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Q&A: ?Accepted? Co-Writer Talks Pat Patterson Memoir

Posted: Jun 8th 2016 By: John Corrigan

If any pro wrestling book deserves the clich? praise of ?you don?t have to be a wrestling fan to enjoy it,? it?s Pat Patterson?s memoir.

The WWE Hall of Famer opens up about his impoverished childhood in Montreal, his crisscrossing the territories from the 1960s to the 1980s, his status as Vince McMahon?s right hand man and his relationship with his 40-year tag partner outside the ring, Louie.

It?s an unprecedented view into the industry as the Blonde Bomber reveals how his homosexuality was treated by promoters and fellow grapplers. Beyond the Stooges and Alley Fight and Intercontinental Championship lies Patterson?s perpetual longing to be accepted by his fans, peers and most importantly, his father.

Patterson?s co-author is also a Montreal native and student of the game: Bertrand H?bert, who along with Paul Laprade wrote ?Mad Dogs, Midgets and Screw Jobs: The Untold Story of How Montreal Shaped the World of Wrestling,? winner of the 2013 Wrestling Observer Newsletter award for Best Pro Wrestling Book.

H?bert perfectly maintains Patterson?s voice throughout the book, allowing the reader to feel like they?re sitting at the bar with Pat, listening to his hilarious stories. H?bert met Patterson in 2013 while working for Canadian independent promotion Lutte TOW Wrestling, and volunteered to help the wrestling great with his book deal.

?Pat was looking for somebody who could hang with him without making it too work-related,? H?bert said. Traveling from Montreal to Florida, shadowing Patterson at a Smackdown taping to reminiscing over cocktails, H?bert lived every fan?s dream and as a result, produced a frolic down memory lane with one of pro wrestling?s most creative minds and entertaining performers.

?Accepted: How the First Gay Superstar Changed WWE? is available in August. 260-plus pages. $27.95. You can preorder at ECW Press.com.

John Corrigan: If Pat was to tell his life story ten years ago, I doubt it would be received as it is today.

Bertrand H?bert: ?Exactly. It?s probably also why Pat finally said it himself. Even though everybody already knew, it was important for him to finally say it publicly on Legend?s House. Today, society is ready for such a story. The timing worked perfectly.?

JC: Pat addresses many internet rumors in the book from his relationship with Sylvan Grenier to criticisms that he held back talent. When you brought these things up with Pat, did he even know about them?

BH: ?No. For a long time, there were a lot of guys who blamed the fact that Pat was gay on the fact they were never hired by WWE. That?s complete bullshit. It?s terrible that people use that against him. Even with the book, these rumors will never completely go away. It?s amazing because Pat was never even the guy who hired people. He was part of the group that gave opinions on guys, but he was never the guy who offered contracts. The best interview I?ve seen on Pat was Damian Demento for some reason. He said that everybody who ever said bad things about Pat was bullshitting because he?s been in a room with Pat and Pat never made a pass on him or anything like that. Everybody who became a star and worked with Pat will never say a bad word about him. These guys who never made it will always look for that weak spot where they can justify to their friends and families why they never made it. His reputation got better after the Attitude Era because you had all these guys like Chris Jericho speak very, very positive about Pat. But there was an era, in the province of Quebec, where every indy guy who never made it told me that it was because Pat was gay and they were not. If they had said things like that about a black man or an Asian man, people would have jumped the barricade. But because Pat was gay, nobody defended him against those blatant lies. For this guy, who has had so many lies told about him, to finally have the opportunity to tell the whole truth in one book, felt just. It was icing on the cake. That man is one of the last geniuses of the business left.?

JC: Growing up in Montreal, what did Pat Patterson mean to you?

BH: ?He was the biggest heel ever. When I was a kid, and Pat came back to Montreal in the early 1980s, I hated him. (laughs) To this day, people from Montreal who remember that time period come up to him and say, ?I hated your guts.? (laughs) It was that visceral because he was that French Canadian guy called Pat Patterson, speaking French and telling us he was the dream of the province of Quebec, but then telling us we were no good. He fought all the other French Canadian babyfaces like Dino Bravo, Rick Martel and the Rougeau brothers. Even though his matches weren?t often billed as the main event, often enough those matches closed the show because no one could follow him.?

JC: That?s an aspect of his career that many fans don?t even know about. Even with the WWE Network and the vast knowledge of the past available, most fans know Patterson for only three things: the Stooges, the Royal Rumble and the Intercontinental Championship.

BH: ?Oh yeah, and for me, his whole time in San Francisco. You?ve heard of Pat Patterson, Roy Shire and Ray Stevens. It?s folklore in wrestling. It?s this secret treasure. There?s not much about Roy Shire and there?s no Ray Stevens book, so to get Pat to talk about those days was amazing.?

JC: Were you surprised that Pat hadn?t experienced much discrimination during his career?

BH: ?Yes, it?s one of the big conclusions that we came up with as we were writing the book. Pat came into a lot of places where people weren?t really into a gay wrestler, and every time, he won everybody over. He changed everybody?s perception of what it was to be gay.?

JC: Was it Pat?s idea for Vince to write the forward?

BH: ?It was the idea from the start. I?ve never met Vince, but he and Pat have a very strong bond. They?ve been best friends since Pat vowed to Vince?s father that he would keep an eye on his son. At Pat Patterson Appreciation Night, Vince said that this man is a part of my family. That touched Pat very deeply.?

JC: A common trend in wrestling autobiographies, most recently with Bob Backlund?s and also found in Pat?s, is that the chapters on their childhood are even more riveting than the in-ring tales and road stories.

BH: ?It?s important to give context to their story. Pat comes from such humble beginnings that it?s amazing how far he made it. Everything in between, that dry sense of humor and all that, is all in there. Every minute that I spent with Pat was an incredible bonus for me on the whole project. He?s a wonderful human being and a great storyteller. For me, a bonafide fan of the wrestling industry, getting to pick his brain was amazing.?

JC: Is there anyone else you want to write a book about?

BH: ?Everybody. I would love to do a Michael Hayes and Fabulous Freebirds book. Guys like Mean Gene and Sgt. Slaughter. I?d love to do a real Sting book, too. Waking up every day to write about wrestling is a dream job for me.?