Downloaded from YTS.MX
Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX
>> Hello.
This is a dream come true.
>> Pat Patterson lived out his dream
in sports entertainment for more than 60 years.
It was here in Montreal, Quebec
where Pat began his unlikely journey
to become a pioneer,
a visionary,
and Hall of Fame legend.
>> I started wrestling 1957, '58,
not knowing where I was going to go,
but nothing was going to stop me.
>> Pat Patterson.
[music]
>> I look back, my God, I went through all that.
For years, being gay was chasing me.
You know what I mean?
It was always on your shoulder that you're gay.
You can't be free.
I didn't know a word of English.
I didn't have hardly any money, but I was having fun.
I was doing what I like.
>> You're looking right now on your television screen
at the best wrestler in the world today.
>> Vince was seven days a week.
You cannot imagine how big it was starting to get.
>> WWE Hall of Famer, Pat Patterson.
[crowd cheers]
>> I had a dream.
I made it.
[music]
>> We're going to my old neighborhood,
Montreal, where I was born and raised.
The neighborhood of Montreal where the rich live.
[music]
>> I was born in 1941 in Montreal, Canada
and my name was Pierre Clermont.
I was part of a big family.
We had five boys and four girls.
With my mom and dad, it makes it 11.
We were a very,
very poor family.
You see where the balcony is up there with a chair?
Well,
that's it.
Today, they probably have hot water.
They probably have a shower, but we didn't have it.
That's where we were raised.
11 of us, we lived in a two-bedroom apartment.
When I mean two-bedroom, it was two bedrooms
and a kitchen,
no living room.
There was one toilet.
No bathtub and no shower
and no running hot water,
so we were outside all the time.
About three, four blocks from here,
there was a public pool, indoor public pool.
My mom would give us a piece of soap with a towel,
go to the pool, and take a shower.
My mother always told me,
"Bring back the little piece of soap."
We would go to that pool every two weeks.
That's the only way we could wash.
This is where I spent all my morning when I was a kid.
I'd come to the mass and I was the altar boy
and I loved it.
I was a star.
The priest was and maybe I was the second star.
I don't know, but I was part of the arrangement.
I wanted to be in front of the audience.
That started here.
I found out being an altar boy with the priest
that I was somebody,
so that gave me the feeling
that I want to be in front of people.
It's a little place here on Ontario Street
where they had wrestling twice a week.
I didn't know nothing about wrestling.
My mother was buying some bread and with the bread came a ticket
to go see the wrestling matches.
Well, I went and I fell in love with wrestling.
I hated the heels.
Oh my God.
After a while, I started to like the heels.
You know what I mean?
I had to walk probably five, six miles to get there.
I don't even have money to get in,
but I never missed a show.
I got smart because I used to watch a wrestler arriving.
There was a parking lot across the street
and there are wrestlers, Buddy Rogers, Killer Kowalski.
Oh my God.
I'm looking at all these stars.
I come to Kowalski and I says, "Me carry your bag."
He gave me a dirty look and scared the hell out of me.
He said, "All right, take the bag."
I took the bag and I walked in with him.
I'm in the building.
I watched the whole show.
I tell you how much I wanted to see this.
I got a job
selling hot dogs
through the audience going up the stairs,
"Hot dog, hot dog.
French fries."
I had a little basket.
You know what?
The boss used to give me hell
because he says,
"What the hell are you doing?
You're not selling hot dogs?" I says, "They're not buying."
I was sitting down watching the matches.
[chuckles]
Anyways, I was still going to school.
There's a kid in school.
His father was a promoter.
I says, "Oh, this is my in,"
so I became friends with him.
He was my age, 15, 16 years old.
I said, "There's a place where we can train."
There was a guy that was a trainer.
For weeks and weeks and weeks, he would come and train with me.
One day,
I'm at this small arena and I said to the promoter,
"Me and your son, we've been training."
I said, "You should book us."
He said, "What?
You little bastard.
Don't you ever take my son to the ring."
I said, "Please give us a chance, please."
"Well, I'll think about it."
Really rude.
He booked us into a little town outside of Montreal,
first match,
"God damn, you did pretty good, kid."
After that, I was booked everywhere.
I quit school
and I was just wrestling, making $5, $7.
I'm dreaming now.
I'm thinking
if I'm going to make
a career,
I'm not going to make it here.
I got to go to United States.
>> At age 16,
Pat's dream of a pro-wrestling career
was well-known to his family,
but they didn't know everything.
>> No one knew I was gay.
I was just a young guy,
but I know I was not attracted by girls.
No way.
The first time I did something with a guy,
it felt good to be caressed, to be hold and squeezed.
You know what I mean?
It felt good to me.
Anyway, I was so excited.
I wake up my mom and dad at one o'clock in the morning.
I want to tell them the good news
that I'm in love.
My mother said, "Well, I'm happy for that.
You didn't have to wake us up."
I said, "No."
I said, "I'm in love with a guy."
"Jesus Christ."
My dad went crazy.
