The Action Network caught up with Nick Dinsmore, best known to WWE fans as Eugene, a beloved character he portrayed from 2004 to 2007. Nick shared his thoughts on one of the most electrifying moments in recent WWE history—The Rock’s return in 2024, which many consider his best work to date.
In this exclusive Q&A, Nick discusses the possibility of The Rock ‘finishing the story’ with Cody Rhodes or facing Roman Reigns at WrestleMania, a match fans have been clamoring for. He also reflects on his iconic in-ring segment with The Rock, a moment that forever changed the trajectory of his career.
Here’s what Nick had to say about working with The Great One and the impact of his return to WWE.
Q: What did you make of Rock’s return as a heel?
Nick: Cody Rhodes coming back and to main event at WrestleMania was an incredible story and to bring back the Rock took it to that next level. This was the best heel Rock we have ever seen.
I hope he will return to WrestleMania and if so, the storylines are endless, but it depends if he has time for it because The Rock is so busy. Perhaps he can ‘finish the story’ with Cody Rhodes and have a great match with him or Roman Reigns. They were originally going to fight at the last WrestleMania so that’s another option.
Q: What was he like to work with?
Nick: He was super cool, and the experience was awesome. That is probably the biggest highlight of my career. I didn’t know the Rock and I may have shaken his hand once, but I hadn’t met him.
The Rock came down from LA and when the Rock and Eugene went into the ring together that was in San Diego and the Rock didn’t know me and didn’t have to do it. He was making movies in LA but took the time out to come down and work with somebody he didn’t know. That’s what top guys do, they reach down to somebody else and pull them up and that’s what the Rock did for me. After that, Eugene and the Rock became friends in the ring and Eugene was a made man, he made him a star.
Q: What was he like backstage?
Nick: Not so much in the back but on that episode of Raw, I was involved in five or six segments so throughout the day, we had to walk through each one and the Rock was with the writer Brian Gerwick and they were going over what he would be saying in the ring and I would go back and I only had one line but every time we practiced it, I was missing the line.
So, I am standing in the ring, the Rock is doing his stuff and all of a sudden, he puts the microphone by his hip and says you’ve got the next line and fed the microphone to me. That was the line that set me up, so it was awesome.
