Evolution Schematic 04.25.07: Viscera (Part 1)

Posted by Mathew Sforcina on 04.25.2007

Never say someone's career is inexplicable. Because THIS is the result.

Overview

Viscera.

It's a rather emotive name; after all, it means guts, blood, the stuff inside of you which should stay in you in order to survive. Of course, it's not his only name. At first, he was Mabel, which is a girl's name. So maybe it's an improvement. But regardless, it has been said by some (Hi Iain!) that Mabel/Viscera/Nelson Knight (which is almost certainly his real name, or at least as close as we have heard, that being used in his very short TNA run) is unexplainable. His turns, his changes in attitude, from fun loving rapper to pissed off rapper to King to guy trying to make a buck to hired goon to hired Goth goon to generic Goth fat-ass to bodyguard to hired Goth goon again to than man we know today, the world's largest love machine, all of this is impossible to explain.

*cracks knuckles*

Not really. Basically, Vis' career can be summed up in two main drives. The drive to be gainfully employed, and the drive to be loved. Vis would like a job, and this has lead to him working for various people, Vince McMahon, Ron Killings, Christian, Bradshaw. But he also wants to feel cared for, loved. That has led to him being a rapping happy go lucky guy, a king, part of the Ministry, and his current situation. Once his job is safe, as long as he doesn't have to worry about his job, then he can focus on the love.

Of one form or another.

So, let's go back, and look at what you guys already know, what you may not know, and what you've blocked out.

Origins- The big scary guy from…Harlem New York? The hell? Oh wait, that makes sense, never mind.

Not much is known about Viscera, or rather at the time, Nelson's background. Well, at least by us. Hopefully he knows his own background. At the very least so he can use "What was your mother's maiden name?" as a password question on his email. But growing up in Harlem gave Nelson 3 life lessons.

1, you have to be paid. You have got to make a living, get the dough, the cliché or metaphor of your choice for getting money in exchange for goods and/or services. Harlem's not known as a place flush with cash, and for a guy with an appetite like Nelson's, cash would be in short and desperate supply.

2, you gotta get what love you can. Harlem's not a nice place. It's a hard place, cold, unforgiving at times. If you can get just a little bit of comfort, just a small bit of love, of any sort, you have to grab it with both hands and not let go at any cost.

And 3, get the hell out of Harlem. This may by why Nelson's debut was not in the WWF, but rather, in Memphis.

Debut- Harlem Knights, Queens Days…

Yes, Nelson did not suddenly spring forth, whole, in WWF. He debuted, along with his tag partner that would eventually be known as Mo, in USWA, the company best known for being Jerry Lawler's stomping ground (or at least, former stomping ground). Calling themselves Nelson and Bobby Knight, they were the Harlem Knights.

That's about it really. They were a decent team, given that two big guys like them would be hard pressed to not be a good team. They caught the attention of one Oscar, a man who was looking for a team to manage and take to the top. He convinced them that under his leadership, and by just making a few changes to their style and names and such, they could become huge stars. Nelson liked the idea of being rich and beloved, and so signed up, as did Bobby. So Oscar changed them round a bit, setting up a color scheme, and changing their names in order to make them more marketable, memorable and to give them an over all name. He was Oscar. Bobby became Mo. And Nelson, getting the short straw, became Mabel, which was certainly memorable. And, preempting MNM by over a decade, MOM was formed, although this also stood for Men On A Mission. And almost immediately, this paid off.

Phase 2- MOM, proud WWF Employees, oh yeah, thrown your hands in the air, wave then like you just don't care, oh yeah.

For they got hired by WWF in mid 1993. Hip Hop was just starting to break into the mainstream, and WWF was looking to cash in. And Oscar was there to give them a way to do so. MOM would come down to the ring, Oscar rapping while Mabel and Mo would dance as only a 400lb+ black man can, and generally get the fans into it. They also carried a positive message, saying how they wanted to help their neighborhood and neighborhoods in general by being positive role models and all that good stuff you had to say in the early 90's to be seen as good guys and hence become popular. And they were for the most part, although now it's pretty clear that Oscar wasn't a very good rapper. But at the time, he was the best the WWF had.

Mabel and Mo had some success early on, although it didn't translate into title shots immediately, since back then you couldn't just waltz in and get a title shot, you had to earn it. MOM's first PPV match was at Survivor Series 93, where they team up with the Bushwhackers and dressed in Doink face paint, as part of the Bam Bam vs. Doink war.

