6.0] "This one is a hard one to rank. Nick Dinsmore is a great wrestler, and the character of Eugene had good moments. On the other hand, it had some not so good moments as well, and then some boarderline hard to watch moments."

[7.0] "An underrated technical grappler, Nick Dinsmore spent years on the midwestern independent scene, primarily with Ohio Valley Wrestling (where he held both the Heavyweight Title as well as numerous Tag Titles with Rob Conway), as well as as an enhancement talent for WCW, but finally got his time in the spotlight as Eugene, "a very special superstar, " in WWE. The character was a risk, and to his credit, Dinsmore was able to portray Eugene as an endearing and memorable character rather than as an offensive one; no small feat. It is, however, a character that is somewhat difficult to move past. After leaving WWE in 2009, Dinsmore would attempt a comeback in 2009 that was cut short due to conditioning problems; he would then continue working on the independent circuit, including OVW, where he would ultimately collect 11 Heavyweight Title reigns in all, and worked with TNA's India project Ring Ka King, and has more recently opened his own school and independent promotion, Midwest All Pro Wrestling."

[6.0] "I'll admit this guy played his role extremely well and definitely made me chuckle from time to time but, that's really all about it. He was hardly daunting in the ring and was average at that at best. Can't say much else about him that hasn't been said already."

[6.0] "Dinsmore's a good worker who was saddled with a gimmick that almost no one could've made work. To his credit he tried very hard, but the way they booked the character didn't do the guy any favors."

[8.0] "Definately Undrrated, Eugene have a great start in OVW becoming multitime OVW Heavyweight and Tag Team Champion thenafter he was signed by WWE, and they give him a gimmick which liked because he was so funny and entertaining to watch.... but remains as a mid carder but not gone beyond far with this gimmick."