Ken Patera
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Birth name | Kenneth Wayne Patera | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | [1] Portland, Oregon, U.S.[1] | November 6, 1942||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)[2][3] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 267–322 lb (121–146 kg)[2][3] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Weightlifting, powerlifting, shot put | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Club | York Barbell Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal best | SP – 20.10 m (1972)[3][4] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Kenneth Wayne Patera (born November 6, 1942) is an American retired
Early athletic career
Ken Patera, from a
Weightlifting career
Before becoming a professional wrestler, Patera was a highly decorated Olympic weightlifter. He won several medals at the 1971 Pan American Games (including gold in the weightlifting total),[8] and finished second in the 1971 World Weightlifting Championships just behind Vasily Alekseyev. On his native soil, Patera won four consecutive U.S. Weightlifting Championships in the super heavyweight class from 1969 to 1972.[9] He was the first American to clean and jerk over 500 lbs (227 kg), which he accomplished at the 1972 Senior Nationals in Detroit.[6] He is also the only American to clean and press 500 lbs (227 kg), and was the last American super heavyweight for years to excel at weightlifting at an international level.[6] At the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany, Patera was expected to be a serious competitor to Vasily Alekseyev, but he failed to total and was not among the medal recipients.[6] After the clean and press, a lift in which Patera excelled, was eliminated from competition, Patera retired from weightlifting.[3]
Personal records
official records – all achieved at a meet in San Francisco on July 23, 1972[10]
- Snatch – 386.5 lb (175.3 kg)
- Clean and jerk – 505.5 lb (229.3 kg)
- Clean and press – 505.5 lb (229.3 kg)
- Olympic three-lift total – 1,397.5 lb (633.9 kg)
- The highest three-lift total ever made by an American[6]
When measured for the 1972 Olympics, he weighed 321.4 lb (145.8 kg) at a height of 6 ft 1.75 in (1.8733 m).
Strongman career
Patera competed in the inaugural World's Strongest Man contest in 1977, finishing third behind Bruce Wilhelm and Bob Young.
Being a legitimate weightlifter and strongman, Patera also performed feats of strength during his wrestling career. On an episode of Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, in 1978, Patera and Tony Atlas performed various feats of strength, including driving nails through boards, blowing up a hot water bottle until it popped, bending spikes wrapped in a towel and bending bars over their necks.[11]
Professional wrestling career
Patera became a "strongman" in professional wrestling in 1973, following his weightlifting career. After a stint in the AWA, his first major feud was in the Mid-Atlantic territory against then United States Heavyweight Champion Johnny Valentine, with Patera as the babyface. The Patera-Valentine house show runs were set up by a TV angle in which Valentine would draw a name out of a fishbowl every week, and the next week wrestle the man whose name he drew. For the first few weeks, Valentine drew the names of one jobber after another, all the time voicing his opposition to wrestling Patera. Finally, Valentine drew a name – and it was Patera's. Patera then appeared on screen and revealed that he had replaced every slip of paper with one that said "Ken Patera". The next week, the two men met in a 10-minute time limit match on TV, with Patera putting Valentine under with a headlock/chinlock when the bell rang to signify the time limit had expired. Officially, the match ended in a draw, but with Patera on the verge of defeating Valentine (who had been portrayed as nearly unbeatable) on television. The two were matched in a series of house show main events, with Valentine always coming out on top and retaining the U.S. championship.
Patera wrestled mainly as a heel for the
Patera was an integral part of
In the WWF, Patera resumed his feud with Hogan, challenging him for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship on May 25, 1985 at the
Shortly after his return, Patera ruptured the bicep tendon in his right arm, which led him to miss some time and re-emerge afterward with a stiff and bulky full-length brace for protection. Within six months, Patera was being defeated by newer, younger talent and found himself floundering in a mid-card tag team with fellow Oregonian
Patera returned to the AWA in early 1989 and unsuccessfully challenged the new AWA world champion Larry Zbyszko for the title. He then teamed with Brad Rheingans as "the Olympians." The team defeated Badd Company for the AWA World Tag Team Championship shortly thereafter, but their reign was brief. Fellow weightlifter-turned-wrestler Wayne Bloom challenged Patera to a "car-lifting challenge" in order to get a title shot for him and his partner, Mike Enos. When it was Patera's turn to lift, Enos and manager Johnny Valiant attacked and (kayfabe) injured Patera and Rheingans. This led to the AWA stripping Patera and Rheingans of the title. Rheingans left wrestling for several months in order to have a legitimate knee operation. Patera continued to feud with Bloom and Enos until he left the AWA. Upon his return to the AWA in early 1990, Rheingans resumed the feud until the AWA's demise.
Patera went on to wrestle for Herb Abrams' UWF, as well as PWA and on independent cards primarily in the Minnesota area well into the 1990s, sometimes even promoting his own events. On August 12, 2011, Patera made a special in-ring appearance at Juggalo Championship Wrestling's "Legends & Icons" event, facing Bob Backlund in a losing effort.
