R.I.P., "Mean" Gene Okerlund

[mwfudge]

He was one of the greats. I remember him from his days going back to the old American Wrestling Association based out of Minnesota. My grandparents in Chicago got AWA wrestling on a channel from Aurora and that's how I got to see guys like Verne and Greg Gagne, Nick Bockwinkel and Bobby Heenan.

https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/mean-gene-okerlund-dies-at-76-wwe-announces

 

[LesClaypool]

I'm the last Mean Gene standing!

 

[GoNolesTX]

So much time of my youth watching WWF on Saturday mornings at my grandfather's house. Time doesn't wait.

 

[wbnolefan2]

How those guys could do the interviews without breaking character is beyond me!!

 

[Buddy Green]

How those guys could do the interviews without breaking character is beyond me!!

The funniest ones are the guys who spoke with fake or exaggerated accents, and then when you saw them in a restaurant, they were completely different(Nikita Koloff comes to mind, born in Minnesota, not even Russian)

 

[DFSNOLE]

 

[LesClaypool]

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This is by no means offered to make light of Mean Gene's death, but Jim Ross's comment about just seeing him brings to mind the following joke by George Carlin...

After someone dies, the following conversation is bound to take place, probably more than once. Two guys meet on the street. ‘Hey, did you hear? Phil Davis died.‘ ‘Phil Davis, I just saw him yesterday.‘ Yeah. Didn’t help. He died anyway. Apparently, the simple act of your seeing him did not slow his cancer down. In fact, it may have made it more aggressive, you know. You could be responsible for Phil’s death. How do you live with yourself?

 

[SeaPA]

The funniest ones are the guys who spoke with fake or exaggerated accents, and then when you saw them in a restaurant, they were completely different(Nikita Koloff comes to mind, born in Minnesota, not even Russian)

I flew from Pensacola to Tampa with the guys who performed as the Wild Samoans. Imagine my surprise when they didn't actually need Lou Albano around to translate their grunting.
They were actually quite hilarious, probably could've worked as stand-up comics if they hadn't been rasslers.

 

[NoleLizards]

2019's starting off with a bang for deaths of well-known people. (I won't say "celebrity" out of respect for young Mr. Trent.)

 

[MIKE_G]

2019's starting off with a bang for deaths of well-known people. (I won't say "celebrity" out of respect for young Mr. Trent.)

Add Bob “Super Dave Osborn” Einstein and Daryl “The Captain” Dragon to the list. They truly do happen in threes.

 

[EconSean]

Mean Gene interviewing Randy Savage is some of the best rasslin’ bits ever. So many to choose from, but this is a classic.

 

[GwinnettNole]

Mean Gene interviewing Randy Savage is some of the best rasslin’ bits ever. So many to choose from, but this is a classic.

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Wow that is classic. Could any of these guys be nominated for an Oscar?

I grew up watching Mean Gene. Saturday mornings WWF.... good times and memories.