Art of Wrestling #272
Host: Colt Cabana
Guest: “Eugene” Nick Dinsmore
Release Date: October 15, 2015
DIRECT LINK TO LISTEN/DOWNLOAD
Recap by Chris Davidson
HOT TOPICS
– Eugene (Nick Dinsmore) to open new wrestling school in South Dakota
– Eugene talks time in NXT and getting fired from WWE for the third time
– Colt talks Hornswoggle falling down at Brian Myers’s (Curt Hawkins) wedding
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 – Introduction
10:23 – Song of the week
14:25 – Eugene Interview
22:49 – Eugene talks first WWE run
27:56 – Eugene talks Ring Ka King
32:26 – Eugene talks training in WWE
42:45 – Eugene talks firing from NXT
46:52 – Eugene talks opening a wrestling school
56:00 – Eugene talks meeting kids with special needs
1:03:35 – Colt wraps up the show
SUMMARY OF THE SHOW
0:00 – Introduction – Colt opened the show by mentioning that he recorded the intro right after the Cubs won the NLDS at Wrigley Field, and he’s about to fly to Japan. He recalled watching the Boston Red Sox win the World Series while he was in England in 2004 and said hopefully it’s a similar situation. Colt talked briefly about Eugene, and about going to Brian Myers (Curt Hawkins)’s wedding where he witnessed Hornswoggle falling down stairs. Colt also told a story from the past week where he has told to “bring a sweater” to a show and couldn’t figure out why, until he saw the ring in the parking lot on a cold day.
10:23 – Song of the week – The song of the week this week is “Mil Mascaras” by Joint Pop.
14:25 – Eugene Interview – Colt and Eugene talked about Eugene’s recent appearance on a live episode of the Art of Wrestling. Eugene mentioned he started wrestling in 1996, which Colt was surprised by because he views Eugene as an old veteran, while he’s only been wrestling for three years more than Colt. Eugene talked about Ohio Valley Wrestling, and how if he would have gone to another wrestling school, he wouldn’t be where he is today. Eugene talked about growing up watching USWA and starting out with a lot of old- timers, and Eugene said that the shows he was on were very similar to the indy shows today. Eugene talked about the Midnight Express and the Rock ‘n Roll Express on a lot of his early shows.
22:49 – Eugene talks first WWE run – Colt praised Eugene’s first run in WWE and Eugene mentioned that because of the WWE Network, kids who weren’t even born when he was wrestling in WWE come up to him to talk about his matches. Eugene joked that he’s been fired by WWE three times, but Terry Taylor has been fired five times, so he has that record to break. Eugene talked about his run and said that he got to be in the ring with Hulk Hogan, Triple H, Kurt Angle, and The Rock, and he got to pin Vince McMahon, so he accomplished all of his goals and dreams. Eugene mentioned his knee injury as taking him off his hot start, but he did the best he could with what he was given, and was given good writing. Eugene mentioned that he had a movie written for him, and he thinks eventually became the Big Show film “Knucklehead.”
27:56 – Eugene talks Ring Ka King – Colt asked if Eugene had even done any acting, which Eugene said he didn’t have a passion for, but he would if something fell into his lap. Eugene talked about his character in Ring Ka King and how he could probably act as that character in India. Eugene talked about the premiere episode of Ring Ka King drawing 25 million viewers, but said that traditionally in India the women have control of the TV until 8:00 p.m., and since Ring Ka King aired from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m., the women didn’t want to watch it. Eugene said he went to India solely because Dutch Mantel asked him to, and he spent a lot of time training Indian wrestlers with Savio Vega.
