 Patterson in 2014 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Pierre Clermont[4] (1941-01-19)January 19, 1941 |
| Died | December 2, 2020(2020-12-02) (aged 79) Miami, Florida, U.S. |
| Lifepartner | Louie Dondero (1958–1998) (Dondero's death)[4] |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Lord Patrick Patterson[1] Pat Andrews[2] Pat Patterson[3] |
| Billed height | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)[3] |
| Billed weight | 237 lb (108 kg)[3] |
| Billed from | Montreal, Quebec, Canada[3] San Francisco,California |
| Trained by | Loisirs Saint Jean Baptiste[4] |
| Debut | 1958[5][3] |
| Retired | June 25, 2000 |
Pat Patterson (bornPierre Clermont; January 19, 1941 – December 2, 2020) was a Canadian-Americanprofessional wrestler and producer, widely known for his long tenure in theprofessional wrestling promotionWWE, first as a wrestler, then as a creative consultant and producer, or agent. He is recognized by the company as their firstIntercontinental Champion and creator of theRoyal Rumble match. He was inducted into theWWF Hall of Fame as part of theclass of 1996.
In 2019, Patterson became the oldest person to win a title in WWE history, after winning theWWE 24/7 Championship at age 78.[3][5][6] He was described by journalistDave Meltzer as "Vince McMahon's right-hand man" and "one of the chief architects of theWWE, playing an integral role in helping itbecome a global phenomenon".[7]
Patterson was born into an impoverishedFrench-speaking family in theVille-Marieborough ofMontreal,Quebec, Canada on January 19, 1941.[4][2] He began training to wrestle at the age of 14 at Loisirs Saint Jean Baptiste.[4][8] He was raisedRoman Catholic, and was analtar boy. He expressed an interest to a priest in becoming one himself, but was advised it would not have worked, because he was "too adventurous".[5]
Patterson debuted inMontreal, Quebec in 1958, wrestling at the Palais des Sports for promoter Sylvio Samson.[8] Early in his career, he performed as "Killer" Pat Patterson.[9]
In 1961, Patterson - despite speaking noEnglish - immigrated to the United States to pursue his professional wrestling career. He eventually became aU.S. citizen.[4][8] Patterson initially worked for Tony Santos'sBig Time Wrestling promotion inBoston, Massachusetts. While living and working in Boston, Patterson met his long-term partner, Louie Dondero.[4][8]
In 1962, Patterson was recruited byMad Dog Vachon forDon Owen'sPortland, Oregon-basedPacific Northwest Wrestling promotion. At the encouragement of PNW promoter Harry Elliot, who was aware of Patterson's homosexuality, Patterson developed the character of "Pretty Boy" Pat Patterson, aneffeminate wrestler who wore lipstick, sunglasses, and a beret and carried acigarette holder.[4] In 1963, Patterson wrestled for promotions in Texas, Arizona and Oklahoma as part of a talent exchange organized by Owen.[4] Patterson returned to Pacific Northwest Wrestling in 1964.[4] He held theNWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship on two occasions that year. On October 2, 1964, Patterson defeated Pepper Martin for theNWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship. He held the championship for six weeks before losing to Martin. Patterson won the championship again in 1965 and 1966.[10]
In January 1965, Patterson was hired byRoy Shire for hisSan Francisco,California-basedBig Time Wrestling promotion.[2] At Shire's request, Patterson dyed his hair blond to form atag team withRay Stevens, theBlond Bombers.[8][11] The duo won theNWA World Tag Team Championship in 1965 and again in 1967.[12] The Blonde Bombers were described byBret Hart as "considered by many to be the best tag team of the 1970s".[13] In 1968, Patterson wrestled forNWA Western States Wrestling inAmarillo, Texas as Lord Patrick Patterson, winning theNWA North American Heavyweight Championship andNWA Brass Knuckles Championship.[1] In the same year, he undertook a six-week tour of Japan, facingAntonio Inoki in a series of bouts.[8]
After Stevens turnedface in the late 1960s, he had afeud with the heel Patterson, culminating in aTexas Death match, in which Stevens won the title from Patterson.[citation needed] In 1970 and 1971, Patterson wore amask during his matches, and would cheat by placing a foreign object under the mask to add power to hisheadbutts. In 1972, Patterson turned face again, after feuding withLars Anderson, who was managed by Dr. Ken Ramey. Later that year, he teamed withRocky Johnson and won the tag team championship. In 1975 and 1981, Patterson won theCow PalaceBattle Royal in San Francisco.[citation needed]