He says, "We're not going to have no queer in this house.
You're going to have to get out of here."
My mother said, "Well, you can't do that."
My mother was crying.
I said, "No, no, don't worry about it.
I'll leave.
Don't worry.
I'll leave."
I left.
I was 16 years old
and he told me, "Don't come and knock on the door."
I didn't.
I found a big suitcase in the garbage,
tied it up with a rope,
and I took a Greyhound bus.
My sister gave me $20.
I went to Boston.
[music]
>> This arena,
I've wrestled there a few times.
At the end of that building, there was an office there.
That's where the wrestling promoter,
his name was Tony Santos.
When I came to Boston, I didn't know a word of English.
I didn't have hardly any money,
but I was having fun.
I was doing what I like.
When I was wrestling in Montreal,
I was lucky to make $5, $7.
My first night, I wrestled in front of a big crowd.
The wrestling promoter gives me a check for $50.
I said, "Oh my God.
$50 for one match?
My God, I can't believe it."
I can't be a wrestler
in the United State of America
by the name of Pierre Clermont.
Give me a break.
Can you imagine?
Madison Square Garden, "Ladies and gentlemen, Pierre Clermont."
I liked the first name Pat.
I went home.
I took a dictionary
and I went to the back page with the proper names,
then I closed my eyes
and I opened the dictionary
and the first name I saw was Patterson.
I said, "Pat Patterson is born."
This is where I lived in Boston.
This place looks great, but it was a dump.
I mean a real dump, alcoholics, and drunks who live in debt.
It was unbelievable, but we had so much fun.
We're all together.
A bunch of young guys my age are wrestlers.
We all lived in this apartment, $10 a week.
My English, it was hard, but I would pick up this
and pick up a word there
and a phrase there and I get along.
I'm going to tell you something, I was happy.
I had a lot of fun here.
[music]
>> I was here about a year and a half probably,
maybe a little less.
This is where I met my friend Louie.
My friend that was living here, he knew all his friends
in the gay bar and he introduced me to this guy
and this guy and I see Louie, "Oh my God."
When the night is over, I tell my friend,
"Who was that guy, Louie?
I wanted to meet Louie one on one."
He says, "Well, I'll call."
I had no money and Louis arrived in a brand new 1962 Buick.
He picks me up, we go have a drink,
"Holy [-]."
That started with Louie.
I was in love with Louie.
There's no question.
That happened to both of us,
but there was a time when I had to leave.
I got a letter
from "Mad Dog" Vachon.
He saw me when I was wrestling in Montreal.
He said to me, he said,
"You're booked in Portland, Oregon."
Portland? I don't even know where Portland, Oregon is.
I borrowed money from Louie.
I said, "Louie, I'm going to Oregon.
One day maybe, I'll pay you back."
I left.
I left Louie and that was it.
I'm in Oregon, but a month later,
I miss Louie so much.
Louise quit his job,
left his family,
left everybody, and met me in Oregon.
We had a good time.
Louie and I enjoyed Portland, Oregon.
It's a beautiful, little city,
but there was a bunch of guys, wrestlers.
They kept saying, "Pat, you got to go to San Francisco.
Roy Shire would like your work."
San Francisco,
that's where I made my name.
[music]
>> This,
very close to my heart
because if you're in the main event
at the Cow Palace in San Francisco,
you're a star.
It's a funny thing.
I called Roy Shire to get a starting date
and Roy Shire says to me, he says,
"I heard stories about you."
I said,
"Yes?
What is it?"
"Well,
I heard you're different."
I said, "I hope I'm different than anybody else."
I know what he's getting at.
I said, "What do you mean?" He said, "You know what I mean."
I said, "No, I don't."
"Well, I heard you're a queer."
I said, "Yes."
He says, "You dumb [-].
You admit it?"
I said, "Hey, I want to work for you.
Don't worry about it.
I won't embarrass you."
"Yes, but I--" that kind of [-].
I said, "Okay, don't worry about it."
I was there 15 years.
>> From San Francisco, California,
weighing in at 247 pounds,
Ray "The Crippler" Stevens,
and his partner
also from San Francisco,
weighing in at 243 pounds,
Pat Patterson.
>> Pat Patterson and Ray Stevens,
when they were a tag team in San Francisco
and they were working with Roy Shire,
not only did they have heat,
but Patterson and Stevens took it to another level.
>> Pat Patterson and Ray Stevens dominated the Bay Area tag team
division throughout the 1960s.
As he grew into a single star,
Pat would become a major box office draw
at the Cow Palace.
>> A lot of souvenirs here.
I'll tell you what, I got my ass kicked
many times here.
Not by the wrestlers,
by the fans.
[laughs]
[cheers]
>> Well, obviously, we've got a pier-six brawl
erupting out of this match between Kevin Sullivan
and Pat Patterson.
>> I always wanted to be a villain.
>> I know you're trying to making a reputation
for yourself, but when you step in the ring with Stevens
and Patterson, the stacks are against the fire.
