Pat Patterson passed away on December 2 at the age of 79, leaving the WWE Universe with a heavy heart.
Pat Patterson was suffering from cancer for a few years. He was rushed to a Miami hospital on November 27 with a blood clot in liver. He passed away there owing to liver failure 5 days later.
Speaking to Ryan Satin a day after Pat Patterson’s demise, Triple H talked about the kind of impact that he had on every aspect of WWE. Patterson was not only the first Intercontinental Champion and the creator of Royal Rumble, but also a “soul-driving creative force”, in The Game’s words.
No words can describe what he gave to us. His body as an in-ring performer, his mind as a storyteller, and his spirit as a beloved member of our large @WWE family. I will miss him for so many reasons… it’s never goodbye, it’s see ya down the road. Love you, Pat. Abooze
— Triple H (@TripleH) December 2, 2020
Triple H calls Pat Patterson the second-most influential entity in WWE
It is no secret that Pat Patterson was considered to be the unofficial second-in-command to Vince McMahon in WWE. He was heavily involved in everything WWE did, be it in terms of creative or business.
Triple H named Pat Patterson a ‘tight second’ for him, when it comes to the most influential people in the business, right after Mr. McMahon.
“If you made a list of the most influential people in this business, and I am not just talking about your in-ring career. From the moment you get into it to the time you’re not in it, most influential people – probably Vince is top of the list, right? I don’t know how anybody could be higher than that. But Pat would be in there as a tight second to me on that because I don’t know anybody with the longevity and the contributions to it.”
Triple H went on to highlight how the influence of Pat Patterson runs deep. He said that every decision he takes, every interaction he has, or everything he creates as part of WWE has some influence of Pat Patterson.
“All the way through to the end, there isn’t a day that goes by for me at the Performance Center. Whether I am talking to talent, or producing television, or writing something, I am doing anything that has to do with WWE. There isn’t some piece of Pat that’s attached to it. A learning that I got from him – something, it’s just always there.”
“I said yesterday as we were all lining up to get on the stage for the tribute to him. I said you know everybody that wants to be a part of this from crew to across the board should come up here. And they all ran up there, and I said that I know there’s a lot of you that maybe never even met him. But trust me, this could be the most influential guy to your career that you will have an opportunity to make a tribute for. Because even if you never met him and you believe that ‘I never met Pat, he didn’t really have anything to do with me.’ He does, because everybody that came before you, that’s teaching you on any level, something that they had came from Pat’s learning tree. That’s not an exaggerated statement in any way.”
