Looking at Pat Patterson in the McGuirk wrestling territory, 1964

Here's a look at "Killer" Pat Patterson's brief run in the McGuirk wrestling territory in the spring of 1964.

While many wrestlers are associated with one or two specific territories, most wrestlers traveled all over the U.S. and Canada working numerous territories over the course of their careers. When doing research for this blog, I was surprised to see the name Pat Patterson pop up in the McGuirk territory back in 1964, so I decided to dig a little deeper.

Pat Patterson made his pro wrestling debut in 1958 in Montreal at just 17 years old. In 1962 he emigrated to the United States, where he debuted in Portland that summer and stayed in the territory for a little over a year. After wrestling a handful of shows in Southern California, he then went to East Texas, where he wrestled primarily in the lower half of the cards for about two and a half months. His next stop was Arizona, which saw him reach main event status after a few weeks. His most frequent singles opponents were Frankie Cain and Tito Montez, and he teamed with Don Kent to feud with Montez & Omar Atlas. In March 1964 he left Arizona and went to the McGuirk territory, with his first appearance on March 23rd in Tulsa.

He was called "Killer" Pat Patterson and billed as the "New York State champion" during his run for McGuirk. His brief 8-week stay saw him move up the cards and work main events on a regular basis for the last few weeks, including multiple title bouts against NWA World Junior Heavyweight champion Danny Hodge.

Using our SPOT Ratings and FEUD Scores, we can look at his run for McGuirk and see how he moved up the cards over time and who he was wrestling against most often at each point in time.

Here is a list of all of Patterson's known bookings in the territory, all of which come from my own personal research. I have listings for him on 42 cards during his 8 weeks here. The territory generally did not run shows on Sundays, while Saturdays usually saw wrestlers working either in Joplin or a small spot town or doing live TV in Oklahoma City. Results are listed where available as well as any known stipulations.

3/23/64 Tulsa, OK: Patterson competed in a Russian roulette-style battle royal; Mike Clancy beat Patterson by disqualification

3/24 Little Rock, AR: Patterson competed in a Russian roulette-style battle royal; Patterson beat Kit Fox

3/25 Fort Smith, AR: Patterson competed in a Russian roulette-style battle royal; Mike Clancy beat Patterson by disqualification

3/26 Wichita Falls, TX: Frankie Cain vs Patterson

3/27 Oklahoma City, OK: Patterson beat Frankie Cain

3/28 Miami, OK: Patterson & Terry Garvin beat Mike Clancy & Ron Reed (aka Buddy Colt); Reed beat Patterson by disqualification in a preliminary bout

3/30 Tulsa: Frankie Cain beat Patterson by disqualification

4/1 Fort Smith: Patterson & Betty Bouche beat Red McKim & Judy Glover; Patterson wrestled McKim to a 15:00 draw in a preliminary bout

4/2 Wichita Falls: Kit Fox vs Patterson

4/3 Oklahoma City: Patterson beat Mike Clancy by "default"

4/6 Tulsa: Patterson beat Mike Clancy

4/7 Little Rock: Patterson beat Kit Fox

4/8 Fort Smith: Patterson & Fran Gravette vs Bennie Matta & Princess Little Cloud; Patterson vs Matta in a preliminary bout

4/9 Wichita Falls: Patterson vs Frankie Cain

4/10 Oklahoma City: Patterson beat Bennie Matta

4/13/Tulsa: Patterson beat Bennie Matta

4/14 Little Rock: Patterson beat Frankie Cain

4/15 Fort Smith: Mike Clancy beat Patterson

4/16 Wichita Falls: Jerry Kozak vs Patterson

4/17 Oklahoma City: Patterson beat Mike Clancy

4/18 Joplin, MO: Great Bolo & Mike Clancy beat Patterson & Terry Garvin; Patterson wrestled Mike Clancy to a 15:00 draw in a preliminary bout

4/20 Tulsa: Patterson beat Frankie Cain

4/21 Little Rock: Patterson beat Bennie Matta

4/22 Fort Smith: Patterson beat Frankie Cain

4/23 Wichita Falls: Bennie Matta vs Patterson (while results for the Wichita Falls cards are not available, Patterson is billed as "undefeated" at this point so at the very least he hadn't lost any of his previous bouts in the city)

4/24 Oklahoma City: Patterson beat Antone Leone

4/27 Tulsa: Patterson beat Mike Clancy

4/28 Little Rock: Patterson beat Mike Clancy

4/29 Fort Smith: NWA World Junior Heavyweight title match - Danny Hodge beat Patterson by reverse decision (Patterson won the 3rd fall with a figure four but was disqualified 30 seconds later for reapplying the hold after the bout had been stopped)

4/30 Wichita Falls: NWA World Junior Heavyweight title match - Danny Hodge vs Patterson

5/1 Oklahoma City: NWA World Junior Heavyweight title match - Danny Hodge vs Patterson

5/4 Tulsa: NWA World Junior Heavyweight title match - Danny Hodge vs Patterson by disqualification

5/5 Little Rock: NWA World Junior Heavyweight title match - Danny Hodge vs Patterson by reverse decision (Patterson won the 3rd falls with his 'noted leg hold', but while celebrating he dropped a weapon of some sort he had been using and referee Al "Great Bolo" Lovelock reversed the decision)

5/6 Fort Smith: Mike Clancy beat Pat Patterson by reverse decision (Patterson won by countout but was "disqualified for misconduct" afterwards)

5/7 Waurika, OK: Danny Hodge & Great Bolo & Mike Clancy vs Patterson & Stan Pulaski & Terry Garvin; Mike Clancy vs Patterson in a preliminary bout

5/8 Oklahoma City: Patterson beat Great Bolo

5/9 Joplin Bob Clay & Great Bolo & Mike Clancy beat Patterson & Karol Krauser & Stan Pulaski; Clancy defeated Patterson in a preliminary bout

5/11 Tulsa: Texas Rules, loser leave town match - Mike Clancy beat Patterson

5/12 Little Rock: NWA World Junior Heavyweight title match - Danny Hodge beat Patterson

5/13 Fort Smith: Texas Rules match - Danny Hodge beat Patterson

5/14 Wichita Falls: Winner take all - Mike Clancy vs Patterson

5/15 Oklahoma City: NWA World Junior Heavyweight title match - Danny Hodge beat Patterson

Patterson went back to the Pacific Northwest territory after finishing up here, beginning in Seattle on 5/19 (where he lost by disqualification to Nick Bockwinkel). In addition to wrestling for numerous other territories over the course of his career, he is most often associated with Northern California, the AWA and the WWWF. His first appearance in Northern California was in January of 1965. His first full-time stint in the AWA began in January of 1978. His first run with the WWWF began in the spring of 1979.