As we remember the late Pat Patterson, we have learned a lot about the people in pro wrestling he loved. Stories about all the people he pushed and advocated for have poured out in the wake of his tragic passing, but one person we have known for some time he was a fan of is Dolph Ziggler.
There’s a lot to like about Ziggler, whether it’s his superstar looks, excellent promo skills, or how he makes his opponents often look great in the ring. Ziggler’s skills have taken him to the top of the card on two occasions as he’s a former two-time World Champion. He was also at one point one of the most over superstars in the company, and maybe rightfully so.
On the recent Talk Is Jericho, Dave Meltzer and Chris Jericho talked about Pat Patterson, with Jericho mentioning how high Patterson was on Dolph Ziggler. Jericho ultimately revealed Patterson urged Vince McMahon to give Dolph a push.
“Pat would always stand up for Dolph Ziggler in the booking meetings. [He would say], ‘we gotta push Dolph, we gotta push Dolph, we gotta push Dolph.’”
Unfortunately, Patterson pushing hard for Dolph wound up backfiring pretty badly. Vince McMahon took those urges and decided to bury Ziggler as a rib on Patterson, according to Jericho.
I think that almost led to Dolph getting heat for it to where they would start doing the opposite just to pi*s Pat off just to have him lose a lot. You know how Vince thinks. Let’s rib Pat and bury Dolph Ziggler because it’s funny to me even though it’s a detriment to your company to do that.
It’s a shame what they did to Ziggler, because just to rib Pat Patterson, they played games with someone’s career. Ziggler still seems to be doing well for himself with his occasional outside venture, including doing something great for an indy wrestler.
h/t to Wrestling News for the quote
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