Gene Okerlund

[10.0] "No better hype man for a ppv than Mean Gene! Whether it was WWF or WCW, he made every event sound like the biggest thing ever and you should never miss them. He should be a 10 for making Starrcade 1994 sound like something special."

[10.0] "Along with Lance Russell, Gordon Solie, Renee Paquette, and Jeremy Borash, Gene Okerlund is in the category of absolutely legendary backstage interviewers in professional wrestling. Gene was arguably a bigger name than many of the wrestlers in the Hogan era to be honest. He was a master at reining in the sheer insanity of the wrestlers around him, able to guide people that weren't very good at cutting promos into the right direction while also not overstepping their ability to talk for themselves. I don't even know what else I can add to this comment without just descending into superlative praise or repeating points said by everyone else. His voice is forever etched into my brain."

[10.0] "He essentially created and perfected the role that he held to the point where you can call it the Okerlund role in wrestling. From what I researched you can argue he was the birth of the sideline reporter in sports to begin with which is just insane to think about. His ability to pull the right information and queue up the right responses to wrestlers was second to none, often imitated, never duplicated, the greatest of all time."

[10.0] "Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeean by gooooooood Gennnnnnnnne. Mean Gene no one before him and long after him cannot touch the microphone or face to face segments like him. He is the most professional person in the business and yet very very badass as well. And yes he likes to have fun on set too."

[10.0] "When it comes to interviewers in sports, Gene Okerlund is the gold standard. He was the best. No other broadcaster in wrestling and sports can touch him. I think of one word whenever I think of Mean Gene: professionalism. He was serious, consistent, straightforward, respectful, and the PERFECT straight man to contrast the larger-than-life, eccentric personalities of 80's-90's wrestling. He's someone who you made you believe that what you were seeing was real."

[10.0] "God, could anyone hold a candle to Gene? Lance Russell and Gordon Solie were good, but they were amateurs compared to Gene. Guy has as million dollar voice, and just exudes credibility to anything he says or is a part of. A true broadcaster; something so lacking these days in wrestling announcing and interviews. And that's not even mentioning the help he'd give guys on their promos by walking them through them. Such an invaluable glue guy for any show. Worth his weight in gold. There will never be another guy this good. 10/10."

[10.0] "Iconic. The guy was just absolutely perfect in his role, there hasn't been anybody who comes even remotely close to being the interviewer he was. Was great at playing alongside the wrestlers and questioning what they would say in interviews. Not much else can be said, he was just perfect and a legend in professional wrestling."

[10.0] "The interview guy everyone tries to emulate even to this day. Gene was honestly great and fit perfect in Golden Era WWF. He knew how to interact with the wrestler without being too much and his facial expressions were top notch."

[10.0] "The quintessential interview guy. When it comes to the best wrestler, or the best commentator, or the best manager, etc there is always some debate about who was best. When it comes to the interview man, or backstage interview man, I dont believe there is ANY debate, Mean Gene is the best there ever was, and the best there ever will be. Great guy, funny, charming personality. One of the people most identified with professional Wrestling of the 1980's."

[8.0] "Mean Gene deserves high marks for having to be the backstage interview guy and NOT lose his poker face when many of the guys were going off on their coked out ramblings."

[10.0] "Knew his role and excelled at it. If someone stumbled in an interview, fumbled over words, or got lost in the direction of where things needed to go, he was always there to get them back on track. The way he would get the one liners in, the back handed compliments, sell the comments of the talent with his facials, and knowing what to say/when to say it always made the interviews that much better/ entertaining. Also when the WWF at the time started going global Gene, being as featured on television as he was, started becoming just as popular if not more popular than a lot wrestlers at the time. As evidence when him and Hulk wrestled Mr Fuji and George The Animal Steele. With any other none wrestler, that wouldn't have worked, but Gene was over to the point that he made it work. A very irreplacable part to the early years of WWF, also WCW during his time there. There will never be another Gene Okerlund."

[10.0] "His timing, facial expressions and body language were mastered to perfection. One of my favorite anythings in all of wrestling was the absurd sexual tension Woman would practically suffocate him in, hilarious. On freakin fire chemistry with Randy Savage. Was an integral part of Vince McMahon Jr's success and the WWF almost didn't recover from losing him. Iconic."

[10.0] "A brilliant worker, the best at what he does. A man who is associated with backstage interviews. His voice, charisma, image, will forever be associated with the 80s and 90s. It would seem that he's just a man holding a microphone and asking questions of wrestlers, but "Mean" Gean was able to do it in his own way, felicitously. Without this man, I believe the era of Hulkomania, Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage and many other wrestlers wouldn't be as cool as they are now. Without him, a lot of the interviews lost the charm they have now. And that phrase " Well, let me tell you something Mean Gene...." will forever be one of the favourite and memorable phrases in the history of this business."

[10.0] "Mean Gene was the voice of the Golden Era and one of its personifications. A gifted interviewer with a great memorable voice and unique charisma, who forever inscribed his name in the history of professional wrestling."

[9.0] "Mean Gene was a fantastic interviewer and excellent character. He did a lot more than just hold a microphone for somebody; he actually was worked into a lot of segments and proved that he had better mic skills than almost any of the wrestlers he interviewed. His kind of skill has become a lost art in the business."

[10.0] "One of the most important personas of WWF when we talk about the "outside the ring" activity. The greatest interviewer, announcer and a guest commentator. All time greatest promos are with Gene holding the microphone, while Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Paul Orndorff and many many more did their thing. Many funny and unplanned spots during these promos. I have a good memories when I recall the good-old Vintage Collection. I used to watch the broadcast late evening on TV, with Gene Okerlund as a host and I getting to know the amazing history of this business. Also, I'm sure every wrestling fan recalls the famous: "Well, let me tell you something Mean Gene... "."

[10.0] "Mean Gene was the real deal. It'd be difficult to find someone having a bad interview with Gene Okerlund, because he made literally everyone look good. Never missed a beat and had an excellent voice."

[10.0] "The best interviewer by far. Gene was a complete professional and could make guys who were good promo cutters but at points hard to understand and managed to condense their rambling down to comprehensible talking points that the general audience could understand: a lot of Hogan's best stuff comes from Gene interviews, and for good reason. Gene was also a solid backstage guy as well and kept things under control if talent flubbed or forgot their lines (which is something underrated, especially on live TV programs where a LOT can go wrong) but he was mostly known for turning crap into gold, even with some of the worst talkers around."

[10.0] "Nobody will ever be able to match him. Quick witted, great at getting talent over and making even the worst segments passable. If wrestlers were ranked based on how much better they were than others in their role, Okerlund would have vineyard to himself."

[10.0] "Simply said, there has been no one before him & there's been no one after him to do what Mean Gene has done as an interviewer."

[10.0] "Probably the picture perfect definition of a "backstage interviewer. " Gene always went at the job with gusto and a hard nosed determination to get the facts and set the story straight. He asked all the right questions, and helped engage the viewer in the discussion. He also had a lot of character and personality, but didn't let that overshadow the wrestlers. All in all, THE best interviewer in all of wrestling history."