| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Claude Patterson (1941-07-08)July 8, 1941 (age 84) Waterloo, Iowa, U.S.[1] |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Claude Peters K.O. Patterson Sweet Daddy Brown T-Bolt Thunderbolt Patterson Thunderbolt Peters |
| Billed height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) |
| Billed weight | 242 lb (110 kg) |
| Billed from | Atlanta, Georgia |
| Trained by | Pat O'Connor Steve Kovacs |
| Debut | 1964[1] |
| Retired | 1994 |
Claude Patterson (born July 8, 1941) is an American retiredprofessional wrestler, known by hisring nameThunderbolt Patterson. He began his career in 1964 and wrestled primarily inFlorida,Georgia andthe Carolinas. During the early 1970s, he wasblacklisted by theNational Wrestling Alliance for repeated appearances withoutlaw promotions, his complaints ofinstitutional racism and attempts to form a wrestlers'labor union.[citation needed]
Patterson had grown up in Iowa and worked forJohn Deere inWaterloo, Iowa when he broke into professional wrestling in the Kansas City area.[1] Promoter Gus Karras put Patterson in matches against Don Soto in 1964.[1] In 1965, Patterson moved to Texas and worked with promoterDory Funk Sr.[1] The following year, he traveled to California, where he held theWWA Tag Team Championship with Alberto Torres.[1] He also continued to work in Texas, where he worked as avillainous character in Dallas until he was turned on by his partnerBoris Malenko.Fritz Von Erich had a Russian chain match with Malenko for Patterson's contract which Malenko owned.[1]
In 1969, he worked for Big Time Wrestling in Michigan and Ohio.
In 1970, he feuded withJose Lothario and held the Florida version of theNWA Brass Knuckles Championship.[1]
Patterson agreed to work for an outlaw promotion (that is, one outside of the NWA) run by Ann Gunkel, the widow of his old friend and Georgia promoterRay Gunkel, in January 1974.[1] In January 1975, he moved to Big Time Wrestling in Detroit. In December 1975, he began to wrestle for the NWA promotion in Florida where he remained until April 1976. In 1976, he won theNWA Florida Heavyweight Championship fromBruiser Brody.[1] In 1977, he scored a surprise pinfall win overThe Sheik in Toronto for the U.S. title but lost three weeks later. He then switched to Georgia Championship Wrestling where he remained until 1980.
He spoke out against poor working conditions for wrestlers in the 1970s and participated in a racial discrimination lawsuit. He has claimed that as a result, he was blacklisted from wrestling in the mid-1970s.[1] He had been complaining about racism from promoters for many years (he would later recall that only Dory Funk Sr. had backed him) and wanted to start a wrestlers' union, a dream he shared with former NFL player and wrestlerJim Wilson, himself blacklisted. He has said that it was years, with Patterson claiming to be working at theLos Angeles Times in the interim, before he has said his blacklisting was lifted, whenDusty Rhodes took ill in Florida in 1975.
Patterson joined Ole Anderson as a tag team partner in 1984 and they briefly held theNWA National Tag Team Championship.[1] Ole'skayfabe cousin, a youngArn Anderson, came to the sport, and Ole, saying he was "tired of carrying guys like Patterson and Dusty Rhodes" broke up with Patterson, and joined Arn in what would be the foundation for theFour Horsemen which would include NWA Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair and Tully Blanchard.
Patterson retired from full time wrestling in 1985. He then appeared in the ring in 1993 at a "Legends Reunion Match" atSlamboree '93, where he teamed withBrad Armstrong to defeatIvan Koloff andBaron von Raschke.[1] He would also mentorIce Train, until retiring completely in 1994.
On July 27, 2019, Patterson was inducted into the 2019 Class of theGeorge Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in his hometown of Waterloo.
On March 13, 2024, it was announced that Patterson would be inducted into theWWE Hall of Fame.[2]
In 1988, he was a labor organizer forService Employees International Union in Atlanta.
Patterson is also an ordained minister.[1]
Thunderbolt Patterson is featured in the film, "This World Is Not My Own: The Limitless Life of Nellie Mae Rowe" which premiered in 2023 at South By Southwest Film Festival (SXSW). The artist watched Thunderbolt faithfully on television during the 1970s and drew likenesses of him from time to time. They never met in person. Patterson found out about Rowe and her drawings of him and said that Rowe "kept me alive."[3]
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