If there is any one character on this list that actually made us ashamed to watch professional wrestling, then it has to be Eugene. Essentially, Eugene was a mentally handicapped character that had somehow become a professional wrestler (surely a violation of WWEs wellness policy?). WWE writers explained this inconsistency by saying that he was the nephew of Eric Bischoff. Even allowing for the fact that anyone that ever watched WCW Nitro could freely believe that there is (at least) some mental deficiency in Bischoffs DNA, the entire angle was still in incredibly poor taste. WWE pushed Eugenes dim-witted but friendly character strongly, without even an inch of shame or compunction about just how unsavoury the whole thing was. The character wasnt even pushed as an idiot savant, either. No, Eugene was a special needs character, played in the broadest and most insulting manner possible. Incredibly, Eugene feuded with Triple H, shared screen time with Hulk Hogan and The Rock - and even scored a victory over Kurt Angle. Somehow, the character lasted for over two wince-inducing years...
I am a professional author and lifelong comic books/pro wrestling fan. I also work as a journalist as well as writing comic books (I also draw), screenplays, stage plays, songs and prose fiction.
I don't generally read or reply to comments here on What Culture (too many trolls!), but if you follow my Twitter (@heyquicksilver), I'll talk to you all day long!
If you are interested in reading more of my stuff, you can find it on http://quicksilverstories.weebly.com/ (my personal site, which has other wrestling/comics/pop culture stuff on it).
I also write for FLiCK http://www.flickonline.co.uk/flicktion, which is the best place to read my fiction work.
Oh yeah - I'm about to become a Dad for the first time, so if my stuff seems more sentimental than usual - blame it on that!
Finally, I sincerely appreciate every single read I get. So if you're reading this, thank you, you've made me feel like Shakespeare for a day! (see what I mean?)
Latcho Drom,
- CQ
