Bobby Horne, who was best known for his role as Mo in Men on a Mission, has died.
Horne had spent the past two months in the ICU fighting pneumonia and a blood infection. He previously required a kidney transplant in 2018 and battled a severe case of COVID-19 in 2022.
Horne began wrestling in the Carolinas in the early ‘90s and teamed with Nelson Frazier as the Harlem Knights (Bobby & Nelson Knight), years before their run together as Men on a Mission. Horne worked a WWF taping in April 1992 and did a pair of squash matches losing to The Mountie, and teaming with Jim Brunzell against The Beverly Brothers in Syracuse.
With Frazier, the pair went to the USWA in 1993 and feuded with Jeff Jarrett & Jerry Lawler, and The Moondogs. Wrestling as Bobby Knight, he challenged Jeff Jarrett for the Southern Heavyweight title at the Mid-South Coliseum in April 1993.
Through WWF’s ongoing relationship with the USWA during this period, they got on the radar of the national company and joined the WWF in the spring of 1993.
The two were repackaged as Men on a Mission (“Mabel” and “Mo”) and added Oscar as their manager, who would rap as the duo made their way to the ring. They capitalized off the song “Whoomp (There It Is)” by Tag Team, which came out at the same time and became a popular chant for the team.
Their first pay-per-view was the Survivor Series in November, teaming with The Bushwhackers against Bam Bam Bigelow, Bastion Booger, and The Headshrinkers. It was a perfect example of the WWF audience in this era as the Boston crowd sat on their hands for a match between The Rock ‘N’ Roll Express and The Heavenly Bodies, which was technically the best match on the show but died in front of the audience. The 4-on-4 match was terrible, but it tore down the house.
The two worked against the Quebecers at WrestleMania 10, Horne’s lone match at the big event during his tenure in the promotion.
Mabel & Mo only won the tag titles once, and it occurred on a March 29, 1994, show in England where they beat The Quebecers and dropped the titles back two days later.
In 1995, they turned the pair heel but focused on Mabel as the star, winning the King of the Ring. He was marketed as “King Mabel” and seconded by “Sir Mo” and worked against WWF champion Diesel at SummerSlam and entered a feud with The Undertaker for the remainder of the year.
The two left the WWF in early 1996 and while Frazier would have many more stints in the company, Horne never returned beyond a one-off at a house show in September 1997.
Horne went back to the USWA, challenging Brian Christopher for the championship right away and joined the USWA’s version of the Nation of Domination, which preceded the WWF group.
Horne wrestled sporadically on the independents over the next decade but had largely slowed down. He started several groups over the years including Southern Extreme Wrestling in the late ‘90s and started SOAR Championship Wrestling in 2016 with his wife, Denise.
He had been in hospital for the past eight weeks fighting pneumonia and septic shock.
Horne was 58 years old and we extend our condolences to the friends and family of Bobby Horne.
