Upamanyu Biswas
While the world of wrestling has always been a popular attraction for years, Netflix’s ‘Mr. McMahon’ dives into the nitty-gritty of the business and entertainment side of the industry through the eyes of Vince McMahon, the former CEO of WWE. The docuseries captures the highs and lows of his leadership reign, probing into the successes and dissecting the various controversies. One such issue arose during the 1990s when key members of the WWE organization were accused of sexually harassing a former ring boy named Tom Cole, who was vociferous in the allegations he levied against these high-ranking members.
Tom Cole Got His Start in the Wrestling Scene as a Young Ringside Attendant
Life as a ring boy started at a very young age and out of the blue for Tom Cole. While he was on the brink of adolescence, he was working at a weightlifting gym where he obtained free tickets to a WWF show (now known as WWE) being held at a high school in Yonkers. He said that was where he met Mel Phillips, an announcer and head of the ring crew for the WWF. According to Cole, Phillips got him into the business as a ring boy almost straight away. “I started going on the road that summer; the summer of 1985. Mel would pick me up and other boys,” Cole said in a 1999 interview with Wrestling Perspective, detailing his work in the wrestling group.
For the uninitiated, ring boys were hired local kids who went about setting up and taking down the ring whenever a wrestling show traveled around the country. They would also handle other miscellaneous jobs when required. Cole noted that most of the kids working under Mel came from similar backgrounds – broken homes, fatherless, and a mother who was an alcoholic or drug addict. “That’s pretty much the type of kid that Mel was geared toward,” he said. In that sense, Cole considered himself the perfect candidate for Phillips’ recruitment policy as he hailed from a similar type of family. He also acknowledged that he viewed Phillips as a father figure of sorts.
Cole Levied Sexual Harassment Allegations Against Three WWF Members
In 1992, Tom Cole accused three people within the WWF organization of sexually harassing him while he was working as a ring boy at the company. His allegations were mainly levied towards Mel Phillips and Terry Garvin, while he also remarked on a sexual gesture made by senior member Pat Patterson. Cole stated that when he was still a minor, working closely with Phillips, the ring announcer would often play with his feet. “He would wrestle you for five seconds then he’d grab your toes and pull your shoes off and he’d start playing with your toes. Squeezing them and stuff,” Cole said. He admitted that when he was younger, he did not understand the alleged sexual connotations of the act, but they became much clearer the older he got.
The former ring boy also mentioned the involvement of Terry Garvin, who gave him a warehouse job when he was 19. Garvin was a former professional wrestler who was working at the WWF in a behind-the-scenes capacity. According to Cole, Garvin allegedly took him to his house and offered to perform oral sex on him. However, Cole said that when he rejected the offer, he was fired from his job at the warehouse. Cole also added that the late Pat Patterson was also involved in an incident where he allegedly groped his butt. “He’d look at you when he was talking to you, he’d look right at your crotch and he’d like lick his lips and shit,” Cole said. “He’d make sexual gestures by looking at you like that. He put his hand on your ass and squeeze your ass and stuff like that. He’d check you out like you were a chick.”
Following the accusations from Tom Cole against the three, Terry Garvin, Mel Phillips, and Pat Patterson resigned from the WWF in 1992. Cole settled his dispute with the company in an out-of-court agreement. As a result, he got his job back and was awarded two years of back pay. According to the terms of the settlement, Terry Garvin and Mel Phillips would not be brought back in any shape or form by Titan Sports or the WWF. However, he claimed that no such clause was present for Pat Patterson, who was reinstated not long after. Cole said that because he was young, he did not look through the document properly at the time.
Tom Cole Passed Away in 2021
On February 13, 2021, Tom Cole passed away after taking his own life. His brother, Lee Cole, announced the news through a social media post. Lee said, “My brother Tom committed suicide a couple of hours ago. Vince McMahon and his wife Linda let child molesters into their companies years ago and did everything possible to cover up what they did to my brother. I hope you can sleep good at night Vince. Our family suffers. Thank you.” He was highly critical and disparaging of the McMahons, attributing much of the alleged sexual harassment suffered by his brother on the doorstep of Vince, who he claimed had allowed children to be allegedly molested by grown adults in the business.
My brother Tom Committed suicide a couple of hours ago. Vince Mc Mahon and his wife Linda let child molesters into their companies years ago and did everything possible to cover up what they did to my brother. I hope you can sleep good at night Vince. Our family suffers. Thank U
— Lee Cole III (@leeroycole) February 13, 2021
“We are talking about grown men that molested children for a long period of time in the WWE. Did other men like my Brother Tom, kill themselves because of the pain. The McMahons covered for Patterson, Garvin and Phillips, who else did they cover for,” Lee said. In remembrance of his brother, Lee also said that Tom was a “good man, a good father until the pain was to much to bear. Remember this company WWE would take underage children across state lines. He was a perfect victim, father not around and alcoholic mother. These men knew what to look for.”
