Backstage details on Pat Patterson's difficult WWE role (Exclusive)

Pat Patterson worked as Vince McMahon’s right-hand man for over three decades in WWE. He had an important role backstage when it came to WWE’s creative decisions, while he also had to deliver good and bad news to Superstars.

Former WWE Superstar Jacques Rougeau spoke to SK Wrestling’s Dr. Chris Featherstone on Inside SKoop about Pat Patterson’s WWE career. He made it clear that the first WWE Intercontinental Champion had a great position within the company. However, his role also had plenty of negatives.

Pat Patterson’s WWE role

Jacques Rougeau (aka The Mountie) won the WWE Intercontinental Championship from Bret Hart in January 1992. He held the title for two days before losing it to Roddy Piper at the Royal Rumble.

Highlighting the positive side of Pat Patterson’s job, Rougeau revealed that Vince McMahon’s right-hand man informed him of his title victory.

"There’s an expression in French which says it’s a knife with two sides, like you could cut that way but you could cut this way. It’s an expression in French. And Pat was the guy who had the greatest job on earth when he came to see me. He came to see a couple of guys, ‘Hey Jacques, we’re going to put the belt on you! You’re going to become the Intercontinental Champion!’ And then he’d see the reactions of the guys, ‘Oh my God! Amazing!’"

Rougeau added that Pat Patterson also had the difficult task of telling Superstars about creative changes that they did not like. One example came at WrestleMania 10 when Rougeau and Pierre Carl Ouellet had been told they were going to defeat Men on a Mission. Shortly before the show, Pat Patterson told them that Vince McMahon had changed the finish.

"So being the right-hand man of Vince was a great position, and it was also a horrible position. He was the guy who would always be between the guys. You know if there was a problem with the boys and Vince, Pat would come in and he would smooth in with the boys and he would pull a little bit on Vince’s blanket. He was the middle guy there. So it wasn’t an easy job for Pat Patterson, although he had a lot of credibility. But he kept that job for a long, long time."

On that particular occasion, Rougeau felt so strongly about the match finish that he decided to quit WWE after the event.

Please credit SK Wrestling and embed the video interview with Jacques Rougeau if you use any quotes from this article.