In 1977, Patterson wrestled forEddie Graham'sTampa,Florida-basedChampionship Wrestling from Florida promotion. During his run, he won theNWA Florida Television Championship and theNWA Florida Tag Team Championship, as well as briefly serving asbooker.[14][10]
In 1978, Patterson joinedVerne Gagne'sMinneapolis,Minnesota-basedAmerican Wrestling Association. He reformed The Blond Bombers with Ray Stevens, with the duo winning theAWA World Tag Team Championship later that year. Patterson performed intermittently for the AWA until 1983.[8]
In 1979, Patterson toured Japan withNew Japan Pro-Wrestling.[citation needed]
Patterson made his professional return to Quebec in 1980, wrestling a number of bouts for the Montreal, Quebec-basedLutte Internationale promotion. He held theCanadian International Tag Team Championship on five occasions between 1980 and 1983.[citation needed]
In 1979, Patterson debuted in theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF), working as aheel, under the tutelage of managerThe Grand Wizard. As a villain, Patterson's primary feuds were with thenWWF North American ChampionTed DiBiase andWWF Heavyweight ChampionBob Backlund. During a television taping on June 19 inAllentown, Pennsylvania, Patterson defeated DiBiase for the WWF North American Championship by using a pair of brass knuckles to knock out DiBiase. Patterson was unsuccessful, however, in winning the WWF Heavyweight Championship from Backlund.[citation needed]
In September 1979, the WWF would introduce theWWF Intercontinental Championship, a secondary championship for its midcard wrestlers. Patterson was crowned the company's first Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion after an alleged tournament held inRio de Janeiro. While Patterson's tournament "victory" is widely listed in wrestling title and match histories, the tournament itself never actually took place. Patterson's apocryphal title victory would later become something of an inside joke during Patterson's on-screen tenure as one ofVince McMahon's "stooges". The fictional tournament was also later profiled in-depth on WWE.com as anApril Fool's joke. On November 8, Patterson dropped the North American title toSeiji Sakaguchi.[citation needed]
It was during Patterson's reign as champion that he turned face, after a botched attempt by the Grand Wizard to "sell" Patterson's contract to"Captain" Lou Albano for $100,000; Albano's protégés, the Wild Samoans, attacked Patterson after he cut a promo insulting Albano. Patterson held the Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship until April 21, 1980, when he was defeated byKen Patera inNew York City, New York. The match ended in controversial fashion after Patterson placed his right leg on the ropes just before the three count was made. On May 4, 1981, Patterson's feud withSgt. Slaughter culminated in an alley street fight match inMadison Square Garden. The match was votedMatch of the Year by theWrestling Observer Newsletter.[8]
Patterson began doing color commentary in 1980 with Vince McMahon, callingWWF Championship Wrestling from 1980 to 1984. While Patterson was a face commentator when partnered withGorilla Monsoon andVince McMahon, he hosted a heel interview segment for French WWF broadcasts known as "LeBrunch de Pat", where he would politely ask questions inEnglish but furtively mock his face guests inFrench. Patterson was on commentary with Monsoon whenThe Iron Sheik defeatedBob Backlund for the world heavyweight championship, as well as for whenHulk Hogan defeated The Iron Sheik about a month later. Patterson was also calling the action whenJimmy Snuka jumped off the steel cage and splashedDon Muraco inMadison Square Garden in 1983.[citation needed]
Patterson retired from wrestling in 1985. Although retired, Patterson continued to occasionally wrestle. On January 26, 1985, he wrestledNikolai Volkoff in a losing effort in a house show in Cincinnati, Ohio.[15] The following month, he teamed with Andre the Giant at a pair of house shows in Canada and defeated Ken Patera and Big John Studd.
