It isn’t often that you find yourself color-coordinated with a wrestling legend, but at the historic Mid Hudson Civic Center, the stars aligned. I sat down with Blue Meanie shortly after his surprise debut in the rumble for ACW. Between his iconic blue hair and my WWE-style jacket, the “Blue Gritty” of Philadelphia was in high spirits, reflecting on a career that has spanned over three decades.
The Halley’s Comet of Professional Wrestling
While it has been over 25 years since the original ECW closed its doors, the impact of the extreme revolution remains the “fine china” of wrestling history—something fans protect and pass down to their kids. For Meanie, the legacy of the promotion isn’t about the money owed or the chaos, but the opportunity provided by Paul Heyman.
“I say ECW was like the Halley’s comet of professional wrestling. It didn’t last long, but the people who saw were really affected by it and they’re going to be talking about for generations to come. Uh I find like a lot of people who experienced it live pass it on to the next generation. Like the family’s fine China. Here’s here here’s my good ECW. Pass it on. You know, here are my tapes… truth be told if it wasn’t Paul Heyman nobody would know who I am because I was a kid from Atlantic City only a year and a half in the business and he gave me an opportunity. Without that, I couldn’t have went to the WWE and so many other great things come out came out of working for ECW, my hometown promotion, you know.”
Comparing a Slayer Setlist to a Wrestling Match
If you’ve ever spotted Meanie at Mayhem Fest or Ozzfest, you know he is as much a metalhead as he is a wrestler. During our talk, we dove into the parallel psychology between a heavy metal concert and a championship match. Whether it’s Slayer or the bWo, the goal is to manage the crowd’s energy so they don’t “tap out” too early.
“The structuring of any set list is just like a wrestling card, you know, if you know, and that was my role in ECW. Somebody could just let themselves on fire going through a table and bob wires, all that stuff. All right, here comes the Meanie and the bWo, you know, kind of, you know, set the tone for the next crazy thing. So, and and I admire that in metal concerts as well because they could go out there, you know, Slayer could go out there and kill you with the first five songs and then by the end of, you know, the set list, you’re like, ‘Oh my god, I’m gassed. I’m gas.'”
Meanie even shared his secret for keeping the character alive in 2026. While he’s naturally gray now, he doesn’t use Just For Men—he uses “Just for Meanie,” a specialized blue hair gel that keeps the iconic look intact for the cameras.
“Now I’m naturally naturally gray. I use instead of just for men, I used Just for Meanie. It’s like a blue hair gel stuff that… I’ll do the mind eraser like Men in Black. Men in blue. But uh dude, it’s it’s I’m I’m just grateful anybody wants me to come on the show. There’s thousands of wrestlers out there. There’s so many people who’ve done so many great things and that they consider me to come in here to be a surprise. Means a lot.”
Becoming the “Philly Fanatic” of AEW
Last summer, AEW held a residency at the original ECW Arena (now the 2300 Arena), and they knew they couldn’t be in South Philly without the Blue Meanie. Meanie described his time working with Tony Khan, the Young Bucks, and Athena as a homecoming, noting that his connection with Khan actually dates back to the early internet era.
“I always say I’m the Philly fanatic of professional wrestling. Or the gritty or the gritty depending on… this is the funniest thing in the locker room in my office talking to Tony Khan. He’s standing there with the Young Bucks. He goes, ‘Just so you know, I’ve known the Blue Meanie since I was 12 years old, which is the truth. Back in the AOL days, we we would talk online.’ But it was cool that it was, like I said, it was awesome to be thought of in that in that atmosphere. They had 11 shows to plan out and they’re like, ‘Let’s make Blue Meanie part of a couple of them.’ So, I got to do uh something with the Frat House. I was part of Athena’s entrance. I got to do RJ City’s show, which is pretty cool.”
Watching the Modern Evolution
Despite being an ECW original, Meanie isn’t a “get off my lawn” type of veteran. He keeps up with the modern product through social media highlights and is constantly impressed by the athleticism of today’s roster—even if they use a few more finishers than he’s used to seeing.
“I do follow modern wrestling. There’s a lot of great talent out there. Uh guys doing stuff I can only only have dreamed of doing back in the day, you know. It was hard coming up with one finisher and then you see them you see somebody doing 20 finishers in one match, you’re like, ‘Hey, save some for the honeymoon, you know, just, you know.’ But, you know, the the guys today are phenomenal athletes. Uh, they’re, you know, wrestling’s bigger than ever, big, bigger than ever, and it’s just an evolution of the business and, uh, I look forward to see, you know, what what what’s coming down the line.”
Whether it’s partying with fans at the South Philly Travel Lodge in the 90s or debuting at the Mid Hudson Civic Center today, Meanie remains a student of the “violent circus world.” He continues to mentor students and support the industry, believing firmly that a rising tide lifts all ships.
“I want everybody to do well. Because if the wrestling business is doing well that means I’ll be doing well when I go out and do events all you know rising tide lifts all ships.”
