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Okerlund, who was given the nickname 'Mean Gene' by Jesse 'The Body' Ventura, began his career in the American Wrestling Association (AWA). He joined the World Wrestling Federation, now WWE, in 1984.
Okerlund, who was given the nickname 'Mean Gene' by Jesse 'The Body' Ventura, began his career in the American Wrestling Association (AWA). He joined the World Wrestling Federation, now WWE, in 1984.
Nicknamed "Mean Gene" by longtime colleague and fellow Minnesotan Jesse Ventura, Okerlund began as a backstage interviewer in the Minneapolis-based American Wrestling Association in the early 1970s.
Gene Okerlund, a gentlemanly wrestling announcer who specialized in interviewing the biggest, loudest and most obnoxious professional grapplers in the business, died Jan. 2 at a hospital in ...
Okerlund, who was nicknamed Mean Gene by the wrestler (and future governor of Minnesota) Jesse Ventura, was a mild-mannered figure, especially by pro-wrestling standards. He often appeared on the ...