Cousin Luke Gene Petit ( May 19 c . 1949 – September 29 , 2013 ) was an American professional wrestler best known for his portrayal of Cousin Luke in the World Wrestling Federation . He also competed under several other gimmicks and competed for several promotions in the United States as well as Australia , Japan , and Nigeria . Career . Early career . Petit attended the University of Tampa , where he played for the football team . While there , he met former Olympic wrestler Dale Lewis . They became friends , and Lewis paid Petit to drive him to his bookings at professional wrestling events . Petit stated that he began wrestling after spending a couple of weeks practising in a gym . At one of Lewis ' events , the company did not have enough wrestlers and Petit was asked to fill in . He teamed with Lewis and Gypsy Joe Rosario in a six - man match . After his first match , in which he wrestled under his real name , he competed with the ring name Gene Lewis . He and Dale Lewis competed as kayfabe ( storyline ) brothers due to their similar appearance . While wrestling in Florida in the 1980s , Petit joined a stable named the Army of Darkness . As a member of the group , which used a devil - worshipping gimmick , he used the ring name Kharma . World Wrestling Federation . During a conversation with George Scott , a booker from the World Wrestling Federation , Petit received an unenthusiastic response to his query about joining the promotion . Petit then showed Scott a picture he had taken of himself as a joke , in which he wore " cutoff jeans , overalls , and a floppy hat " . After seeing the picture , Scott offered Petit the role of Cousin Luke , a member of the Hillbilly Family led by Hillbilly Jim . As part of this gimmick , Petit was silent and expressionless and portrayed a rural Southerner who did not know how to wrestle . He joined the other hillbillies in their feud with Roddy Piper , Bob Orton , Jr . , and Jesse Ventura . Shortly after joining the company , however , Petit broke his ankle due to a problem with a defective wrestling ring . He was asked to compete at WrestleMania 2 , the WWF ' s biggest show of the year , but had to decline due to the injury . Petit explained the nature of his departure from the World Wrestling Federation in 1986 to SLAM ! Wrestling : " Vince [ McMahon ] told me that they would keep me until the end of the year , leave me off for a few months , and then figure out another gimmick , because they were just going to keep Hillbilly . There was too much back and forth with Hillbilly and he got hurt ; they brought Elmer in , and he got fired ; Junior left ; then I came in , and Hillbilly had a little disagreement with the office , so he took off for a few weeks . We had lost the steam that we had . I finished the year with them , and then started working the independents . " Retirement and death . In 2000 , Petit retired from wrestling due to back problems . Petit lived in Bernardsville , New Jersey and was a member of the board of directors for the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame . He died on September 29 , 2013 . and was believed to be in his mid 60s when he died . He had suffered from multiple sclerosis and diabetes in his later years and was residing in a long term health facility when he died .