Pat Patterson was recently a guest on Inside The Ropes. During the interview, he went into detail about creating the Royal Rumble match.
Specifically, Patterson revealed Vince McMahon’s initial reaction when he pitched him the concept of the Royal Rumble match.
It turns out that Vince didn’t like the idea at first. Here is what Patterson said (h/t to Fightful.com for the quotes below):
We had a big meeting with Vince McMahon and [NBC Sports executive] Dick Ebersol. I give my idea to Vince. He knew the idea but didn’t like it. Vince says, ‘Tell Dick Ebersol that stupid idea you got.’ I said, ‘It’s not a stupid idea.’ I told Dick Ebersol the idea. He went crazy. [Ebersol said], ‘Vince, this is unbelievable television.'”
The day of [the first Royal Rumble], Vince says to me, ‘Did you set up the order for Royal Rumble?’ ‘No’ ‘Well fuck, you’ve gotta do it.’ I had to do all that by myself. And I did. I love it because it’s very entertaining.”
Good thing that Vince let Patterson pitch the idea. It has become one of the biggest events of the year for WWE.
On a related note, check out our quiz on the history of the Royal Rumble match here.