10 Times WWE Got Its Ass Kicked

In terms of the dark and twisted corners of WWE history, few things remain as disturbing as what happened to young ring boy Tom Cole back in the '90s.

1992 saw Cole make accusations of sexual misconduct against Pat Patterson, Terry Garvin, and ring announcer Mel Phillips - acusations that would see all three of the accused depart the then-World Wrestling Federation at that time. Phillips was straight-up fired by the company, while Patterson and Garvin resigned. Cole himself - who claimed that this abuse went on for several years during two separate stints with the organisation - ultimately agreed an out of court settlement with Vince McMahon's Titan Sports.

It was only after the mainstream media picked up on these allegations that Patterson, Garvin, and Phillips left WWF, however, with Patterson eventually returning to the company later down the line. Not only did the press rightly jump all over this in '92, but Cole's family and members of the general public also protested outside Titan Towers to showcase their anger and upset that justice had not been adequately served.

In more recent times, this scandal has reared its head at several other points, particularly when Linda McMahon was running for Senate in 2010 and 2012. For Cole's part, he praised Linda in '10 and talked about how well the company handled the issues of 1992 - which led to some alleging that Tom had been paid off to make such comments as a way to quell any heat heading Linda's way.