10 Things You Didn't Know About Pat Patterson
8. He Created The Royal Rumble
To some, the Royal Rumble is the most eagerly-anticipated PPV on the WWE calendar. Sure, WrestleMania has the glitz and glamour, and SummerSlam is always a major spectacle, but there's just so much intrigue and optimism that surrounds WWE's annual January event.
Pat Patterson is the person responsible for the creation of the Royal Rumble match, with him coming up with the idea in 1987.
The first Royal Rumble special took place on January 24, 1988, with the event airing live on the USA Network rather than being on pay-per-view. Before that, though, WWE actually tried the match concept out on a St. Louis live event.
WWE doesn't acknowledge it as such, but the first ever Royal Rumble was on October 4, 1987, and it was One Man Gang who emerged as the winner. For the first 'proper' Royal Rumble, of course, it was 'Hacksaw' Jim Duggan who was the victor.
It's impossible to think of professional wrestling and not think of the Royal Rumble match and PPV as being a part of the furniture these days, and it's all thanks to the genius of Pat Patterson that the Rumble came into existence.