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The recently released ‘History of WWE’ DVD features a unique version of the WrestleMania III main event. This is to remove footage of a controversial figure from ringside.
The match in question is Hulk Hogan defending the World Wrestling Federation Championship against Andre the Giant. All of the pre-2002 matches feature editing to remove all references to the WWF acronym, and the WWF logo used between 1997 and 2001. This is due to the 2001 lawsuit with the World Wildlife Fund, who sued the WWE for breaching a copyright agreement to the acronym owned by the Fund. However, this match is shown exclusively from the “Hard Cam†position, and has all commentary removed.
According to WrestlingDVDNews.com, the WWE were trying to erase former employee Mel Philips. Philips was exposed as a paedophile who took advantage of underage males he supervised at WWE events. The young men were from broken homes and troubled backgrounds. They helped to set up the ring at WWE events in the hopes of meeting some of the superstars.
For those of you questioning how reliable this information is, Philips was proven. The claim that he was edited out of the WWE DVD was made by WrestlingDVDNews.com. This website receives first hand, and occasionally leaked, information on all forthcoming WWE DVD releases. It is them who are claiming that a “reliable source†gave them this information. If you are still sceptical, it was a similar source that unveiled that Martha Hart threatened the WWE with legal action after her late husband Owen Hart appeared in several DVDs. These DVDs were later withdrawn.
Tom Cole worked for the WWE as a ring attendant when he was underage through to adulthood in the 1980s and 1990s. He hurled charges against the WWE that resulted in 3 longtime employees resigning. This sex scandal haunted the WWE for years. In 1992, he went public with his claims that former wrestler and front office employee Terry Garvin tried to seduce him when he was 19, and that he was sexually harassed at the age of 13 by Philips. While Tom Cole did not mention any involvement by Pat Paterson, wrestler Bret Hart claimed that Patterson also resigned at the same time “as a result of the allegations of sexual conductâ€. Hart’s comment appears in his autobiography. Patterson was later allowed to return to the company, but Garvin and Philips were blacklisted for life.
WrestlingDVDNews.com stated this strictly as rumour. Allegedly, another victim of Philips still watches WWE programming. He suffers from “flashbacks†when he sees Philips on old footage. It is said that this victim threatened the WWE with a lawsuit if Philips was not removed from future presentations of the old footage. Philips can be seen sitting at ringside during WrestleMania III, particularly during the Hogan vs Andre match. This is allegedly why the WWE used the “hard cam†angle, as Philips cannot be seen.
This is not the only time that Philips has been mentioned in recent years. Michael Cole (no connection with Tom Cole) recalled unpleasant experiences with Philips in an interview with Mike Mooneyham of The Post and Courier.
<blockquote class='quote\\_blockquote'><dl><dt>Michael Cole on Mel Philips</dt><dd> </dd></dl><div>
“When you’re 12 or 13 years old and you think this guy is wrestling with you, and then he grabs your foot, maybe part of you doesn’t want to believe it or part of you wants to block it out. I just didn’t have an answer for it. Who would have told you at that age that some guy wants to play with your feet?â€
“When you started getting older, he started calling less. Once that happened, he started calling less, but I still went to the shows at Madison Square Garden. I’d just show up. But he was like trying to get rid of you. He liked the younger kids who couldn’t give him a problem about it or didn’t realise that there was something wrong with it.â€
[/quote]
Michael Cole also discussed decline Garvin’s sexual advances. He claims that he spent the night in a cold van after doing so.
<blockquote class='quote\\_blockquote'><dl><dt>Michael Cole recalling his exact words to Terry Garvin</dt><dd> </dd></dl><div>
“Listen Terry, I came from nothing and I can go back to having nothing. If this is what this job entails, then I don’t necessarily need the job. And I didn’t have the job after that.â€
[/quote]
Garvin died in 1998, while Philips whereabouts is currently publicly unknown. He was in the news, however, in 2008. The World Wrestling Federation Heavyweight Championship belt that Mr. Perfect damaged with a hammer on an episode of Saturday Night’s Main Event was auctioned off on Ebay. It was one of many items recovered from a Philips estate sale.
