Kevin Thorn - Potential Loss or No Loss?

[The Scarred One]

This thread is in regards to former WWE superstar Kevin Thorn and his time with the company.

As Kevin Fertig, he signed with the WWE back in 2002 and wrestled in Ohio Valley Wrestling, the company's developmental territory at the time, as Seven, a gimmick he used on the independent circuit. During his time there, he was a member of the Disciples of Synn stable along with Travis Bain (aka Tyson Tomko) and won the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship.

In 2004, he got called up to the SmackDown roster to portray Mordecai, a religious crusader partly based on his Seven gimmick. In the promos leading to his debut, Mordecai claimed to be on a crusade to rid the world of sin and evil. He consistently wore white and had blonde hair and beard as a sign of his purity. He instantly became a heel when he condemned the audience for their sins. Allegedly, the plan was for Mordecai to feud with the Undertaker going into WrestleMania, but those plans and the character were dropped when Fertig got into a bar fight and removed from television following a series of lawsuits. He returned to OVW and stayed there for another year before being released.

It wasn't that long when the WWE resigned Fertig in 2006. This time around, he would debut as part of the relaunched ECW brand as a vampire character. He was supposed to form a vampire faction with Gangrel and Shell Martinez, but those plans were scrapped. Fertig and Martinez made their ECW debuts as Kevin Thorn and Ariel. For the rest of 2006, they feuded with the likes of Balls Mahoney and Kelly Kelly. But Fertig caught his biggest break yet in the early part of 2007 when he became a member of the New Breed, along with Elijah Burke, Marcus Cor Von and Matt Striker, and feuded with the ECW Originals. The feud lasted into the summer and even involved CM Punk at one point. Before the feud ended, Thorn and Ariel left the group and struck out on their own again.

Following an dispute with Batista, Ariel was fired from the company, leaving Thorn on his own. Not long after, he fell out of relevance on ECW, even having his vampire gimmick dropped and becoming a generic-looking wrestler. He was sent down to Florida Championship Wrestling to work until something came up. Plans were for him to be called up again to form a stable with developmental talents Black Pain and Hade Vansen to form a stable to feud with the Undertaker, but those plans were also shelved. In Janurary 2009, Fertig asked for his release and went back to the independent circuit.

Looking at this, does anyone think that Kevin Fertig never lived up to his potential? I think so, especially under the Kevin Thorn gimmick. To me, it had versatility, more so than Mordecai, which seemed like something that would only work short-term. Not to mention, vampires have become very popular in today's culture. That could've been something to run with it. Then again, Vince McMahon pulled the plug on Paul Burchill's pirate gimmick because he was unfamiliar with the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie franchise from which the gimmick was obviously inspired from.

With the Thorn character, it could easily be tweaked, maybe adopting more of a "Lost Boys" look rather than an Anne Rice look and making him more edgy. Also, considering fan love for good guys with a badass edge to them, he could transition to an anti-hero face.

But what do you guys think? Did Thorn not get the proper chance to live up to his potential or was he just another big guy who couldn't cut it?

 

[Headman]

I always thought he had potential and wouldn't mind seeing him back. I enjoyed his Kevin Thorn gimmick. More so with Aerial than without. His biggest problem early on was his green ring work but he didn't look bad at all in ECW outside of busting open Balls Mahony the hard way. So yeah, I'd be down with the WWE bringing him back for another run.

 

[JVel]

I thought he had a lot of potential actually, especially when with Ariel. While not an in ring technician, he did wrestle a good style for a guy his size and was improving in the ring rapidly. He was just a victim of bad booking and a lot of scrapped plans. He could have been a sustained upper mid carder easily if creative had just followed through with plans instead of giving him what felt like a 10 week pointless feud with Steven Richards which flat out KILLLLLEEEDD any sort of interest in him for many.

 

[OneTooManyPunts]

He had potential, but he really embodies what was wrong with WWECW at the time. Vince had it in his head that a macabre, vampire character some how fit in the ECW, and the gimmick never really caught on. I think what was getting Thorn more attention was Shelly Martinez, aka Ariel.

Now, I will say that Thorn showed great improvement during his ECW run from his original Mordecai gimmick. I'd be interested to see where he is in the business now, and if he's had time to hone his skills a bit more.

If WWE will push Matt Bloom and Brodus Clay, I can't see why Kevin Thorn can't get another shot as well.

