The latest WWE and AEW News and Results
Photo: NJPW
On a new edition of Wrestling Weekly, longtime pro wrestling trainer and former wrestling Les Thatcher and I talk about the passing of “Mean” Gene Okerlund, AEW, and a slew of announcements from New Japan Pro Wrestling following Wrestle Kingdom regarding their 2019 schedule.
Thanks for listening and have a great weekend~!
Legendary Hall of Fame wrestling announcer “Mean” Gene Okerlund has passed away at the age of 76.
Karl Stern from Wrestling Observer and When It Was Cool takes a look back at Okerlund’s life and career in this brand new biography breaking news special. Okerlund was the prime interviewer for the AWA, WWF, WCW, and then back to WWE for much of their classic content and is probably the most famous wrestling interviewer of all time.
Join Karl with this look back at Okerlund’s career.
One of the most familiar personalities and voices in pro wrestling history is gone as WWE announced Wednesday that ‘Mean’ Gene Okerlund passed away at the age of 76. The reason for death wasn’t given.
Born in Sisseton, South Dakota, in 1942, Okerlund moved from radio and TV to working for the AWA in Minnesota in 1970 as a fill-in ring announcer and interviewer. He would later take over the full-time interviewer job which became his life’s work.
He stayed with the AWA for 14 years before moving to WWF in 1984 where he became one of the company’s most recognizable faces for his backstage interviews with Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, and all of the stars of the era.
After nine years with WWF, he moved to WCW in 1993 and was a regular on-screen presence through 1996. He remained with the company in smaller roles through their sale to WWF in 2001.
Eventually, he would return to WWE and spent the past 18 years there in a variety of on-screen roles and was inducted into the company’s Hall of Fame on 2006.
He is survived by his longtime wife, Jeanne, and son, Todd.
On this episode, host Karl Stern looks at the four inductees into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame for 2016 — Sting, Daniel Bryan, Gene Okerlund, and Col. James H. McLaughlin.
Not a lot of time is spent on McLaughlin since we have covered him so in-depth on the last seven shows, so time is spent with Bryan, Sting, and Okerlund, as well as those who didn’t make it this time around.
Among the topics dicsussed on today’s episode:
