The True Story Behind ECW's 'Mass Transit' Incident

Above is the smiling face of Erich Kulas. Aged just 17, he dreamed of becoming a pro wrestler, and managed to blag his way onto ECW's Revere card; most people will wonder how such a thing could happen, but Heyman later testified in court that both Erich and his father had lied about Kulas' age and in-ring experience backstage.

Later, New Jack would tell VICE that this was a masterful performance. The truth is that Kulas and his dad did fib about his age and experience - the truth is also that Jack had decided to hurt Erich hours before their tag-team match (The Gangstas vs. D-Von Dudley and Kulas) once it became clear that Kulas would be replacing an AWOL Axl Rotten.

He'd been smoking drugs behind the curtain for most of the afternoon, and warned D-Von to stay out of the ring when either he or Mustafa hurled him over the top rope. After that, Jack said, there was going to be bloodshed. ECW's walking pain machine had made his mind up about that when Heyman told him he could do anything he liked during the match.

Nothing new there. Paul E probably thought nothing bad would happen and wanted to move on to the next order of business ASAP. The problem is that Jack had cruel intentions for the inexperienced Kulas, and his lust for violence only intensified when Erich ambled up backstage and asked if Jack would perform a blade job for him. Keep that in mind, because it's important to this story.

What happened next is seriously grim, and it could've cost Kulas his life.

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