WWE History Vol. 4: The Olympians

Kurt Angle, so far the only Olympic gold medalist in amateur wrestling to work in WWE.
Kurt Angle, so far the only Olympic gold medalist in amateur wrestling to work in WWE.

#4 Ken Patera

Ken Patera
Ken Patera

Ken Patera was born into a highly athletic family, with nearly all of his family members being involved in sports competitions.

Ken Patera is a two-time Olympian. He competed at the 1968 Olympics in Shot-Put. After a disappointing performance, he turned his attention to weight lifting.

Patera would do well in the Pan American games and even won a gold medal in the competition for overall weight in 1971. He would go on to compete at the 1972 Summer Olympics in weight lifting, but despite being heavily favored he failed to medal.

Patera then turned his attention to pro wrestling. He was enjoying a promising career, until one night in a drunken rage, he smashed a McDonald's plate glass window with a boulder. This, and a subsequent brawl with law enforcement, led to Patera missing two years of action while he served his sentence.

Patera returned to the WWE afterward and engaged in a feud with Dino Bravo, the self-proclaimed world's strongest man, but his career unfortunatel never really recovered.

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