10 Times WWE Bounced Back From Adversity

10. The Tom Cole Allegations

One of the early shocks of the ‘90s for the then-World Wrestling Federation came back in 1992 when ring attendant Tom Cole made allegations of sexual misconduct.

Cole’s allegations were directed at ring announcer Mel Phillips, agent Pat Patterson, and wrestler-turned-producer Terry Garvin. Those allegations saw Cole claim that Phillips had a fetish for his feet, that Patterson had grabbed his ass, and that Garvin had sexually harassed him.

After these allegations surfaced, Titan Sports and Tom Cole agreed on an out of court settlement – despite Vince McMahon initially claiming that he and his company were being targeted for daring to make the progressive move of employing gay people.

With the media having picked up on this story, the company would fire Phillips, while Patterson and Garvin resigned from their positions. Of course, Pat Patterson would eventually return to the company and once again become a pivotal part of McMahon’s inner circle.

Authored by Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.

Posted On: 27th Jul 2019

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