He took the spot of Mad Dog Vachon on the WWF skit showLe Brunch on WWF Superstars in Canada until late summer in 1987. Several wrestlers like the Rougeau Brothers and Dino Bravo replaced him, and Frenchie Martin hostedLe Studio as a replacement ofLe Brunch. Before that he made another appearance, this time in a battle royal in Montreal on February 24, 1987. He also appeared in a battle royal at a house show in Buffalo, New York on December 27. Patterson made a handful of additional appearances in Montreal in 1987, wrestling as a heel (while remaining a face or neutral backstage official in the United States and elsewhere in Canada). His most notable appearance was a win over the up-and-comingBrutus Beefcake on August 10 in Montreal[16] His final match would come three weeks later again in Montreal as he fell in defeat to Beefcake and subsequently received a haircut withMr. T as the referee.[citation needed]
He began working backstage as aroad agent and right-hand man to WWF promoter Vince McMahon, and is credited with inventing andbooking the Royal Rumble match. In the late 1990s, he also worked in the talent-relations department.[7][17] After his retirement, Patterson also worked as a WWF referee. He was selected as the in-ring referee for the main event at the firstWrestleMania atMadison Square Garden onMarch 31, 1985, as well as the main event ofWrestleMania XI.[citation needed] In 1992, Patterson, along withTerry Garvin,were accused ofsexual harassment of underage ring boys by formerannouncer Murray Hodgson, and former ring boy Tom Cole, who alleged that Patterson groped him and engaged in sexual harassment when he was 14.[18][19] Both he and Garvin resigned from the company.[20] After Murray Hodgson rescinded the allegations, he was rehired, while Garvin was fired, later reaching a settlement with WWF.[21] Over the years he made appearances on pay-per-views or TV programming breaking up fights.
In 1997, Patterson, along withGerald Brisco, became comedy heels as the on-screenstooges of Vince McMahon, assisting their boss in his rivalries withStone Cold Steve Austin,Mankind andThe Rock. Patterson and Brisco were among the founding members ofThe Corporation. In order to mockHulk Hogan, they used "Real American" as theirentrance music and parodied Hogan's flexing routine as they approached the ring. On the May 18, 1998 episode of Raw, Patterson and Brisco competed in a 2 on 1 Street Fight against Austin that ended in a no contest when Vince McMahon andDude Love attacked Austin.[citation needed]
Later in 1999, the two became entangled with the McMahon-Helmsley Faction. On the December 16, 1999 episode ofSmackDown, Patterson and Brisco helpedTest, who had been injured byD-Generation X.Triple H andStephanie McMahon then forced Patterson and Brisco to compete for theWWF Tag Team Championship againstThe New Age Outlaws or be fired. Patterson and Brisco lost the match. In 2000, Patterson and Brisco joined Triple H and Stephanie McMahon.
On the May 8 episode of Raw, Patterson,Road Dogg andX-Pac facedRikishi in a 3 on 1 handicap match and were disqualified after Patterson hit Rikishi with a chair. Afterwards, Patterson lowered his drawers to deliver aStink Face to Rikishi with brown-stainedunderwear, which commentatorJim Ross described as a "tractor-sized skidmark". Patterson began to use the soiled underwear as part of his gimmick in the coming weeks, attempting to rub the soiled underwear into the faces of opponents. As a result, WWE commentators began to refer to Patterson as “Poopstain Patterson” during the broadcasts.
On June 12, 2000, when the Faction unmaskedKane, Patterson photographed Kane's "hideously scarred" face, and threatened to "expose him to the world" if he did not comply. Kane was forced to wrestleThe Rock (then his ally) in aNo Holds Barred match. When Patterson'sfilm did not develop properly, Kane turned on the Faction.[citation needed]
On June 19, 2000, Patterson helped Brisco win the perpetually contestedWWF Hardcore Championship fromCrash Holly but during the victory celebration turned on his ally, blinding him withchampagne and then breaking a second bottle over Brisco's head, and pinning the (kayfabe) unconscious champion. Brisco pursued Patterson into the women's locker room, where Patterson was hiding in drag. Subsequently, Vince McMahon scheduled them to fight over the Hardcore Championship in anEvening Gown match atKing of the Ring 2000; in the course of the match,Crash Holly attacked both men and pinned Patterson to become Hardcore Champion.[22][self-published source?][23][self-published source?]
