10 Things WWE Regrets About SummerSlam

9. Mean Gene's F-Bomb (SummerSlam 1989)

'Mean' Gene Okerlund may have sadly left us earlier this year at the age of 76, but Gene will forever have a place in wrestling history as one of the industry's greatest ever non-wrestling characters.

Okerlund's professionalism, cadence, and wit made him a natural for hosting segments, be it live or taped. But unfortunately for the WWE Hall of Famer, the live broadcast of SummerSlam 1989 didn't go all that smoothly for him.

With Mean Gene tasked with interviewing 'Ravishing' Rick Rude and Bobby 'The Brain' Heenan during a live backstage segment on that PPV, the SummerSlam sign behind the trio fell off the wall.

How did the ever-professional Gene respond? "F*ck it!"

Yes, on live PPV, Gene Okerlund dropped the F-bomb.

To be honest, many fans view this as one of the more entertaining non-wrestling segments in SummerSlam history - especially for those kids who chuckled as Gene said a naughty word back during the initial airing of the PPV - but you can be sure that WWE instantly regretted doing a live interview with such a clearly shoddy set.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.