WWE Hall of Famer Thunderbolt Patterson helped pave the way for black athletes like Booker T to become stars in the world of professional wrestling.
Patterson was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this year and spoke about racial justice and treating others with respect in his acceptance speech.
On a recent edition of his “Hall of Fame” podcast, Booker T discussed Patterson’s induction and what it meant to him as a black man. He said,
“To see Thunderbolt Patterson actually make that walk, get up out of the wheelchair, make that walk, and say ‘Man, I’m standing up on this stage. I’m [going to] show that I still got it.’ It was a touching moment for me, because Thunderbolt paved the way for me, for guys like me, guys that looked like me. And I know he didn’t have it as easy as I did. I know his route was much, much tougher than my route was.
“For me to actually be sitting there, watching Thunderbolt Patterson, which was one of the reasons, of course along with Paul Heyman…why I wanted to be at the Hall of Fame. It was definitely an experience, for me, to be in the room to be in the room with Thunderbolt Patterson, one of the greatest of all time, one of the greatest to ever did it. One of the brothers that I can say paved the way for me.”
Booker T is a two-time inductee. He was inducted in 2013 for his work as a singles competitor and as part of Harlem Heat with Stevie Ray in 2019.
