News and Notes

courtesy Wrestling-Online Network

 NELSON “VISCERA” FRAZIER PASSES AWAY
- The world of pro wrestling lost one of its boys yesterday as Nelson
Frazier, better known to fans as Big Daddy V, Viscera, and Mabel, passed
away at the age of 43 due to a heart attack. Frazier signed with the
then-WWF in 1993 as Mabel along with his tag team partner Mo to form Men
on a Mission with their manager Oscar. In 1995, he was pushed as a solo
competitor and turned heel, winning that year’s King of the Ring
tournament. He headlined SummerSlam 95 against Diesel for the WWE title
but never won the big title. In 1999 he returned to the WWE and was
kidnapped by The Undertaker and the Acolytes. He was repackaged as Viscera
and formed part of the Ministry of Darkness before being released a year
later. In 2004 he came back for his third run with the company with a
completely new gimmick as the “world’s largest love machine,” and ring
announcer Lilian Garcia proposed to him, only to be dumped after the
Godfather offered many of his hos in return. He moved to the ECW brand in
2007 and wrestled his last match for the WWE against CM Punk in 2008.
During his time in the WWE, he won the Hardcore title once and the Tag
Team titles once.

> WWE ISSUES STATEMENT ON THE DEATH OF NELSON FRAZIER
- WWE has issued a statement on the death of Nelson Frazier on the WWE.COM
website and put up some videos of Frazier from his WWE career. “WWE is
saddened by the news that Nelson Frazier Jr., aka Big Daddy V and Mabel,
has passed away. A larger-than-life Superstar, Frazier was a former World
Tag Team Champion, Hardcore Champion and the 1995 King of the Ring. As the
dark, formidable Viscera, he was also a member of Undertaker's faction,
The Ministry of Darkness. Frazier's colorful personality made him a
memorable competitor throughout the Attitude Era. Our deepest condolences
go out to Frazier's family, friends and fans,” the statement read.

> WWE TO NEGOTIATE TV RIGHTS WITH OTHER NETWORKS AS NBCU SAYS NO DEAL
- WWE TV shows could be moving to a new home as Variety is reporting that
both WWE and NBC Universal have “stepped away from the negotiating table”
with no deal in place to keep RAW and Smackdown on USA Network and SyFy
respectively. “WWE’s exclusive negotiating period with NBCU for our
flagship television programs, ‘Raw’ and ‘SmackDown,’ has now expired,” WWE
said in a statement. “While we were unable to reach an agreement with NBCU
during this period, we have certainly appreciated our long and productive
partnership. With year-round, live programming that is highly coveted by
programmers, distributors and advertisers, we are extremely excited about
our future. We look forward to engaging with potential partners who
recognize the value of having the #1 show on cable and live content
delivered 52 weeks a year.” The exclusive window expired on February 15
and WWE can now talk with other networks such as Viacom, Discovery, Fox,
and others. NBC Universal can still match whatever offer WWE receives from
other networks as part of the original agreement to keep the shows.
Currently WWE receives around $140 million in licensing fees and the plan
is to at least double up on that money. Variety reports that WWE is
interested in either put all the shows on one network or else split them
up. If WWE decides to move to a new home, both RAW and Smackdown will
continue to air on USA and SyFy until September 30 of this year.

 WWE DENIES RELEASING CM PUNK
- The situation with CM Punk remains unclear and as noted yesterday he
still is featured on WWE.COM both as a Superstar and to sell merchandise
on WWEShop.com and now WWE is denying the rumor that Punk was released
last Friday. The report initially came by PWInsider.com saying that talk
during the weekend non-televised live events suggested that Punk received
his release on Valentine’s Day. Another report this time from Wrestling
Observer countered the rumor, saying that WWE has officially stated to
them that CM Punk was not released and he is still part of the roster.
Punk walked out of the company a couple of weeks ago and has not even
tweeted since then. A few photos surfaced online yesterday of Punk picking
up his girlfriend AJ Lee from the airport in Chicago during the weekend.
> TWO MORE MATCHES ADDED TO ELIMINATION CHAMBER
- The Elimination Chamber card looks to be complete now with two matches
added to the pay-per-view. Announced yesterday were New Age Outlaws vs The
Usos for the WWE Tag Team titles and Darren Young vs Titus O’Neil. Those
two matches will join the Elimination Chamber match for the WWE World
Heavyweight title, Big E vs Jack Swagger for the IC title, The Shield vs
The Wyatt Family, and Batista vs Alberto Del Rio. The kickoff match will
see Cody Rhodes and Goldust taking on Ryback and Curtis Axel. That match
will air on the WWE App, WWE.COM, and WWE’s social media outlets such as
Facebook, YouTube, etc.
> CESARO SPINS DEAN AMBROSE ALMOST 30 TIMES AFTER RAW GOES OFF AIR
- When RAW went off the air, the fun didn’t stop for the folks inside the
arena and Dean Ambrose was the one who drew the short end of the stick for
the post-RAW antics. After the dust settled following the huge fight
between The Shield, The Wyatts, and all participants of the Elimination
Chamber match, Cena, Bryan, Sheamus, and Cesaro were left with Ambrose in
the ring. Cesaro got hold of Ambrose and performed the Cesaro swing -
almost 30 spins - before dropping him to a large ovation from the crowd.
Sheamus then followed with a Brogue kick on Ambrose and after he recovered
from that he got hit with the AA from John Cena. With the ring cleared,
Bryan was left alone with Ambrose as the fans hit a “Yes!” chant and then
he hit a running knee to finish off The Shield member.

> DISH NETWORK NOT CARRYING ELIMINATION CHAMBER PPV
- As things stand, DISH Network will not be carrying the Elimination
Chamber pay-per-view most likely in protest over the price of the WWE
Network and the availability of all WWE pay-per-views as part of the cheap
$9.99 monthly package. An e-mail sent to Danielle Johnson,
Programming/Consumer Relations at DISH regarding the pay-per-view remains
unanswered at time of this writing. DISH has removed all mentions of WWE
from their website. They do list the UFC and TNA shows which are set for
pay-per-view this month and next month. DirecTV, which threatened to take
off WWE pay-per-views in comments to the Los Angeles Times after the
Network was announced, is advertising the Elimination Chamber on their
website and will be carrying the show as usual. It is important to note
that the Chamber show is not airing on the Network since it launches the
next day in the United States.