Remember the Mean Street Posse? WWE star Pete Gas’ incredible move from the ring to working as a sales executive in New York
Former wrestler discusses his life away from the wrestling ring
ASK any fan from the Attitude Era and they’ll remember the Mean Street Posse – Pete Gas, Rodney, and Joey Abs – as unlikely heroes.
The real-life friends of Shane McMahon, Pete Gas and Rodney were thrust into the most chaotic and outrageous period in WWE history – with no wrestling training.
Playing Shane’s crew from the “mean streets of Greenwich” – a gang of rich boy thugs clad in chinos and sweater vests – the Posse also featured in some of WWE’s funniest ever skits.
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During the Hardcore division’s 24:7 rule they ambushed defending champ Crash Holly at his hotel, in the airport and even the circus.
Pete – real name Pete Gasparino – was released from WWE along with the rest of the Posse in 2001. Now, Pete works as a sales executive in New York, but tells his story in his new book, Looking At The Lights: My Path From A Fan To Wrestling Heel.
Sun Sport talked to Pete about becoming a wrestling star and life after WWE.
He said: “It’s a unique story – nobody has the same story as Rodney and I. We were two former athletes. I played college football, Rodney played baseball and football in high school. They took us and put us in the ring with no experience. They said, ‘Go out, don’t kill yourself, and put over the best wrestlers in the business.’”
When the Posse first arrived in WWE in 1999, Pete was working for a film production company. He was enlisted into WWE alongside Rodney and other friends to talk up Shane during his feud with X-Pac.
He said: “Shane came to us and asked if we could do him ‘a favour’. He asked us to dress preppy and come into the WWE studio. He said, ‘I want you to tell stories from when we were kids… getting into fights, running away from the cops, all that crazy stuff we did.’ And they put it on Raw the next night.
“We were only meant to do that and appear at WrestleMania XV. But he called us back into the office and handed us each an envelope with a cheque inside – he paid us! In our minds it was just a favour. We had such a blast, we weren’t looking to get paid.”
Pete and Rodney started training and became a regular part of the WWE roster – joined by wrestler Joey Abs to make the classic Mean Street Posse lineup. But getting such a prominent spot on the back of being Shane’s buddies made it tough for them backstage.
Pete said: “It was hard to respect in the locker room. If you’re a guy who’s paid his dues, been to wrestling school, and done all the different things to need to get a tryout… and there are these guys who are friends with Shane who in walk off the street and are suddenly on Monday Night Raw, I can see where there would be resentment.
“We had to do things like get our heads beat in with steel chairs by guys like JBL. They’d beat the heck out of us, then when we’d go backstage after the match, Rodney and I would just smile, shake hands, and say thank you. That slowly started to get the respect of the guys.
Though their early matches weren’t exactly technical classics, the Posse did get over with fans. They became cult favourites for their antics in the hardcore division – mostly being clobbered by a whole variety of weapons in a whole variety of ridiculous situations.
Pete said: “Your body gets used to the bumps, but you never quite get used to getting hit with a steel chair – it’s not normal!
“But those matches were so much fun. We loved it. One of writers – guy called Tommy Blacha – came up with a lot of our stuff.
“We dressed up as clowns and tried to get the hardcore belt from Crash at the circus. Then there was a time we delivered room service to Crash’s hotel room and we rushed the door and started fighting. I made a suggestion to Tommy that at the end of the segment, instead of chasing after Crash I see the tray of food and I start eating. I wasn’t worried about the hardcore belt, I’d rather sit there and eat!”
Unfortunately, the Posse’s run was short lived. They were sent to Memphis for extra training, before Pete was split from the group and sent to wrestle in Puerto Rico.
Soon after Joey Abs called to say he and Rodney had been released – and Pete was released the very next day.
Pete said: “I did some indies and got a call to do a thing with Jeff Jarrett, which turned out to be TNA. We were going to Australia and then Europe, then 9/11 hit and everything got cancelled. By then a lot of places weren’t doing indie shows and I just faded out of the business.
“For a long time, I had no closure. I felt that by the time I got released from WWE, I ‘d finally caught up where I felt like I could perform night in and night out. I just wish we were able to show that to the fans.”
Pete first went to work on Wall Street as a bond broker, then bounced around doing odd jobs. Now he works as senior sales executive for independent office supply company W.B. Mason, where he’s worked for 14 years.
His time in wrestling has even helped him land a few extra sales.
He said: “When I started with the company my face was fairly fresh off TV and I used to take my 8x10 promo photos in my briefcase. When I’d go on sales calls, the girl on the front desk might be a huge wrestling fan. So the next thing you know they’re doing business with me because I’ve given them an autographed photo. It worked out!”
Now happily married and a long way from having to take those chair shots, Pete still watches WWE – and keeps tabs on daredevil buddy Shane.
He said: “When Shane made his surprise return on Raw last year and Vince said he would face Undertaker in Hell in a Cell I turned to my wife on the couch and said, ‘We’re going’.
She goes, ‘Why? so I said, ‘Because Shane’s going to jump off the Cell.’ I told her right then, because I just know him. He will put his body on the line for the business – that’s how much he loves it.”
Pete understands Shane’s love for the wrestling business. He describes it as “Addictive… like a drug. You get a rush when you go out there and get a pop, whether they’re cheering or booing – it doesn’t matter.”
The Mean Street Posse might be a sweater vest-wearing footnote in WWE history, but their cult status amongst Attitude Era fans lives on.
And as Pete tells Sun Sport, his book offers a huge insight into the wildly popular time in WWE – when Pete got to perform alongside some the biggest stars ever.
“It’s for any fan who thinks, ‘I wonder what it would be like to get in the ring with The Rock?’, ‘I wonder what it would be like to wrestle in front of all those people?’”
And while Pete never quite reached the main event level of The Rock, he did get his own WrestleMania moment.
“I won the hardcore belt at WrestleMania 2000… it was for only 30 seconds. I had this face covered in blood and when the referee raised my arm in victory, I remember thinking, ‘I just won something at WrestleMania!’
“I just let out this yell – just to get it out of my system – and as soon as I let it out, I got hit by Tazz and lost the belt. But that 30 seconds… no one can ever take it away from me.”
Follow Pete @IamPeteGas
Looking At The Lights: My Path From A Fan To Wrestling Heel is out March 21