>> If the heel is good, the match is good.
If the heel is no good,
the match sucked.
It takes a bad guy to make a good guy.
>> I'll guarantee you, I'll put that figure-four leg
lock on you and break the skinny leg of yours.
>> Now, they're coming at again.
Look, Patterson and Stevens.
Now, they're going after everybody.
>> Now, look at this building.
It's huge, right?
The ring is right in the middle here
and you got a long way to get back to the locker room.
The curtains are back there.
Man,
many times,
I didn't think I was going to make it.
>> Pat told me this story at least 100 times.
He and "High Chief" Peter Maivia,
they were working in the Cow Palace
in San Francisco at the time.
>> In that night,
I beat the hell out of Peter Maivia
and he was bleeding like a pig.
>> If you know anything about the Bay in California,
there's a heavy Polynesian community there.
>> At ringside, it's full of Samoans.
Think guys like Afa and Sika, I had about 10,
12 of them at ringside.
They're looking at me.
They're waiting for me to get out of there
and they're going to kill me.
>> At this point, my dad and uncle had not broken
into the business.
They came from the stands and came flying on Pat
and started to really try to beat him up.
Peter Maivia dove over the top rope,
"Let me have him.
Get out of here.
Let me have him,"
and he threw me back in the ring.
He saved my life.
>> That's just how good Pat was.
He was really just well before his time
and just able to garner so much heat as a bad guy.
>> It took us forever to get out of the ring.
We tried about four, five times.
Cops were pushing everybody and I was, "Bang, bang, bang."
I got backstage there and I fell flat
on my stomach and I was,
"God damn, I can't believe I made it."
I thought I was going to die.
That's a moment I'll never forget.
[music]
>> How could a guy stay fresh in that territory 15 years?
That's unheard of.
Pat would reinvent himself.
>> I survived.
I was a heel for many years, then I turned babyface.
I became very popular.
It was fun.
>> From San Francisco, California,
a popular ring favorite, Pat Patterson.
[fans cheering]
>> I thought I grew up by myself.
My family was never around me because I was never in Montreal.
All alone doing this and not
to be part of the family.
That bothered me.
No one in my family
could share my fame.
All these years that I was gone, my dad told me,
"If you go,
don't come knocking on the door."
Many years later,
I'm in San Francisco here and I'm the number one guy.
I invited my mom and dad
to fly to San Francisco.
I go pick them up at the airport.
My mother
sits in the car and she starts crying.
I said, "Mom, what's the matter?"
She says, "I never sat in a Cadillac."
They never had a car.
I brought my mom and dad
to the Cow Palace in San Francisco.
I got a seat for them and Louie was taken care of them.
My mom and dad never see me wrestle.
[fans chanting]
> Here I come in the ring, Pat Patterson.
I got the championship belt.
People were all over me.
They loved me.
My mom was freaking out.
My dad, tears in his eyes.
They could not believe that their son
had become a big star.
When my dad went back home,
it was a different tune.
He told all my brothers and sister,
"You should see your brother, what he is."
Yes.
>> After years of separation, the support that Pat received
from his parents
finally mirrored the ac ceptance
he had already earned in his professional career.
>> Pat was never open about his homosexuality,
but it was no secret.
Even when I was first hearing of Pat Patterson,
there was always the rumor, "You know, Pat is gay."
Pat was such a great performer and set a great person,
you didn't care what his personal life was.
Pat had so much respect.
You really didn't want to say anything to offend him
or do anything or just insinuating anything
because of the respect level.
>> One time,
a couple of guys in the front row,
they stand up and they said,
"Hey, Stevens, [-] you."
Ray whispered in my ear.
He said, "My God, if they only knew."
[laughs]
On top of that,
the referee was gay
and the ring announcer was gay.
Can you imagine that?
[laughs]
Unbelievable.
>> You know, gentlemen, if you did happen to pick up
the world tag team championships here in your hometown,
it would be the coup of the decade.
>> Well, I'm going to tell you what,
there's a lot of nice-looking ladies up there.
If we win, we're going to go throw a big party.
That is if you want to come with me, Pat.
>> All right.
>> There's no questions about it, Ray.
There's a lot of friends out there
and I'm looking forward to it and believe me--
>> You're in the locker room, boys,
and they tell you stories of what they did last night,
"I didn't have one broad.
I had two broads."
I did this, I did that, I did that.
You hear all these stories, okay?
Can I say what I did last night?
No.
It's not because I was hiding.
I couldn't be me.
>> We love Pat Patterson.
Pat Patterson is one of the boys,
but we didn't talk about stuff like that.
There wasn't something.
He just went around.
Those guys would stay in the closet
as long as you could
because of ignorance
and misunderstandings
because you know the whole world was different then.
>> It was called that San Francisco
was a gay city, anything else.
The sad part about the whole thing is that
Louie can go to any bar.
Nobody knows Louie.
I can't go to a gay bar in San Francisco.
It's going to be in the paper.
Paranoid.
You know what I'm saying?
