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Ken Patera

Ken Patera

Known for ActingBorn 1942-11-06 (age 83)Portland, Oregon, USA
Kenneth Wayne Patera is an American retired professional wrestler, Olympic weightlifter, and strongman competitor from the United States. Ken Patera, from a Czech-American family, was strong and extraordinarily athletic, with many people in his family also successful in athletics. His brother, Jack Patera, played football for the Baltimore Colts and was the head coach for the Seattle Seahawks from 1976 until 1982. His brother, Dennis Patera, played for the San Francisco 49ers. Ken played football at Cleveland High School in Portland, Oregon, and wrestled at 193 pounds. Track and field was his first love, however, and he competed in the high hurdles and high jump, but a serious ankle injury forced him to switch to the shot put and discus in high school. Ken grew to become one of the nation's premier track and field weight throwers, competing at Brigham Young University. After his disappointing 6th-place finish in the shot-put at the 1968 Olympic trials, he turned his full and complete attention towards Olympic weightlifting. Before becoming a professional wrestler, Patera was a highly decorated Olympic weightlifter. He won several medals at the 1971 Pan-American Games (including gold in the weightlifting total), and finished second in the 1971 World Weightlifting Championships just behind Vasily Alekseyev. On his native soil, Patera won four consecutive U.S. Weightlifting Championships in the super heavyweight class from 1969 to 1972. He was the first American to clean and jerk over 500 lbs (227 kg), which he accomplished at the 1972 Senior Nationals in Detroit. He is also the only American to clean and press 500 lbs (227 kg), and was the last American super heavyweight for years to excel at weightlifting at an international level.[6] At the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany, Patera was expected to be a serious competitor to Vasily Alekseyev, but he failed to total and was not among the medal recipients. Vasily Alekseyev even stated to the media that Patera was even stronger than him, illustrated by a 550-pound overhead push press (off the racks) that Patera had allegedly done in practice. Nevertheless, when it came to competing, Alekseyev was always the winner. After the clean and press (a lift in which Patera was disproportionately talented) was eliminated from competition, Patera retired from weightlifting.Read more

Movies & web series

WWE: Best of WWE at Madison Square Garden9.2
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WWE: Best of WWE at Madison Square Garden

2013 · Movie

Tuesday Night Titans9.0
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Tuesday Night Titans

1984 · Series

WWE Survivor Series 19878.4
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WWE Survivor Series 1987

1987 · Movie

WWE Saturday Night's Main Event8.4
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WWE Saturday Night's Main Event

1985 · Series

WWE Survivor Series 19888.2
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WWE Survivor Series 1988

1988 · Movie

Andre the Giant7.3
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Andre the Giant

2018 · Movie

WWE: The History Of The Intercontinental Championship7.3
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WWE: The History Of The Intercontinental Championship

2008 · Movie

AWA Super Sunday7.5
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AWA Super Sunday

1983 · Movie

WWE WrestleMania IV7.3
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WWE WrestleMania IV

1988 · Movie

WWE SummerSlam 19887.3
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WWE SummerSlam 1988

1988 · Movie

WWE Rivalries7.0
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WWE Rivalries

2014 · Series

Andre the Giant7.0
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Andre the Giant

1985 · Movie

The World's Strongest Man7.0
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The World's Strongest Man

1977 · Series

WWF Wrestling Challenge6.8
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WWF Wrestling Challenge

1986 · Series

Wrestling's Biggest, Smallest, Strangest, Strongest!6.0
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Wrestling's Biggest, Smallest, Strangest, Strongest!

1985 · Movie

WWF Championship Wrestling6.0
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WWF Championship Wrestling

1980 · Series

AWA Battle Royale '89
5.0
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AWA Battle Royale '89

1989 · Movie

WWE WrestleFest5.0
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WWE WrestleFest

1988 · Movie

The Wrestler5.0
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The Wrestler

1974 · Movie

AWA Rage in Rochester
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AWA Rage in Rochester

1989 · Movie

AWA War in The Windy City
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AWA War in The Windy City

1989 · Movie

The Best of the WWF: volume 17
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The Best of the WWF: volume 17

1988 · Movie

WWE Los Angeles Wrestling: November '88
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WWE Los Angeles Wrestling: November '88

1988 · Movie

WWE Maple Leaf Wrestling: June '87
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WWE Maple Leaf Wrestling: June '87

1987 · Movie

The Ken Patera Story
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The Ken Patera Story

1987 · Movie

The Best of the WWF: volume 7
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The Best of the WWF: volume 7

1986 · Movie

The Best of the WWF: volume 9
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The Best of the WWF: volume 9

1986 · Movie

Wrestling's Living Legend Bruno Sammartino
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Wrestling's Living Legend Bruno Sammartino

1986 · Movie

Villains of the Squared Circle
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Villains of the Squared Circle

1986 · Movie

Bob Uecker's Wacky World of Sports
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Bob Uecker's Wacky World of Sports

1985 · Movie

WWE Pay Per View
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WWE Pay Per View

1985 · Series

WWE Maple Leaf Wrestling: September '84
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WWE Maple Leaf Wrestling: September '84

1984 · Movie

WWE Wrestling at The Meadowlands: December '84
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WWE Wrestling at The Meadowlands: December '84

1984 · Movie

AWA Christmas Night 1983
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AWA Christmas Night 1983

1983 · Movie

AWA Christmas Show 1983
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AWA Christmas Show 1983

1983 · Movie

NWA Sam Muchnick Retirement Show
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NWA Sam Muchnick Retirement Show

1982 · Movie

AWA Arena Shows
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AWA Arena Shows

1981 · Series

WWE Showdown at Shea '80
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WWE Showdown at Shea '80

1980 · Movie

The Super Bowl of Wrestling
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The Super Bowl of Wrestling

1978 · Movie

WWF All-Star Wrestling
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WWF All-Star Wrestling

1975 · Series

WWE Old School
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WWE Old School

1973 · Series