 

[#heel420]

I like the idea of Kevin Thorn more than I actually like Kevin Thorn. Character had potential. The Undertaker has a pretty "out there" gimmick and he's done pretty well. Kevin Thorn just didn't have "it" as they say. He never clicked with the fans. Not as Mordecai, nor as Kevin Thorn.

 

[HBsam31]

I think the character could have been ok especially with Ariel. Not sure why but I liked her. The problem for me was Kevin Thorn himself. I just never saw it in him. I don't remember him being all that great of a talker, and he was just ok in the ring IMO. Maybe if they would have stuck with him he could have improved, but it just seemed like he did not connect with the fans.

 

[RickRaspberry]

Clearly you guys haven't seen this guy in person.

He wrestled several shows around the Milwaukee area in the last few years. He is SMALL. He is billed at what 6'3 or 6'4. I'm 6'3 and I was taller than him. His physique is also not close to what it used to be. The guy is still in decent shape. But he is extremely lean. He also isn't at all a good worker. There is a reason why he is wrestling in front of 60 people in a bar, rather than A-Train (Lord Tensai, whatever) who is wrestling in front of 10's of thousands of Japanese people.

His time has come and gone. No need to discuss.

 

[GameOver]

I'll keep it short and sharp i believe it was a big loss, he was a good wrestler and had a usefull character and teamed with Arial the vampiric wildcat they were a good duo so it's a loss to both. But they would not have succeeded in PG IMO they were too bizarre.

 

[AndThat'sTheBottomLine]

I think he and Ariel had a lot of potential. Thorn wasn't bad for a big man his gimmick was a lot like Undertaker's so I could understand a fued there. He just ran into a lot of bad luck. I can see the reason Ariel being fired because she refused to "do" Batista but Kevin Thorn I think could've made it given the chance to improve and I'd like to see him back. Like someone already said, if the WWE is willing to push a Funkasauraous then they should be willing to push a vampire.

 

[Loveless]

In an era of boring generic workers I actually liked him for having a character and was very disappointed when he got dropped. Contrary to opinion the guy can talk somewhat and looked vicious and agressive in the ring which is something severely lacking in the WWE.

 

[Workrate]

Looking at this, does anyone think that Kevin Fertig never lived up to his potential?

But what do you guys think? Did Thorn not get the proper chance to live up to his potential or was he just another big guy who couldn't cut it?

These two questions and the way they're worded is key. To the first: yes, absolutely. Plans were for him to face the Undertaker at a WrestleMania and the highest he ever made it was maybe a main event of WWECW on Sci-Fi. From that standpoint alone, he absolutely failed to live up to his potential. There's no other way around it.

As for the second one: he got the proper chance and on more than one occasion blew it by doing something stupid outside the ring. If you're an established star, you can afford a misstep. This guy took massive plans and fumbled them away over a bar fight, then came back and dropped the ball again. He never built up any capital with management to afford being stupid outside the ring.

In short: yep, "just another big guy (except he wasn't all that big) who couldn't cut it."

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I thought Thorn was decent enough in ECW, though nothing special. I didnt see him as much of a loss when he was released. The Mordecai gimmick he had was pretty interesting though, I would liked to have seen that continue for a lot longer and actually get into a feud with Undertaker. I doubt it would have been a long term deal though, and Mordecai would have been killed off when 'Taker defeated him.

However, I miss Ariel. She was sexy as hell, and what a pair of tits she had. I would LOVE to see Shelly Martinez back in the WWE! She is completely different to ny of the other divas and would be welcomed back onto my TV for sure!

 

[UltimateHitman]

Ah, I get to the end of the page and see what I was looking for. A fellow Mordecai believer.

I loved the Mordecai gimmick. I loved the vignettes, I loved the supernatural feel to the whole upcoming storyline, I loved the "comic book-y" type program he and Taker could have had.

But, for reasons of his own sins (ironic, eh?), the idea was canned, never to return.

Things have evolved too much for that gimmick to work now, whether it was brought back solely for Taker or not. As much as it pains me to say so, he probably wouldn't work now.

But there is always that level of uncertainty and element of surprise in this business. Who's to say that people wouldn't welcome more of that kind of thing and the gimmick could actually thrive?

Unlike other people, I think Mordecai could still be hanging around today, much like Taker has all these years. I could see him being one of the "timeless" characters in professional wrestling if things had worked out differently.

Sadly, we will always wonder "what if" with Mordecai...