The Intercontinental Championship, unified with theWorld Heavyweight Championship atNo Mercy on October 20, 2002, was resurrected on May 18, 2003, atJudgment Day in a battle royal. Patterson, as the first Intercontinental Champion, was at ringside to present the belt to the victor.Booker T eliminatedChristian for the win, but the referee was unconscious. As Patterson attempted to give the championship belt to Booker T, Christian attacked him, stole the Intercontinental Championship belt and used it to knock out Booker T. The referee then recovered and awarded the match to Christian.[citation needed] In October 2004, Patterson retired from World Wrestling Entertainment. Patterson returned to WWE in a limited capacity in May 2005. While retired as a producer for WWE, he still acted as a creative consultant.[24] AtBreaking Point, Patterson made an appearance in his hometown of Montreal in an in-ring segment withDolph Ziggler.[citation needed] Patterson was a regular cast member on theWWE Network original reality showLegends' House.[citation needed]
On July 22, 2019, during theRaw Reunion episode, Patterson won theWWE 24/7 Championship by pinningDrake Maverick backstage. He would lose the title toGerald Brisco off-screen later that same night. At 78 years old, he became the oldest person ever to win a title in WWE history, beatingThe Fabulous Moolah's fourth reign with the originalWWF Women's Championship at 76 years old. It was also Patterson's first title reign since June 19, 2000, with the similarly introducedWWF Hardcore Championship, which also used the "24/7 rule". He was only the second person ever to win both the 24/7 and Hardcore Championships, afterR-Truth[citation needed]. He was working backstage as a WWE official from 2005 until his death in 2020.[citation needed]
Patterson was openlygay,[25] havingcome out in the early 1970s.[26] It was not acknowledged publicly or in WWE storylines until the finale ofWWE Legends' House, which aired June 12, 2014.[27] However, in the May 10th, 1999 episode of Raw, commentator Jim Ross comments “and he’s single fellas” in response to a shirtless Patterson celebrating a win over the Mean Street Posse.[28] NBC News described Patterson as "the first openly gay pro wrestling star."[29]People magazine described him as the "First Gay Wrestling Star."[30]
In the 1960s, after the end of the main part of theLavender scare, the Justice Department'sImmigration and Naturalization Service spent several years, from the end of 1964 onwards, looking for evidence of "homosexual activity" in order to have Pattersondeported back to Canada.[31] Documents disclosed as a result ofFreedom of Information Act requests show that, as a part of aPortland Police BureauMorals Division investigation into thePortland,Oregon gay community, PPB had reported Patterson's presence at"'gay' parties" andgay bars in the city and that Patterson was known to pick upmale prostitutes in Portland. The documents also describe interviewees' suspicions that Louie Dondero was Patterson's romantic partner, as well as his agent, and that they had anopen relationship.[31][32] The same documents reveal that theUnited States Air Force Office of Special Investigations were investigating another wrestler suspected of being gay, with a view todischarging him;[31][32] this wrestler subsequently denounced Patterson to INS before retracting.[31] In November 1966, the INS initiated deportation proceedings against Patterson,[31][33] leading to an interview where he was asked about hiseffeminacy,dyed hair, about whether he was a homosexual and whether "he molested little boys".[31][34] In December 1966, Patterson was served with a deportation notice, requiring him to leave the United States on or before January 10,[31][35] possibly as an attempt to dupe Patterson into leaving with an expectation of an easygreen card but with the intention of excluding him throughpsychological exam;[31] however Patterson was fighting again in Arizona 4 days later.[31] After Patterson's application for a green card in 1971, the journalist's dossier of Freedom of Information responses showed nothing further until his successfulnaturalization in 2002.[31]
Patterson's longtime partner was Louie Dondero.[6][36] Patterson said onWWE Legends' House he and Dondero were together for 40 years. Dondero died of a heart attack on June 28, 1998, the same night asKing of the Ring.[37] In August 2006, Patterson underwent emergency heart surgery to remove acyst from hiscoronary artery.[14] In October, Patterson recovered from his operation and was released from the hospital.[24] Helegally changed his name to Pat Patterson in 2008.[4]
Patterson died of liver failure caused by a blood clot at aMiami, Florida, hospital on December 2, 2020.[38] He was 79 years old.[39][40] Many figures in the wrestling world paid their respects to Patterson, as both an in-ring performer and as a behind-the-scenes figure.
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Patterson is proud that he was able to stay on top for so long, and the city was home for many years to him and his life partner, Louis Dondero.
,Cagematch,Wrestlingdata,Internet Wrestling Database
