Popular interviewer and announcer “Mean” Gene Okerlund, known for his career spanning the American Wrestling Association, World Championship Wrestling, and World Wrestling Entertainment, passed away on January 2, 2019. He was 76 years old. 

Born Eugene Arthur Okerlund on December 19, 1942, Okerlund initially studied broadcast journalism and landed a job as a disc jockey at popular radio station KOIL. He went on to work for a local television station in Minneapolis, before branching into the wrestling world by accepting a position at the American Wrestling Association (AWA) in 1970. Okerlund started off filling in for ring announcer and interviewer Marty O’Neill but eventually became O'Neill's permanent replacement. He remained with the AWA until 1983, when he joined the burgeoning World Wrestling Federation (WWF). 

Okerlund remained with WWF for nine years as the federations top interviewer and hosted a variety of WWF shows including All-American Wrestling and Tuesday Night Titans. During this time, Okerlund partnered with Hulk Hogan to face off against Mr. Fuji and George Steele in Minneapolis. The end result saw Okerlund pin Mr. Fuji for the victory. In 1985, Okerlund became the first person to sing the National Anthem at the inaugural WrestleMania. In the same year, Okerlund appeared on The A-Team alongside Hogan, Bobby Heenan, Ricky Steamboat, Davey Boy Smith, Corporal Kirchner, Dynamite Kid, and Big John Studd. 

Following his appearance at SummerSlam 1993, later that year Okerlund made his final WWF appearance on the September edition of Superstars. Okerlund then began interviewing for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) making his debut during November 1993’s WCW Saturday Night. During his time at WCW, Okerlund only wrestled twice. The first saw him and Buff Bagwell face off against Chris Kanyon and fellow announcer Mark Madden, with Bagwell and Okerlund winning. Madden later demanded a rematch, and this time Okerlund won with the assistance of Pamela Paulshock. 

Okerlund rejoined the WWF, later renamed WWE, in 2001 with the Gimmick Battle Royal during WrestleMania X-Seven. He went on to host WWE Confidential, WWE Madison Square Garden Classics, and the WWE Classics On Demand Hall of Fame section. Okerlund himself was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2006 by Hogan. In 2008, Okerlund began hosting WWE Vintage Collection, and later conducted interviews on the three-hour “Old School”episode of Raw. He also appeared in a segment with The Rock and Pee-wee Herman during Wrestlemania XXVII.  

In his later career, Okerlund appeared in WWE Smackdown: Blast from the Past, WWE Raw, Old School Raw and was a regular on the WWE Network original reality show Legends’ House. He went on to narrate the WWE Network original animated series WWE Story Time. Okerlund made his final appearance on WWE TV during the 25th anniversary episode of Raw to interview A.J. Styles.

“A voice and soundtrack to an entire era of our industry. He was the star of some of @WWE’s most memorable segments,” WWE Executive Vice President Paul Levesque wrote in a tweet. “‘Mean’ Gene was beloved by all who got to work with him. Our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time.”