WWE have come under a lot of fire over the past week for the introduction of "Eugene" – a mentally handicapped wrestler. Some have adopted a pro-WWE stance, some a very anti-company position. Others have sat back and said "let’s see where they’re going with this before we decide". I’m going to be fairly ruthless. Some would say pragmatic. I think the Eugene character as he is now (and he could be tweaked to make him more effective) is a bad move for WWE.

The company doesn’t have a great track record as far as handling issues of varying sensitivity is concerned. Looking back over the last decade or so we can find the following examples of good (in inverted commas) taste.

• Their reaction to the first Gulf War was to take an American Hero (Sgt Slaughter) and have him swear allegiance to Saddam. He and Hulk Hogan then went round the country with a series of "Desert Storm" matches.
   

• Homosexuality has been represented by the mincing and prancing Rico and by the lingerie wearing, opponent snogging, gold painted freak Goldust.
   

• Women fight each other for the right to appear in Playboy because, ultimately, every woman wants to show their naked body to several million people and several billion more online.
   

• Racism was handled with the introduction of the Nation of Domination – a black power group whose supporters initially imitated the Nation of Islam’s dress code and gestures. Not to mention every black guy seems to like dancing and speaking mongrel English. Triple H's remarks that "your kind don't win the world title" didn't seem entirely classy either.
   

• The British can look to William Regal – a posh and slightly camp snob, the French have Rene Dupree who never goes anywhere without a poodle, the Italians have the FBI – a loser Mafia group, the Japanese are childlike and stupid (and of course only have one name), South Africans are militaristic white supremacists, Russians are Commies and so on.
   

• Religion took a pounding from the Flying Nuns (two men dressed as nuns), an evil priest (Friar Ferguson), a mock crucifixion, several Satanists, a nasty evangelist and more besides.
   

• They’ve had allegations of rape, murder, necrophilia and more than one miscarriage (though naturally the woman, being a woman, was lying).

But have they crossed the line with a mentally handicapped wrestler? Who can say? Well the answer is that the mentally handicapped can say. Who are we to judge what is offensive on their behalf? Eugene is basically the same character that can be seen in "There’s Something About Mary", "South Park" and various other "edgy" comedies.

My problem with Eugene echoes something that the late Freddie Blassie said about promos. They are there to draw money. Full stop. Wrestling characters are there to draw money. Full stop. Men will pay money to see women in lingerie having a poor quality wrestling match. Fans will pay to see dastardly foreigners get beaten by heroic Americans. Fans will pay to see the prissy "gay" character get humiliated. Yes it sounds rather base entertainment but it goes back as far as the first wrestling superstar (and one of the biggest stars in American TV history) Gorgeous George. There is nothing wrong with a gimmick if it draws money. That’s what wrestlers do. They get paid to entertain and if people are entertained then they’ll pay their money. There is no money in being boring but successful. There are no Pete Samprases or Arsenal FCs in wrestling.

There is no way Eugene will draw money. No one will take him seriously as a wrestler so if he loses his matches he won’t make money and if he wins his matches he risks turning the fans against him so he won’t make money. Fans like their underdogs but they don’t like having their suspension of disbelief ripped apart by unbelievable results. They demand credibility – not necessarily credibility to the outside world (there hasn’t been much of that in wrestling for the last 80 years) – but credibility within the fantasy world that has been created. Just as Jonathan wouldn’t beat Buffy in a fight, so Eugene couldn’t beat Kane in a wrestling match.

But some will say "he’s there to be entertaining – wrestling needs entertaining segments". To that I say that the wrestling is meant to be the entertainment. That’s what it’s there for. It serves no other purpose except keeping the tanning and waxing salons of America in business. If a wrestling company has to resort to a mentally handicapped character in backstage skits to be entertaining then they should think seriously about their choice of business. Of course segments and vignettes are necessary but only when they are part of the process of drawing money. Because ultimately money is at the root of it all. If the product is making money then it must be good enough to persuade people to pay for it. That way we all win.

The only consolation is that Eugene has a beard and wild hair. This means that the unfortunate Nick Dinsmore who drew the short straw and has to play Eugene can shave his head and come back as a new character without people immediately recognising him. But, WWE being WWE, when Eugene bombs they’ll blame Dinsmore and he can join the unemployment line as his reward for humiliating himself at their request.