Evolution Schematic 05.02.07: Viscera (Part 2)
Posted by Mathew Sforcina on 05.02.2007
Just watch your mouth or he'll sit on you.
Writer's Notes
It kinda says something about how detailed and verbose I can get when I need to spend this long on fricking Viscera. Anyway, Part 1 would be here, were we covered Mabel's career from debut up to being fired by the WWF first time around. And now…
Phase 6- When in doubt, go back to Memphis.
Mabel, as he was still known, needed a job. WWF had fired him, and hence he needed to get paid somehow. Affection he could wait on. Dinner he couldn't. So he went back to USWA, and was actually relatively successful, for a while. He won the MCW Southern Heavyweight title off Brian Christopher then lost it to Jerry Lawler; he teamed with Mo some of the time, for 2 or so years he made a living. He wasn't making good money, by any stretch of the imagination, but he was getting by. And then he got a second chance.
Phase 7- A test for Shamrock.
Ken Shamrock was on top of the world. He'd just be crowned the 1998 King Of The Ring, everything was turning up Shamrock. However, this did not sit well with some people, especially The Rock, who Shamrock had forced to tap out to with the Ankle Lock to win the tournament. So, Rock (perhaps) made a call, and then, on July 6th, as Shamrock fought Jeff Jarrett, Mabel suddenly appeared and attacked Shamrock, one former King Of The Ring fighting another. The two men then had a match later on that night, which Shamrock won. This would have been a setback, having failed to do his job, but Viscera impressed at least one man that night.
Phase 8- Quit Foley, QUIT!
That man was Vince McMahon, who brought Mabel back into the fold at the 99 Royal Rumble, having him assault and splash repeatedly Mankind, then WWF Champion on Heat, prior to the show where Mankind was set to fight The Rock in an I Quit match.
But Mabel wasn't just content to attack Foley. He was a member of the Corporation now, he should be getting things. So he attacked and knocked out Headbanger Mosh and took his place in the Rumble, eliminating almost everyone in his path.
And then things went weird. The Acolytes, Faarooq and Bradshaw came out and attacked him, eliminating him from the Rumble then dragging him to The Undertaker. Taker then hypnotized him, or perhaps just distracted him long enough for the Acolytes to knock him out. Regardless, they dragged him to a waiting hearse, and then… Gave him the affection he wanted. And for that, he was quite happy to change his name and attire and everything about himself.
Phase 9- Viscera is born, or at least comes out.
Viscera was introduced to the World the following night, the newest member of the Ministry of Darkness. With his snazzy black outfit, weird contact lenses, and Mohawk, he was Goth. Albeit in big huge fat black man form. He began doing whatever Taker asked to the best of his abilities, which mostly saw him lose, and team with Mideon and still lose.
Then when the Corporate Ministry was formed, he remained loyal to Taker, and his new friends, although things didn't much change. But then, he got paid, and he got affection, so it was all good. Until it ended.
Phase 10- Ok, so no affection. But still money, so it's ok.
After the Ministry was disbanded, Viscera still hung around, still teaming with Mideon, just as freelance goths rather than hired goon goths. But 1999 was mostly a year of losses or unimportant wins for Viscera, rarely getting on PPV, and even then tending to be on the losing end. He helped out anyone who wanted it, Big Bossman, Rikishi, although it rarely ended well, (his teaming with Rikishi was short lived, one PPV in fact, as at Armageddon he hit Rikishi with his spin kick to give the other Super Heavyweights in the match, Hardcore and Crash Holly the win). He did get a rare shot at the WWF World Title in December, thanks to Big Show hating Big Bossman and anyone associated with him, but lost to Big Show on Raw in said title match. Rikishi also got revenge on Vis, eliminating him single handedly from the 2000 Royal Rumble.
Then, he got jealous.
Phase 10b- Why should he get love, even if it's from Mae Young?
