History Wrestling / GeneLeBell

* DefeatingTheUndefeatable: Won over John Osako (a grand judo champion who was not only heavier than [=LeBell=], but also known for winning his weight division championship and defeating all the other weights’s champions) by ippon and sode both times he competed against him.

* DefeatMeansFriendship: According to him, he and Creator/BruceLee became friends when they were sparring on the set on ''Series/TheGreenHornet'' - Gene threw down Lee and he asked him to let him get up, which [=LeBell=] refused on the saying Lee was gonna punch the hell out of him if he did so. They then laughed and became usual sparring partners.

Ivan Gene [=LeBell=] (born October 9, 1932 - August 9, 2022) is a judoka, {{Professional Wrestl|ing}}er and UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts trainer. He started his career training catch wrestling and some boxing, but it was in judo where he shined, gaining several championships and being sent to the Kodokan school in Japan, where he cleaned house. Back in United States, he competed in the regional pro wrestling circuit without much success until 1963, year in which he took part in a primitive (and ridiculously rigged against him) style vs style fight against boxing champion Milo Savage, who [=LeBell=] ended choking out. Now as a known name in the world of martial arts, [=LeBell=] went to work as a stuntman, actor and choreographer, eventually befriending Creator/BruceLee and Creator/ChuckNorris. He also stood out as a trainer, founding the Hayastan academy along his pal and apprentice Gokor Chivichyan and being the man behind MMA fighter Creator/RondaRousey.

[=LeBell=] is one of those charismatic if controversial guys in the mixed martial arts business. He might have taken part in some [[BrownNote awkward incident]] with Creator/StevenSeagal, and he also has some opinions about Bruce Lee which are debated and disputed. But he is possibly most famous as the flagbearer for the RealMenWearPink trope.

* AuthorAppeal: His teachings are described as a mixture of shoot wrestling, which Gene describes as "the best self-defense method ever devised".

* BadassFamily: His mother, "Redhead" Aileen Eaton, was a promoter of boxing and wrestling. His step dad and brother were the promoters of Wrestling/{{N|ationalWrestlingAlliance}}WA Hollywood.
* BadassTeacher: Has trained people like Creator/RondaRousey, Benny "The Jet" Urquidez, Bob Wall, Creator/ChuckNorris, Creator/BruceLee, Ed Parker, Gokor Chivichyan, Karo Parisyan, [[Wrestling/RoddyPiper "Rowdy" Roddy Piper]], Mando Guerrero, Manny Gamburyan and others.
* BashBrothers: Has had TagTeam title runs with Pat Patterson and Chino Chou.

* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: He tends to behave rather... tongue-in-cheek in his public apparitions.
* CombatPragmatist: Some of his instructionals teach, half-joking, half seriously, about biting and eye-gouging.

* EmbarrassingNickname: Was nicknamed "Daikon" ("Raddish") by Japanese press after he won a judo tournament clad in a pink gi.
* FieryRedhead: He has lost hair, but still has it.

* HiddenDepths: [=LeBell=]'s specialty is grappling, but according to John Perretti, who is a taekwondo black belt himself, the old guy also has some wicked roundhouse kicks.

* IKnowKarate: Judo, 9º dan black belt and national champion. He also knows catch wrestling, and some boxing and Japanese jujutsu, along with some other traditional martial arts.
* InsistentTerminology: He hilariously refers himself as a "sadistic bastard" every time he talks about himself. Apparently it was Wrestling/KarlGotch who inculcated that custom on him, as he once said to a young Gene that he would never be a champion until he became a sadistic bastard, and it stuck.

* OneHitKill: According to witnesses, Gene is able to choke unconscious an average opponent out in three seconds after locking up the hold.

* RealMenWearPink: [=LeBell=] is known for wearing a trademark pink judogi while in training, which actually came from a funny incident. He supposedly was getting ready for a judo tournament in Japan when he accidentally put his gi along with a red garment in the washer, which dyed the white suit into a pinkish color, and because he did not own another, he had to wear it during the tournament. Japanese crowds only forgave him for the offense when they saw him kicking ass comfortably in it.

