Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson issued the following statement on Instagram in tribute to the late Pat Patterson:
“RIP Pat. You’ll be missed ?
Rough phone calls to get this morning to tell me, our dear family member, Pat Patterson who was my pro wrestling mentor and father figure has passed away.
A @wwe hall of famer, TRUE trailblazer and one of the most brilliantly creative wrestling minds the industry has ever known.
He was also responsible for calling Vince McMahon when I was training to become a pro wrestler (my $7 bucks days) and said, ‘Vince you gotta see this kid work in the ring’.
Vince flew me to RAW a few weeks later and I had my first match EVER in Corpus Christie, Texas.
The rest is history and years later, here I am writing this post.
* cue Sinatra’s MY WAY (Pat’s favorite to sing)
…I’ve lived a life that’s full,
I traveled each and every highway
But more, much more than this
I did it my way…
Love you, Pat.
And THANK YOU.
I’ll see you down the road ??”
