WWE: The passing of "Mean" Gene Okerlund

Not even a day into 2019 and it has already taken someone that many wrestling fans felt was apart of their childhood. It was reported early Wednesday morning that Mean Gene Okerlund had died at the age of 76. He actually graduated college with a degree in broadcast journalism. This degree would lead him to a job at KOIL, a popular station in Omaha Nebraska. He would be there for a few years before moving to Minnesota. When he moved to Minnesota, he would land a job on a television channel. However, this position wouldn’t last long.

Gene would end up leaving the radio and television industry to take a job with the American Wrestling Association (AWA). He would be a ring announcer. Then, 1984 came around and he would get hired by the WWF to become the backstage interviewer. In his early days at the WWF, he would become the host of All-American Wrestling and Tuesday Night Titans. He also sang the National Anthem at WrestleMania 1. Not even two years into his WWF/WWE run, he would get his first dip into the acting world. Mean Gene Okerlund and several other superstars would appear on an episode of the A-team. He would be at the WWF/WWE from 1984-2019. He was with WCW from 1993-2001. When you think about his run with the WWF/WWE, he was apart of so many memorable moments. He had the famous blooper with Rick Rude during Summerslam 1988. This would occur during a backstage interview where the sign for Summerslam fell-down. You can’t forget how he was interviewing both Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage when the Mega Powers formed.

He also had a stint with the WCW. His most memorable moment occurred on July 7, 1996. During the main event of Bash at the Beach, the Outsiders (Scott Hall and Kevin Nash) were taking on Randy Savage, Sting, and Lex Luger. Heading into this event, the Outsiders were teasing their mystery partner. Hulk Hogan came out and would leg drop Randy Savage. This lead to the biggest turn in all of professional wrestling. After this turn, we then see Mean Gene in the ring and he is asking Hulk Hogan why did he turn on the WCW.

Mean Gene Okerlund was a major piece of three of the bigger wrestling promotions in the last 40 years. When he died, there was no known reason. However, news started to report about what might have lead to death. According to Ryan Sating of Pro Wrestling Sheet, Mean Gene fell in his home a few days beforehand. He wasn’t able to get better.

There are many people who are within the wrestling industry. You tend to possibly say something bad about them in one way or another. When it came to Mean Gene, there was nothing bad that could have been said.