If WWE fans in the Attitude Era detested The Mean Street Posse and one of its members in particular, the feeling backstage wasn’t too dissimilar.
Back in the ‘wild west’ of wrestling periods that was the Attitude Era, Shane McMahon was often deployed in extreme storylines.
Son of then WWE owner Vince McMahon, Shane was prepared to put his body on the line to win over not only fans, but his fellow performers, too.
As a heel on screen – a wrestling villain – McMahon was rarely able to win matches on his own and as such, heading into a marquee WrestleMania match against X-Pac at WrestleMania 15 in 1999, he was unsurprisingly due some back up.
Cue the arrival in WWE of two of his childhood friends to help fill the void – not trained wrestlers, but pals from the ‘mean streets’ of Greenwich, Connecticut, nonetheless.
Given their lack of experience the bumbling pair, who debuted as Pete Gas and Rodney, were joined by Joey Abs, a trained wrestler with several years’ experience.
Together, along with other members who appeared fleetingly and were gone as quickly as they appeared, the Mean Street Posse lurked around in WWE for much of 1999.
Aiding McMahon wherever he went for much of that year, they proved a thorn in the side of his opponents at that year’s WrestleMania, SummerSlam and other high-profile events.
Their sneering persona made them an irritant to fans and, it seems, plenty of their WWE colleagues, too.
In his book Foley is Good, WWE icon Mick Foley noted the group were disliked backstage – particularly Rodney, who even the former multi-time world champ had a hard time getting along with.
The veteran wrote: “I’m not sure if Pete and Rodney were actually supposed to be wrestlers. Originally, they were used to hype Shane’s match with X-Pac [and in] the midst of telling outrageous stories about Shane’s exploits in Greenwich, they started getting over [the wrestling term for popular], and even though they’d never wrestled, actually had more heat than most of the heels on our crew.
“They had heat in the dressing room as well-especially Rodney. Pete seemed like a nice guy, but Rodney? Not only was he sporting a hairstyle that was repulsive even by sports-entertainment standards, but he was unbearable to be around.”
Ever aimable and one of the most popular characters in WWE’s history, it’s perhaps no surprise that Foley slowly, eventually began to warm to the Posse – even Rodney.
In fact, The Posse only went up more in the Hardcore legend’s estimation after a surprising backstage chat revealed their willingness to win over those in the locker room.
“Rodney and Pete politely asked to talk to me before the match,” he added. “They had been informed that I was going to lay out all three of them with chair-shots to the head, and they were understandably nervous.
“Oddly, they weren’t nervous about being hurt. They were nervous about not being hurt.”
Pete Gas, Foley went on to pen, said: “Listen, Mick. We know that we’re only here because we’re Shane’s friends, and we know some of the boys resent us for it.”
The pair admitted they’d never taken a chair shot to the head – a staple part of the Attitude Era – and so didn’t want Foley go easy on them just because of their relationship with Shane, son of the boss.
Gas then made the extraordinary request to Foley that he ‘hit us really hard with the chair.’
Foley went on: “I thought it over. They had been very polite about it—and besides, I had been planning on blasting them anyway.
“Sure, guys, I’ll do it,” I said, and was rewarded with sincere handshakes and heartfelt gratitude.
“Sure enough, I lived up to my word, and sure enough, the Posse was deeply appreciative.”
Mick Foley, as Mankind, Cactus Jack and Dude Love, had made a career out of putting his body through unimaginable punishment for the entertainment of fans.
For once, The Mean Street Posse allowed him to do the opposite by willingly volunteering to take a heck of a beating, and they earned some respect in the process.
The trio gradually faded from WWE screens in the early part of 2000 before being released the following year, presumably to roam the mean streets of Greenwich once again…
