Five former WWE ring boys claim they were exploited and sexually abused during their time working for the wrestling giant — while scandal-scarred ex-CEO Vince McMahon did nothing to stop it.

The men — who were underaged boys at the time of the alleged abuse — filed suit anonymously in a Maryland court against McMahon, 79, his wife Linda and WWE parent company TKO Group Holdings.

The couple allegedly knew about the sexual abuse by ringside announcer and crew chief Melvin “Mel” Philips Jr. but did nothing to stop it from happening, according to an 82-page lawsuit.

In fact, McMahon admitted to Post columnist Phil Mushnick in the 1980s that he and his wife knew that Phillips had a “peculiar and unnatural interest” in boys, the suit filed in Maryland Circuit Court alleges. 

And later in 1993 during a television interview, Linda McMahon admitted that Phillips had a foot fetish, which was a running joke in the WWE but maintained that was being blown out of proportion, the court papers highlight.

The McMahons actually fired Phillips in 1988 amid sexual abuse allegations but within six weeks they rehired him simply warning him to “steer clear from kids,” the filing alleges.

“By rehiring him, defendants allowed Phillips to continue abusing innocent kids,” the suit charges.

Phillips — who died in 2012 — allegedly carried out the abuse of underage boys in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s luring the young men, often from broken homes, on the promise they could meet famous wrestlers and attend fights, the filing claims.

The five plaintiffs met Phillips between 1981 and 1984, ranging in age from 13 to 15 and each experiencing a similar pattern of abuse, the suit claims.

Phillips would strike up conversations with the boys either outside the arenas where WWE events were taking place or he would cruise their neighborhoods carrying WWE championship belts before inviting them to events. Then the sick man would abuse them, sometimes traveling with the kids to events in different states and staying with them youngsters in hotel rooms, the court documents claim.

Sometimes the ringside announcer would abuse them inside a WWE event dressing room and other times he would carry out his sick acts in hotel rooms.

One of the boys — identified in court papers as John Doe 1 — met Phillips outside a WWE event where the older man said, “I can get you in. I work here,” the filing claims.

On that first encounter, Phillips hugged the boy and touched his genitals, pretending it was a mistake. He took the boy’s number and called his mother weeks later asking to take him to an event at the Springfield Civic Center in Massachusetts with the promise he’d keep him safe, the court documents claim.

That day he took the boy to his hotel room and sexually abused him including licking his feet. When he dropped the kid home he gave him $80, the suit said.

The abuse of John Doe 1 escalated with Phillips bringing multiple boys he plied with alcohol to abuse in a group and then treating them to front-row seats to shows and leaving John Doe 1 with money and a warning not to tell anyone he did to them, the court papers claim.

In total, the boy was abused between seven and eight times over the course of a year to a year-and-a-half, the suit claims.

The other four plaintiffs laid out similar claims where Phillips would give them alcohol and sexually abuse them, sometimes roughly, the suit claims.

One of the pre-teens claimed that Phillips actually filmed his abuse on multiple occasions, the filing alleged.

While Phillips’ twisted proclivities were “common knowledge” inside the WWE, with Phillips sometimes engaging in foot play with boys in locker rooms in view of other WWE workers, the McMahons did nothing to protect them, the suit alleges. 

“It was there for the WWE and its leaders to see in plain sight, yet no one did anything to stop Phillips’s rampant and open abuse of young boys,” the filing stated.

“Defendants knowingly gave Phillips free rein to use his highly public WWE personality and image to entice local kids from the area near the WWE shows to help set up and take down the wrestling ring,” the suit charged.

It also noted that Phillips came under investigation by the FBI in 1992 for the alleged abuse of 10 boys. The McMahons fired him for good that year.

The Post’s Mushnick wrote a series of columns in 1992 reporting on the alleged abuse of the ring boys, leading McMahon to file a “bogus” defamation suit and which also led to the federal investigation at the time, the suit explained.

“Thanks to the bravery of our clients, we finally have a chance to hold accountable those who allowed and enabled the open, rampant sexual abuse of these young boys,” plaintiff lawyer Greg Gutzler said in a statement.

“That so many were aware of the sexual abuse of the ring boys and did nothing to prevent or stop it is simply unconscionable.”

Ann Callis, a lawyer for Janel Grant who sued McMahon earlier this year claiming he sexually abused and trafficked her, called the new claims “deeply troubling” and said Grant stands in solidarity with the new accusers.

“Vince McMahon made sexual abuse and human trafficking a hallmark of WWE’s culture for decades. Survivors like Janel Grant and other former WWE employees deserve their day in court,” Callis said in a statement.

The lawyer said any non-disclosure agreements victims may have signed should be waived so they can come forward with their stories.

“Ms. Grant stands by all WWE survivors and believes that Mr. McMahon, WWE, and all involved parties must be held accountable.”

McMahon stepped down in January after Grant’s allegations and her case has been put on hold pending a federal investigation.

McMahon’s attorney, Jessica Rosenberg, called the allegations “false claims” and “utterly meritless.”

“More than 30 years ago, the columnist Phil Mushnick tried to make headlines with these same false claims. Those allegations were never proven and ultimately became the subject of a defamation lawsuit against Mr. Mushnick,” she said in a statement to The Post.

“The negligence claims against Mr. McMahon that were asserted today rely on these same absurd, defamatory and utterly meritless statements by Mr. Mushnick. We will vigorously defend Mr. McMahon and are confident the court will find that these claims are untrue and unfounded.”