How openly gay WWF legend Pat Patterson left his mark on WrestleMania
As the buzz around WrestleMania grows, we look at the first openly gay wrestler Pat Patterson’s contributions to the annual event.The main event of the first WrestleMania pitted WWF champion Hulk Hogan and TV star Mr.
T against the villainous Rowdy Piper and ‘Mr. Wonderful’ Paul Orndoff, with the latter pair also having ‘Cowboy’ Bob Orton in their corner.Such a big match needed a no-nonsense referee to maintain order, and with the first WrestleMania bringing the worlds of wrestling and celebrity together, it was decided that Muhammad Ali should be the man for the job.However, this part of the plan had to be changed.
This was 1985 and Ali had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease the year before. After talking to Ali, in stepped Pat Patterson, who told World Wrestling Federation (WWF) owner Vince McMahon that the famous boxer couldn’t referee due to his mental and physical state.Patterson himself debuted as a wrestler in the WWF in 1979, becoming the first Intercontinental Champion in the same year.
While he came out as gay in his personal life in the ’70s, it wasn’t until 2014 that it was acknowledge publicly in the sport.
