Scott Bowden presents Kentucky Fried Rasslin

Ken Patera is an accomplished former Olympic weightlifter, who also won a gold medal at the Pan-Am Games and finished second in the 1971 World Weightlifting Championships and third in the World’s Strongest Man Competition.

In addition to his well-known wrestling stints in the AWA, WWF and Mid-Atlantic areas, he also wrestled several times in Memphis, feuding with Jerry Lawler over the area’s “International” title  (meaning the belt was not only defended in Tennessee but also in Arkansas, Kentucky and Indiana-practically the world) in 1983.

With an assist from Jesse Ventura, Patera outsmarted Hulk Hogan during an arm-wrestling contest in the AWA, though admittedly, that was child’s play.

In his heyday, he was the master of the deadly swinging neckbreaker (full nelson). Patera often bragged that he ended the career of Billy White Wolf in the WWWF with the maneuver. (Apparently, White Wolf didn’t hold a grudge, as he would eventually serve as Patera’s manager in the AWA under the name “Sheik Adnan-Al-Kaissie.”)

In addition to his accomplishments in wrestling, weightlifting and prison, Ken Patera also happens to be one of the greatest orators of our time.

In retirement, Patera has found an inner peace most never know. Today, he’s capable of speaking on a variety of subjects, including foreign policy.