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

8. Gene Once Taped 141 Back-To-Back Three Minute Promos

Mean Gene Okerlund Jimmy Hart The Honky Tonk Man
WWE.com

Today's backstage announcers have it easy in WWE. Between, "Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome my guest at this time" and the tight scripting for talent during to-camera pieces, there's really not much work to be done. Things were a bit different in Gene's day.

During the height of his workload in the company, Okerlund completed a staggering 141 promos in succession. Even more astonishing is the fact that most were around the three-minute mark. This is something Okerlund admitted to The Hannibal TV.

Add all 141 up and you'd have over seven hours of content. That's lunacy, but it was the way things were back in the peak Hulkamania years. Imagine the run time of WrestleMania 34, then remove every individual segment and have an announcer record endless screeds of promos instead.

That was Gene's task, and he somehow managed it without cracking.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.