Profile of Ken Patera on Famous Like Me

Ken Patera was a former heel professional wrestler.

Career

Ken Patera was one of the first WWF strongmen. He also wrestled for quite some time in the AWA. Patera was a former Olympic Weightlifter and USA powerlifter. His greatest success was as an Olympic Weightlifter. He was the first American to clean and jerk 500 lbs and the only american to clean and press 500 lbs. He was a serious competitor to the Soviet legend Vasily Alexeev but he failed to total at the 1972 Olympic games. After the press (a lift Patera was disproportionately talented in) was eliminated from competition, Patera's weightlifting career was over. Patera, was arguably, the last American to excel at Weightlifting on an international level. Patera became a professional wrestler in the old AWA, he also had great success in NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions, and the WWF. At the height of his career he simultaneously held the WWF's Intercontinental Championship, and the NWA's Missouri Championship - two of the most important non World Championship titles of that era.

He also did some jail time with Mr. Saito for throwing a boulder through a window at McDonald's when it was closed and they were hungry in the 1980's. Here is the story of Patera's arest in 1984 courtesy of Buck Woordward where he answered this question in the Q & A section of Pro Wrestling Insider...

On April 6, 1984, Ken Patera and Masa Saito went to a McDonald's in Waukesha, Wisconsin that had closed for the night and, when they were refused service, Patera threw a boulder through the front window. When police showed up at the Holiday Inn where the wrestlers were staying, a brawl broke out between the grapplers and police officers. A short time later, Patera left the AWA for the WWF. In June 1985, Patera was convicted on two counts of battery on a peace officer, and one count of criminal damage to property. Saito was convicted on three counts of battery on a peace officer, and one count of obstructing a peace officer. Both men were sentenced to two years in prison. After Patera had served his time, WWF brought him back to the company, airing some vignettes entitled "The Ken Patera Story" chronicling his career and the incident. However, to make Patera a babyface, they concocted a story that former manager Bobby Heenan had "sold him down the river" and abandoned him.

Profile

• Height: 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
• Weight: 264 lbs.
• Birthday: November 6, 1942
• Hometown: Portland, Oregon
• Debut: 1973
• Trainer: Verne Gagne
• Managers: Adnan El Kassey, Bobby Heenan

Championships and accomplishments

• 1-time WWF Intercontinental Champion
• 2-time NWA Missouri Heavyweight Champion
• 2-time NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Champion
• 1-time NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Champion (with Big John Studd)
• 2-time AWA World Tag Team Champion (with Brad Rheingans & Jerry Blackwell)
• 2-time Mid-Southern International Heavyweight Champion
• 1-time WCCW American Heavyweight Champion
• 1-time Georgia Heavyweight Champion
• 1-time Tri-State Tag Team Champion (with Killer Kox)
• 1-time PWA Tag Team Champion (with Baron Von Raschke)
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) ranked him # 127 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003. PWI also ranked him # 75 of the best tag teams of the "PWI Years" with Jerry Blackwell.

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