6. Mass Transit Incident
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HN0_j0C98es Warning: The video above contains graphic violence, please use discretion One of the biggest controversies in the history of ECW was the the so-called "Mass Transit Incident". In November 1996, Axl Rotten couldn't make a show in Boston when he was scheduled in a tag match against the Gangstas (New Jack and Mustafa). A 17-year-old kid named Eric Kulas convinced Paul Heyman to allow him to replace Rotten in the match. What Heyman didn't know was that Kulas had falsified his documentation (claiming he was over the age of 18) and stated that he was trained by Killer Kowalski. In fact, Kulas had received very little, if any, formal wrestling training. Despite this, Kulas was able to talk his way into performing his Mass Transit character, a wrestling bus driver. As typical with New Jack's matches, this one featured an array of weapon shots. Kulas was supposed to bleed during the match but was nervous so he asked New Jack to blade him, which is the dumbest thing he could have possibly done. New Jack cut the boy's forehead way too deep, causing blood to literally shoot out his forehead. The incident got so bad that Kulas's father attempted to rush the ring to stop the match. After the match, New Jack grabbed the microphone and tore into the Boston crowd with a parade of obscenities and racial statements. Kulas eventually filed a lawsuit against ECW but it was dismissed when the story of his backstage lying came to the front. Eric Kulas died in May 2002 at the age of 22 after complications following gastric bypass surgery.