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Post by illiniman88 on Jan 8, 2019 20:01:19 GMT -5
World Championship Wrestling (1993–2001)
Okerlund appeared at SummerSlam 1993 and made his final WWF appearance on the September 18, 1993 edition of Superstars. He then left the WWF entirely when his contract expired. He stated in an RF shoot interview, that although he probably could've re-negotiated a new contract, he was never actually offered one, thus opting to become an interviewer for World Championship Wrestling (WCW). He claimed at the time of his hiring with WCW that he had not been on speaking terms with McMahon for the past few years he was working in the WWF.
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Post by OVO 40 hunched over like he 80 on Jan 8, 2019 20:44:09 GMT -5
Bruce Prichard is not a hundred percent reliable source so take it for what it is, but he claims that during that time, Vince started delegating more and more to Kevin Dunn and also stopped going to the studio, which was where Gene worked most of the time doing either interviews or voiceovers.
Prichard claims that since Vince stopped going to the studio he also stopped talking to Okerlund. There’s probably more to the story but that’s the most I’ve heard from their falling out.
Prichard also said that Vince let him go to wcw because he couldn’t afford Okerlund anymore and didn’t wanted to insult him by lowballing him.
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Perfect Timing
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Post by Perfect Timing on Jan 8, 2019 21:10:41 GMT -5
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Post by Joe Neglia on Jan 8, 2019 23:17:02 GMT -5
Bruce Prichard is not a hundred percent reliable source so take it for what it is, but he claims that during that time, Vince started delegating more and more to Kevin Dunn and also stopped going to the studio, which was where Gene worked most of the time doing either interviews or voiceovers. Prichard claims that since Vince stopped going to the studio he also stopped talking to Okerlund. There’s probably more to the story but that’s the most I’ve heard from their falling out. Prichard also said that Vince let him go to wcw because he couldn’t afford Okerlund anymore and didn’t wanted to insult him by lowballing him. The "probably more" would include Vince's burgeoning desire to micromanage what the interviewers/commentators/announcers said and how they said it (which as we've seen, got much, much worse over time). Okerlund wasn't having any of that and refused to change anything he did, feeling insulted that he was being told to change a style that worked for him for the previous 20+ years. Basically, Gene just ignored any directives he got from Vince to use certain terms and phrases, and Vince gave up on trying to make him, so they didn't have anything to talk about anymore.
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andrew8798
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Post by andrew8798 on Jan 8, 2019 23:19:18 GMT -5
Most folks forget but Gene was gone from the company during Summer of 88
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Post by OVO 40 hunched over like he 80 on Jan 9, 2019 1:38:44 GMT -5
Bruce Prichard is not a hundred percent reliable source so take it for what it is, but he claims that during that time, Vince started delegating more and more to Kevin Dunn and also stopped going to the studio, which was where Gene worked most of the time doing either interviews or voiceovers. Prichard claims that since Vince stopped going to the studio he also stopped talking to Okerlund. There’s probably more to the story but that’s the most I’ve heard from their falling out. Prichard also said that Vince let him go to wcw because he couldn’t afford Okerlund anymore and didn’t wanted to insult him by lowballing him. The "probably more" would include Vince's burgeoning desire to micromanage what the interviewers/commentators/announcers said and how they said it (which as we've seen, got much, much worse over time). Okerlund wasn't having any of that and refused to change anything he did, feeling insulted that he was being told to change a style that worked for him for the previous 20+ years. Basically, Gene just ignored any directives he got from Vince to use certain terms and phrases, and Vince gave up on trying to make him, so they didn't have anything to talk about anymore. Definitely. During the first eight years Vince owned the company, he let the talent cut their promos and other stuff, he wasn’t the crazy micro manager. Once he got bigger he changed. Okerlund had a style that worked for him since the seventies, a style that help both the AWA and WWF, it would be crazy for Vince to try and change that.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 9, 2019 9:10:32 GMT -5
Around the time Mean Gene left the WWF, Vince was starting to make those demands of the non-wrestling folks who didn't live local to move to CT (where there were terrible real estate prices at the time) so, presumably, they could really micro-manage commentary, segments and interviews to cut costs, as well as take a big pay cut (which made those real estate numbers even worse).
