WWE Superstar Botch Literally Set Fire To Gorilla Position

WWE’s backstage environment is a very different place from usual work settings. You never know what can happen, and that includes a wrestler’s gimmick going off early and setting the entire place on fire.

Harry Del Rios, also known as Phantasio and Spellbinder, may not have been wrestling’s biggest star, but he made sure Bruce Prichard would never forget him. In 1995, Phantasio made three appearances for the WWF, one of which aired on Wrestling Challenge. On the night the native of New York defeated Tony DeVito. 

There are numerous methods to make an impression in pro wrestling, but some are more successful than others. As Bruce Prichard has recently revealed on a recent episode of his podcast Something To Wrestle, Phantasio’s match on Wrestling Challenge, notably the star setting the gorilla position on fire.

This dumb sh*t is sitting there, getting ready to go out and all this stuff, and all of a sudden, he’s got a little container about, you know, the size of a Visine bottle, maybe a little bit bigger. He drops it, and next thing I know, now, I’m backed up, and I’m surrounded by pipe and drapes all around me, and then there are the curtains they go out of. Well, I’m on fire! The gorilla position is on fire! And Kevin Dunn is screaming, ‘Send him!’ And I go, ‘We’re on fire!’ He goes, ‘Send him!’ I was like, ‘God damn, Gorilla’s on fire; get me a fire extinguisher now!’

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He had some kind of liquid fire that I guess magicians use or whatever. I guess he was going to have some fire or something, didn’t tell anybody, so we didn’t have it approved by a fire marshal. He’s in a small, enclosed area, surrounded by flammable drapes, and he fumble-f*ck, drops the sh*t, and the drapes are going up in fire.

Bruce Prichard went on to say that the event ended Phantasio’s WWF run, remarking that his best trick was disappearing. Phantasio would wrestle for the WWF one more time, losing to Aldo Montoya in a dark match in March 1997. To get the latest updates, keep an eye on Ringside News.

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