10 Biggest Wrestling Scandals Of The 1990s
4. The Ring Boy Scandal
Pat Patterson is one of the most divisive figures in wrestling history. On one hand, he's a pioneering gay wrestler, an architect of modern wrestling psychology with one of the finest minds the business has ever seen. On the other hand, he's been accused of some pretty dark stuff.
'Ring boys' were typically teenage boys who would set up and take down wrestling rings before and after shows. Mel Phillips, who was also a ring announcer at the time, was in charge of recruiting these young men during the early 1990s.
In 1992, former ring boy Tom Cole claimed that he and many others had been hired by Phillips to be sexually abused and assaulted by a number of high-profile figures. One of them was Terry Garvin, a former wrestler-turned-backstage official. Another was Patterson, who was part of Vince McMahon's inner circle.
Both Phillips and Garvin were fired for their alleged role in the affair, never to return. As for Patterson, he was initially let go, but returned shortly thereafter and stayed with the company until his death in 2020. It's an ugly side to a man who is so often celebrated by the wrestling community.