| Pete Gasparino | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Peter John Gasparino[1] |
| Born | (1970-05-29)May 29, 1970 (age 54) Greenwich, Connecticut, U.S.[2][3] |
| Alma mater | University of Connecticut[4] |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Pete Gas[5] |
| Billed height | 6 ft 3 in (191 cm)[6] |
| Billed weight | 265 lb (120 kg)[6] |
| Billed from | Greenwich, Connecticut[1] |
| Trained by | Tom Prichard[2][3] |
| Debut | 1999[2] |
| Retired | December 10, 2007[2] |
Peter John Gasparino (born May 29, 1970) is an American retiredprofessional wrestler, better known by hisring name,Pete Gas. He is best known for his appearances with theWorld Wrestling Federation between 1999 and 2001 as a member of theMean Street Posse.[1][2]
Gasparino grew up inGreenwich, Connecticut. He attendedGreenwich High School, where he was a friend ofShane McMahon, the son ofthe chairman of theWorld Wrestling Federation. He went on to attend theUniversity of Connecticut on an athletic scholarship, playingfootball for theConnecticut Huskies. After graduating, Gasparino spoke to McMahon in 1992 about becoming a professional wrestler, but McMahon discouraged him. Gasparino instead went into business, eventually joining Lightnin Rentals, a film production equipment hire company, inNew York City.[4][7]
In early-1999, Shane McMahon asked Gasparino and their mutual friendRodney Leinhardt to film a series of vignettes about their upbringing in Greenwich to promote his match withX-Pac atWrestleMania XV.[4] The tongue-in-cheek vignettes bragged about the toughness of McMahon and his friends from the "mean streets" of Greenwich. Renamed "Pete Gas", Gasparino (along with Rodney and two other childhood friends of Shane, "Billy P" and "Willie Greene") made his live debut in the WWF on the March 22, 1999 episode ofRaw, interfering in a street fight between McMahon and X-Pac.[8] Dubbed the "Mean Street Posse", Gas and the others went on to appear in McMahon's corner at WrestleMania XV on March 28, 1999, helping him defeat X-Pac.[9]
After Gas and Rodney had made several appearances with the WWF, they were offered one-year contracts. Gas left his job, becoming a full-time performer with the WWF. He was trained as a wrestler byTom Prichard.[4] Playing on their "preppy" image, the Posse members wrestled inargylesweater vests andkhakis.[10][6] Inspired by the Socs, a gang of wealthy teenagers from the 1983 filmThe Outsiders, the Mean Street Posse were comedic villains: "the rich kids that everyone hated".[3]
Following WrestleMania XV, the Mean Street Posse were drawn into the feud between Shane McMahon and his fatherVince, resulting in them facing Vince McMahon's "stooges",Gerald Brisco andPat Patterson in a series of matches. On the April 29, 1999 episode ofSmackdown, the Mean Street Posse became members ofThe Corporate Ministry. On the May 10, 1999 episode ofRaw, Gas and Rodney lost to Brisco and Patterson in aloser leaves town match. The television ratings for the segment the match appeared in were at that time the highest ever recorded for a WWF television program.[11][7] They returned on the June 7, 1999 episode ofRaw. On June 21, 1999, Gas and Rodney were joined byJoey Abs, turning the Mean Street Posse from atag team into astable. Unlike Gas and Rodney, Abs was not a childhood friend of Shane McMahon; instead, he was an experienced wrestler added to the group as a ringer.
In July 1999, Shane McMahon and the Mean Street Posse began feuding withTest after he began dating McMahon's sisterStephanie. This culminated in a "love her or leave her" match between McMahon and Test atSummerSlam on August 22, 1999, with Test to end his relationship with Stephanie if he lost and McMahon to drop his opposition to the relationship if he lost. Test defeated McMahon despite the efforts of the Posse, who were seated at ringside.[12] McMahon reconciled with Test on the September 9 episode ofSmackdown, but the Posse refused to do likewise, resulting in them ending their alliance with McMahon after he rescued Test from an attack at their hands on the September 13, 1999 episode ofRaw.
After parting ways with McMahon, the Posse were briefly managed byTerri Runnels before allying withThe British Bulldog. On November 14, 1999, atSurvivor Series, The British Bulldog and the Mean Street Posse lost toGangrel,Mark Henry,Steve Blackman, andVal Venis in the titular match.[13]
On December 12, 1999, atArmageddon, the Mean Street Posse took part in atag teambattle royal to become number one contenders to theWWF Tag Team Championship. They gained an advantage by switching places with the third wrestler behind the referees' backs, thus enabling them to outnumber the other teams three to two, but nonetheless failed to win.
In early 2000, the Posse repeatedly tried to defeatCrash Holly for theHardcore Championship, attacking the champion in unlikely venues such as anairport, acircus, and hishotel room. AtWrestleMania 2000 on April 2, the trio took part in ahardcorebattle royal for the title. During the match, each member would briefly hold the title, althoughHardcore Holly ultimately won the match and left as the official champion.[14][15]
On an episode ofSunday Night Heat in October 2000,Edge and Christian briefly became themanagers of the Mean Street Posse. They accompanied them to ringside for the duration of their WWF World Tag Team Championship title match with theHardy Boyz, assisting the Posse with the proviso that they would receive a title shot if the Posse was to win. The Hardy Boyz thwarted the interference of Edge and Christian, however, and retained their titles.
In mid-2000, Gas and the other Posse members were sent toMemphis Championship Wrestling, the WWF'sdevelopmental territory inMemphis, Tennessee, for seasoning. The trio trained in Memphis from Wednesday to Sunday then joined the rest of the roster forRaw andSmackDown tapings on Monday and Tuesday.[11] Gas and Rodney won theMCW Southern Tag Team Championship in May 2000, defeatingBull Pain and Todd Morton. They lost the championship to The Kingpins in July 2000, but regained them the following month. Their second reign ended in October 2000 when they lost toThe Dupps.
During his time in Memphis, Gas also wrestled forPower Pro Wrestling, another Memphis-based independent promotion affiliated with the WWF. In March 2001, he won thePPP Heavyweight Championship. The championship was abandoned later the same month when Power Pro Wrestling closed.
After several months in Memphis, Gas was sent toPuerto Rico. He and the other Posse members were released by the WWF in June 2001.[4]
After WWF, Gas went on to briefly wrestle on theindependent circuit until 2003.[5] His last match was on September 6, 2003, losing toPrince Nana in theEast Coast Wrestling Association inWilmington, Delaware.
After retiring from professional wrestling, Gasparino worked as a bond broker. In 2003, he began working for the office supply companyW.B. Mason as asales representative.[6]
Gasparino broke his retirement in 2007, he appeared on the 15th anniversary episode ofRaw, competing in aBattle Royal, where he was eliminated byBart Gunn.[16] In 2016, Gasparino made several appearances onThe Edge and Christian Show, asketch comedy show on theWWE Network hosted by current wrestlersChristian andEdge. In 2017, he published his autobiography:Looking at the Lights: My Path from Fan to a Wrestling Heel.
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