"Mean" Gene Okerlund, who went toe-to-toe with some of wrestling's most popular figures as its signature voice during the 1980s, has died at age 76, World Wrestling Enertainment announced on its website Wednesday morning.

The cause of death was not immediately known.

Okerlund, a Sarasota resident, earned the nickname "Mean" Gene from fellow announcer Jesse "The Body" Ventura during their time together in the new defunct American Wrestling Alliance before Okerlund made the move to the more prominent WWE (then known as the World Wrestling Federation) in 1984.

Okerlund's witty, sometimes-serious and sometimes-irreverent interviews with such stars as Hulk Hogan, Randy "Macho Man" Savage and Andre the Giant entertained viewers while helping propel the WWE into the entertainment mainstream during the 1980s.

Okerlund left WWE for competitor World Championship Wrestling — which was eventually bought out by WWE — in 1993 before returning in 2001.

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Contact Carl Lisciandrello at clisciandrello@tampabay.com. Follow @carlmarksTimes

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