Tom Cole dead by suicide

[MoS]

In case you didn't know, he was the boy in the middle of the early 90s WWF sexual scandal involving Mel Philips. This is absolutely awful. May he rest in peace

[NintendoLogic]

Let's remember that the sexual abuse of children by WWF employees was something the company used to joke about on the air.

Also, someone on the F4W board said that the names Michael Cole and Tom Phillips were inside joke references to Tom Cole and Mel Phillips. I can't vouch for the accuracy of that, but it wouldn't surprise me.

[Al]

A reminder that the effects of abuse can last a lifetime. 

[El-P]

Indeed. see also : Ashley Massaro... It's not a tragedy, it's actual crime.

And that clip with Gorilla making a joke is gross as hell in retrospect.

[sek69]

1 hour ago, El-P said:

Indeed. see also : Ashley Massaro... It's not a tragedy, it's actual crime.

And that clip with Gorilla making a joke is gross as hell in retrospect.

Honestly, Piper laughing because he knows exactly what that's a reference to comes off even grosser IMO. 

[Ricky Jackson]

Hell, Vince and Piper even *wink, wink* joke about Snuka possibly murdering his girlfriend on a late 1990 Superstars. Wish I could provide more info off the top of my head. It was talked about on an old Greetings From Allentown pod

[El-P]

5 minutes ago, sek69 said:

Honestly, Piper laughing because he knows exactly what that's a reference to comes off even grosser IMO. 

Yes, I meant the whole thing.

3 minutes ago, Ricky Jackson said:

Hell, Vince and Piper even *wink, wink* joke about Snuka possibly murdering his girlfriend on a late 1990 Superstars. Wish I could provide more info off the top of my head. It was talked about on an old Greetings From Allentown pod

Wow. If anyone can find the date of the episode and the timecode. I'd be curious (morbidly curious I guess) to hear that one.

[Ricky Jackson]

December 1, 1990 Superstars, during the Snuka match obviously. The audio is on this ep of Greetings from Allentown 

https://open.spotify.com/episode/43nsQ1hbKarwPdRFxZQPwv?si=rPY1eEOwSWCbAUm_DAN6Cw&utm_source=copy-link

[sek69]

It should be noted, and I've seen it mentioned on social media which was a good sign, that while he may have waivered on his feelings towards the McMahons he never changed his story about what happened to him, 

[El-P]

29 minutes ago, Ricky Jackson said:

December 1, 1990 Superstars, during the Snuka match obviously. The audio is on this ep of Greetings from Allentown 

https://open.spotify.com/episode/43nsQ1hbKarwPdRFxZQPwv?si=rPY1eEOwSWCbAUm_DAN6Cw&utm_source=copy-link

Thanks. I will check this one out.

[El-P]

Humm... I watched the entire match and there's Jimmy Hart saying Snuka doesn't have the killer instinct and Vince goes "What ? He doesn't have the killer instinct ?" but if I'm perfectly honest, I am not feeling any *wink wink* here, rather a rather mundane and basic pro-wrestling talk here. If there was, it's unbelievably awful, but watching the entire match quite honestly, I think it's a bit of grasping at straws here tbh.

[NintendoLogic]

It was the way Piper cracked up when Hart mentioned killer instinct and Vince responding that killer instinct was the one thing Snuka definitely had that gives it an inside joke vibe. Given WWE's track record, I'm hardly inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt.

[El-P]

18 minutes ago, NintendoLogic said:

It was the way Piper cracked up when Hart mentioned killer instinct and Vince responding that killer instinct was the one thing Snuka definitely had that gives it an inside joke vibe. Given WWE's track record, I'm hardly inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Ok, I re-listened to it more closely, I didn't get that the first time (poor audio off an old AVI file), Piper doing a very audibly forced laugh. Yikes. Changes the whole perspective when Vince insists he has it then. Wow. Piper, shame on you. Vince being a piece of shit is nothing new. And Jimmy Hart... dunno he if set that one up but... 

[Bix]

On 2/13/2021 at 12:18 PM, NintendoLogic said:

Also, someone on the F4W board said that the names Michael Cole and Tom Phillips were inside joke references to Tom Cole and Mel Phillips. I can't vouch for the accuracy of that, but it wouldn't surprise me.

Curious who said that on the board. I've never heard anything authoritative, but it was something that Tom Cole himself believed.

[NintendoLogic]

5 hours ago, Bix said:

Curious who said that on the board. I've never heard anything authoritative, but it was something that Tom Cole himself believed.

It was a poster with the screen name of HowardJuneau. Does that ring a bell?

[Bix]

7 hours ago, NintendoLogic said:

It was a poster with the screen name of HowardJuneau. Does that ring a bell?

Just as someone who's been on that board a long time.

Tom was, improbably, still a wrestling fan, and would read wrestling stuff online, so I suppose it's possible there are regular fans who he befriended online over the years.

(Or HowardJuneau has always been someone working at WWE and we had no idea.)

As for the underlying topic with the names: Michael Cole I think is just a coincidence since his name is Sean Michael Coulthard. Tom Phillips...that seems more likely, though his real name is also Tom.

[Mad Dog]

Cole and Phillips are such common names that I think it would be impossible to draw any sort of conclusion.

[sek69]

Tom's brother Lee (who was the one who broke the news of Tom's death) was tweeting at Snickers how  they could sponsor a show (Mania) for a company run by a guy who admitted he knew Mel Phillips was doing stuff while he was working for the WWF.

Which by the way is a real thing that happened, Vince admitted in an interview that he knew what was going on and somehow everyone just forgot about it.