Ken Patera
Acting
Biography
Kenneth Wayne Patera is an American retired professional wrestler, Olympic weightlifter, and strongman competitor from the United States. Ken Patera, from a Czech-American family, was strong and extraordinarily athletic, with many people in his family also successful in athletics. His brother, Jack Patera, played football for the Baltimore Colts and was the head coach for the Seattle Seahawks from 1976 until 1982. His brother, Dennis Patera, played for the San Francisco 49ers. Ken played football at Cleveland High School in Portland, Oregon, and wrestled at 193 pounds. Track and field was his first love, however, and he competed in the high hurdles and high jump, but a serious ankle injury forced him to switch to the shot put and discus in high school. Ken grew to become one of the nation's premier track and field weight throwers, competing at Brigham Young University. After his disappointing 6th-place finish in the shot-put at the 1968 Olympic trials, he turned his full and complete attention towards Olympic weightlifting. Before becoming a professional wrestler, Patera was a highly decorated Olympic weightlifter. He won several medals at the 1971 Pan-American Games (including gold in the weightlifting total), and finished second in the 1971 World Weightlifting Championships just behind Vasily Alekseyev. On his native soil, Patera won four consecutive U.S. Weightlifting Championships in the super heavyweight class from 1969 to 1972. He was the first American to clean and jerk over 500 lbs (227 kg), which he accomplished at the 1972 Senior Nationals in Detroit. He is also the only American to clean and press 500 lbs (227 kg), and was the last American super heavyweight for years to excel at weightlifting at an international level.[6] At the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany, Patera was expected to be a serious competitor to Vasily Alekseyev, but he failed to total and was not among the medal recipients. Vasily Alekseyev even stated to the media that Patera was even stronger than him, illustrated by a 550-pound overhead push press (off the racks) that Patera had allegedly done in practice. Nevertheless, when it came to competing, Alekseyev was always the winner. After the clean and press (a lift in which Patera was disproportionately talented) was eliminated from competition, Patera retired from weightlifting.
Known For
The biggest WWE Superstars of the late 1980s and early '90s settle their differences in the ring on "Wrestling Challenge"; featuring exciting matches and memorable interviews, this weekly television series captures an important era of WWE history.
WWF Wrestling Challenge
A professional wrestling television program produced by the World Wrestling Federation banner on NBC airing in place of Saturday Night Live. The series was made up entirely of star vs. star bouts in a time when weekly programming consisted primarily of established stars dominating enhancement talent.
WWE Saturday Night's Main Event
The American professional wrestling promotion WWE has been broadcasting PPV events since the 1980s, when its classic "Big Four" events (Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series) were first established with the company's very first PPV being WrestleMania in 1985. The company's PPV lineup expanded to a monthly basis in the mid-1990s following the introduction of the In Your House series of pay-per views before expanding even further in the mid-2000s during the first WWE brand extension. Following WWE's original brand extension in 2002, the company promoted two touring rosters, Raw and SmackDown, representing its television programs, Raw and SmackDown. The traditional "Big Four" continued to showcase the entire roster, while the remaining PPV events alternated between Raw and SmackDown cards. In March 2007, WWE announced that all subsequent PPV events would feature performers from all brands. In 2008, all WWE PPV events began broadcasting in high-definition.
WWE Pay Per View
Discover rarely-seen matches from the 1970s, '80s, and '90s featuring countless WWE Hall of Famers such as Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair.
WWE Old School
The greatest WWE Superstars of the 1975s & 1982s, including Andre the Giant, Bob Backlund, and Bruno Sammartino compete in exciting matches.
WWF All-Star Wrestling
Hosts Vince McMahon and Lord Alfred Hayes welcome the popular WWE Superstars and feature entertaining segments in WWE's original talk show.
Tuesday Night Titans
Athletes compete for a place in the World Finals.
The World's Strongest Man
Relive the most intense, most personal rivalries in WWE history through this one-hour WWE Network original series. Featuring such rivalries as Mr. McMahon vs. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan vs. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, The Rock vs. John Cena, and more, WWE Rivalries tells the in-ring and backstage stories about these unforgettable rivals.
WWE Rivalries
The first nationally syndicated WWE television series, Championship Wrestling features numerous WWE Hall of Famers and Legends in action.
WWF Championship Wrestling
The American Wrestling Association takes its unique brand of sports-entertainment to locations around the world; these classic AWA events feature the top competitors in the Minnesota-based territory, and many were never broadcast on television.
AWA Arena Shows
An ambitious and wide-ranging documentary exploring Andre’s upbringing in France, his celebrated career in WWE, and his forays in the entertainment world.
Andre the Giant
The greatest moments from WWE's long and storied history with Madison Square Garden.
