Patreon Flashback — Ep. #69: Titangate Part 3

Since we want everyone to be able to learn from our Patreon series on the 1992 "Titangate" sex and drug scandals in WWE, want to be able to direct everyone to the shows, and don't want to give anyone the idea that we're trying to make money off of the awful new lawsuit against WWE, we're releasing all four Titangate shows for free. Permanently. We're really proud of the work we did on these, and we hope that everyone can learn from them.

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Content warning: By necessity of covering this topic, though it is not the sole focus, this episode contains discussion of sexual harassment, sexual assault, and child sexual abuse. If you have any concerns that this content may be triggering or otherwise upsetting to you, then skipping this episode may be advisable.

It’s June [2022], and you know what that means: Time for a new Patreon-exclusive deep dive. This time, it’s part 3 of a series on what became known as Titangate, the overarching collection of scandals that hit the WWF in 1992. The topics include:

• A Current Affair covering the scandals, which included, at the last minute, a letter that Murray Hodgson sent Vince McMahon out of the blue looking for work…while he was suing the WWF. Also: The production of the segment leads to an incredibly strange, forgotten Wrestling Observer item about someone claiming to be a former wrestler going to different shows with conflicting versions of what  he said Rita Chatterton told him about Vince McMahon…before disappearing.
• How the scandals begat John Arezzi and Vince Russo splitting as business partners, with both giving their sides in material that we didn’t have when we did the “Vince Russo Origins” show a few years ago.
• John Arezzi and Bill Kunkle writing about their memories of Mel Phillips’ red flags going back to the mid-1970s.
• Sid Justice getting suspended for cheating on a drug test.
• Steve Planamenta word vomiting to Mike Mooneyham about the successes and failures of the drug testing program so far.
• Lee Cole accusing the WWF of trying to get him sent to prison.
• Tom Zenk and Jim Ross’s thoughts on Titangate, including Zenk revealing for the first and only time that he left the WWF over a vaguely-described incident of sexual misconduct, as well as an overly glib Barry Orton interview where he goes off on Tom and Lee Cole.
• Vince McMahon benefitting from how many different stories were being shoved into one overarching “WWF scandals” box.
• The WWF repeatedly airing matches with Mel Phillips doing ring announcing during this period.

All that and much more on the latest installment of a series that’s become increasingly relevant in 2022 over the last few weeks.

Timestamps:

0:00:00 Week of April 27, 1992

0:44:06 Week of May 4, 1992

1:38:52 Weeks of May 11 & May 18, 1992

2:08:36 Week of May 25, 1992

3:14:58 Weeks of June 1 & June 8, 1992

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