Gene's contract was up in the summer so he bailed pretty quick and Barry Bloom got him a good deal with WCW; Heenan stuck it out to the end of the year as, like Gene, he was in FL and did not want to relocate (his daughter was I think in her senior year of high school and he did not want to have her move away); and I think this was around the time when Lord Alfred left (he was a TX guy if I recall), or at least went very part time.
And supposedly, according to Bischoff on his Mean Gene tribute ep this week, Mean Gene's contract expired in the summer of 1996 - during the early days of the nWo - and he actually left for a time. (Don't remember that at all, wow.) He was in contact with WWF again, but that went nowhere and he re-signed with WCW not long after.
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Post by OVO 40 hunched over like he 80 on Jan 9, 2019 9:51:11 GMT -5
Around the time Mean Gene left the WWF, Vince was starting to make those demands of the non-wrestling folks who didn't live local to move to CT (where there were terrible real estate prices at the time) so, presumably, they could really micro-manage commentary, segments and interviews to cut costs, as well as take a big pay cut (which made those real estate numbers even worse). Gene's contract was up in the summer so he bailed pretty quick and Barry Bloom got him a good deal with WCW; Heenan stuck it out to the end of the year as, like Gene, he was in FL and did not want to relocate (his daughter was I think in her senior year of high school and he did not want to have her move away); and I think this was around the time when Lord Alfred left (he was a TX guy if I recall), or at least went very part time. And supposedly, according to Bischoff on his Mean Gene tribute ep this week, Mean Gene's contract expired in the summer of 1996 - during the early days of the nWo - and he actually left for a time. (Don't remember that at all, wow.) He was in contact with WWF again, but that went nowhere and he re-signed with WCW not long after. That’s why JJ Dillon left too. The employees got a huge paycut and he couldn’t support his family along with living in Connecticut. The steroid trial along with the new generation era almost killed the company.
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Post by James Fabiano on Jan 9, 2019 11:45:06 GMT -5
Is it too soon to make a Steph joke?
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auph10imitated
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Post by auph10imitated on Jan 9, 2019 12:05:02 GMT -5
Didn't they also want younger (and likely cheaper) announcers and interviewers at this point working towards the New Generation? Gene and Bobby were older, more expensive and no longer fitted the mould I guess.
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cjh
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Post by cjh on Jan 9, 2019 12:11:21 GMT -5
Around the time Mean Gene left the WWF, Vince was starting to make those demands of the non-wrestling folks who didn't live local to move to CT (where there were terrible real estate prices at the time) so, presumably, they could really micro-manage commentary, segments and interviews to cut costs, as well as take a big pay cut (which made those real estate numbers even worse). Gene's contract was up in the summer so he bailed pretty quick and Barry Bloom got him a good deal with WCW; Heenan stuck it out to the end of the year as, like Gene, he was in FL and did not want to relocate (his daughter was I think in her senior year of high school and he did not want to have her move away); and I think this was around the time when Lord Alfred left (he was a TX guy if I recall), or at least went very part time. And supposedly, according to Bischoff on his Mean Gene tribute ep this week, Mean Gene's contract expired in the summer of 1996 - during the early days of the nWo - and he actually left for a time. (Don't remember that at all, wow.) He was in contact with WWF again, but that went nowhere and he re-signed with WCW not long after. That's true. Gene stopped appearing on WCW broadcasts after the August Clash of the Champions and didn't return until November.
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Post by SHAKEMASTER TV9 is Don Knotts on Jan 9, 2019 14:11:28 GMT -5
Gene spent the summer with his fleet of lawyers after Hogan put his hands on him at Bash at the Beach.
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Post by CubsFan71 on Jan 9, 2019 15:30:37 GMT -5
Most folks forget but Gene was gone from the company during Summer of 88 Why was this?