WWE: Best of WWE at Madison Square Garden
Survivor Series (1988) was the second annual Survivor Series pay-per-view professional wrestling event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It took place on November 24, 1988 (Thanksgiving night in the United States) and was held at the Richfield Coliseum, in Richfield, Ohio. The main event was a ten-man Survivor Series match between a team captained by The Mega Powers (Hulk Hogan and WWF Champion Randy Savage) and a team captained by The Twin Towers (Akeem and The Big Boss Man). Hogan and Savage were the sole "survivors" of the match. The undercard featured three Survivor Series matches between mid-card wrestlers.
WWE Survivor Series 1988
Showcasing the legendary and immeasurable power of the Eighth Wonder of the World, Andre the Giant in this home video classic; Andre is in action against some of his most memorable foes, including Big John Studd, The Wild Samoans and Ken Patera.
Andre the Giant
It's a WWE Championship with a rich and storied history and the biggest names in sports entertainment have worn its gold on the road to immortality. The Intercontinental Championship traced its history back to the 1970's, and has been held by current and future Hall of Fame superstars, including The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, The Ultimate Warrior, Bret "Hit Man" Hart, Mr. Perfect, Eddie Guerrero, Edge, "Macho Man" Randy Savage, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, and so many more. Throughout the summer, fans will vote for their favorite Intercontinental Championship matches from each decade, with the top vote-getters being collected in this 3-DVD set.
WWE: The History Of The Intercontinental Championship
Much like 'The Big Event' held in August of 1986, Wrestlefest '88 was a supercard meant for the live audience only, but ticket sales were large enough to justify recording it for Coliseum Video, with commentary added in afterwards. Taped from Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the latter part of July 1988, with the wonderful combination of Sean Mooney, Lord Alred Hayes, and Superstar Billy Graham on the call. The main event was Hulk Hogan versus Andre the Giant in a steel cage match. The British Bulldogs challenged Tag Team Champions Demolition while WWF Champion Randy 'Macho Man' Savage defended against challenger Ted DiBiase. There were 15 matches total.
WWE WrestleFest
November 26th, 1987, Thanksgiving Day from the Richfield Coliseum in Richfield, Ohio. Matches featured Survivor Series Tag Team Elimination Matches • Brutus Beefcake, Jake Roberts, Jim Duggan, Randy Savage & Ricky Steamboat vs. Danny Davis, Hercules, King Harley Race, Ron Bass & The Honky Tonk Man • Rockin' Robin, The Fabulous Moolah, Itsuki Yamazaki & Noriyo Tateno & Velvet McIntyre vs. Dawn Marie, Donna Christianello, Judy Martin, Leilani Kai & The Sensational Sherri • Demolition, The Bolsheviks, The Dream Team, The Hart Foundation & The Islanders vs. Strike Force, The British Bulldogs, The Killer Bees, The Rougeau Brothers & The Young Stallions • World Champion Hulk Hogan, Bam Bam Bigelow, Don Muraco, Ken Patera & Paul Orndorff vs. Butch Reed, Andre The Giant, King Kong Bundy, Rick Rude & The One Man Gang. The event was broadcast live on pay per view and was promoted by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). The venue attendance was reported to be 21,300.
WWE Survivor Series 1987
Frank Bass (Ed Asner) is an honest guy trying to make a living in the cut throat world of professional wrestling, and he's gonna make it work - even if he dies trying! But first - he'll have to strong-arm his way through all the mobsters, gamblers, promoters and fight fixers and help his past-his-prime wrestler once again win a championship belt. Features appearances from real-life legendary wrestlers and AWA superstars Verne Gagne, Rick Flair, Superstar Billy Graham, Dusty Rhodes, Dick the Bruiser, Ray Stevens, Dory Funk Jr., Ken Patera, Billy Robinson, Dan Gable, Eddie Graham, Dick Murdoch, Vincent J. McMahon, and more.
The Wrestler
WWE SummerSlam was the first annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view event. It was produced by the World Wrestling Federation and took place on August 29, 1988 in Madison Square Garden, located in New York, New York. The PPV was created to help the company compete against rival promotion World Championship Wrestling. It was one of the first four annual pay-per-view events produced by the WWF. The main match of the preliminary bouts was the WWF Intercontinental Championship match between The Ultimate Warrior and the reigning champion The Honky Tonk Man. The Ultimate Warrior won the match in approximately thirty seconds to end the longest Intercontinental Championship reign. The main event was a match pitting The Mega Powers (Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage) against their long-time rivals, The Mega Bucks (Ted DiBiase and André the Giant). Hogan and Savage won the match after Miss Elizabeth distracted the special guest referee by removing her skirt to reveal a bikini bottom.
WWE SummerSlam 1988
The Best of WWE brought to you on home video!