ROBERT HORNE (WRESTLER)

'Robert L Horne' (born April 13, 1964) is a professional wrestler who is most famous for his time in the World Wrestling Federation as a part of the tag-team 'Men on a Mission' with partner Mabel.

Contents

Career

Harlem Knights

Men on a Mission

King Mabel & Sir Mo

Memphis

Championships and accomplishments

References

Career

Harlem Knights

Robert Horne made his debut in 1991 and soon found himself teaming with Nelson Frazier in the Carolinas-based “Pro Wrestling Federation”. The two were kayfabe brothers in a team known as 'The Harlem Knights' with Horne performing as 'Bobby Knight' and Frazier performing as Nelson Knight. The heel team was managed by George South, who led the young team to two PWF Tag-Team titles over the years^[1].
In 1993, The Harlem Knights moved on to the United States Wrestling Association based out of Memphis without their manager George South. While in the USWA, the team was pushed as the “Monster threat” due to their size and feuded with Jerry Lawler, Jeff Jarrett, and other faces^[2]. Their work in the PWF and the USWA got them noticed by the WWF and they were signed to a contract in mid-1993.

Men on a Mission

When Horne and Frazier made their WWF debut, the vicious heel duo had been repackaged as faces with a rap gimmick. They wore bright clothes and had positive attitudes. They were teamed up with a rapping manager “Oscar” and had their names changed to 'Mo' (Horne) and 'Mabel' (Frazier) while the team name was changed to “Men On a Mission” (or M.O.M., the initials of the three men) ^[3]. The team met with moderate success in the ring but got over mainly due to Mabel’s unusual size, their fun loving personas, and Oscar’s crowd pleasing raps. Their fun loving personalities were prominently displayed when they appeared at Survivor Series 1993 dressed up as Doinks (referred to by color commentator Bobby Heenan as “Doinks on a Mission”) and teamed up with the "Doinkwhackers" in a comedy match^[4].
Their next feud was against the WWF Tag Team Champions The Quebecers and they even won the titles during a United Kingdom tour. The near 500 pound Mabel accidentally fell on Pierre and forced an unscheduled title change. Two days later, the Quebecers regained the titles in a rematch. While the title change was reported on WWF television, the fact that Men on a Mission were former champions wasn’t something that was mentioned in the future. In the summer of 1994, Mabel started to wrestle more singles matches; he was seen as the spectacle of Men on a Mission due to his size, the “special attraction” that got used to make rising stars look good. It wasn't until the early parts of 1995, that Men on a Mission started to team again on a regular basis.

King Mabel & Sir Mo

After their initial splash, the fans eventually tired of the wrestlers (and their manager) who would rap their way down the entrance aisle (usually Oscar, but sometimes Mabel & Mo also) while clad in shiny purple suits and tights. One night after another loss, Mabel and Mo attacked the Smokin' Gunns in a fit of anger^[5], then apologized for it later on. When they asked the Gunns to come to the ring to let them apologize, Men on a Mission attacked them once again and then beat up Oscar, turning the duo heel and dropping their rapping manager^[5].
After a short feud with the Smokin’ Gunns, Mabel won the 1995 King of the Ring^[7] tournament. He became 'King Mabel' with his trusty sidekick being dubbed 'Sir Mo', wrestling royalty. When Mabel became king, the focus shifted from the team to Mabel once more with Sir Mo acting more as a manager and less like an active competitor as Mabel challenged for the World Title. One of the last notable appearances for Men on a Mission was at where they beat Razor Ramon and Savio Vega^[8]. They were also the opponents in the match where the British Bulldog turned on partner Diesel ^[5]. Once Diesel moved on from feuding with Mabel to feuding with the British Bulldog, Mo left the WWF while Mabel became a singles competitor.

Memphis

After leaving the WWF Mo returned to Memphis and the USWA where he became a part of the original Nation of Domination, the stable that was a forerunner to the more famous stable in the WWF. Mo became 'Sir Mohammad', using a black supremacist gimmick. The USWA version of the N.O.D. was led by PG-13 (J.C. Ice & Wolfie D) and also included Kareem Olajuwon (Reggie B. Fine), Akeem Muhamad (Big Black Dog), Elijah (the Spellbinder), Shaquille Ali (Tracy Smothers), Randy X (Randy Hales), and Queen Moishe (Jacqueline). When Faarooq started the Nation of Domination in the WWF, the USWA version of the group was disbanded.
Horne would remain in the Memphis region wrestling mainly as 'Rob Harlem', competing under that name in the USWA, it’s successor “Memphis Pro Wrestling”, and Randy Hales’ “Power Pro Wrestling”. While in PPW, Horne teamed up with “Deon Harlem” to form the tag team “The Regulators”. The team beat Derrick King in a Handicap match to win the PPW Tag Team Title, which they held when the promotion closed down in April 2001.^[10]
In 1997, Horne would start his own promotion “Southern Extreme Wrestling” which he both booked and wrestled for. Horne’s “Southern Extreme Wrestling” is not affiliated with the "Southern Extreme Wrestling Promotions" organization that operates today.
In 2003, Bobby Horne added yet another gimmick to his long list of gimmicks. On December 30, Mabel was at ringside commentating when manager Paul Wylde came out and introduced the “Bahamian Heavyweight Champion” 'Marly Pride'. Wylde started making comments that Mabel was the fattest whale which Mabel took exception to. When the big man entered the ring, Marley Pride was revealed as his former tag-team partner Mo who attacked him and the two brawled until they were separated by officials^[11]. Mo and Mabel had a short, violent feud in Memphis Wrestling.
When Horne wrestled on a C-Pro Entertainment card in October 2006, he was reportedly almost as big physically as the 500 pound Viscera . Horne is still occasionally active and does work as a booker in some promotions, in addition to working as a truck driver.

Championships and accomplishments

★ 'Power Pro Wrestling'
:
★ PPW Tag Team Championship – with Deon Harlem (1)

★ 'Pro Wrestling Federation'
:
★ PWF Tag Team Championship – With Nelson Knight (2)

★ 'World Wrestling Federation'
:
★ WWF Tag Team Championship – with Mabel

References

1. Wrestling Title Histories, Royal Duncan & Gary Will, , , Archeus Communications, 4th Edition 2006, ISBN 0-9698161-5-4
2. Memphis Wrestling 1993 prowrestlinghistory.com
3. Wrestlecrap – the very worst of pro wrestling, R.D. Reynolds and Randy Baer, , , ECW Press, 2003, ISBN 1-55022-584-7
4. WWF Survivor Series Results (1993) prowrestlinghistory.com
5. WWF Show Results 1995 Graham Cawthon
6. WWF Show Results 1995 Graham Cawthon
7. WWF King of the Ring Results (1995) prowrestlinghistory.com
8. WWF In Your House Results (2) prowrestlinghistory.com
9. WWF Show Results 1995 Graham Cawthon
10. PPW Tag Team Title History wrestling-titles.com
11. Memphis Championship Wrestling TV Report Greg White