It is a WrestleMania sized edition of The Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling as we welcome a returning guest and now author of his new book “Looking At The Lights: My Journey From Fan To A Wrestling Heel as Pete Gas of The Mean Street Posse starts off episode #254. Pete talks about the fun he has reliving the stories of his unlikely wrestling career and how his relationship with Shane McMahon has ultimately changed his life forever. We also get some insight as to why The Mean Street Posse was not used at last year’s WrestleMania and whether or not we can possibly be seeing them Sunday in Shane’s match vs. AJ Styles.
Reception thus far to his book being released:
“The response has been phenomenal. Doing this stuff with you guys and with other outlets is spreading the word and it is actually getting to the point where I am getting a lot of messages through social media where they’ll say I had no interest in your book but once I heard the interview half way through I went online and ordered it and can’t wait to read it. It is a great feeling and it is a fun book, it is an easy read and it has great stories about the Attitude Era and some of the biggest stars in wrestling or most of them especially with WWE at that time and it is just something that I am really proud of everything from the title to the back page. It is something I put my heart into.”
Was he nervous to share any stories about the McMahon family while writing:
“No (laughing) what do I care. Honestly, I think any of the stories I told were really fun stories that have been out there and have been told before. I would be shocked if they were upset about it because those same stories have been out on the internet not only told by me but by other people as well including Shane. We had some fun and I’m not worried about it and if anything the one thing The McMahons can take from the book is how much I appreciate and love and respect them as a family and I think that is the biggest thing I’d take out of it if I were them reading the book because that is the way I wanted it to come across. I told Shane the other day that I sent him a copy of the book and because he can’t afford a copy and I feel bad for him (laughing) and I sent him a message to go with it and thanked him because he’s only been thanked by me a million times. But I said you don’t realize what you did for me by giving me the opportunity but the very fact he gave me the opportunity really molded my life and put it in an area where I can never repay him. God knows what I would have been doing now or what I would have looked like had I not been in WWE and been given this opportunity.”
Was he approached to work Undertaker vs. Shane McMahon at last years WrestleMania:
“Of course I had hoped for it. This business is a drug and I’m addicted to it and it is one of those things where I am a huge fan still because of that. To be honest with you I was starting to and I’m so glad the internet wasn’t as big when we were wrestling because I would have been on that thing and reading stuff and I would have been happy or sad but most likely sad about what people wrote about us. I was caught up in that whole thing last year when Shane came back and a lot of people were getting in touch with me asking if I was going to come back? Even guys that I worked with said get ready to take the “Last Ride” from The Undertaker and we would have a few laughs with it. I was getting myself all amped up and ready to go and thinking to myself Shane won’t tell me three months or two months in advance, he’ll wait until three days before because he kayfabes me all the time and I can’t stand the son of a bitch because of it (laughing) but it is just one of those things he always does to me. But in the back of my mind every time he’d call leading up to it I’d take the phone call all excited thinking here it is and it never happened. He has a new posse which he brought out at WrestleMania and I was sitting there in the 4th row and I had a huge smile on my face and I thought it was a great moment because of how much it meant to him to have his boys with him and his new posse did a great job.”
Are there plans for a potential Mean Street Posse appearance this year vs. AJ Styles:
“Unfortunately there is not and I don’t think there will be but Shane has sent me a ticket for my wife and I to go and I’ll be there to support him and I’ll be there and in my suitcase I will pack a sweater vest or two just in case but until I get the phone call we will have to wait and see.”
Was he surprised at how much Shane did vs. Undertaker in there match last year:
“That’s Shane. I’ll be honest with you that is Shane O. Shane always takes it to the next level whether it is in a match against Undertaker or being in High School and us sneaking into a bar and him buying us all a round of drinks, he is an extremist. He loves it and he’s an adrenaline junkie and loves the business and I wasn’t surprised.”
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