Anything for a buck.

But hey, their team was victorious, not losing a single member as they beat Bastion Booger, The Headshrinkers and Bam Bam Bigelow. MOM continued to slowly rise up the tag ranks, taking a short break to try and win the IC title in the tournament to crown a new one after Shawn Michaels got stripped of it due to contract issues, and after that failed, taking another short break to enter the 94 Rumble . Mabel drew #16, lasting a while until everyone else in the ring ganged up and eliminated him, a sequence he would become very familiar with over the years.

MOM finally got their shot, at the biggest stage of them all in fact, Wrestlemania X, up against the despised Quebecers. And they won! But by count out, so it didn't really count as a victory.

However, it did give them more shots, since they did hold a victory of sorts over the tag champs. And about a week later, in England, Mabel splashed Pierre and got the 3 count, giving MOM the tag titles!

Phase 2- OH-

In the rematch 2 days later, The Quebecers won the belts back.

Phase 3- Darn.

MOM, despite now being former champs, fell back down the tag ranks. So Oscar decided, for a while, to focus on Mabel. Mo was happy to not have to get beat up, and thus Mabel moved into the singles ranks, MOM still a team but for the most part, Mabel was the sole wrestler for a while. Mabel entered the 94 King Of The Ring, beating Quebecer Pierre, but lost in the opening round at the PPV when he missed a splash allowing IRS to pin him.

Mabel continued to wallow in the mid-card, much like MOM had, getting wins but not gaining any traction. Losing to Jeff Jarrett at Summerslam when he sat down and landed on his ass didn't help matters (he got pinned off sitting down? Ga-Huh?). So they cut some WWF dates and went back to USWA.

Phase 3b- Multi-Tasking.

The plan was, to focus on improving and getting better down in USWA while maintaining their status and jobs in WWF. Sure, they were still liked, but they weren't getting up the card, into the real money. So by going to USWA and fighting their upper tier guys, they would get better. It's fairly typical old school thinking, that's why most old school wrestlers would move from territory to territory.

So Mabel and Mo wrestled as a team in USWA, once again going by the Harlem Knights name, while Mabel focused on singles wrestling in WWF as part of MOM. Their USWA work was fairly non-descript and neither shocking nor impressive, while the WWF efforts were slightly better. He teamed with Lex Luger to fight the Million Dollar Corporation at the 94 Survivor Series show, eliminating Tom Pritchard before getting counted out. However, this match was where Mabel and Mo first teamed with the Smoking Gunns, Billy and Bart, and a friendship formed. Since cowboys and guys from the ghetto always get on well.

But slowly and surely, Mabel and Mo became disillusioned. Oscar's management just didn't seem to be getting them anywhere. They weren't getting the shots against the big stars, weren't getting the big cash, they weren't as loved as they once were. And hence, slowly Mabel and Mo became more and more angry. Mabel being tossed single-handedly by Lex Luger in the 95 Rumble didn't help matters. And then it all came to a head.

Phase 4- Screw you fans, screw you champs, screw you Oscar, screw everything! Except the color purple, that still rocks.

For on the March 12th episode of WWF Action Zone, The Smoking Gunns were happy to give their good buddies, those bastions of goodness and not letting the streets turn you bad, MOM, a WWF Tag Title Shot. But the Gunns, their champions' attitude showing, came in with their game faces on, and ended up winning the match. And that was the straw that broke the taxi's axel, as Mabel and Mo, after the match, brutally attacked Billy and Bart, leaving them laying and Oscar dumbfounded.

Oscar then spent a couple of weeks trying to straighten Mabel and Mo out, get them focused and such. So, after MOM won a tag match up against some local guys, they called the Gunns out to apologize. The Gunns came out, and shook Mabel and Mo's hand.

Then got beat up again. Oscar then tried to stop his guys, and ended up taking a huge leg drop for his trouble, officially ending their relationship and sending him out of the business. Mabel and Mo were not hated, but they didn't care, since they were focused on the money. The lack of love was a problem, but the money was the key issue. And they needed to rise up the card to get more, and to do that, morals had to be thrown out the window.

Or so the plan was. Unfortunately, despite their new found attitude, Men On A Mission (to destroy rather than help) did not rise up the tag ranks, after Gunns got their revenge. They floundered around much like they did before.

And then everything changed.

