The following are highlights of a recent interview with Pat Patterson. In the interview, Patterson discusses the origins of the Royal Rumble match concept.
On Vince McMahon’s initial reaction to the Royal Rumble match concept: “I used to talk to Vince [McMahon] about the Royal Rumble idea, even though I didn’t call it by that name, and Vince couldn’t visualize that.”
On pitching the idea to NBC executive Dick Ebersole: “I described what the concept would be and Dick Ebersol went crazy. He loved it. He said, ‘That would be so great for live television. Every two minutes another wrestler comes running in and you don’t know who it is until you hear the buzzer!’ So Vince went, ‘You’re on your own. You’re going to have to do it yourself. You’re going to have to produce it.’ Holy crap. It sounded good in my head, but to put it together was another story.”
Check out the complete interview online at WWE.com.
