Literary Squared Circle #16 – ACCEPTED
Tomorrow, September 1st, marks the 42nd Anniversary of the introduction of the Intercontinental Championship. Pat Patterson is recognized as the first-ever Intercontinental Champion. Patterson was the reigning WWF North American Heavyweight Champion when, as the backstory goes, he won a (fictitious) tournament in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil that unified his North American title and the (fictitious) South American title. Patterson is alleged to have defeated Johnny Rodz in the (fictitious) tournament final, and was crowned the inagural Intercontinental Champion.
Pat Patterson held the Intercontinental Championship from its inception on September 1, 1979 to April 21, 1980, when he was dethroned by Ken Patera at Madison Square Garden. Since its debut, 87 different wrestlers have held the championship. Chris Jericho holds the record for most reigns with nine. The Honky Tonk Man holds the record for the longest reign at 454 days. The current Intercontinental Champion is King Nakamura.
In honor of the occasion of the 42nd Anniversary of Pat Patterson becoming the first Intercontinental Champion, the Literary Squared Circle blog reviews his 2016 book Accepted: How the First Gay Superstar Changed WWE by Pat Patterson with Bertrand Hébert (ECW Press, 2016).
Patterson’s story begins with his life growing up in Montreal sharing a small, two-bedroom apartment with his parents, four brothers, and four sisters. In addition to being poor, his family were also strict Catholics. When he was 17 years old and came out to his parents, his father asked him to leave. Though he did not speak English, Patterson moved to the United States to pursue his dream of becoming a professional wrestler. He settled in Boston where he began his wrestling career and met his longtime partner, Louie Dondero, with whom he would spend the next four decades.
At the suggestion of wrester Maurice “Mad Dog” Vachon, Patterson moved across the country to Portland, where his gimmick was changed from “Killer” Pat Patterson to “Pretty Boy” Pat Patterson. From there, Patterson moved to San Francisco and began wrestling for Roy Shire’s Big Time Wrestling promotion. He and Ray Stevens formed The Blonde Bombers, one of the top tag teams of the era. After a long and successful run as a tag team, Patterson and Stevens split up and feuded with each other.
After leaving San Francisco, Patterson competed for Championship Wrestling from Florida and the American Wrestling Association. In 1979, he arrived in the World Wrestling Federation, where he would remain, in various capacities, for the rest of his life. Shortly after debuting in the WWF, Patterson defeated Ted DiBiase to win the WWF North American Championship. As described earlier, the North American Championship was soon replaced by the Intercontinental Championship.
After his run as the inaugural Intercontinental Champion, Pat Patterson had a legendary feud with Sgt. Slaughter. Patterson and Slaughter memorably battled each other in an Alley Fight Match at Madison Square Garden, which is widely regarded as one of the greatest matches of that era. Around this time, in his personal life, Patterson was able to reconcile with his father shortly before his father passed away.
As Patterson’s in-ring career began to wind down, he began doing color commentary alongside Vince McMahon. Patterson eventually moved behind-the-scenes working as a road agent and Vince McMahon’s “right-hand man”. Over the years, Pat Patterson also worked in the talent-relations department and was occasionally used as a guest referee, notably working the main event at the first WrestleMania. During his time backstage, Patterson is credited with having invented the Royal Rumble match.
During the “Attitude Era”, Patterson returned to an on-screen role alongside Gerald Brisco as Vince McMahon’s “Stooges”. It was during this time, that Patterson lost his life partner, Louie, who died of a heart attack while Patterson was working at the 1998 King of the Ring pay-per-view. That was the show in which The Undertaker threw Mankind off of the cell in their unforgettable Hell in a Cell Match. When he heard of Louie’s passing, Mick Foley (Mankind) feared that his crazy spot had resulted in Louie’s fatal heart attack, but Patterson reassured Foley that Louie died three hours before his match.
Patterson persevered and continued to work backstage for WWE. He worked as a producer and later as a creative consultant. He also appeared as a cast member on the Legends’ House reality show on the WWE Network. In the final episode of the show, Patterson came out as being gay.
Patterson’s book is full of behind-the-scenes stories that span generations of wrestlers, from Killer Kowalski to Daniel Bryan. There are road stories, drinking stories, backstage fights, and ribbing. Patterson describes celebrity encounters, how he came up with the idea for the Royal Rumble match, how he helped get The Rock into the business, his role in The Montreal Screwjob, and how he helped to mend fences between Bret Hart and Vince McMahon.
Accepted is an interesting book. This is due to the fact that Pat Patterson was an interesting individual. If anything, I think the book dwelled too much upon his sexuality. Though it did affect his relationship with his family, particularly his father, his homosexuality did not seem to have a negative effect on his career. He seemed to be accepted by just about everyone within the business. I always found Patterson to be an entertaining wrestler and one of the business’ great minds. I honestly couldn’t care less that he was gay, or straight for that matter. It is what Pat Patterson did in the ring and behind-the-scenes in the business that I admired and respected.