Personal life
Patera is the younger brother of Jack Patera, who coached the NFL's Seattle Seahawks from 1976 to 1982. He is also the brother of former San Francisco 49ers player Dennis Patera.
He has been married (and divorced) three times and has two daughters.[16]
On April 6, 1984, Patera was denied service after hours at a McDonald's restaurant in Waukesha, Wisconsin, prompting the angry wrestler to throw a rock through a window of the building (Patera claims that a former employee threw the rock, but he received the blame). He and fellow AWA heel Masa Saito later assaulted the police officers sent to arrest Patera at the hotel where they were sharing a room. Sixteen months later, at which point Patera was in the WWF, he was sentenced to two years in prison.[1][17]
In July 2016, Patera was named part of a class action lawsuit filed against WWE which alleged that wrestlers incurred traumatic brain injuries during their tenure and that the company concealed the risks of injury. The suit was litigated by attorney Konstantine Kyros, who has been involved in a number of other lawsuits against WWE.[18] In September 2018, US District Judge Vanessa Lynne Bryant dismissed the lawsuit.[19] In September 2020, an appeal for the lawsuit was dismissed by a federal appeals court.[20]
Championships and accomplishments
- American Wrestling Association
- 2 times) – with Brad Rheingans (1) and Jerry Blackwell(1)
- Cauliflower Alley Club
- Continental Wrestling Association
- Georgia Championship Wrestling
- Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling
- NWA Big Time Wrestling
- NWA Tri-State
- NWA Tri-State Brass Knuckles Championship (1 time)
- Killer Karl Kox
- Pro Wrestling America
- PWA Tag Team Championships (1 time) - with Baron von Raschke
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year(1977, 1981)
- PWI ranked him No. 127 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003
- PWI ranked him No. 75 of the 100 best tag teams of the "PWI Years" – with Jerry Blackwell in 2003
- Southwest Championship Wrestling
- St. Louis Wrestling Club
- NWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
- St. Louis Wrestling Hall of Fame (class of 2015)
- Universal Wrestling Association
- UWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[24]
- World Wrestling Federation
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter
- Texas death match, May 19, 1980, New York City, New York)
- Most Impressive Wrestler(1980)
- Strongest Wrestler(1982)
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7434-9033-7.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7566-4190-0.
- ^ a b c d e Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Ken Patera". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
- ^ "Ken Patera". trackfield.brinkster.net. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
- ^ "Olympic Trials P146" (PDF). usatf.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 23, 2018. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e Gallagher, Marty (2012). "Ken Patera: Power Personified" (PDF). Starting Strength. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
- ^ Shepard, Greg. "Ken Patera" (PDF). biggerfasterstronger.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 10, 2013. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
- ^ "Pan American Games Weightlifting Medalists – Men (all weightclasses)". Hickok Sports.com. Archived from the original on March 28, 2005. Retrieved October 1, 2012.
- ^ "U. S. Weightlifting Champions – Men (all weightclasses)". Hickok Sports.com. Archived from the original on April 26, 2013. Retrieved October 1, 2012.
- ^ Bruce Wilhelm, Ken Patera, Pat Casey. Cbass.com (March 25, 1967). Retrieved on July 14, 2016.
- ^ "Napalm Jedd Johnson of the Diesel Crew: Ken Patera – Feats of Strength". Napalmjedd.blogspot.com. August 12, 2007. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
- ISBN 978-1-4928-2597-5.
- ^ "Ken Patera". Obsessed with wrestling. Archived from the original on April 1, 2010. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
- The Score Satellite Radio. Archived from the originalon January 1, 2011. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
- ISBN 978-1492825975.
- ^ Murphy, Ryan (November 11, 2010). "Catching up with Ken Patera: Part 2". wwe.com. Retrieved January 4, 2015.
- ^ rfvideo Archived April 6, 2019, at the Wayback Machine. rfvideo. Retrieved on July 14, 2016.
- ^ "WWE sued in wrestler class action lawsuit featuring Jimmy 'Superfly' Snuka, Paul 'Mr Wonderful' Orndorff". FoxSports.com. Fox Entertainment Group (21st Century Fox). July 18, 2015. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
- ^ Robinson, Byron (September 22, 2018). "Piledriver: WWE uses 'Hell in a Cell' as springboard to future shows". Montgomery Advertiser. Retrieved October 23, 2018.
- ^ "Former WWE Wrestlers' Lawsuit Over Brain Damage Is Dismissed". US News. September 9, 2020. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
- ^ Arn Anderson, Paul Orndorff, Trish Stratus And More To Be Honored By Cauliflower Alley Club. PWInsider.com (February 16, 2016). Retrieved on July 14, 2016.
- ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
- ^ "NWA United States Heavyweight Title (1967-1968/05) - American Heavyweight Title (1968/05-1986/02)". Wrestling-Titles. Retrieved December 26, 2019.
- ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
Further reading
- Milo, July 1994.
External links
- Ken Patera at IMDb
- Ken Patera's profile at Cagematch.net , Wrestlingdata.com