Just wondering what everyones thoughts are on Eugene, the "metally handicapped" wrestling character the WWE has given to Nick Dinsmore ?
Maybe I am heavily biased because my older brother is mentally handicapped, but I think Vince and the writers have crossed the line here. To me, it is just very uncomfortable to watch.
Now I could see how the writers could make Eugene a powerful underdog baby face that the fans could get behind and cheer on.......but it's obvious already that they will use Eugene and William Regal for humorous skits in and out of the ring.
This is all just very dis-tasteful in my eyes.
"This just got a hell of a lot better." - Stifler, American Pie
I see Eugene coming to the ring with "skid marks" on his tights like those oh so funny skits Pat Patterson used to to, if that's what you mean. I also see them taking something that MIGHT work if done well, and then doing it so horribly wrong that people once again are pissed that Vince would insult our intelligence with complete bullshit.
Having said that, it *has* only been one show so far. I'm simply basing my opinion on a first impression, and the fact that McMahon hasn't pulled anything like this off without looking like a total ass in OVER 7 YEARS!!!!
edit: Then again, this is a company whose most sucessful period in history was the result of 2 1/2 years of non-stop penis jokes, so who the hell knows. Somehow though, I can't see this attracting the 4 million fans they've been looking for since 2001. I'd be VERY surprised if the fan total due to this is even increases at all.
I've pretty much made my thoughts known in the Raw thread. Everyone's feeling sorry for Nick Dinsmore, but my thoughts are with William Regal on this one. He was out for over a year with a career-threatening injury, manages to overcome it...and gets to come back to THIS.
From kissing Vince McMahon's ass to leading around the "mentally handicapped", you can't say William Regal isn't a team player.
Ok. I'm going to TRY to put this in some kind of positive aspect... um... gimme a second...
I got it! Maybe since Dinsmore may just rattle off old, horrible gimmicks, this could get him over in the same vein as the 'corporate' Mankind and his in-ring work will give him new life once Vince allows him to shed the gimmick? Maybe? Maybe?
I hate to disagree but I am going to wait and see where they go with "Eugene" before acting like WWE is once again the anti-christ for this type of gimmick. This isn't the first "special" wrestler WWE has done, George "the animal" Steel, The Oddities. So I am going to wait to see how all this goes and I am going to let WWE slide for right now.
Now that I've actually seen the gimmick, I can honestly say how terrible I think it is. Also, I don't think it'll last more than a month before the American's with Disabilities group files some sort of official complaint, possibly a lawsuit. On the plus side, Regal's back, and to me the man can do no wrong. Dinsmore, however, maybe should have refused to do this gimmick.
The only way to salvage this crap...have him tag up with Cartman doing the acting-disabled-to-whoop-ass-in-the-Special-Olympics-and-win-$1000 character.
Sadly, Dinsmore would have the higher workrate. But at least Cartman can work the stick along w/ Regal.
Star wipe, and...we're out. Thrillin' ain't easy.
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Originally posted by Tenken347Also, I don't think it'll last more than a month before the American's with Disabilities group files some sort of official complaint, possibly a lawsuit.
A lawsuit? A LAWSUIT? How the hell can you file a lawsuit on a company for just making fun of the handicapped? I would like to know.
A lawsuit? A LAWSUIT? How the hell can you file a lawsuit on a company for just making fun of the handicapped? I would like to know.
I can see someone suing because they didn't hire an actual handicapped person to perform the role, like the actor in Life Goes On.
As someone else has pointed out, we've already seen "slow" characters before (Evad for example), and this Eugene is just a more "realistic" (that's not quite the right word and it's fraught with interpretaion, but work with me here). However, if this character gets in the ring and is busting out complicated maneuvers, hurracaranas and Japanese submission holds -- i.e. they confuse retardation with autism and make him a wrestling Rain Man -- then I'm probably gonna laugh along with the character . I haven't seen anything in the whopping one show that says we're laughing AT Eugene as we're encouraged to do so when Eric lands in slop or is assaulted by Mae Young.
I like the idea of him reliving various old school gimmicks, but they could have given THAT part of the gimmick to Goldust who already impersonated people.
(edited by Matt Tracker on 6.4.04 0724)
"To be the man, you gotta beat demands." -- The Lovely Mrs. Tracker
Originally posted by Tenken347Also, I don't think it'll last more than a month before the American's with Disabilities group files some sort of official complaint, possibly a lawsuit.
A lawsuit? A LAWSUIT? How the hell can you file a lawsuit on a company for just making fun of the handicapped? I would like to know.
Didn't the producers of "Most Extreme Elimination Challenge" get sued because their show mocked Asian people and didn't have any actual Asian people in the cast? There is precedent.
Or if not that, then the group can turn up the heat on Spike TV's sponsors.