4 Stars out of 5
Pat Patterson held the Intercontinental Championship from its inception on September 1, 1979 to April 21, 1980, when he was dethroned by Ken Patera at Madison Square Garden. Since its debut, 87 different wrestlers have held the championship. Chris Jericho holds the record for most reigns with nine. The Honky Tonk Man holds the record for the longest reign at 454 days. The current Intercontinental Champion is King Nakamura.
In honor of the occasion of the 42nd Anniversary of Pat Patterson becoming the first Intercontinental Champion, the Literary Squared Circle blog reviews his 2016 book Accepted: How the First Gay Superstar Changed WWE by Pat Patterson with Bertrand Hébert (ECW Press, 2016).
Patterson’s story begins with his life growing up in Montreal sharing a small, two-bedroom apartment with his parents, four brothers, and four sisters. In addition to being poor, his family were also strict Catholics. When he was 17 years old and came out to his parents, his father asked him to leave. Though he did not speak English, Patterson moved to the United States to pursue his dream of becoming a professional wrestler. He settled in Boston where he began his wrestling career and met his longtime partner, Louie Dondero, with whom he would spend the next four decades.
At the suggestion of wrester Maurice “Mad Dog” Vachon, Patterson moved across the country to Portland, where his gimmick was changed from “Killer” Pat Patterson to “Pretty Boy” Pat Patterson. From there, Patterson moved to San Francisco and began wrestling for Roy Shire’s Big Time Wrestling promotion. He and Ray Stevens formed The Blonde Bombers, one of the top tag teams of the era. After a long and successful run as a tag team, Patterson and Stevens split up and feuded with each other.
After leaving San Francisco, Patterson competed for Championship Wrestling from Florida and the American Wrestling Association. In 1979, he arrived in the World Wrestling Federation, where he would remain, in various capacities, for the rest of his life. Shortly after debuting in the WWF, Patterson defeated Ted DiBiase to win the WWF North American Championship. As described earlier, the North American Championship was soon replaced by the Intercontinental Championship.
After his run as the inaugural Intercontinental Champion, Pat Patterson had a legendary feud with Sgt. Slaughter. Patterson and Slaughter memorably battled each other in an Alley Fight Match at Madison Square Garden, which is widely regarded as one of the greatest matches of that era. Around this time, in his personal life, Patterson was able to reconcile with his father shortly before his father passed away.
As Patterson’s in-ring career began to wind down, he began doing color commentary alongside Vince McMahon. Patterson eventually moved behind-the-scenes working as a road agent and Vince McMahon’s “right-hand man”. Over the years, Pat Patterson also worked in the talent-relations department and was occasionally used as a guest referee, notably working the main event at the first WrestleMania. During his time backstage, Patterson is credited with having invented the Royal Rumble match.
During the “Attitude Era”, Patterson returned to an on-screen role alongside Gerald Brisco as Vince McMahon’s “Stooges”. It was during this time, that Patterson lost his life partner, Louie, who died of a heart attack while Patterson was working at the 1998 King of the Ring pay-per-view. That was the show in which The Undertaker threw Mankind off of the cell in their unforgettable Hell in a Cell Match. When he heard of Louie’s passing, Mick Foley (Mankind) feared that his crazy spot had resulted in Louie’s fatal heart attack, but Patterson reassured Foley that Louie died three hours before his match.
Patterson persevered and continued to work backstage for WWE. He worked as a producer and later as a creative consultant. He also appeared as a cast member on the Legends’ House reality show on the WWE Network. In the final episode of the show, Patterson came out as being gay.
Patterson’s book is full of behind-the-scenes stories that span generations of wrestlers, from Killer Kowalski to Daniel Bryan. There are road stories, drinking stories, backstage fights, and ribbing. Patterson describes celebrity encounters, how he came up with the idea for the Royal Rumble match, how he helped get The Rock into the business, his role in The Montreal Screwjob, and how he helped to mend fences between Bret Hart and Vince McMahon.
Accepted is an interesting book. This is due to the fact that Pat Patterson was an interesting individual. If anything, I think the book dwelled too much upon his sexuality. Though it did affect his relationship with his family, particularly his father, his homosexuality did not seem to have a negative effect on his career. He seemed to be accepted by just about everyone within the business. I always found Patterson to be an entertaining wrestler and one of the business’ great minds. I honestly couldn’t care less that he was gay, or straight for that matter. It is what Pat Patterson did in the ring and behind-the-scenes in the business that I admired and respected.
4 Stars out of 5
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