Hey now, this is the Getting Over Wrestling podcast, and we start today's show on a somber note as

Paterson, born Pierre Claremont, died this week at age 79.

Patterson was born in Montreal, started wrestling at age 17, and had a 42-year career,

at least in front of fans in his various roles.

He actually changed his name to Paterson from Pierre Clement officially,

formally, legally in 1998.

Widely considered the first truly openly gay wrestler, people knew his peers in the 1960s,

and he went public with it in the 1970s. His career

really took off in California, made his way to then the WWF in 1979, and immediately became

basically the only last, there was only two ever, WWF North American Champion. The title existed for

about four months. WWF told fans that Patterson merged the North American title with

the South American Championship, which never actually existed. During a tournament in Rio

de Janeiro, Brazil, that didn't happen, to create what is now known as the

Intercontinental Championship. That means that Paterson was the first person to hold the title,

and that title itself is now the second most legendary title in WWF history. What's interesting

is Paterson actually only held the title one time, and he was never

the WWF World Heavyweight Champion, but still that Intercontinental Title reign is the 22nd

longest ever. Patterson actually had a match of the year, according to the wrestling observer,

back in 1981 against Sergeant Slaughter. He retired from the ring

formerly at age 43 in 1984, but Vince McMahon kept him on the road as an agent and producer,

and later, I believe, as a vice president. Four years after his retirement, NBC wanted a special

wrestling event to go head to head with the bunkhouse stampede from Jim Crockett promotions.

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