"Pat Patterson was seen in a gay bar.
It was awful."
For years,
being gay was chasing me.
You know what I mean?
The business
was chasing me.
It was weird.
It was always
on your shoulder that you're gay.
You can't be free
when you try to become a star or a big personality.
It sucks.
>> As Pat's personal life continued to weigh on him,
professionally, he was about to reach his ultimate goal.
The 38-year-old superstar tried his skills in a new territory.
New York City.
>>Pat Patterson was big out in the San Francisco area,
but MSG was the show palace of the world.
>> Vince Sr., he told me, "You're going to work.
You're going to be in the main event everywhere.
You're going to make some money.
Don't worry about it."
I said, "Yes, I appreciate
the fact that I'm here.
I want to thank you, but I got to tell you something about me."
He says, "I know everything about you and I don't give it
a [-],"
so I'm in.
First match I have
with Bob Backlund, I tear the house down.
I did.
>> Oh, my.
>> When I came backstage, Vince McMahon, Sr.
would then grab me and he hugged me.
He said, "Pat, that was so exciting.
Thank you.
Thank you."
That's a payoff for me.
>> I met Pat when he came in for my dad
back in the old territory days.
Pat was an extraordinary performer.
Pat can make whoever he was working with
like $1 million.
>> He's the only man in the world
that's ever wrestled a champion
in Madison Square Garden four times in a row.
You have to have a lot of talent to be able to go into somebody
and make them each different and make it a reason so people
would want to come back to watch the same match.
[audience cheers]
>> Backlund successfully defending
the World Wrestling --
title against one of the toughest men
he's ever faced.
>> A few months later,
I became the first Intercontinental Champion.
>> The Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion,
Pat Patterson.
>> You're looking right now on your television screen
at one of the best wrestlers in the world today,
Pat Patterson,
the new Intercontinental Champion.
>> Being the first Intercontinental Champion,
what an honor.
>> Pat set the blueprint on how
an Intercontinental Champion should perform.
You had to be the guy that put in the time.
You had to be the guy
that had the best match of the evening.
You had to be a Pat Patterson-type.
That's the best compliment I can give Pat.
>> Even the great competitors have their problems
with Pat Patterson.
[music]
>> Pat had some vicious matches.
That one with Slaughter was brutal.
>> The Alley Fight had no rules and there was no referee.
>> No holds barred.
Anything goes in this one.
>> That was the genesis of hardcore street fights.
>> We had nothing laid out.
I didn't even see Pat that day.
It was every man for himself.
>> One of the most, if not the most grueling match
in professional wrestling history.
>> Pat Patterson, Sgt. Slaughter,
Garden street fight.
That's Pat to a teeth.
Still have his night, but he elevates the heel.
[fans cheering]
>> Slaughter wants to get right back into it.
>> I had a hell of a battle with Sgt. Slaughter
at Madison Square Garden.
It was a masterpiece.
>> The audience throwing in a towel.
[bell rings]
>> The winner of Alley Fight,
Pat Patterson.
>> The fans were going crazy.
>> This place goes absolutely raucous.
[bell rings]
>> I never dreamed of wrestling in a main event
at Madison Square Garden.
Never.
To make it
in New York and wrestling in the main event
every night,
that's an accomplishment.
I'm very proud of that.
Very.
>> In 1979,
Pat was shining in the Madison Square Garden spotlight.
The following year,
he began moonlighting as an announcer
alongside WWE's soon-to-be chairman,
Vincent Kennedy McMahon.
>> Ladies and gentlemen, we would like to ask
a few questions to André the Giant.
André, this is not something I usually do
interviewing wrestlers, but I will do my best.
First of all, congratulations again for a good match
and a good win.
>> Congratulations to you.
You got a new job.
Thank you.
>> Thank you very much, André.
>> Vince asked me if I wanted to do the commentary
with him, do the color.
>> This is Vince McMahon along with wrestling great
Pat Patterson here at ringside.
>> That Vince used to kill me
because, again,
my English wasn't that good and he would laugh.
This week, we'll find out if the Samoans
are going to be able to win first of all.
If they do, if it's going to be a lucky win
or a definitive win.
>> He was hard to understand sometimes.
He would leave the S off of things.
>> They look like champion.
They wrestle like champion.
The only thing they don't have, the belt.
They're still great.
They still give you plenty of action.
>> "The crowd is going to go crazy.
They're going to go banana tonight."
>> Oh boy.
>> I think it's going to fire back on him.
"Backfire," I should say.
>> We'll be back.
>> It was difficult for Pat, but Pat,
he would do anything you ask him to do
and give it everything he had.
>> I didn't decide to stop wrestling or stop commentary.
Vince wanted me in the office.
I was on the road and
I realized talking to Vince,
I said, "It seems to me now,
you're getting behind with the bookings
and all of that."
You know what he said to me?
He said, "What do you think?
I'm all alone for crying out loud.
What do you want from me?"
I says,
"I'm going to say something.
I don't know how you're going to take that."
I had no idea how to say it.
