The rivalry between Shane McMahon and X-Pac for the WWE European Championship in early 1999 may have been responsible for the best match at that year's WrestleMania XV but it was also the emphasis for the arrival of a trio of spoiled brats, a crew of sweater vest-wearing pretty boys known as the Mean Street Posse. Initially, the group featured a plethora of McMahon's real life friends but when all was said and done, it would be the trio of Pete Gas, Rodney and Joey Abs that earned the most exposure in the sports entertainment empire that is WWE. Throughout the Attitude Era, no one took quite the ass whooping like the Posse, who found themselves on the receiving end of beatings at the hands of the APA on a regular basis, but were also part of one of Raw's highest rated segments ever when they lost a wildly entertaining tag bout to Gerald Brisco and Pat Patterson. The Posse were punching bags for popular midcard babyfaces. But, to their credit, they always got up and did it again. Most impressive of all was the fact that only Joey Abs was a classically trained wrestler. Rodney and Abs were, legitimately, friends of the McMahon family and took the punishment they did while trusting that their peers would not seriously hurt them. And in the process, they became some of the most memorable and despised villains of WWE's hottest and most profitable era.
Erik Beaston is a freelance pro wrestling writer who likes long walks in the park, dandelions and has not quite figured out that this introduction is not for Match.com. He resides in Parts Unknown, where he hosts weekly cookouts with Kane, The Ultimate Warrior, Papa Shango and The Boogeyman. Be jealous.
