- Mass Transit
Eric Kulas was a 350-pound (158.7 kg) 17-year-old, underage teenager who held aspirations to become a wrestler. However Kulas lied to then ECW President and booker, Paul Heyman about his age and experience; Kulas claimed to be 19 years of age. He claimed to have been trained by Killer Kowalski, and Stephen Kulas (Eric's father) even vouched for his son, but Kulas was never formally trained to wrestle. Paul Heyman was somehow convinced and Eric Kulas was given the gimmick (character) of Mass Transit.
- The Mass Transit Incident
During a house show in Revere, Massachusetts on November 23,1996, Paul Heyman allow Mass Transit to fill in for Axl Rotten, who was scheduled to work a tag match with D-Von Dudley against The Gangstas (New Jack and Mustapha Saed).
During the match, D-Von and New Jack brawled outside of the ring, while Mustafa and Transit fought inside the ring. The match was booked as a squash, as New Jack easily isolated D-Von outside the ring, while Mustafa severely beat Transit with foreign objects such as chairs and toasters. New Jack then joined in the ring and struck Mass Transit over the back with a crutch. He then did a bladejob on him which somehow cuts through the vein on the forehead of Transit. The end of the match saw New Jack making Mass Transit to bleed profusely.
Immediately after the match, the medic crew carried Kulas out and he was escorted by Tommy Dreamer, who held his hand to comfort him. Passing by the audience, Kulas began giving them the finger in an attempt to continue "playing a heel role". Kulas was hospitalized as a result, eventually receiving 50 stitches.
This sparked a series of events that included New Jack's arrest and the cancellation of ECW's impending first pay-per-view broadcast "Barely Legal" by pay-per-view provider Viewer's Choice. Somehow, Heyman was able to "begged and pleaded" with Viewer's Choice, and was finally able to convince the company that they had been misled, and were placed back on the schedule some time later.
- Lawsuit
3 years after the incident, Jerome Young (New Jack) was tried on charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and was later sued by the Kulas family. After hearing about Eric Kulas' request to Young to make him "get color", Young was given a verdict of not guilty of all charges in the criminal trial, and he was later declared not liable in the civil trial.
Performers who testified at Jerome Young's trial stated that Eric Kulas was extremely arrogant and demanding backstage prior to the match. When told he'd have to bleed as part of the match, Kulas had asked Young to perform the bladejob for him, since he had never done it before. It was also testified that Stephen Kulas began berating The Gangstas and screamed, "He's only 17!" and "Take it easy on him, he's just a kid!" when they isolated his son from D-Von Dudley during the match and double-teamed him.
- Footage Evidence
Due to the event being a house show, the match was not televised. However, Extreme Fan Cam was on hand to record the event on a camcorder, and recorded footage was used as evidence for the trial; video footage showed New Jack asking Kulas, "You alright?" This prompted some to consider his actions moments later as part of the show and not representative of his true feelings. After the bladejob, the Gangstas proceeded to work Kulas over even more, prompting Stephen Kulas to scream, "Ring the f**king bell, he's 17!" As medics rushed into the ring to aid Kulas, New Jack grabbed the house microphone and exclaimed, "McMahon, Bischoff, look at this motherf**ker! As far as I'm concerned, that fat piece of s**t can bleed to f**king death, because I don't give a f**k."
After the trial, Paul Heyman states that Kulas's dubious credentials as a student of Killer Kowalski were endorsed by a then-known midget wrestler, who was with Kulas when he and his father approached the staff about getting Eric in. New Jack later stated in interviews that after he found out about Kulas' duplicity, he didn't have any remorse for what he had done.
- Death of Eric Kulas
Eric Kulas died on May 12, 2002, at the age of 22 not because of the incident but due to complications from gastric bypass surgery stemming from his weight problems. He had weighed close to 300 pounds when he was 10 years old, and had continued to have weight issues throughout his life.
Links:
1) The Mass Transit Incident
(WARNING! Violence graphics might not be suitable for minors!)
http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/mass%2Btransit%2Bincident/video/xu5dq_ecwmass-transit-incident-full-match_extreme (Thanks to MatasakoScar)
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