The Reverend Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 Very sad news circulating on the internet, including WWE.COM that Mean Gene has passed away. So sad - such a huge part of my wrestling childhood gone. He was arguably the greatest interviewer ever and could make or break someone just by his facial expressions. His amping up the hype for matches was out of this world. It was old Mean Gene that actually made you believe it was real! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Kaz Hayashi Posted January 2, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted January 2, 2019 Fuck sake. Horrible news. He’s always seemed in decent health considering his age and based on how most of his colleagues pass. Good ol’mean Gene. Absolute legend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members eugenespeed Posted January 2, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted January 2, 2019 Just seen this, very sad news. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members garynysmon Posted January 2, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted January 2, 2019 Gutted. What a voice he had. Like many here, I'd consider Mean Gene as well as Heenan,Ventura, Monsoon and a few others as the voice of my childhood. He held a certain gravitas and was vital in helping to legitimise the product and bring in a sporting element to the overall presentation. With Heenan, when they jumped to WCW, they were as instrumental as any wrestler in getting the company over as a big deal. Even the shite they had him doing with Mancow in 1999/2000 couldn't reduce his stock and was a welcome face every time he showed up in WWE over more recent years. Might have to watch a few PPV event centres now.  "Well you know something Mean Gene..."   Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidzero Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 Rip mean Gene Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members tiger_rick Posted January 2, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted January 2, 2019 Don't know about "gutted", etc as he was 76 and pretty much inactive. A sad loss though. One of the truly great voices of pro-wrestling and did a fantastic job as the interview guy getting stories across while staying, sort of, impartial. A great racketeer too. That hotline was a swizz. I've always wished a load of hotline recording would become available. I'd love to hear it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Kaz Hayashi Posted January 2, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted January 2, 2019 3 minutes ago, tiger_rick said: I've always wished a load of hotline recording would become available. I'd love to hear it. That would be bloody amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted January 2, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted January 2, 2019 Sad to hear this. It shouldn’t be a massive shock given his age but he was one of those guys who seemed almost timeless. He looked the same my whole life. With Heenan the last few years, sadly you always expected the bad news. With Gene, he always looked and sounded sharp even in later years. Loved this story Nash told on one of his shoots about drinking with Gene;  Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidzero Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 The man was a legend loved his wwf stuff back in the 80s even my non wrestling fan dad liked him.. rip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Sergio Mendacious Posted January 2, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted January 2, 2019 As @garynysmon said, when he switched to WCW, it gave them a lot more legitimacy in my eyes. Whenever Flair would bust out "Mean BY GOD Gene!" it about made my day. Bloke was blessed with the look, voice, and demeanour to be perfect for what he did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members IANdrewDiceClay Posted January 2, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted January 2, 2019 The best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Dem Wanz Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 One of the moments I'll always be fond of is his contribution to Hogan’s BATB heel turn – his disgust and anger really helped get things over even more. The perfect "straight man" and a brilliant broadcaster.  RIP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MPDTT Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 RIP Mean Gene. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Thunderplex Posted January 2, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted January 2, 2019 Always entertaining, Â Brought a lot of fun to the broadcasts. Â RIP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Accident Prone Posted January 2, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted January 2, 2019 Brilliant interviewer. How he managed to get (mostly) coherent responses from the coked-up roster of the 80's is a massive achievement. A great straight man that really emphasized how wacky and wild the wrestlers were. Rip Gene. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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