For on an episode of Raw, after his team lost to Mark Henry's team, Viscera got revenge by splashing Mark Henry's girlfriend, Mae Young. Mark Henry demanded revenge. He got it at No Way Out. A month later, at Wrestlemania in the Hardcore Battle Royal he did win the Hardcore Championship, he lost it again a few minutes later to Funaki after the Acolytes beat him up.
A few weeks later, and Viscera was fired, again.
Phase 11- No work. Crap.
For a couple of years, Viscera worked wherever he could get work, Europe, Independent American companies, wherever. He forced himself to look for work, needing the cash, always looking for the next payslip, the next payday. Eventually, he seemed to find it. After all, Rappers are rich, right?
Phase 12- Nelson Knight is back from the dead. And in TNA!
Ron ‘The Truth' Killings was in trouble. As a former NWA World Champion, he had a big bull's-eye on his back, since some people wanted to knock him off the ladder to take his spot. So he needed a bodyguard.
He found Viscera. Reverting back to his real name/first name he ever used, for copyright reasons, Nelson debuted in late March 2003, assisting Killings in fighting S.E.X, who were the bad guys. The following week, he again helped Killings. But Ron, clearly, wasn't impressed and their relationship quickly ended. Knight, unable to find any other supporters in the company, left again, back to the Indy circuit and, once again, the company he always turned to when he was really down on his luck.
Phase 13- Back to USWA.
Throughout 2004, Mabel, as he began calling himself again, wrestled in the USWA, once again holding gold, being awarded the MCW Southern Heavyweight Title and defending it against anyone and everyone, including several people recently employed by the WWE. Hence, word got around that Mabel was still alive, and seemed to be back to his winning form. And for a certain champion, that was good enough for him.
Phase 14- A really fat skeleton in the closet.
For JBL, late 2004, was a man on the run. People thought he was afraid of the Undertaker, and he was. So he needed back up, he needed support. But not just any old losers, he needed winners, former champions, guys who had a beef with Taker. Viscera was an easy sell. After all, this was the guy who promised him the world back in the day, then just up and left, didn't really care about him. So, along with another guy mad at Taker, Gangrel, Viscera came out of nowhere and attacked The Undertaker, helping JBL and his Chief of Staff Orlando Jordan beat down Taker.
The following week, Taker destroyed both Viscera and Gangrel, ending up by smashing Viscera's throat with a chair. WWE, concerned that Viscera, a guy who's always about the bottom line, gave him a contract quick smart to keep him from suing. Gangrel, they left out to dry. But Viscera was now, once again, a WWE employee, and after the draft, while still recovering, he became a Raw employee.
Phase 15- Back to the grindstone.
Or rather, a Heat employee, as he spent most of his time defeating nobodies on Heat, and on the rare time he got a Raw match, he tended to be beaten quick smart. He did qualify for the 05 Rumble, but ended up getting tossed by John Cena all by himself, which isn't really something to be ashamed of. And then, after a few months more of his working quietly, just focusing on getting paid, Trish came calling.
Phase 16- Now THAT'S an advance!
You see, Trish was in the middle of a very long, very messy feud with Lita and thus Kane, since Kane and Lita were married at the time. So while she could easily handle Lita, Kane was another matter. So she turned to Viscera. And hence, the fans saw the real Viscera, or at least his other side for the first time. For Trish didn't offer money, she offered sex. And for Viscera, that was a-ok.
As it would be for most people, I'd imagine.
We saw Vis and Trish on a ‘date', prior to Backlash where Vis and Kane were set to fight. We then saw Viscera lay out the moves on Trish and fail badly, until he demanded an advance payment for taking out Kane. So Trish flashed her boobs at him.
Never had so many wanted to be one specific man so badly before.
But on the night in question, Vis failed to defeat Kane, and Trish, stupidly, berated Viscera, then swore she'd find a real man to take out Viscera.
Suddenly, somewhere, Christian's ears pricked.
