The Warlord recalls the influence of Pat Patterson & Road Warrior Animal [Exclusive]
In an exclusive interview with SK Wrestling's Lee Walker, WWE legend The Warlord has detailed some of his fondest memories of the late Road Warrior Animal and the late Pat Patterson.
It turns out that Road Warrior Animal (real name Joseph Michael Laurinaitis), who passed away in September 2020, was highly influential on the career of The Warlord:
"Joe (Animal) was actually the one who started me in wrestling. He found me at his gym in Minnesota... He actually helped me come up with The Warlord name. And he actually helped Barbarian and me come up with the Powers of Pain name also. He actually came up with that name after I did a move, which I did many, many times, and I guess just between Animal's size and my size, that my shoulder blade went into his eye socket, and broke his eye socket! And so, after that, he called us the Powers of Pain. Great name."
The Warlord was also keen to heap praise on Pat Patterson, another legend of the business, who sadly passed away in December 2020. Much like many others in the wrestling world, The Warlord recognized just how important and influential Patterson has been on WWE and professional wrestling as a whole:
"Of course, Pat Patterson was just... he was a great booker. He'd been in wrestling forever. And Pat was a very, very smart man when it came to this business. He knew how to do what he did, and he did it very well."
Road Warrior Animal & Pat Patterson were two of the legends we lost in 2020
2020 was not a kind year to professional wrestling, both from a financial and a personal perspective. Road Warrior Animal and Pat Patterson were just a couple of the names we lost last year, among a host of others.
But while last year may have been a difficult one, The Warlord discussed how he looked at things from a more positive angle, with regards to wrestling:
"Wrestling died for a while... But they started figuring out they could do virtual signings... It ended up being a pretty good thing for that kind of stuff, and people really liked it."
You can watch the full interview with The Warlord at SK Wrestling's official YouTube channel at the link below:
If any quotes from this interview are used please give a H/T to SK Wrestling.