First, props to Kevin Hart for starting the interview off with “Let me tell you something, Mean Gene.” If you’re not mentioning Gene Okerlund’s nickname in your promo, while being interviewed by him, then you’re just doing it wrong. Sadly, Gene is just silently standing there with a smirk on his face as Keith Hart rambles on in professional wrestling cadence. There aren’t any off-the-cuff quips from Gene.
You got to give Mean Gene credit for playing it straight and not corpsing while Kevin Hart makes Scott Steiner seem like Jake the Snake on the mic. And as for the promo itself, the ending is actually quite great because of how little it makes sense. As most 80’s, steroid-fueled, wrestling interviews tend to be. It’s the go-to type of interview when parodying wrestling promos.
Other things of note:
Kevin Hart seems to be channeling his inner Koko B. Ware with that colorful get up. That’s always a plus.
And while it probably wasn’t intentional, even though Kevin Hart’s short stature is one of his defining characteristics, it’s pretty funny seeing old Mean Gene Okerlund standing slightly taller than Hart. Everyone knows that the backstage interviewer should always be shorter than the wrestlers! It’s why Tom Phillips is better suited at the broadcast table. And someone tell Mattel that the next time they make a Mean Gene action figure.
Cheap Pop Culture 