So Viscera responded by beating the crap out of Trish, injuring her for a few months. And somehow, this made him a popular man.
Phase 17- An Appetite for Love. And deep fried things, but mostly Love.
It seemed that Viscera, now that his job was secure, was free to pursue his happiness, his affection needs. And he targeted Lillian Garcia, since she was fairly uncharted and virgin territory as opposed to some of the women in the WWE. Slowly but surely, Lillian began to warm up to Viscera's advances, and at Vengeance, she proposed.
But since they were in Vegas, The Godfather came out. Now, Godfather had nothing against love, but he felt that Viscera wasn't really in the market for that. He was in the market for some women of negotiable virtue. After all, why pay all your life for one cow when for just a fraction of the cost for a fraction of the time you can enjoy 5 cows' milk at once?
Wait, that metaphor didn't quite work.
Regardless, Godfather came out and played devil's advocate. And won, since Viscera chose to leave with the Ho Train rather than accept Lillian's proposal, thus breaking her heart and filling her with a chilly inner rage that as yet not been…whoops, getting way ahead of myself there.
Phase 17b- V Squared.
Viscera found a kindred spirit, or at least a wingman, in Val Venis, and the two teamed up and took on the tag division for a while, not doing too badly on Heat but they were unable to translate that into any sort of climbing the ladder of the Tag Division.
Viscera then slowly drifted away from Val, his appetite for women landing him in trouble at least once at the 06 New Year's Resolution when he came onto Shelton Benjamin's Mother and ended up being pinned by Shelton later in the show.
After failing to win the Royal Rumble, Viscera's career floundered, or at least made no headway, but then again, with Viscera, that was par for the course. After all, he didn't care if he got paid $100 or $200 a match, as long as he got paid. But affection was getting rarer as the groupies slowly faded away. So in May, he went back to Lillian, begging for forgiveness and was about to ask if she would totally forgive him and let him marry her when Umaga attacked him. A week later, Umaga proved his dominance as Raw's new monster when he beat Viscera quickly and dominantly. And thus it seemed Viscera and Lillian's love affair was over. But was it?
Yes it was.
Or not!
Phase 18- Never underestimate the power of an accidental attack.
For a few weeks later, Charlie Haas accidentally knocked Lillian off the ring apron, injuring her slightly but really shaking her up. When Charlie tried to apologize, Viscera came out and beat the crap out of him. They brawled for a few weeks, Lillian caught in the middle, when finally, a match was made to settle the score on Raw.
But then Charlie went to Vis. And they ironed out their differences, and they both blamed Lillian for the whole trouble, and decided that if she didn't pick one of them, she would be sorry. So, they had a match, then when Lillian got in the way, pleading for peace, they gave her a choice. She wanted to just be friends with both. Both wanted more. She refused. Charlie ‘raked' the eyes of Vis, and he ‘accidentally' Samoan Dropped her. Then they left.
Team Bros Before Hoes lasted a while, but when they didn't immediately gain success, Haas left the group (running from the problem like he always did, just ask Dawn Marie and Miss Jackie) to reform the World's Greatest Tag Team. And once again, Vis was on his own, but at least he was still employed.
Today- A job's a job.
Nowadays, Viscera occasionally teams with Val Venis, sometimes wrestles singles matches, but mostly, just enjoys being paid money by WWE, and waits for the next woman, payday and/or easily obtained chance at advancement to come along. It's a living.
Conclusion
Viscera is a contrast of the occasional high but mostly medium lows. By any objective standard, he's done quite well for himself. He's been employed more than he's been unemployed, he's got some big wins, held titles, and generally done pretty well. But in the world of Pro Wrestling, it's not that outstanding a career. It's pretty crappy, really. When a guy like Stevie Richards has held more gold, gotten more girls, and probably been paid more than you, you're not exactly upping the juggernaut, lickity-split.
But then again…he's seen Trish Stratus' boobs. That's pretty darn impressive.