The match in question is Hulk Hogan defending the World Wrestling Federation Championship against Andre the Giant. All of the pre-2002 matches feature editing to remove all references to the WWF acronym, and the WWF logo used between 1997 and 2001. This is due to the 2001 lawsuit with the World Wildlife Fund, who sued the WWE for breaching a copyright agreement to the acronym owned by the Fund. However, this match is shown exclusively from the “Hard Cam†position, and has all commentary removed.
According to WrestlingDVDNews.com, the WWE were trying to erase former employee Mel Philips. Philips was exposed as a paedophile who took advantage of underage males he supervised at WWE events. The young men were from broken homes and troubled backgrounds. They helped to set up the ring at WWE events in the hopes of meeting some of the superstars.
For those of you questioning how reliable this information is, Philips was proven. The claim that he was edited out of the WWE DVD was made by WrestlingDVDNews.com. This website receives first hand, and occasionally leaked, information on all forthcoming WWE DVD releases. It is them who are claiming that a “reliable source†gave them this information. If you are still sceptical, it was a similar source that unveiled that Martha Hart threatened the WWE with legal action after her late husband Owen Hart appeared in several DVDs. These DVDs were later withdrawn.
Tom Cole worked for the WWE as a ring attendant when he was underage through to adulthood in the 1980s and 1990s. He hurled charges against the WWE that resulted in 3 longtime employees resigning. This sex scandal haunted the WWE for years. In 1992, he went public with his claims that former wrestler and front office employee Terry Garvin tried to seduce him when he was 19, and that he was sexually harassed at the age of 13 by Philips. While Tom Cole did not mention any involvement by Pat Paterson, wrestler Bret Hart claimed that Patterson also resigned at the same time “as a result of the allegations of sexual conductâ€. Hart’s comment appears in his autobiography. Patterson was later allowed to return to the company, but Garvin and Philips were blacklisted for life.
WrestlingDVDNews.com stated this strictly as rumour. Allegedly, another victim of Philips still watches WWE programming. He suffers from “flashbacks†when he sees Philips on old footage. It is said that this victim threatened the WWE with a lawsuit if Philips was not removed from future presentations of the old footage. Philips can be seen sitting at ringside during WrestleMania III, particularly during the Hogan vs Andre match. This is allegedly why the WWE used the “hard cam†angle, as Philips cannot be seen.
This is not the only time that Philips has been mentioned in recent years. Michael Cole (no connection with Tom Cole) recalled unpleasant experiences with Philips in an interview with Mike Mooneyham of The Post and Courier.
<blockquote class='quote\\_blockquote'><dl><dt>Michael Cole on Mel Philips</dt><dd> </dd></dl><div>
“When you’re 12 or 13 years old and you think this guy is wrestling with you, and then he grabs your foot, maybe part of you doesn’t want to believe it or part of you wants to block it out. I just didn’t have an answer for it. Who would have told you at that age that some guy wants to play with your feet?â€
“When you started getting older, he started calling less. Once that happened, he started calling less, but I still went to the shows at Madison Square Garden. I’d just show up. But he was like trying to get rid of you. He liked the younger kids who couldn’t give him a problem about it or didn’t realise that there was something wrong with it.â€
[/quote]
Michael Cole also discussed decline Garvin’s sexual advances. He claims that he spent the night in a cold van after doing so.
<blockquote class='quote\\_blockquote'><dl><dt>Michael Cole recalling his exact words to Terry Garvin</dt><dd> </dd></dl><div>
“Listen Terry, I came from nothing and I can go back to having nothing. If this is what this job entails, then I don’t necessarily need the job. And I didn’t have the job after that.â€
[/quote]
Garvin died in 1998, while Philips whereabouts is currently publicly unknown. He was in the news, however, in 2008. The World Wrestling Federation Heavyweight Championship belt that Mr. Perfect damaged with a hammer on an episode of Saturday Night’s Main Event was auctioned off on Ebay. It was one of many items recovered from a Philips estate sale.