>> "Hey, Vince, if you need help,
I'd be happy to help you out.
I'm off this weekend.
If you need some help, just let me know."
>> "Damn.
No one has ever offered me that.
Get your ass in the office tomorrow.
Bye."
>> I worked with Pat that Saturday.
I asked him to come back the next day and Pat never left.
[music]
>> He says, "From now on,
you're working in the office
and you're going to be a senior vice president."
I said, "What does that mean?"
He said, "Pat, it's a big title in the corporate world."
I didn't even know what a corporate world was.
That's how I ended up right in the office.
>> Pat Patterson was the second guy in charge.
Now, we call it creative.
It was him and Vince.
They wrote the shows.
>> They created
all the storylines for television.
They created
all of the live events and they worked
with all the talent and the producers.
>> One time, we had four live events
per night
and there's no television, so we were busy.
>> Vince was seven days a week.
That's simple.
Seven days a week.
He was in the office.
Saturday and Sunday, we'd go to his house and work.
It was funny when there was a holiday
like Labor Day weekend.
He says, "Damn, nobody answers in the office.
What's the matter?" I said, "Vince, it's a holiday."
He hates holidays.
"I hate holidays."
>> Vince had a book.
It was literally a book.
Pat would sit across from Vince
and it would be
March 8th
and it'd be like, "Where are we going?"
"To SummerSlam."
"This is what we got planned." It was just Pat and Vince.
>> From that very first day, Pat came in the office.
He made it start
to flow like a more efficient machine.
>> Pat was super instrumental
and us becoming the big monster
that we did as far as in entertainment.
He was there at the inception of the Rock 'n' Wrestling
with the Cyndi Lauper thing.
Pat was there for the first WrestleMania.
>> Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to WrestleMania.
>> Creatively, he was awesome.
He would come up with things I'd never think about.
It got adversity, but we were a great team.
>> Vince trusts Pat more than anybody.
>> The absurdity of having a match
of this nature is out there.
>> Right, but some of them, we do have to finish.
>> When you're a man as powerful as Vince, you can be surrounded
by guys, "Great idea, great idea."
Sometimes Vince would say stuff.
I mean, I would be in the room in a meeting and Vince would go,
"How about if he does that?" and Pat would go,
"No, no, no.
That's a horrible idea."
No one talked to Vince like that,
but he wasn't being disrespectful.
He was doing his job.
He was there because of his expertise.
>> Pat looked at it as, "I'm sitting in the crowd.
What do I want to see
and what's going to make this exciting?
What's going to make this different?"
>> Pat was just like on the burnout program.
He was just running and going
from TV to TV continually thinking,
the characters, gimmicks, shows, angles.
>> From that point on, he had his fingerprints
all over the WWE
and he made a huge difference with our product.
>> Vince
and I were constantly thinking about the business.
You cannot imagine how big it was starting to get.
When it was a success, it felt good.
You know what I mean?
I always wanted to come up with something
that's never been done.
[music]
>> I do this because I love to be creative.
That's my life.
>> We just can't wait to go, "Three, two, one,"
and cheer whoever comes out.
>> That's it.
>> Just the countdown.
That's what we're looking forward to.
>> Oh, I see.
Okay.
>> Who's going to win tonight?
>> Win what?
>> The Royal Rumble.
>> You are. >> You are.
[laughter]
>> I'm surprised you're not entering.
>> I love the Rumble,
but you know how it came about, right?
>> Here we go.
Every man for himself in there.
[bell rings]
>> Battle Royal.
You put 20 guys in the ring,
the bell rings, and you go at it.
The last one standing, the winner.
Then I started thinking,
"What if we send
two guys,
they go at it and two minutes later,
here comes another one?" Vince says,
"I don't think it's going to work."
I said, "Vince, it's going to work."
We had a meeting with Dick Ebersol.
We had a special for USA Network.
Vince says,
"Why don't you tell him your stupid idea?"
I look at Vince, I said, "First of all,
it's not a stupid idea."
Dick Ebersol went crazy.
>> Dick Ebersol said,
"This is great."
It was a,
"Okay, Pat,
maybe.
Let's see how this works."
>> Welcome, everyone.
I guess this is the Royal Rumble.
>> Royal Rumble, probably one of our greatest events aside
from WrestleMania.
Everybody had their doubts, and then we had the first one
and, of course, Pat was in charge
of putting it together.
He worked months on this thing because it was his child.
>> Santana will be going for a ride.
He dropped off.
>> The Royal Rumble in '88 did the highest cable network
number in history at the time,
so then it became,
"We got something here, folks."
>> "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan is the winner
of the Royal Rumble.
>> The first one was a huge success
and, needless to say, they continued.
>> He didn't exactly know what he did.
[chuckles]
He was coming up with that until I used it the next year
and then, of course, every subsequent year.
>> Welcome to the Road to WrestleMania.
>> Not one empty seat in front of us.
>> Oh,
Kofi's still in it.
His feet have not touched the floor.
>> Now, the Rumble is going so big.
Everybody loves the Royal Rumble.
Everybody.
The boys do, the fans, and everybody loves
the Royal Rumble.
>> I'm so proud.
I'm in heaven.
I am in heaven.
It's my job and I work and I do it.
When you see that
you were a big part of it,
it's like being in heaven really.
Beautiful.
>> With the 1988 Royal Rumble,
Pat created one of WWE's most celebrated annual events.
>> Additionally,
Pat's unique eye for talent was changing the business.
>> Without Pat Patterson, there's certainly no me here.
I sure as heck don't get my break without him
and to not acknowledge that would be criminal.
He made me better creatively.
He challenged me in ways
that I didn't even know that he was challenging me in.
>> We wouldn't be talking right now
if it wasn't for Pat Patterson.
All I could say is, and I could speak
for probably a lot of wrestlers,
Pat was a huge part of all of our success.
>> Pat really loved the talent that could work in the ring
and that could tell stories once that bell rang.
>> It was something that Pat really believed in
and that sometimes nobody else saw.
>> We were talking about WrestleMania
and Shawn Michael
and Bret Hart.
I said, "Vince,
those kids will tear the house down
in the Iron Man match."
>> Welcome, everyone, to WrestleMania.
>> Oh, man, I was so excited.
>> The whole storyline, we did that match,
was all a credit to Pat.
>> He's coming.
Sharpshooter.
Sharpshooter again.
>> It was his idea.
He insisted to Vince that we have an Iron Man match.
Of course, Shawn and I have always been grateful
for it because it was our finest hour for sure.
>> One,
two,
three.
>> Man, I was pushing for these guys.
I love them.
They entertain me.
I'm a wrestler.
If they entertained me,
that's big, I'm telling you.
>> To him, it was always about the work in the ring
because before that,
a guy like Shawn Michaels and a guy like Bret Hart,
they aren't seen as world champions.
It took somebody to have the foresight
to see where the industry would eventually go.
>> Take your time.
Grab him and "boom."
>> He was one of the greatest minds behind the scenes
in the business.
He had a total master understanding
of wrestling psychology
and how to apply it and when to apply it.
>> From here, you can really force yourself.
>> Vince knew how much I loved the business
and he felt that I could help a lot of guys along the way.
To me, all I did,
and I loved it, is to help the talent
about their character.
>> The next picture they see is you guys argue
with the referee, then you go right back.
Ooh, that makes you a no-good bastard.
>> How do I build up the match tonight?
Try to teach them how to put a match together on their own.
>> You guys have a tendency to go fast.
You go fast, you're going to miss the punch,
you're going to look like [-].
Just take your time.
>> Pat never looked at it as a job.
I think for him, it's a form of art.
It's a painting
and he just happens to be one of the best painters ever.
>> Whoa.
Good job.
>> You grabbed it.
>> I grabbed it.
>> Okay, that's all right.
Next time, try not to.
>> He could be very hands-on with you,
but he still gave you the freedom
and let you learn on your own too,
and then after, you know,
"Pat, what'd you think about that?"
"Oh, that was great."
If you got "Oh, that was great" from Pat,
then you know you did something right.
>> You guys know Pat wasn't going to take a fall.
[laughter]
>> What a memory.
>> In 1996,
WWE recognized Pat's vast accomplishments
by inducting him into the Hall of Fame.
>> After 38 years in the wrestling business
and ending up
with the Hall of Fame,
well,
this is, without a doubt,
the best moment of my life
and to the guy sitting next to me
that I really would like to thank.
I thought I liked wrestling.
Vince,
I want to thank you for what you've done for me.
I want to thank you for having faith in me.
We worked
for many hours together and I loved every minute of it.
I'm not done.
I'm going to keep going with you, Vince.
Most of all,
thank you for being my friend.
I love you.
Before I go,
this is the first time I'll do this,
but I'd like to share this award
with someone
and I'm glad that he's here tonight
to see me receive this award.
This guy's been a friend of mine for many, many years.
He's been a friend.
He's been a companion.
He's been a father.
He's been a brother,
and by God, sometimes he's been a mother.
Yes, he has,
but I want to share this award
to my dear friend,
Louie Dondero.
>> Thank you very much.
[applause]
>> I was in Pittsburg.
We had a pay-per-view.
He flew from Florida to Boston to be with his family.
I get a phone call.
Louie just dropped dead of a heart attack.
Wow,
that really hurt me,
that the two person that I love
so much.
It was tough.
This guy did everything for me.
Without Louie, I don't think I'd be here.
>> I think Pat was a little lost
for a good while after the passing of Louie.
>> Louie was a great guy.
Got along with everybody.
Friendly with everybody
and would do anything in the world.
It affected all of us.
>> At the funeral,
even the police came up to a member of the family
and says, "Who's that gentleman?
He must have been famous.
We've never had a funeral like this with so many people."
It was unbelievable.
We were together 40 years.
[chuckles]
You're trying to make me cry now.
[laughs]
No,
I've done that enough.
Oh, yes.
>> After the passing, Pat's not doing a whole lot
and Pat wanted to come, "I'll come to TV
and I'll help out."
>> He held Vince hostage.
>> Held McMahon hostage?
>> Yes, he did.
>> Stone Cold held McMahon hostage?
>> Yes, he did.
>> Pat, Pat, don't say anything like that.
Don't be a stooge.
Come on, let's--
>> Whoa, whoa, whoa, who's calling who a stooge here?
>> Pat Patterson and I were a bit of stooges.
>> You both look ridiculous.
>> Mr. McMahon was a character behind the scenes,
which was put in front of the camera,
and then you start looking at the people
around Mr. McMahon.
There would be great characters too.
You had Pat Patterson and Gerry Brisco.
>> Would you please straighten that out?
>> I will, I will.
You're heavy, you know.
>> It was so much fun.
It was so much fun to working off
with Pat and Gerry Brisco.
>> You know I'm Vince McMahon's favorite.
>> What's with the stooges bickering
with each other so much?
[indistinct] bickering.
Come on--
Wait a minute.
Chyna has defeated Mr. McMahon in the arm-wrestling contest.
>> Stooges, stooges, stooges.
>> Many times, I had no idea what I was going to say or do,
[laughs]
but they were pros.
They knew how to react.
>> It's a huge building.
>> You can't find the boiler room?
>> I looked everywhere.
>> You couldn't find your ass.
>> We'd like you to have a little--
>> Pat would always add the comedy.
>> Pat Patterson,
one of the most respected, one of the best in-ring
technicians and minds in this industry.
He understands that this is entertainment.
[fans cheering]
>> Being the stooge,
it was fun, but sometime inside me,
"Why the hell am I doing this?
I'm a wrestler.
Come on."
You know what I'm saying?
But it worked.
>> The greatest champion of them all.
>> Pat, you burned my eyes.
>> What do you mean I burned your eyes?
You think I burned your eyes?
Well, stay down.
>> Good God.
Patterson covered Brisco.
I'll be damned.
>> Raise my hand, raise my hand.
I'm the champion.
Let's get out of here.
[applause]
>> After 46 years in the business,
Pat announced his retirement in 2004.
[applause]
>> I was really, really burned out.
Vince had a lot of new guys working for him and all that,
which was fine.
We had different ideas
and different people instead of me and Vince
together all the time.
I was happy that he did that and I didn't fit in there.
I just wanted them to be them.
You know what I'm saying?
>> Stop hugging me, damn it.
>> It hurt so much.
>> I'll never forget
what you have done for me.
It's a debt I'll never be able to repay.
Aboos, I love you.
[fans cheering]
>> I left the thing that I liked the most
and I didn't know what I was going to do
the rest of my life.
I have no idea.
>> We got speed.
>> Here we go.
Go ahead, Pat.
>> They asked me if I wanted to be in the Legends' House.
I did not want to do that.
>> There's no [-] way I'm going to do that.
>> That Vince McMahon, he has a way to con somebody.
Believe me.
>> These boots are made for walking,
so walk out of here now.
>> We had a great time at the Legends' House together.
We spent 13 weeks together.
What was so special about Pat
was he was always honest with you.
>> Here's to me
and here's to you.
If by any chance you disagree,
here's to me, [-] you.
>> I don't think I could ever have made it
to the Legends' House
without having Pat Patterson there.
Play cards, BS with each other.
This guy loved to live life.
He loved to have a cocktail.
>> I know you all are drunk a little bit, but that's okay.
I'll take good care of you.
You know that.
Don't worry about you, okay?
>> He loved to have a good meal and he certainly enjoyed
the people around him.
Otherwise, they weren't around him.
>> What was the biggest moment that you remember of your life?
>> As the days and the weeks went on in Legends' House,
I think Pat became more comfortable.
>> It was our last dinner
and I was trying to figure out a way to open up.
>> Sitting here tonight,
I want to say something that I would never
want to say publicly.
Being here with you guys,
for once in my life, I'm going to be me now.
Something told me that I have got to open up.
I've got to do it someday so I can be me.
I survived all of these being gay.
>> Of course, I cried, let it all go.
It was very emotional.
>> It seemed like it gave him permission
to himself to go on and, man, "Live my life
and be me."
>> I am gay and I [-] survived.
I don't want to cry.
I want to celebrate.
You understand?
I want to celebrate.
Thanks to you guys
because of you, I'm able to say it
and I'm [-] going to drink to that.
Thank you.
>> The guys all cried for me.
We all held each other and everything else.
You get to a certain age,
"I had enough of this [-]."
There was a moment that I needed to do.
[murmuring]
>> Even though you knew,
it matter.
Now, I say it.
I'm free.
>> The people who knew him,
"Now, I came out,"
and everyone would say, "Okay,
but we already knew that, Pat."
You'd be able to come out,
whether it has to be this weight lifted off your shoulder.
It was how he felt,
"I did this for me."
>> Pat Patterson's homosexuality
was a worse-kept secret in wrestling business.
As the secret got out, Pat didn't hide it.
Pat was proud of who he was.
>> His bravery, it runs off of him.
It was contagious.
It's inspiring because myself
being gay
and knowing that I wasn't alone
when I did it,
it made the conversation
that much easier.
>> Just like I said earlier, being gay was chasing me
and you always hope that one day,
that thing is going to go away.
You know what I mean?
For me now, it is.
It's a great feeling.
[music]
>> Pat got out of the business.
He never really retired.
I told Pat, "You come to work whenever you want to,"
and that's what Pat did.
>> Pat was someone with knowledge
of the business who have been there
and done that, that watched the program
at home
and had very strong opinions about it.
>> He would see me and he would be like,
"I saw you last week.
That was terrible,"
and I go, "Damn it,"
and then we would sit down and hash it out.
He wanted the best possible wrestling show there was.
>> You can't quit the business.
What am I going to do?
I love this business.
I love to help the young guys and I just like to be around.
It's a beautiful business to be in.
>> Everybody always looked forward to Pat
coming back around.
He always had something that he could teach you
or adjust what you were doing to make it even better.
>> With the veteran minds around here, there is always
a certain way of thinking.
Pat Patterson doesn't think like that.
I think that's what makes his ideas unique.
You always have to take into account his opinion
or value his feedback
almost more than everyone else's.
>> He was always a really good motivator
because he was always in a good mood.
He was always joking around.
He was always laughing.
>> Are you growing up or what?
>> I'm wearing dress shoes.
>> I know.
You put high heels or what?
>> I said, "I'm going to get it all.
I'm going to get every single drop
of your creativity.
Everything you have, Pat, I'm going get it all."
>> Vince won't let me go.
He knows that.
He knows that
that's good for me.
>> Pat was one of those people that you knew
he was enjoying himself.
Pat just seemed like he was joyful all the time.
>> I have an image in my mind and it's just
him being happy watching wrestling.
He always loved
watching wrestling.
>> Before the show starts, I go and hide in the crowd.
I want to feel that moment.
Man, I got goosebump.
I got tears in my eyes.
I go crazy.
[cheering]
>> I will always love wrestling fans.
I cannot thank them enough.
They love
what I love
and I love them all.
>> On December 2nd, 2020,
Pat Patterson passed away.
He was 79 years old.
>> When was the last time you spoke to him?
>> Wow.
I guess about a week before he passed
and that was the first time
that
he ever said like--
He said, "I may not be here
too much longer."
[music]
>> Never,
never
did he ever say anything like that.
I think Pat knew.
>> This past week,
we lost a beloved member
of our WWE family,
Hall of Famer
Pat Patterson.
Tonight, we pay tribute
to a man
who touched our hearts
and inspired everyone
through his incredible
mind,
body,
and spirit.
[bell rings]
>> For the business, there's a huge hole there
because there was nobody like Pat Patterson.
>> Pat knew how to connect with everyone,
anyone that he socialized with,
anyone that he was interacting with.
Somehow everybody's got a Pat story.
>> He had a real joie de vivre,
which is a French term for a lust and a love for life.
>> Pat was so kind and helpful to me
from the moment I set foot in WWE.
He just really loved trying to help
this generation and trying to help
this industry any way he could.
>> Everybody feels this connection to Pat
and that's without us being a part of his generation.
That just goes to show
what a special human being he was.
>> I love you and I thank you for having faith
and making that call on this punk kid and saying,
"Hey, you want to take a look at this kid
and you want to take a look at him now."
You did it your way.
Cheers.
>> If you had this giant tombstone,
you could not write
everything that would make you
know Pat
and feel his goodness.
>> Vince,
in one word,
"Aboos."
[applause]
>> Everyone had their own opinion
and their own love for Pat.
[music]
>> We'll never quit talking about Pat.
We'll never quit laughing about Pat.
He will be here forever.
>> Pat came to the United States of America
from Montreal without knowing the language
and traveled the world as a major star
and be an executive in a billion-dollar company.
Pat Patterson was a genius.
>> He had an aura of goodness.
When you met him, you knew that.
I learned
so much from Pat in ways I really can't articulate.
Pat helped us to get everything going.
It was going before, but Pat gave us another level.
>> His biggest contribution to the business along
with a great body of work
was all of the knowledge
that he passed to all of the superstars
who came through those doors,
myself included.
>> When I first started in this business,
Pat Patterson went so far out of his way
to help me, so I'll forever be grateful.
>> These are real fans, man.
I love it.
>> A couple of guys
owe their careers to Pat Patterson.
I'm one of them.
None of it would have been possible
if it wasn't for Pat.
>> Pat Patterson.
>> Boy, listen to the ovation Pat Patterson got.
>> Everything that you look at
in the WWE,
I guarantee Pat Patterson had a hand in.
>> All right, Pat.
Go get them, brother.
>> Merci beaucoup, Montreal.
I love you.
[fans chanting]