Del Wilkes "The Patriot" (Pro Wrestler) RIP

Hard to believe that this man has been gone for nearly five years already. Del Wilkes who many people know as The Patriot was a professional wrestler from the late 80s till the late 90s. An underrated wrestler in my humble opinion.

After playing college football at South Carolina, Wilkes made his pro wrestling debut for Verne Gagne and the AWA as the Trooper.

But it wasn't until Wilkes reached the Global Wrestling Federation where he went under the mask and became the All American Hero The Patriot. Which to be honest was a pretty cool concept at the time. Mainly because the whole point of him wearing the mask was to show that he wanted to represent all Americans regardless of who you were.

After his run in the GWF, the Patriot went on to All Japan where he formed a tag team with Jackie Fulton who became the Eagle and won the All Asia Tag Team Championships. Wilkes got to compete against wrestlers like Kenta Kobashi which you can never go wrong with Kobashi.

Not long after that Wilkes moved to WCW where he formed a tag team called Stars and Stripes with Marcus Alexander Bagwell (Better Known As Buff Bagwell).

After a return to All Japan where he teamed with Kenta Kobashi, the Patriot made his debut with the WWF (Now WWE) in 1997 where he joined the fight against Bret Hart and his Anti-American Hart Foundation. Fun fact, as much as I am a fan of Kurt Angle, the Patriot used that theme song first lol.

Sadly, we didn't get to see much of the Patriot as Wilkes was forced to retire due to injuries.

Now, I was quite young when the Patriot retired so I didn't really get to see much if any of him. But as I grew older and had my little run in wrestling. In fact, two of the moves I used were inspired by Wilkes, I used a full nelson slam or the Uncle Slam as he called it and I tried to do a flying shoulder tackle or the Patriot missile. 

But what I learned most about Wilkes was how he was such a down to earth kind of human being. The struggles that he went through in his life after wrestling and to see what he has overcome is truly inspiring.

In 2015, Del Wilkes released a wrestling documentary about his wrestling career as well as his life. Sadly, I do not have it and wish I could find it.

It was a sad day indeed when I found out about the death of Wilkes and I wish that more people within the pro wrestling community would get to know him more.

God Bless you Del Wilkes, I pray that you are at peace. And I pray for his family and his friends. Thank you for being such an inspiration.

Until Next Time!

God Bless and Be Safe Everybody! 🙏🙏🙏








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