The Mass transit incident

On Christmas Eve, 1996, ECW almost lost a chance at getting a PPV due to the negative publicity surrounding the Mass Transit Incident. Mass Transit was the wrestling name of a 17 year old named Eric Kulas. ECW held a house show in Revere, Massachusetts on November 23, 1996. Kulas asked Paul Heyman if he could fill in for Axl Rotten, who was scheduled to tag with D-Von Dudley, in a match against the Gangstas, New Jack and Mustapha Saed. The problem was that Kulas had little to no previous training, yet insisted that Killer Kowalski had trained him. He also lied to Heyman about his age (claiming that he was 19) and falsified his documentation. His father also vouched for him.

Kulas was informed before the match that he would have to blade. Kulas asked New Jack to blade him since he never had done it himself and New Jack agreed. New Jack cut Kulas' forehead too deeply with an exacto knife and severed two arteries in Kulas' forehead. Kulas eventually passed out as the blood was literally spraying out of his head. Kulas' family sued ECW and New Jack over the incident, but the jury acquitted New Jack and ECW. Kulas passed away on May 12, 2002 due to complications from gastric bypass surgery.