Sami Zayn reflects on the joy that Pat Patterson took in living life day by day.
The wrestling world lost one of its most respected minds when the inaugural WWE Intercontinental Champion, Pat Patterson passed away on Wednesday, December 2, 2020. Since his passing, many in the industry have spoken about the impact Pat had on their personal journey. Even Vince McMahon would tweet about his longtime close confidante.
The current WWE Intercontinental Champion, Sami Zayn, spoke about Pat Patterson's impact on his personal and professional life on the most recent episode of WWE Talking Smack. Zayn, who is French-Canadian much like Pat was, also spoke about Pat Patterson vouching for Sami Zayn's ability directly to Vince McMahon.
“He would sing my praises to everybody and anybody that would listen,” Sami began. “He was such a fan of mine in the most humbling sort of way. He really genuinely believed in my ability at a time when I was still trying to make my name in NXT and just kind of trying to prove myself, trying to get an opportunity I could. He was the first one to really, and I mean really, push for me with all the higher-ups, with Vince himself. He was always saying, 'you got to use this guy' and whatever. But anyway, that's just from a professional standpoint.”
He continued, “From a personal standpoint, there's so much that could be said about him because he had a real 'joie de vivre,' which is a French term for 'lust and a love for life'. He truly, like he knew how to live. We would always talk about how he did the Snowbird thing, you know, Summer, he wanted to be in Montreal because Montreal, as you know, is a world-class city in the summer. When it got cold, he wanted nothing to do with it. It was off to Florida. He just had a way about him. We would always talk about delicious food, about the wonderful cities all over America. You know, we had a lot in common and I don't just have this love for him because of how he spoke up for me professionally. He genuinely had this lust for life that was just so admirable that I will definitely take with me, you know, as a life lesson for years to come. He knew how to live."
You can view other reactions to the unfortunate passing of Pat Patterson from names within the wrestling industry at this link.
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