Alright, so the other day, I got thinking about some of the older wrestlers, the real pioneers, you know? And the name Pat Patterson popped into my head. Heard the name plenty over the years, sure, but I realized I hadn’t actually sat down and properly watched his stuff or learned much about his journey. Decided it was time to fix that.
So, I started digging. Fired up the computer and just began searching for his matches, interviews, anything I could find. It wasn’t like today where everything’s instantly available, took a bit of looking around, finding those grainy clips from way back when.
My Process: Watching and Learning
First thing I did was watch some actual matches. Wanted to see him in action, not just read about him.
- Found some stuff from his AWA days, even earlier. Different style back then, real gritty.
- Looked for his WWF stuff, especially when he became the first Intercontinental Champion. That was a big deal, apparently. Had to see how that went down – turns out it was this fictional tournament thing in Rio, which is kinda funny, but hey, it worked!
- Paid attention to how he moved in the ring. He wasn’t the biggest guy, but he was smooth, knew his psychology. Real smart worker, you could tell.
Then I started reading about his life beyond just the matches. Found out about his time coming up, being openly gay in a tough business back then – took guts, seriously. Respect for that.
Behind the Scenes Stuff
What really got interesting was learning about his role behind the curtain later on. Turns out he was a major influence backstage in the WWF/WWE for decades. Vince McMahon’s right-hand man, they said.
And the Royal Rumble! I always loved that match concept. Read that Patterson actually came up with the idea. Sitting there, thinking about how cool it would be to have guys entering at timed intervals. Pretty brilliant, really. Changes the whole dynamic.
So, going through this process, watching the old tapes, reading the stories… it paints a picture, you know? You see the performer, sure, but then you find out about the creative mind, the survivor, the guy who helped shape so much of what wrestling became later on. It wasn’t just about watching fights; it was like uncovering layers of history.
It’s easy to just know the names, but actually spending time to watch the work and understand the context? That’s different. Glad I took the time. You see these legends differently when you actually put in the effort to see what they did, step by step. Pretty eye-opening stuff.
