It is a sad day for wrestling fans as it was announced that former interviewer, “Mean” Gene Okerlund died today at the age of 76.  It is unknown at this time how he passed.

From Nebraska, Okerlund moved to Minneapolis where his outstanding voice made him a natural to become a disc jockey.  In 1970, he would be hired by Verne Gagne’s American Wrestling Association where for over a dozen years he served as a backstage interviewer and occasional ring announcer. As part of Vince McMahon’s national expansion, Okerlund was poached and he would join the World Wrestling Federation at the start of 1984 and again he would take on the role of backstage interviewer.  He would also commentate and ring announce and arguably throughout his run in the organization he was on television as much as anybody.

Okerlund was well liked by fans and his highlights in the WWF included singing the National Anthem at Wrestlemania I, teaming with Hulk Hogan in a match against George Steele and Mr. Fuji (Okerlund would get the fall) and was well liked by the wrestlers.

He would sign with WCW and continue to be an interviewer but would also work the WCW Hotline, which was a big money maker for the company.  

Okerlund would make sporadic appearances with the WWE following the closure of WCW and he would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2006 by Hulk Hogan.  He made his last appearance on the 25^thAnniversary show in January when he interviewed A.J. Styles.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to extend our condolences to the family, friends and fans of “Mean” Gene Okerlund at this time.

You have to hand it to the Green Bay Packers who know how important their fans are. So much so, that they have a Hall of Fame dedicated to them.

The Nominees are out for the 21^stClass have been announced and should you wish to vote you can do so here.  Voting is up until January 31.

The Finalists are:

Chuck Bromley, Middleton, ID

Soctt Cagle, Suamico, WI

Ron Colbo, De Pere, WI

Li Hu, Oshkosh, WI

Amy Nelson, Mayville, WI

Paul Pagnozzi, Hawthrorne, NJ

Brent Perzentka, Madison, WI

Steve Sexsmith, Appleto, WI

Dennis Wiley, Houston, TX

Charlie Younkie, Green Bay, WI

The winner will be announced in February.

If we are to believe Tristan Thompson of the Cleveland Cavaliers, then Kyrie Irving is already a Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer.

In an interview with Yahoo Sports’ “Posted Up” Podcast, Thompson had the following to say in regards to Irving:

“There’s nothing to argue.  The man (Irving) has a gold medal, he’s an NBA champion, he’s an All-Star Game MVP and he’s made multiple big shots in his career.  First of all, you know when you’re looking for a house on the apps, you do a filter? How about you do Kyrie’s résumé and then put the filter to see how many guys show up that have it. You’d be surprised how many of those guys aren’t.”

While we are not exactly sure which filters Thompson was referring to, there is some merit to what he said regarding Irving.  In the seven full seasons that he has played in the NBA, the Point Guard has been an All Star five times, a Third Team All-NBA selection (2015), a Rookie of the Year (2012) and an NBA Champion (2016). 

Basketball Reference has Kyrie listed as a 36.4% chance to enter the Hall, though that should shoot up quickly.  At age 26, Kyrie Irving still has many great years left in him but with all due respect to the Boston Celtic he has a couple of years before he can legitimately considered for the Hall of Fame, which is not that far away. 

We have a bit of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame related news prior to Christmas as Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament discussed Rage Against the Machine’s snub and Mick Box of Uriah Heep talked about his bands own chances for enshrinement.

On their Sirius/XM channel, Jeff Ament briefly mentioned that the fact that Rage Against the Machine was snubbed as they were not chosen for 2019 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class.

“Another first ballot snub, our cohorts from Los Angeles, Rage Against The Machine. Of course we have a lot of history with those guys, Brad was in a band with Ed years ago. We jammed with Brad a little bit when we were mixing our first record. We’ve been friends with those guys all the way through. Timmy and I are super tight bass bros.”

We didn’t say it was a deep thought on it.  

RATM member, Tom Morello is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame committee and the band was nominated the last two years, which is the exact amount of time they have been eligible.

In an interview with “The Five Count Radio Show, Mick Box of Uriah Heep was asked why they have not been inducted yet.  Here is what he had to say:

 “I've never even thought about it, because all I hear about how they choose bands and people to be in it, I'm not quite sure it's good or bad; I can't make up my mind about it. But, saying that, just recently, a campaign has been started for us to be in the Hall of Fame. Whether it disappears into the ether, I have no idea. If it comes to fruition, it'll be great — it'll be a nice moment to savor. But, you know, life goes on regardless. And if it comes, great; if it doesn't, then that's great too."

"Wouldn't it be nice to have [the trophy]? But if it don't come, then life will continue. And as it is, it's a pretty good life already. I mean, the thing they do overlook is that we were pioneers for a lot of bands throughout our career. For instance, we were the first band to play in Moscow when Glasnost sent us an official invitation to be the first Western rock band to play over in Russia. We went to Moscow and played to 180,000 people in the Olympic stadium over a 10-day period. It was just immense. 

Uriah Heep have been eligible for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 1995 but have never been nominated.

We know that there will be a lot more discussion about the 2019 Class as we continue to inch towards the ceremony.  

As always, we will be watching!