When Foley was too hardcore for tv
- Thread starter Kidd Dibiase
- Start date
The ECW Fire Incident
Jack and Raven poured lighter fluid onto the towel, before igniting it with a branding iron. Jack tried to hit Funk with it, but Dreamer stopped him. This caused Jack to hit Dreamer instead, causing Dreamer to catch fire. According to PWInsider's Dave Scherer, the crowd was stunned, with growing tension caused by the fact Jack was struggling to pick up the chair, which was burning uncontrollably with pieces of burning towel falling off it. Jack again tried to hit Funk, only for the latter to roll out of the ring.[2]According to PWInsider's Mike Johnson, this stunt was supposed to have the chair rebound onto Jack. In actuality, the burning towel fell off the chair and landed on Funk's back, which immediately engulfed him. As Funk ran around ringside in clear distress, some fans attempted to put him out with others began to panic. Eventually, some ECW employees with fire extinguishers ran in. But instead of simply focusing on areas where burning pieces of towel were situated at, they merely shot their extinguishers through the ring, causing more chaos with Funk still burning and with fans beginning to choke and cough from the extinguishers.[1][3]
Suddenly, the lights for the arena were turned off, as this was meant for a crucifixion angle. This further panicked the crowd, with the majority stampeding for the doors. This caused some injuries, including a man breaking his nose, and another breaking his leg. Some were also burned, with one fan attempting to sue ECW following the incident, claiming he suffered burnt hands and other medical issues after trying to put out the fire,[4] but this case was dismissed.[1] The incident was finally resolved when ECW owner Paul Heyman ordered the lights be turned back on, which when combined with the fires finally being put out, helped to fully calm matters.[5]
