Post by Pennyroyal_Tea (admin) on Oct 22, 2004 12:26:02 GMT -5
In what is a major blow to the company, long-time WWE employee Pat Patterson quit the company last week citing Triple H's push as his main reason. Casual fans may not be that familiar with Patterson, but besides being one of the all-time great wrestlers and one half of a legendary (and perhaps greatest of all time) tag team with the late Ray Stevens, Patterson has been a booking genius behind the scenes since the '80s.
In fact, when Vince McMahon first went national and changed the wrestling industry, it was Patterson who was his right-hand man in terms of coming up with many of the most successful angles and characters in the business.
More recently, Patterson has been involved in a less formal way, flying in for television and pay-per-views, and helping to lay out matches and finishes.
In this area he is regarded by many of the boys as the best in the company.
Internet rumours that Pat quit solely over Triple H's push may be somewhat exaggerated, as it is fairly well known that Patterson had wanted to quit for a while, or at least scale back his schedule. An avid and very good golfer, Patterson had not, for the past few years, been looking for full-time employment.
Rumour had it that every time Pat tried to quit before, they would pull him back in, so by taking the stand against Triple H, it may have allowed him the flexibility to walk away, as it would be hard to stick around after that.
Having said that, Patterson stating that Triple H was too much the focus of the show (apparently not the first time he had made that known) does, once again, and in a very direct way, raise the question of the direction of the company. Triple H is a great worker, and on many levels Evolution has been successful, but it would be hard to deny that the show revolves around them.
Whether that is good or bad is a matter of opinion.
Questioning the person who holds the title in a company is as old as wrestling itself, but questioning the boss's son-in-law's role when the boss has a virtual monopoly on the industry is somewhat more of a new idea. For WWE, the larger issue may not be whether Triple H should be the focus of the show, but rather how they will replace Pat Patterson's unique talent and brainpower.
Credit: canoe.ca
In fact, when Vince McMahon first went national and changed the wrestling industry, it was Patterson who was his right-hand man in terms of coming up with many of the most successful angles and characters in the business.
More recently, Patterson has been involved in a less formal way, flying in for television and pay-per-views, and helping to lay out matches and finishes.
In this area he is regarded by many of the boys as the best in the company.
Internet rumours that Pat quit solely over Triple H's push may be somewhat exaggerated, as it is fairly well known that Patterson had wanted to quit for a while, or at least scale back his schedule. An avid and very good golfer, Patterson had not, for the past few years, been looking for full-time employment.
Rumour had it that every time Pat tried to quit before, they would pull him back in, so by taking the stand against Triple H, it may have allowed him the flexibility to walk away, as it would be hard to stick around after that.
Having said that, Patterson stating that Triple H was too much the focus of the show (apparently not the first time he had made that known) does, once again, and in a very direct way, raise the question of the direction of the company. Triple H is a great worker, and on many levels Evolution has been successful, but it would be hard to deny that the show revolves around them.
Whether that is good or bad is a matter of opinion.
Questioning the person who holds the title in a company is as old as wrestling itself, but questioning the boss's son-in-law's role when the boss has a virtual monopoly on the industry is somewhat more of a new idea. For WWE, the larger issue may not be whether Triple H should be the focus of the show, but rather how they will replace Pat Patterson's unique talent and brainpower.
Credit: canoe.ca