10 Things You Didn't Know About 'Mean' Gene Okerlund

2. Gene's Second Kidney Transplant Came From His Wife

2006 marked a big moment for Gene.

By being inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame by Hulk Hogan the night before WrestleMania 22, he etched his name in the history books. Had his wife not stepped up and sacrificed for her husband however, there's a chance the emotional occasion might not have occurred.

Two years earlier in 2004, Okerlund underwent his second kidney transplant in just shy of a decade. His first in 1995 had come near the peak of his WCW run, but it was the follow-up operation that was the most memorable for more than one reason. Firstly, he was much older, and the op was therefore riskier. Secondly, his aforementioned wife Jeanne was the donor.

Gene never made much of a secret about his fondness for alcohol. He was a heavy drinker for years, and that love of the liquor led to several health complications. God bless Jeanne for stepping up when it mattered most to literally breath new live into her man.