This is a "dual purpose" post. First up, the obvious purpose, which is to pay respects to the recently departed Nelson Frazier Jr. Growing up, I didn't have much of an opinion with regard to Mabel or Men on a Mission. I could say the same for the other babyface tag teams of the time. How did The Smoking Gunns get over anyway? But I digress. When The Undertaker compiled his Ministry of Darkness in 1999, I recognized Mabel straight away. Except he was called Viscera. And he was fucking creepy.
Man, what a great gimmick, if you can even call it a gimmick. I don't remember Nelson cutting any real promos as Viscera, but he didn't need to talk. Somehow, he managed to be more intimidating than The Phenom himself, no flimsy feat. When the character resurfaced in WWE's ECW, I wasn't watching the product (this was during my cavalier, supercilious too-cool-for-wrestling phase). I have since gone back and eaten my fill of Big Daddy V. This kinda-sorta brings me to my next point, the second purpose of this prevailingly purposeful post.
Does Nelson Frazier Jr. deserve to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame? Ideally, no. Up until a couple of days ago, didn't the die-hards snicker at the mention of King Mabel? Didn't they roll their eyes at his 1995 coronation? In an ideal setting, he wouldn't be inducted. However, as soon as Koko B. Ware was conscripted as a so-called legend, all bets were off. Hell, both Koko and Nelson worked for Jerry in Memphis. I say, one is just as worthy as the other.
What do you think? It would be a reverential way to honor his death, but of course, you can't induct a wrestler for dying young. Or can you? Fuck, I don't know.
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