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cjh
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Post by cjh on Jan 9, 2019 15:33:55 GMT -5
Most folks forget but Gene was gone from the company during Summer of 88 Why was this? There was some sort disagreement that ended up being quickly resolved. For a few weeks, his voice was replaced by Howard Finkel on the "What the World Is Watching" intro.
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Post by Can you afford to pay me, Gah on Jan 9, 2019 16:40:53 GMT -5
Around the time Mean Gene left the WWF, Vince was starting to make those demands of the non-wrestling folks who didn't live local to move to CT (where there were terrible real estate prices at the time) so, presumably, they could really micro-manage commentary, segments and interviews to cut costs, as well as take a big pay cut (which made those real estate numbers even worse). Gene's contract was up in the summer so he bailed pretty quick and Barry Bloom got him a good deal with WCW; Heenan stuck it out to the end of the year as, like Gene, he was in FL and did not want to relocate (his daughter was I think in her senior year of high school and he did not want to have her move away); and I think this was around the time when Lord Alfred left (he was a TX guy if I recall), or at least went very part time. And supposedly, according to Bischoff on his Mean Gene tribute ep this week, Mean Gene's contract expired in the summer of 1996 - during the early days of the nWo - and he actually left for a time. (Don't remember that at all, wow.) He was in contact with WWF again, but that went nowhere and he re-signed with WCW not long after. That’s why JJ Dillon left too. The employees got a huge paycut and he couldn’t support his family along with living in Connecticut. The steroid trial along with the new generation era almost killed the company. I do remember it now that I relate on watching Nitro recently. There was a period of time where Tony did a lot of the interviews and Gene was randomly not around. While never explained on air.
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Dub H
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Post by Dub H on Jan 9, 2019 17:49:03 GMT -5
Bruce Prichard is not a hundred percent reliable source so take it for what it is, but he claims that during that time, Vince started delegating more and more to Kevin Dunn and also stopped going to the studio, which was where Gene worked most of the time doing either interviews or voiceovers. Prichard claims that since Vince stopped going to the studio he also stopped talking to Okerlund. There’s probably more to the story but that’s the most I’ve heard from their falling out. Prichard also said that Vince let him go to wcw because he couldn’t afford Okerlund anymore and didn’t wanted to insult him by lowballing him. The "probably more" would include Vince's burgeoning desire to micromanage what the interviewers/commentators/announcers said and how they said it (which as we've seen, got much, much worse over time). Okerlund wasn't having any of that and refused to change anything he did, feeling insulted that he was being told to change a style that worked for him for the previous 20+ years. Basically, Gene just ignored any directives he got from Vince to use certain terms and phrases, and Vince gave up on trying to make him, so they didn't have anything to talk about anymore. From what I seen of workclasses,that is way too common with micromanaging bosses
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Post by chronocross on Jan 9, 2019 17:54:20 GMT -5
That’s why JJ Dillon left too. The employees got a huge paycut and he couldn’t support his family along with living in Connecticut. The steroid trial along with the new generation era almost killed the company. I do remember it now that I relate on watching Nitro recently. There was a period of time where Tony did a lot of the interviews and Gene was randomly not around. While never explained on air. I remember that too, I was watching Fall Brawl 96 and Mike Tenay was doing the interviews in his place.
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Post by Main Event Mark on Jan 11, 2019 20:51:27 GMT -5
I was wondering the other day about Gene's exit from WWF. Did they acknowledge it on air or give him any send off?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2019 21:00:45 GMT -5
I was wondering the other day about Gene's exit from WWF. Did they acknowledge it on air or give him any send off? Nope. As I recall, he was doing the updates on Raw hyping WrestleMania IX and then he was just gone.
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cjh
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Post by cjh on Jan 11, 2019 22:30:53 GMT -5
I was wondering the other day about Gene's exit from WWF. Did they acknowledge it on air or give him any send off? Nope. As I recall, he was doing the updates on Raw hyping WrestleMania IX and then he was just gone. Sean Mooney left after WM IX. Okerlund was around until September.
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