32:26 – Eugene talks training in WWE – Eugene blamed himself for getting fired from WWE the first time due to failing a drug test, and the second time after a week for being out of shape. Bill DeMott later called and asked to help train for a week, which eventually turned into a training job at NXT. Eugene’s plan was to keep wrestling as much as he could and keep training wrestlers at OVW, but he had also started being a personal trainer to make extra money. Once Eugene got to NXT, he felt like he didn’t fit in with the other trainers, since there were older than him, and he didn’t fit in with the wrestlers, since they were younger. Eugene called working in NXT a “great experience” that was “socially uncomfortable.” Colt asked about trainees complaining and getting heat for their griping. Eugene didn’t think anyone got heat for griping, but he discussed the lack of experience of some trainees who get confused when the trainers each tell them to do something different during their match.
42:45 – Eugene talks firing from NXT – Eugene said he cleared his bookings to go to NXT, but WWE took a long time to sign his contract, leaving him with little income for a few months. Once he was hired, he was told he was going to get a raise multiple times, before eventually being told he wasn’t up to WWE’s standard and getting fired. Eugene said he knew the job was temporary, but he was hoping to get four to seven years in the job, but he only got two. Eugene pointed out that no one really retires from WWE set for life, except maybe Howard Finkel, so he was planning for the future the whole time.
46:52 – Eugene talks opening a wrestling school – Eugene said his plan was to open a wrestling school in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, since his fiancée is from there, which he is currently working on starting. Eugene said he doesn’t think there are any companies that work Sioux Falls, so he is trying to make a company and small promotion from scratch. Eugene’s fiancée knows the local event coordinators, and he has gotten a spot on the local sports radio station to talk about wrestling once a week. Colt said he thinks about after wrestling, and being a trainer or sewing clothes, but he’s able to keep putting it off and keep wrestling. Colt asked Eugene if he couldn’t put it off any more, and this was the next step. Eugene said Colt is his inspiration for starting a new school and promotion due to his do-it-yourself attitude and that he realized instead of using his connections to join a promotion, he can use them to make his own. Eugene’s idea in opening the school in Sioux Falls is to hopefully make it easier for athletes in the Midwest to get to a training school, and not have to move across the country to follow their dreams. Colt compared Eugene to Jake “The Snake” Roberts moving to England and Orlando Jordan moving to Australia to train wrestlers. Colt then compared Eugene to comedian Yakov Smirnoff because he can become the king of a small town. Eugene then cut a promo on why Sioux Falls is a great little city. Eugene cut a promo on why Sioux Falls is a great little city and said he hasn’t had a drive or a passion for anything since he started wrestling, and it’s exciting to get started.
56:00 – Eugene talks meeting kids with special needs – Colt asked if Eugene gets a lot of fan interaction with kids with special needs. Eugene said he meets a lot of special children and he is really touched by the families who say he’s an inspiration and shows their child they can do anything. Eugene said that having the children and the families come to him is truly humbling. Eugene briefly mentioned Rip Rogers son Marcus, and a special fan in Pittsburgh named Eugene, both of whom were the inspiration for the Eugene character. Eugene briefly talked about showing Freight Train matches to all of the trainers in NXT, and mentioned Billy Gunn loves Freight Train. Eugene told a quick story about trying to see Hulk Hogan recently with Grado. Eugene plugged his promotion, Midwest All-Pro Wrestling and Colt ended the interview.
1:03:35 – Colt wraps up the show – Colt thanked his fans, Jarrett, and his sponsors, plugged his upcoming appearances. Before signing off, Colt talked about listening to Harry Caray and about the Cubs’s Playoffs hopes. Following the sign off, a clip played of someone sneezing.
OVERALL SCORE
6.0 – This was a good episode of The Art of Wrestling, but with a repeat guest such as Eugene it can be hard to be fresh. Eugene was on to talk about his new wrestling school, and he was able to talk about his recent time in NXT, but he didn’t have any great stories to capitalize on for the show. This isn’t always a problem, but in this case it felt like two friends just talking about life. There is definitely a place for two wrestlers to just chat about life, but it didn’t make for the most compelling episode. That said, Eugene and Colt have good chemistry and Eugene is clearly still passionate about professional wrestling, which is always a plus.
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