JR was being kind to him ==> face. Aligned with classic heel Regal ==> heel. Being annoying to Lawlor ==> face. Nephew of Bischoff ==> heel. Humorous reference to Bushwhackers ==> face.
It may depend on who they feed to him (my bets are on Maven, Hurricane/Rosey, Lance Storm or Mattitude. Garrison Cade isn't doing anything - I hope they don't sacrifice him to a retard.)
Awesome Regal can salvage this angle to a point - if they give us more than a few weeks without seeing Dinsmore wrestle - it'll get painful. WWE tends to run bad gimmicks at least 2-3 weeks past the point of entertainment into annoying...If they give Eugene any more than 3-4 minutes it'll take the energy out of any crowd...
I absolutely loved Lawlor's line that "Nobody licks me without permission!"
Who else foresees a Regal/Eugene tag title run? Especially since WWE often throws a strap on someone they want to get over.
Someone said somewhere that Harvard Chris Nowinski was finally starting to feel better - anyone else notice a resemblance...I foresee a really bad angle where Eugene was adopted and really was Nowinski's twin - separated at birth...Worse yet, Nowinski was also adopted and their "real mom" was none other than ...
wait for the payoff we know is coming to all crap angles ...
... Mae Young!
And their Dad has to be a returning Hacksaw Jim Duggan!
Lawsuits don't have to be about money. Many lawsuits are filed each year just to get an injunction, or other legal backing. In other words, the Americans with Disabilities group could file a lawsuit against the WWE in order to get them to stop using the Eugene character. There may or may not be financial penalties involved, but it would be up to the court to award them, and they would be a punishment to the company.
TOO-OLD-NOW, there is no way they would try to make a mentally handicapped wrestler a heel, it just wouldn't work. Who could cheer against him?
He is aligned with Regal for the sheer comedy, and he is Bischoff's nephew just to make the storyline work.
"Huard, gonna go back to throw the ball. Sets up, looks, throws towards the corner of the endzone...it is INTERCEPTED INTERCEPTED, THE DUCKS HAVE THE BALL! Down to the 35, the 40. Kenny Wheaton's gonna score! Kenny Wheaton is gonna score! 20, the 10, Touchdown! Kenny Wheaton on the interception, the most incredible finish to the football game!"
George "the Animal" Steele was a heel and a retard.
Eugene might just become that "wacky retard we love to hate" or "hate to love".
Maybe they will "trick" him into joining Regal in Vince's KMA club? Until he instead gives Vince a pants down back body drop.
I can foresee a HUGE crowd pop for this - setting up Vince's next PPV match. Let's see - Vince has defeated a one-legged cripple, and his children. Why not have Evil Mr. McMahon beat up a retard - it does present the intriguing possibility for mainstream media coverage...
The more I think about it, the superheroes Hurricane and S.H.I.T. Rosey will undoubtedly be involved in Eugene's angle...Oh what fun!!
Retard or not, Eugene will be booed if they give him too much screen time, or if he goes out of control and attacks one of the face divas.
This is a fresh angle they've come up with - and since they can go multiple directions with it - we can only predict it will be beaten to death.
I'll reserve judgement, but WWE doesn't have a track record of being "tasteful" when it comes to these kinds of things.
I'll admit it, I laughed last night when I saw Eugene, but it makes me wonder where this character is going. If he truly is a "master" in the ring, this could be pretty good. But like I said in the RAW thread, WWE is walking a very thin line with this gimmick.
In all honesty, a lot of it reminded me a bit of Rick Steiner's old NWA character. In the worst case, that can be the road they take with him.
There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened. - The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
I think some of the posters may have hinted at this already, but it might be that Eugene is an imposter. That his character is not really retarded but pretending to be retareded.
What got me thining about this is the whole, "Hi, me Eugene, Eugene, okay, okay"
That stuff is lifted straight from "The Score" with Robert DeNiro and Edward Norton Jr. Edward Norton Jr. pretends to be a retard, "Hi, me Brian, okay Danny buh bye" in order to infiltrate a security vault posing as a retarded janitor.
Norton has made a habbit of portraying wusses who are really quiet cunning and evil. See his debut Primal Fear.
I can see Regal taking advantage of Eugene, thinking he's a simpleton only to have Euguene turn out to be a sadistic killer who pled insanity to escape death row. The reactions of Regal at this turn of the tables would be classic. We'll see what happens.
Also, it's interesting that they chose to keep the facial hair on Eugene. I don't think I've ever recalled a retrad with facial hair. There are some wino's and alcoholics with facial hair, but I've never seen a retard with facial hair, dunno why.
I am holding my tongue till I see more, because they might tone it down after hearing feed back from everyone. I like the idea that someone doing or saying old gimmic lines. I want to see how he is in the ring, because no matter what the char is it how they work in the ring.
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