Del Wilkes

Del Wilkes, better known as The Patriot, is exactly the kind of throwback wrestler I love. A former college football player out of Columbia, South Carolina, he carried that powerful frame into the ring behind a star-spangled mask. Over a ten-year career he worked the AWA, GWF, WCW, the WWF and even All Japan Pro Wrestling, and I genuinely appreciate that he brought his act to Japanese mats. There's something refreshingly direct about a masked hero wrestling for patriotism, no irony, just heart. His passing in 2021 closed the book on a true workhorse. I'll always have a soft spot for grafters like him.

Name (English)

Del Wilkes

Name (Japanese)

パトリオット

Reading

ぱとりおっと

Born

December 21, 1961 – June 30, 2021

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Sagittarius / Ox

Origin

Columbia, South Carolina, United States

Occupation

professional wrestler

High school

Irmo High School

• Official sitehttp://www.delthepatriotwilkes.com
• Xhttps://x.com/DELWILKES
• Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The%20Patriot%20(wrestler)
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%91%E3%83%88%E3%83%AA%E3%82%AA%E3%83%83%E3%83%88%20(%E3%83%97%E3%83%AD%E3%83%AC%E3%82%B9%E3%83%A9%E3%83%BC)
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q746402

Tags

• South Carolina
• professional wrestler

Last updated

2026-06-21

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.