Phase 5- 1995's King Of The Ring.

For the 95 King Of The Ring tournament began. Mabel was part of the very first qualifier, on the first In Your House PPV, pinning Adam Bomb in a little over 2 minutes. Then the PPV rolled around. And it seemed that Mabel was screwed, as he drew The Undertaker in his Quarter Final. And it seemed like he was dead after Taker had hit a Chokeslam, even if the ref was out. But then Kama came in…

A quick word on the human body. If one trains, as Undertaker clearly has, or merely takes a huge amount of punishment, as Mick Foley has, the body can learn to take incredible amounts of pain and damage and keep going. With Foley, it manifests in his taking bigger and bigger moves and still brawling. With Taker, it involves just sitting up.

But, the human body, no matter how well trained, is not, can not, be perfect. You cannot make every single part impenetrable; you cannot train everything to its peak. It's not physically possible. Something, somewhere, will be less strong, weaker than other parts.

With Undertaker, at least in 1995, for all his training, he had left his upper neck area with less attention that it could have. At least, that's how it seems. Because when Taker covered Mabel, Kama came in, urn-made-into-necklace around his neck, and stomped on Taker's head. And it seemed to knock him out. Sure, you can maybe argue that because he had the urn, he had more power over Taker, but really, it's simple. Kama knocked Taker goofy with a stiff shot to the back of the head. Why shouldn't he? Have you ever been stomped in the head when you weren't expecting it? I'm sure Kama was planning on continuing the beat down, but when he saw Taker's glazed look, he left, his work done. Mabel's leg drop just added an extra layer onto his freak injury, and Mabel had advanced. And gotten a bye to the finals, thanks to Kama and Shawn Michaels going to a draw.

So Savio Vega had to get through The Roadie to get to the final. And then went up against Mabel, who was rested. And ignoring the crowd's bizarre chants (Who's ECW? SV was in the ring with RR on the outside…), Mabel kicked out of Savio's patented leg lariat, ending Vega's dream and winning the 95 King Of The Ring tournament, beating up Savio, Razor Ramon (the guy Savio replaced) and The 123 Kid as well all for fun.

King Mabel was born.

Phase 5b- King Mabel with Sir Mo.

After dubbing Mo Sir Mo, and getting a royal throne to be carried in, (he already had the royal purple gear) King Mabel used the win to catapult himself up the ranks. Mabel and Mo defeated Razor and Savio at the second In Your House in a tag match, Mabel pinning Razor. And these victories led to Mabel getting his long awaited title shot against the WWF Champion, Diesel. The match occurred at Summerslam. And thanks to Lex Luger running in to take out Mo, Mabel ended up taking a second rope shoulder block from Diesel, and was pinned.

And thus, his career arguably peaked. I say arguably because he's seen Trish Stratus's breasts and done Lillian Garcia. But of course, at the time he didn't see it that way. Ok, so he'd failed at his first shot. But he'd get another; he'd just have to wait a while. A good way to speed the process up would be to destroy The Undertaker.

Phase 5c- Mabel vs. The Undertaker. Funnier in retrospect, given the whole Ministry thing, huh?

And with Yokozuna's help, he seemed to do so. After stealing Taker's Urn to melt it into some Royal jewelry (thus proving that Taker's Urn is made of the most malleable metal on Earth), he attacked Taker, he and Yokozuna dropping leg drop after leg drop onto Taker's face in September 95, breaking The Undertaker's orbital bone and forcing him into wearing his skull-mask. President Gorilla Monsoon responded by forcing both men to fight each other at In Your House 4. The match ended in a double count out, thus leaving the two men healthy and still in the same position on the card, but Taker was more pissed at Mabel than Yoko, and hence at Survivor Series Taker's Dark Side team fought the Royal Court. Mabel's teammates (Jerry Lawler, HHH and Isaac Yankem, a.k.a Kane although at the time Taker had no idea about that) all got pinned by Taker, and Mabel got some advantage, Taker sat up, Mabel ran away.

But there was no running away a month later, as Mabel had to fight Taker in a casket match at the 5th IYH. And Mabel and Mo had the match won, but forgot to close the casket. Hence Taker came back, kicked Mabel's ass, took his urn back, and closed the casket, winning.

A few weeks later, Mabel and Mo were fired from the WWF. It seemed Mabel's run was done. But the best…worst…more was yet to come.

Eventually.