Gene Okerlund, who as a ringside interviewer and commentator served for many years as a straight man to the outsize personalities who suffuse the world {of professional} wrestling, died on Wednesday at a hospital in Sarasota, Fla. He was 76.
His son Todd stated he died a few month after a fall.
Mr. Okerlund, who was nicknamed Imply Gene by the wrestler (and future governor of Minnesota) Jesse Ventura, was a mild-mannered determine, particularly by pro-wrestling requirements. He typically appeared on the air in elegant apparel to conduct interviews with intensely muscled, scantily clad wrestlers like Macho Man Randy Savage, the Final Warrior, Andre the Large and Hulk Hogan. Mr. Hogan helped popularize Mr. Okerlund’s nickname by repeating it originally of many interviews.
The wrestler and WWE government Triple H, writing on Twitter, known as Mr. Okerlund “a voice and soundtrack to a complete period of our trade.”
Mr. Okerlund questioned wrestlers in a resonant voice, sustaining a critical mien whilst they launched into tirades about their opponents. His professionalism helped lend a sure gravitas to an enterprise that was hardly identified for it, however he additionally conveyed delicate sarcasm at instances. He ultimately constructed a following amongst wrestlers in addition to their followers.
“You can’t be laughing on the product,” Mr. Okerlund instructed Sports Illustrated for a profile of him in 2017. “It’s essential to go together with the story line, and put it over. That’s my job.”
He was inducted into the WWE Corridor of Fame in 2006. “I’m rattling happy with it,” he stated of the dignity in an interview with The Solar-Sentinel of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Eugene Arthur Okerlund was born on Dec. 19, 1942, in Sisseton, S.D., to Helen and Arthur Okerlund. His father owned a seed firm, and Gene graduated from highschool in Sisseton, within the northeast nook of the state, earlier than learning journalism on the College of Nebraska.
Mr. Okerlund’s dignified on-air bearing got here early in his profession: He labored as an area radio and tv broadcaster earlier than he began working with the American Wrestling Affiliation within the early 1970s. He stated he first introduced skilled wrestling when Verne Gagne, the affiliation’s proprietor and promoter, requested him to cowl a match with just a few hours’ discover.
“ ‘I do know nothing about wrestling,’ I defined,” Mr. Okerlund instructed Sports activities Illustrated. “ ‘I don’t need to embarrass you and I actually don’t need to embarrass myself.’ ”
However Mr. Gagne persevered, and Mr. Okerlund labored in skilled wrestling from then on. He joined the World Wrestling Federation, now the WWE, within the 1980s, when the promoter Vince McMahon made it a nationwide group.
Mr. Okerlund hosted exhibits like “Tuesday Night time Titans,” “WWF All American Wrestling” and “WWF Prime Time Wrestling,” and appeared briefly in a tag-team match with Mr. Hogan in opposition to Mr. Fuji and George (the Animal) Steele in 1984.
He was additionally a singer. He sang “Tutti Frutti” on “The Wrestling Album” (1985), which largely featured songs carried out by wrestlers, and in 1985 sang the nationwide anthem on the first WrestleMania, one among wrestling’s greatest televised occasions.
He lived in Osprey, Fla., along with his spouse, Jeanne. Along with her and his son, he’s survived by one other son, Tor, and three grandchildren.
Mr. Okerlund instructed The Solar-Sentinel that he thought interviews have been a vital manner for wrestlers to interact their viewers and heighten drama.
“You’ve got to have the ability to do issues within the ring,” he stated, however interviews “are a wrestler’s bread and butter.”