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Saturday, April 2, 2011

He's Not So Mean

Meeting "Mean" Gene
By Kevin Hunsperger

Greetings from Atlanta, GA, home of Wrestlemania 27.  This is my first post from the road, and it will be brief. We're having a great time so far, as we've gotten a closer look at downtown Atlanta.

Friday evening, Travis and I arrived at the airport and had our first wrestling experience of the trip.  As we were headed to baggage claim, we passed a bunch of drivers holding signs waiting for people getting off the planes.  As we walked past one driver, he yelled "Oh my God!" and started laughing.  I turned around to see what he was so excited about, and it was none other than legendary announcer "Mean" Gene Okerlund.

I stopped and looked and told Travis.  We both gawked for a moment and kept walking.  Gene walked by us and I snapped a quick photo.  We didn't want to bug him at the airport, since he'd just arrived and wasn't at an actual wrestling venue.  But when a couple of other fans asked him for a photo, we decided to go for it.  A woman who was wondering why Gene was so popular, volunteered to snap the shot.

Gene was very cool.  I have partially expected him to want to be left alone, seeing as how he'd just arrived in town.  But he took the time to pose and thanked us.  Growing up, Mean Gene was one of my favorite announcers.  His interviews backstage on Superstars and Saturday Night's Main Event were great.  As the Miz would say, I found the experience awesome.

Mean Gene was the first of many wrestling celebs I'm hoping to meet this weekend.  We'll have more updates here, on YouTube, and on Facebook.  Check us out!

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