• Look Back In History
• Pmessages
• Quiz
• Stump The Staff
• Top Fifty
• Close

Joe Babinsack Looks At The Career Of Ken Patera

Posted: Jul 6th 2008 By: CMBurnham

Ok, ok. For the past few months, I?ve promised to write about Ken Patera.

And, it?s about time I get to it.

I?ve watched quite a few matches with ?The World?s Strongest Man? and have been collecting bits and pieces of data, not just from the typical Wikipedia search and countless hours of watching DVDs, but from watching some shoot interviews, pouring over documents and reading various other print interviews.

My conclusion is thus:

Ken Patera was the perfect heel.

From the early 1970?s to the early 1990?s, Patera had runs in all the major territories, and notably in the ?big three? that were the WW(W)F, the NWA and the AWA. He was managed by the likes of Bobby Heenan, the Grand Wizard of Wrestling and James J. Dillon. He challenged for the big belts, and hand a strong run against Bruno Sammartino in 1976, and was a great challenger for Bob Backlund a little later -- he won the Wrestling Observer Newsletter?s Match of the Year in 1980, for a Texas Death Match with Mr. Backlund.

Most impressively, from April until November in 1980, Ken Patera held two very important belts, the WWF Intercontinental and the Missouri Heavyweight Championship ? simultaneously.

Sure, that was before the WWF went national and made itself pro wrestling?s biggest threat, but the importance of those two belts cannot be ignored. The Missouri Heavyweight belt, the top title of the St Louis promotion, was often a precursor to the NWA belt.

The Intercontinental belt has floundered over the years, but it was for a long period of time the biggest belt underneath the WWF?s Heavyweight Champion Neither of those belts was a mere prop; and both were important for drawing fans, for being a stepping stone and were only held by top notch competitors.

The boom and bust of the past ten years has not been kind to the legacy of Mr. Patera.

At the peak of his career, in the mid-1980s?, he had an unfortunate run-in with the law, and a glass window of a McDonalds, that seemingly derailed any potential he established. When he returned, he was back in the mix of the WWF, but when announcers start suggesting retirement on-air, it?s a pretty strong signal that the guy is on his way out.

Despite mixing it up with Andre, Ken Patera ended up with the dying embers of the AWA, and while he challenged the ever lovable Larry Zbyszko, his career faded away as a member of the ?Olympians? tag team with Brad Rheingans. There was a cool angle with Johnny Valiant/Mike Enos/Wayne Bloom that tied into the one time Olympic Weightlifting legend (and don?t call it powerlifting!) but ever since, it?s been low key.

Of course, with Shoot Interviews and having announced the event that became Wal-Mart?s top selling pro wrestling DVD, Ken Patera?s name still lingers on in the industry.

Watching some of the shoot stuff, I could really catch on to the wit and perspective of Mr. Patera. His interplay with the interviewer is priceless?coming to an interview ill-prepared is not a good thing. But Ken isn?t crushing the poor sap physically, he?s swatting the guy around verbally, and it just shows how on the ball, sarcastic and psychologically minded Patera can be.

Obviously, from watching film, he was that way in the ring.

There are various avenues to explore in looking at a great heel. Ken had them all. He was physically imposing, had a great background, sold like a big baby, cheated to win, came up with catch phrases and mannerisms, and worked the match from various areas of psychology. Ken Patera was one of the great heels of his era, if not all time.

Look, you don?t get the athletic ability to snatch nearly 400 pounds, clean and press over 500, or clean and jerk that much as well, without having big guns and/or a big frame. Over the years, Ken Patera went from big powerful guy to impressive physique. He admits to steroid use, but considering his commentary and his peak performances in the Pan-American games, Olympics and trials and such, he obviously knew how to use them.

Which is still a questionable situation, but when a knowledgeable guy starts talking about people who never come off a cycle, there?s an interesting distinction?

It?s worthy of a digression. I certainly don?t want to condone steroid use at all, but when debating the issue, the reality is that abuse of steroids seems to be the culprit (mixed with drugs) of a high percentage of the deaths of the past two decades. Rarely, it seems, do we speak of someone just using enhancement drugs, but abusing them.

Again, this is a point that I don?t want to blur, but if anyone points to people using enhancement drugs and wants to argue legality, that?s one issue. The greater and more important one is that obviously far too many talented but undersized individuals don?t know when to stop or what to do with the drugs when they get them.

There?s something in this perspective that I wish more informed individuals would take up, because I certainly don?t have the insight to run with it any more.

So, back to Patera.

What Ken had was a physicality to tower over opponents, and provided an imposing visual ? massive arms and shoulders ? that any fan could appreciate as powerful. Of course, he had the background ? the aforementioned lifting accomplishments, medals and Olympic experience to build upon. You knew from sight and from reputation that this was truly a claimant to ?World?s Strongest Man? status.

But for his size and physique, what made Ken Patera?s work stand out was his ability to sell. He could do it to the point of comedic relief, but more importantly, he could ? and would ? sell for the likes of Jose Lothario, Pat Patterson or Antonio Inoki. And by doing so, he made the good guy look capable and made the match far more interesting.

The thing is, Ken played the chicken not just when he had to, but when he was supposed to. He?d take the offense, and then when the good guy came around, he was ducking outside of the ropes, running out of the ring or otherwise taking a cheap shot to stop the come-back.

There?s only so far a no-sell approach can make $. With Patera, you can just see that he understood the process and the psychology, and he enhanced the matches all the more with the interactions with the crowd ?Whoooo!? and ?Get up, boy!? and his solid promos and his demeanor.

Patera?s most famous line, stolen by someone else (like that other catch-phrase, but another guy) was ?Win if you can, lose if you must, but always cheat.?

Patera seemed to know that as the bad guy, you only won by cheating. While the fans knew he was capable, it was all the more inciting to them that this big, powerful guy bent the rules and didn?t just rely upon his ability.

That part of wrestling craft is almost forgotten these days.

It?s one thing to play the heel, it?s another thing to make the role work. Ken Patera clearly had the ability to work the crowd, to sell for his opponent and to make the fans want to see him be defeated.

That?s the making of a perfect heel.

Tags: Ken Patera, NWA, WWF, Jose Lothario