Pat Patterson, WWF’s first intercontinental champion and a longtime backstage employee of WWE, has died at age 79.
Patterson had been battling cancer, according to Tony Mariano of TSN 690 in Montreal.
Patterson came out as gay in a 2014 episode of the WWE reality show Legends’ House, though his sexuality had been widely known throughout the industry for 50 years. His partner of 40 years, Louie Dondero, died of a heart attack in 1998, the same night the Undertaker threw Mick Foley from the top of the Hell in a Cell cage.