Ken Resnick is an American wrestling announcer who served as an interviewer for the

American Wrestling Association The American Wrestling Association (AWA) was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 until 1991. It was owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo. The territory was originally part ...

and the

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and var ...

Early career

Prior to working in wrestling, Resnick worked in public relations and marketing for the

Calgary Cowboys The Calgary Cowboys were an ice hockey team that played two seasons in the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1975–1977. The Cowboys played at the Stampede Corral in Calgary. The franchise was founded in 1972 as the Miami Screaming Eagles, ...

, was the Media Information Director for the

Minnesota Fighting Saints The Minnesota Fighting Saints was the name of two professional ice hockey teams based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, that played in the World Hockey Association. The first team was one of the WHA's original twelve franchises, playing from 1972 to 19 ...

, was a sales manager for

Chrysler Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automotiv ...

, and was a sports reporter for

KTTC KTTC (channel 10) is a television station licensed to Rochester, Minnesota, United States, serving Southeast Minnesota and Northern Iowa as an affiliate of NBC and The CW Plus. It is owned by Gray Television, which provides certain services to ...

Rochester, Minnesota Rochester is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Olmsted County. Located on rolling bluffs on the Zumbro River's south fork in Southeast Minnesota, the city is the home and birthplace of the renowned Mayo Clinic. Ac ...

Wrestling

American Wrestling Association

In late 1983, while covering a celebrity golf tournament for KTTC, Resnick interviewed AWA owner

Verne Gagne Laverne Clarence Gagne (February 26, 1926 – April 27, 2015) was an American amateur and professional wrestler, football player, wrestling trainer, and wrestling promoter. He was the owner and promoter of the Minneapolis-based American Wrestl ...

. Gagne was looking for a replacement for interviewer

Gene Okerlund Eugene Arthur Okerlund (December 19, 1942 – January 2, 2019), better known by his ring name "Mean Gene" Okerlund, was an American professional wrestling interviewer, announcer and television host. He was best known for his work in the World Wre ...

and offered Resnick the job shortly thereafter. Resnick remained with the company until April 1986, with his final appearance coming at

WrestleRock 86 WrestleRock was a professional wrestling supercard event promoted by the American Wrestling Association (AWA). In June 2016 the event was added to the WWE Network. Background The event was held at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapoli ...

. Prior to the event, Resnick appeared in a promotional music video for the show entitled the "WrestleRock Rumble". It featured Resnick and other AWA talent rapping verses in a vein similar to ''

The Super Bowl Shuffle "The Super Bowl Shuffle" is a song performed by the Chicago Bears football team (credited as the Chicago Bears Shufflin' Crew) in . It was released in December 1985 on Chicago-based Red Label Records and distributed through Capitol Records two m ...

''.

World Wrestling Federation

Following his departure from the AWA, Resnick planned on returning to Chrysler, however his friend

Blackjack Lanza John Mortl Lanzo (October 14, 1935 – December 8, 2021) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Blackjack Lanza. Along with his long-term tag team partner, Blackjack Mulligan, Lanza was one-half of The Blackjacks: ...

convinced him to interview for a job with the

. Resnick joined the WWF on May 1, 1986. His final television appearance as a WWF announcer was on the March 14, 1987 episode of ''

WWF Wrestling Challenge ''WWF Wrestling Challenge'' is a professional wrestling television show that was produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now known as WWE). It was syndicated weekly and aired from 1986 to 1995. The show became simply known as ''WWF Cha ...

''.

Later work

Resnick served as an announcer for the

Ladies Professional Wrestling Association The Ladies Professional Wrestling Association (LPWA) was a women's professional wrestling promotion which operated in the early 1990s (ca. 1989–1992). It was considered a successor to such women's promotions as Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (GLO ...

during the early 1990s. In 1996, he hosted the American Wrestling Federation’s syndicated television program ''Warriors of Wrestling''. In 2012 he returned to wrestling as an announcer for Traditional Championship Wrestling. In 2018 he became an announcer for ''

Ring Warriors Ring Warriors was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ring Warriors was a member promotion of the National Wrestling Alliance from September 2011 to 2012. They returned with a television series, which premier ...

'', a professional wrestling promotion that airs on

WGN America WGN America was an American subscription television network that was owned by the Nexstar Media Group, and was the company's only wholly owned, national cable-originated television channel. The channel in its final form under the WGN branding ran ...

and

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...

Other work

From 1991 to 1992, Resnick was the announcer of American Gladiators Live Tour. In 1996, Resnick was appointed to the Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission by Governor

Arne Carlson Arne Helge Carlson (born September 24, 1934) is an American politician who served as the 37th Governor of Minnesota. A Republican, Carlson's viewpoints are considered to be moderate. He first won election to the governors office in 1990. Carlso ...

. He was reappointed by

Jesse Ventura Jesse Ventura (born James George Janos; July 15, 1951) is an American politician, actor, and retired professional wrestler. After achieving fame in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), he served as the 38th governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2 ...

and

Tim Pawlenty Timothy James Pawlenty (; born November 27, 1960) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician who served as the 39th governor of Minnesota from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Republican Party, Pawlenty served in the Minnesota House o ...

. Resnick served as the play by play announcer for the first season of ''

RollerJam ''RollerJam'' is an American television series featuring roller derby that aired on The Nashville Network (TNN, now Paramount Network) from 1999 to 2001. It was the first attempt to bring roller derby to TV since '' RollerGames''. ''RollerJam' ...

'', a

roller derby Roller derby is a roller skating contact sport played by two teams of fifteen members. Roller derby is played by approximately 1,250 amateur leagues worldwide, mostly in the United States. Game play consists of a series of short scrimmages (jam ...

program that aired on

The Nashville Network The Nashville Network, usually referred to as TNN, was an American country music-oriented cable television network. Programming included music videos, taped concerts, movies, game shows, syndicated programs, and numerous talk shows. On September ...

Personal life

Resnick resides in

Edina, Minnesota Edina ( ) is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States and a first-ring suburb of Minneapolis. The population was 53,494 at the 2020 census, making it the 18th most populous city in Minnesota. Edina began as a small farming and mil ...

. He and his mother lost their life savings in a

Ponzi Charles Ponzi (, ; born Carlo Pietro Giovanni Guglielmo Tebaldo Ponzi; March 3, 1882 – January 15, 1949) was an Italian swindler and con artist who operated in the U.S. and Canada. His aliases included ''Charles Ponci'', ''Carlo'', and ''Cha ...

scheme run by a former friend of Resnick,

Stu Voigt Stuart Alan "Stu" Voigt (born August 12, 1948) is a former American football player. He played tight end for 11 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). High School and College Career Born in the Westmorland dis ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Resnick, Ken People from Edina, Minnesota Professional wrestling announcers