10 Wrestlers That Knew They Were Saying Something Stupid As They Said It

4. Ken Patera Has Served His Time-cue

Mean Gene Okerlund was a magnificent pro wrestling interviewer, but a stick man can only do so much before it becomes the implement with which to beat a talent with.

Understanding exactly when to chip in or back off and knowing the difference between his authoritative tone and actually having a voice of authority, his instincts were second-to-none and well-honed spending decades next to the best and worst to ever attempt to orate. And he was given quite the sentence when Ken Patera got out of prison.

Returning to WWE in 1987 after spending time in the slammer for real after assaulting a police officer, the former Olympain was embroiled in a feud with former manager Bobby Heenan, after 'The Brain' had abandoned him during his incarceration. Heenan set his "Family" on him and gosh darn it he wasn't gonna take it anymore.

He blew his opening gambit, noting that "The Weasel has come to the point...the conspiracy is completely out of hand", before getting back on track to tell the audience about the pain he'd endured during an attack. Clocking that he had some lifting to do, Gene went and investigated the supposed marks on his back, but that wasn't convincing enough to compete with Ken's minor catastrophe.

"I'm gonna tell you something Weasel, and the goon squad...I can take pain, I can recov...recov...recuperate, well I'm beyond that" was the start of thirty seconds of drivel so powerfully putrid and unbelievable that it popped the ultra-professional Okerlund himself. That it made air can only because it totally broke Vince McMahon too.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett