The late, great Pat Patterson has revealed how he came up with his ring name during his WWE Network documentary which has aired posthumously.
Under his real name of Pierre Clermont, the inaugural WWF Intercontintal Champion began to work for Tony Santos upon his entry into the United States. However, even though the star was making ten times what he would have done in his native Montreal, Clermont believed that he needed a better, more impressive name if he was going to make it beyond the territories and into the big money.
Following Patterson’s passing on December 2, 2020, WWE have honoured the star with his very own documentary on the WWE Network. In ‘My Way: The Life & Legacy of Pat Patterson‘, the legend detailed how he chose the ring name Pat Patterson with a simple preference and a dictionary:
“I came to be a wrestler in the United States of America by the name of Pierre Clermont. Give me a break. Can you imagine, Madison Square Garden, “Ladies and Gentlemen, Pierre Clermont!” So I liked the first name Pat. So I went home, I took a dictionary, and I went to the back page of the proper names, then I closed my eyes. I opened the dictionary and the first name I saw was Patterson, and Pat Patterson is born.”
As ‘Pretty Boy’ Pat Patterson, the star competed for Big Time Wrestling, Pacific Northwest Wrestling and Big Time Wrestling San Francisco where he formed the legendary Blonde Bombers with Ray Stevens. A team which would eventually bleed into the AWA in the late-seventies and early eighties and reign and NWA World Tag Team Champions and AWA Tag Team Champions.
Singles success called Patterson, however, and following a successful stint in New Japan Pro Wrestling, the marvel joined the World Wrestling Federation where he was immediately put into rivalries with WWF Champion Bob Backlund and WWF North American Champion, Ted DiBiase.
It was the latter strap, along with Patterson’s fictional WWF South American Champion that would give birth to the WWF Intercontinental Championship in 1979. While the company created a faux tournament for the gold in Rio de Janeiro and informed their television audience that Patterson had prevailed, the truth was that he had defeated Ted DiBiase to unify the real and fictional straps on June 19 in Allentown, Pennsylvania, creating the historic Intercontinental Championship.
Pat Patterson passed away on December 2, 2020, after his liver failed. He had been battling cancer and several other medical conditions at the time of his death.