The car is an 88 RX-7 GXL with the original stock engine. I cannot turn on the car w/o the ATF trick because the spark plugs get wet and smell like gasoline. I don't know why it is doing this (never happened before). It is spitting out too much fuel and flooding the engine IMO. Any ideas on what it could be, check on ?

some possibilities:
Leaky injectors,
something pushing too much fuel into the engine while cranking ??