* ThirdPersonPerson: Sometimes speaks this way in interviews for comedic effect.

** He also claims to have invented the three finger grip.

* WrestlerInAllOfUs: Rather logically as Gene is a pro wrestler, but his self-defense tapes sometimes contain pro wrestling moves, which is quite odd. However, he labels them as moves that you have to be a lot better than your opponent to be able to apply, and thus he endorses simpler techniques to get the business done.

Ivan Gene [=LeBell=] (born October 9, 1932-August 9, 2022) is a judoka, {{Professional Wrestl|ing}}er and UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts trainer. He started his career training catch wrestling and some boxing, but it was in judo where he shined, gaining several championships and being sent to the Kodokan school in Japan, where he cleaned house. Back in United States, he competed in the regional pro wrestling circuit without much success until 1963, year in which he took part in a primitive (and ridiculously rigged against him) style vs style fight against boxing champion Milo Savage, who [=LeBell=] ended choking out. Now as a known name in the world of martial arts, [=LeBell=] went to work as a stuntman, actor and choreographer, eventually befriending Creator/BruceLee and Creator/ChuckNorris. He also stood out as a trainer, founding the Hayastan academy along his pal and apprentice Gokor Chivichyan and being the man behind MMA fighter Creator/RondaRousey.

Ivan Gene [=LeBell=] (born October 9, 1932) is a judoka, {{Professional Wrestl|ing}}er and UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts trainer. He started his career training catch wrestling and some boxing, but it was in judo where he shined, gaining several championships and being sent to the Kodokan school in Japan, where he cleaned house. Back in United States, he competed in the regional pro wrestling circuit without much success until 1963, year in which he took part in a primitive (and ridiculously rigged against him) style vs style fight against boxing champion Milo Savage, who [=LeBell=] ended choking out. Now as a known name in the world of martial arts, [=LeBell=] went to work as a stuntman, actor and choreographer, eventually befriending Creator/BruceLee and Creator/ChuckNorris. He also stood out as a trainer, founding the Hayastan academy along his pal and apprentice Gokor Chivichyan and being the man behind MMA fighter Creator/RondaRousey.

%%-->''"I didn’t know anything about fighting until I met Gene [=LeBell=]. [...] The wealth and quality of knowledge he possesses are stunning. Forty years ago he was on the road we’re on now."''

-->''"Creator/BruceLee's bodyguard was a very good friend of mine: Gene [=LeBell=]. When Bruce Lee got in problems, they called for [=LeBell=] to take care of it."''
--->--'''Wrestling/BillyRobinson''', pro wrestling hall of famer

* TheRival: To Neff Maivia in the old Hawaii territory.

As usual, you can find the basics at [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_LeBell The Other Wiki]].

* IKnowKarate: Judo, 9º dan black belt and national champion. He also knows catch wrestling, and some boxing and Japanese jujutsu, alonh with some other traditional martial arts.

* NotSoFastBucko: Gene featured an outlandish moment in pro wrestling history when he was stripped out of the Wrestling/{{N|ationalWrestlingAlliance}}WA Championship belt mere seconds after winning, due to him accidentally striking a referee with it while he was whipping to the air in celebration.

* WrestlerInAllOfUs: Rather logically as Gene is a pro wrestler, but his self-defense tapes sometimes contain pro wrestling moves, which is quite odd. However, he labels them as moves that you have to be a lot better than your opponent to be able to apply, and thus he endorses simpler techniques to get the business done.

* NotSoFastBucko: Gene featured an outlandish moment in pro wrestling history whem he was stripped out of the Wrestling/{{N|ationalWrestlingAlliance}}WA Championship belt mere seconds after winning, due to him accidentally striking a referee with it while he was whipping to the air in celebration.