Good Gene: The Career of Mean Gene Okerlund

Brian Damage

From the 80s through to the 00s, ‘Mean’ Gene Okerlund was a prominent face of wrestling TV. From his time in the American Wrestling Association through to the WWF then WCW, Okerlund would interview all of the stars. Today on the blog, we look at the life and times of ‘Mean’ Gene.

Advertisements

Great Ideas That Didn’t Last: Global Force Wrestling

Brian Damage

Throughout the history of pro wrestling bookers and promoters have always tried to come up with new, creative and innovative ideas to generate interest in their product. Some ideas have not only succeeded but flourished. Others were DOA from the get-go. Then there are those ideas which initially were innovative but for various reasons, faded away. Those are the focus of this latest series of posts titled ‘Great Ideas That Didn’t Last’. This latest piece focuses in on the rise, the fall and then the rise and yet another fall for Jeff Jarrett’s Global Force Wrestling (GFW).

The Run That Got Away: “The Black Hart” Owen Hart Gimmick

Brian Damage

After the infamous ‘Montreal Screwjob’, Owen Hart took a brief hiatus from the WWE before returning at the final ‘In Your House’ PPV of 1997. When he returned, he became known as the ‘Lone Hart’ or ‘The Black Hart’ as he flew solo without his Hart Foundation comrades. Today we take a look at that run as the ‘The Black Hart’.

Remembering Dustin Runnels First WWF Run in 1990

Brian Damage

We all know Dustin Runnels as the WWE’s iconic character known as ‘Goldust.’ For over 20 years, with a break in between here and there, Dustin has perfectly portrayed the bizarre Goldust. While Dustin is known most for his work as Goldust, it wasn’t his first stint with the WWF/E and that’s the focus of today’s piece. 

The Greatest Wrestling Angle Time Forgot

Heel turns are a normal part of the business of professional wrestling. Think back to some of the greatest heel turns of all time. Which ones stand out to you? Was it Hulk Hogan joining the New World Order? Rocky Maivia joining the Nation of Domination? Barry Windham joining the Four Horsemen? All solid heel turns indeed, but what about one that took place in the WWWF back in 1980 and that’s today’s topic.

Wrestling with Sin: 125

Brian Damage

This is the 125th installment of the ‘Wrestling with Sin‘ series. A group of stories that delves into the darker, underbelly of pro wrestling. Many of the stories involve such subjects as sex, drugs, greed and in some cases even murder! As with every single story in the Sin series, I do not condone or condemn the alleged participants. We simply retell their stories by researching interviews, newspapers, magazines and various other sources of media.

The Night ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper “Killed” Another Wrestler

Brian Damage

This story comes to us in an age where there was no internet, no social media sites, no TMZ or any other super fast means to get news. There were no television taping spoilers to ruin the illusion of a seemingly live event. The year was 1985, the then World Wrestling Federation was just starting to get its feet wet as a national promotion. Everything wasn’t out there for fans to become smart to they way pro wrestling was run.