Three New Plantiffs Join Expanded Ring Boy Lawsuit Against WWE, Pat Patterson Accused

Three more anonymous plaintiffs have joined the "Ring Boy" lawsuit against WWE, Vince McMahon, and Linda McMahon. The lawsuit was filed by five anonymous plaintiffs – each named John Doe – in Maryland alleging that the McMahons had neglected and failed to protect them from sexual abuse at the hands of WWE ring announcer Mel Phillips while working as "Ring Boys" for the company. 

Earlier this month, the defendants filed to dismiss the lawsuit, with Linda McMahon's attorneys arguing that she had not met nor employed the five plaintiffs to her recollection, while Vince McMahon's attorneys suggested the plaintiffs had filed the suit in Maryland to take advantage of the Child Victims Act of 2023, despite what they describe as a lack of personal jurisdiction from the state court. 

On Monday an amended complaint was filed by the plaintiffs, including three new accounts from the anonymously described John Does Six, Seven, and Eight. The complaint also names Pat Patterson and Terry Garvin as those to have participated in their own alleged sexual abuse and harassment of the "Ring Boys." 

John Doe Three described meeting Garvin and Patterson, who had seen him with Phillips, with Garvin allegedly putting his hands on John Doe Three's shoulders and telling him he did not have to try to become a wrestler, with an implication he could do something sexual for him instead. 

John Doe Six also describes being told he needed to stay overnight in Pat Patterson's room, with Patterson allegedly supplying him alcohol before putting pornography on the television and forcing him to engage in oral sex. 

The amended complaint goes further into the alleged abuse the "Ring Boys" sustained at the hands of Phillips while he worked for WWE. 

John Doe Six describes meeting Mel Phillips in approximately 1988, recalling that he asked Phillips if there was anything he could do to earn a ticket to the show because he could not afford one. Phillips allegedly said yes and led John Doe Six inside, where he told Phillips he wanted to be a wrestler, to which Phillips told him that he would have to be able to deal with pain. 

John Doe Six alleged that at a WWE event in Maine, he was in the dressing room alongside Phillips, Patterson, Tony Chimel, Mike Chioda, Danny Davis, and Koko B. Ware, and in front of everyone else in the room Ware told John Doe Six to get against the wall, pushing his head against it, patting him down and then grabbing his crotch. Ware is described as having laughed at the matter alongside almost everyone else, though Chimel said something to the effect of, "Don't do that, let him go," and sometime after the incident told John Doe Six that he should not be with the ring crew and should run. 

Phillips is alleged to have sexually abused John Doe Six by painfully manipulating his toes and feet and also putting them on his genitals. Phillips' alleged sexual abuse of John Doe Six is said not to not only have happened at the actual venues hosting WWE but also at the hotels where they stayed together; it's described that Phillips would often ejaculate during the abuse, touching John Doe Six's buttocks and genitals and vice versa, and that Phillips would sometimes videotape the abuse. 

John Doe Seven describes meeting Phillips in approximately 1974 in Philadelphia, when he was around 14 or 15 years old. It's said he arrived early at a WWE show, where he met Phillips, who told him that he could meet wrestlers and get their autographs. Vince McMahon is said to have attended multiple shows when John Doe Seven was present, and McMahon gave Phillips and the "Ring Boys" tasks at WWE shows.

John Doe Eight describes meeting Phillips at around 15 years old in approximately 1982 in Baltimore, Maryland, working concessions at the Baltimore Civic Center when he was approached by Phillips; Phillips requested help with set up and dismantling for WWE shows there. 

He is then alleged to have taken John Doe Eight and another underaged boy to Phillips' dressing room to show them his outfits, where Garvin was also said to be present, and supplied John Doe Eight and the other boy marijuana. Phillips allegedly invited John Doe Eight to another WWE show at the Baltimore Civic Center on or around April 10, 1982, before which Phillips allegedly drove him and another underaged "Ring Boy" to a nearby hotel. 

It's further alleged that in Phillips' room he asked to see the boys' feet and told them to get undressed, as he wore only his underwear, and told the boys to put their feet on his crotch to compare sizes to his arousal. Phillips then allegedly offered the boys cocaine, pills, and told them they should take steroids to get bigger.

The amended complaint further served to address the defendants' arguments for dismissal, including promotional material and documentation to demonstrate that the McMahons had operated within Maryland throughout the described abuse. It's also repeated that each of the "Ring Boys" had been paid in cash for their services in response to the argument that they had not been held as employees.

Throughout the accounts, several WWE executive and non-executive employees are described as having knowledge of Phillips' and Garvin's behavior in relation to younger boys, including Vince and Linda McMahon, Ed Helinski, Don Muraco, Marty Jannetty, Curt Hennig, Jimmy Hart, Bobby Heenan, and William "Paul Bearer" Moody. The latter of which was said to have coined the moniker "Mrs. Phillips" for a "Ring Boy" owing to his proximity to Phillips. 

An account from John Doe Four states that he was present in an arena hallway when Vince McMahon and Hulk Hogan appeared to be arguing, with McMahon telling Phillips to take the boy away.

Photos included within the complaint show John Doe Six sat at WrestleMania 5 on April 2, 1989, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, just a few seats away from President Donald Trump, "highlighting the special access to WWE events that Phillips provided to Ring Boys in order to groom and manipulate them for the purpose of his sexual abuse." 

It is argued that the McMahons in particular had acted in ill will to conceal the behavior of Phillips, Garvin, Patterson, and others towards the "Ring Boys," with every effort made to protect the WWE business from scandal even if it meant concealing malpractice.