More Ring Boys Join Lawsuit Against WWE And The McMahons
There was a new filing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland regarding the claims of negligence against WWE, Vince McMahon, and Linda McMahon regarding alleged sexual abuse by former WWE ring boys.
A recent legal filing has expanded the scope of the ongoing lawsuit, introducing detailed allegations from three new plaintiffs, identified as John Does 6, 7, and 8. According to POST Wrestling’s review of the updated complaint, these additions bring forth new accusations of child sexual abuse against former WWE ring announcer Mel Phillips, as well as a new allegation of child sexual abuse against the late former WWE wrestler and executive Pat Patterson, and further unspecified claims.
The new allegations (courtesy of POST Wrestling) include the following:
“John Doe 6, a Mississippi resident, alleges that he met Phillips around 1988, when he was 11 or 12 years old. After a WWF house show on July 14, 1989, he was told he needed to stay in Patterson’s hotel room while other underage ring boys stayed in Phillips’ room. In Patterson’s room, Doe 6 alleges he was given alcohol, Patterson played pornography on the television, and forced Doe 6 to give Patterson oral sex and vice versa.
In a separate alleged incident, in a WWF dressing room in Maine, Doe 6 claims he was grabbed in the crotch by wrestler Koko B. Ware with many other witnesses present, including Phillips, Patterson, ring crew member and later ring announcer Tony Chimel, and referee Danny Davis.
“In front of everyone else in the room, Koko B. Ware told John Doe 6 to get against wall [sic], pushed John Doe 6’s head against wall [sic], patted him down, and then grabbed John Doe 6’s crotch.”
The updated lawsuit states that most others in the room laughed, except Chimel, who “said something like, ‘don’t do that, let him go.’” Chimel later told Doe 6 that he shouldn’t be on the ring crew and that he should run away, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit identifies several potential witnesses, including former Community Relations Director Sue Aitchison, who worked for the company for decades until her departure last year. According to the complaint, John Doe 6 alleges that during another WWF event, he was wrestling in the ring when Shane McMahon, then also a teenager, accidentally suffered an arm injury. Aitchison, eventual WWE referee Mike Chioda, and Chimel allegedly witnessed the incident.
John Doe 6 alleges he traveled with Phillips to approximately 10 WWE events between 1988 and 1992, including WrestleMania V in Atlantic City on April 2, 1989. The amended complaint includes photographs that purportedly show Doe 6 in the audience during the event’s main event between Hulk Hogan and “Macho Man” Randy Savage. The faces of Doe 6 and other plaintiffs are redacted in the images to protect their identities.
Doe 6 also alleges Phillips sexually abused him after a July 21, 1992, WWF event in Portland, Maine.
Another new plaintiff, identified as John Doe 7, states he was around 14 or 15 years old when he met Mel Phillips in Philadelphia in 1974, the earliest of the meetings with Phillips alleged by the plaintiffs in this lawsuit.
Doe 7 alleges Phillips sexually abused him in the course of working as a ring boy at WWF events, including at hotel rooms in Baltimore, Maryland, where Phillips gave him alcohol. The lawsuit states in detail how Doe 7 was allegedly sexually abused by Phillips, which includes allegations of forced oral sex.
Each of the five initial plaintiffs alleged they were sexually abused by Phillips when they were minors.
The lawsuit acknowledges that Vince McMahon was a commentator at the time Doe 7 was allegedly abused. Vincent J. McMahon was still in charge of the wrestling company at the time. Nonetheless, it’s alleged that the younger McMahon still had leadership responsibilities.
The younger Vince McMahon “acted and was treated by others as the de facto WWE boss, especially when on-site for WWE shows,” the plaintiffs’ attorney stated.
Doe 7 also claims he was abused by Phillips away from WWF events, at the Philadelphia Police Athletic League, and a church in West Philadelphia. Phillips sometimes recorded the abuse with a video camera, according to the filing.
The third new plaintiff, John Doe 8, claims he met Phillips when he was around 15 years old in 1982 in Baltimore while working concessions at the Baltimore Civic Center.
Doe 8, who is now a citizen of Nevada, claims Phillips asked him to come to a WWF show on or around March 13, 1982. At that event, Doe 8 and another ring boy were allegedly given marijuana.
Before another WWF event in Baltimore on April 10, 1982, Doe 8 alleges Phillips sexually abused him and another underage ring boy at a hotel. In Phillips’ room, Doe 8 alleges the ring announcer told the boys to get undressed. While wearing only underwear, Phillips allegedly put the boys’ “feet on his penis to compare sizes. Phillips was aroused.” The boys were also allegedly offered cocaine and pills by Phillips.”
According to Thurston’s analysis, the complaint attempts to establish a duty of care owed by WWE and its executives to the “ring boys” by highlighting that they received compensation, even if informal. The lawsuit argues that this compensation, combined with allegations of supervision and travel arrangements facilitated by the company, demonstrates that these underage individuals were not merely volunteers or independent bystanders. Instead, they were individuals for whom the WWF held a responsibility.
WWE has previously contested the legal concept of “successor liability,” arguing that the plaintiffs have not adequately demonstrated why the current company or TKO should be held legally responsible for the alleged actions of WWF personnel that occurred in the 1980s.
Furthermore, WWE addressed the plaintiffs’ claim that Phillips hired them, stating that this alleged hiring by Phillips does not establish a direct link or liability for the company regarding the former ring boys. WWE pointed out that the complaint itself alleges that “Phillips hired Plaintiffs and that Phillips paid Plaintiffs money for the work he requested.”
