The Memory Remains

[DethMetal]

Is it too early to start a series of anything? Ah, well.

Basically, this is me giving you a gimmick that did not work for whatever reason, and you guys discuss. Cool? First up:

Hopefully, you guys remember him. He debuted around 2004. He was basically the Undertaker's polar opposite. He talked of God, religion, souls who sinned, etc. He was quite impressive; I liked him anyway. I think he was supposed to go up against Taker and end the streak, but got sent packing. My questions are:

1. If you could bring Mordecai back, would you? Why or Why not?

2. Did you enjoy this character? Why or Why not?

3. What would you have had Mordecai do(feud with, team with, titles, etc.)

Discuss!!

 

[Gifted Music]

Well he DID get brought back....In ECW, under Kevin Thorn...That strange gimmick aside, I thought Mordecai had potential.....If on a different Superstar...Not sure who..I'd definately not mind seeing the gimmick return, but not Kevin Thorn..I was never a fan of his at all....If they got someone in FCW or on the Independants that they can bring in with that character, i'm all for it..I don't think it'll last that long because I just don't see it as having the longjevity of a guy like The Undertaker or even Kane but it'd be good for maybe a year then i'd scrap it.

 

[stmarks2002]

I didn't watch Smackdown very much back then or at all for that matter but I do remember this character; I do know that he wasn't around too long though. As for your questions:

1. If you could bring Mordecai back, would you? Why or Why not?
No, because he was brought back as Kevin Thorn during the ECW stint and played the total opposite of the Mordecai character; he was released just as well. The only thing good about him was his DDT like finisher and Shelly Martinez.

2. Did you enjoy this character? Why or Why not?
Considering the fact that I'm not into the whole religion thing, it didnt matter to me either way. Characters that are based on religion and individual principals like that DONT MAKE GOOD CHARACTERS AT ALL IMO; however, Muhammed Hassan was badass.

3. What would you have had Mordecai do(feud with, team with, titles, etc.)
I would have had him in a SES type role considering the fact he was such a "godly' christian character.

 

[Klown_Karnage]

In my opinion, Mordecai was an excellent gimmick, especially as a bad guy. He was big, foreboding, and had the potential to be very scary. He brought back memories of the Spanish Inquisition, the Crusades, and the Salem Witch Trials. This guy was very easy to hate, both by non-believers (who could use him as a further reason not to get involved in faith) and by believers (who could be enraged at him for presenting a wrongful view of the faith.) Really, I think that was the problem at the end. More than likely, the religious right didn't appreciate Mordecai's representation of Christianity. I've never heard about complaints regarding this guy, but I have no doubt they happened.

1. If you could bring Mordecai back, would you? Why or Why not?

The gimmick itself is great for a heel and I'd definitely bring him back. However, I don't think he'd last for the reasons I've mentioned. Vince is very concerned with public opinion, after all.

2. Did you enjoy this character? Why or Why not?

Yes, I did. I thought he was a great villain. There was potential to do even more with him, as well. One thing I would have loved to see is a feud between him and Shawn Michaels over who is the true representative of God in the WWE.

3. What would you have had Mordecai do(feud with, team with, titles, etc.) Definite prolonged feud with HBK, and possibly with Rey as well (they had a pretty darn good match.) Also, if it were possible to turn Mordecai face, a solid feud with Kane would be fun. Not a main event championship, perhaps, but a few runs as Intercontinental Champ would be good.

 

[UFOcalling]

Honestly, I don't remember this guy. There was a window of time where I didn't watch professional wrestling at all. I think I stopped around 2002ish, then started watching again in 2005ish (when I could first afford the miracle that is known as the DVR!).

I'd have to imagine that the Mordecai character was scrapped because of the religious implications that the character could imply. In a nut-shell, I think WWE creative realized that this character had the potential to piss off a lot of (religious) people. For instance: if the character became a heel in the eyes of the fans, that could make people upset. The use of religious icons and/or bible verses could piss people off; they could think that the WWE was "making light" of religion or whatever. What would happen if The Undertaker would be victorious over Mordecai? ...would that piss people off too? I mean, the idea of "evil" triumphing over "good" or "holiness" would definitely ruffle a few feathers.

The Undertaker could be brought up as an example of how the WWE was able to pull off such a character, without upsetting the religious community. The difference between a character like The Undertaker's and Mordecai is that The Undertaker wasn't overtly religious in any way...he was "evil personified" (ha!), and I think religious people would realize that it was just a "zombie"-type character that the good guys could overcome.

I don't think that the Undertaker's character is one that religious people would be as upset by. A religious person might take MAJOR offense to seeing a holy character beaten up, but not be so offended to see a "Demon" beaten up. The flip-side could also be taken into account though, the church might relish in seeing a "righteous" character beating up the bad guys. There's just too much at stake, politically (in my opinion).

I know terms like "Demon of Death Valley" were used for his character, but it's not like The Undertaker was coming out and tempting other wrestlers with apples...or something ludicrous like that...wait a minute..there was at least one instance in the late 90s I can remember where The Ministry "crucified" Stone Cold, and the Catholic Church went ballistic. Even though I'm sure these churches know that wrestling is "fake", they still don't like the idea of their religion being "mocked" (as they would see it). Wrestling isn't the only medium that religious people find offensive, they find problems with all TV, movies, music, etc.

All in all, I think that Mordecai was too big of a liability for the WWE to keep around. Much like Muhammad Hassan's character, it was just too big of a hassle to keep damage control for Mordecai.

I don't think I would have enjoyed Mordecai's character, even if I had been watching at the time. It seems to me that it was just cooked up to try to "shock" people, and I really don't see much happening with the character after a feud with The Undertaker (maybe Kane?). As I mentioned before, I just couldn't see a character like this lasting too long with the WWE. There's just too many people that could take the gimmick the wrong way.

All in all, it would be great if all these political beliefs didn't exist. I wish everyone could relax (and this goes for movies, tv, etc as well) and realize this is all just entertainment. A character like Mordecai's could have been very entertaining, but it's just not worth the risk of making so many people angry.

 

[brighamosity]

Having very little memory of him, I just watched a youtube video of one of his promos. The gimmick is awesome, but I don't think Kevin Thorne had the charisma to play that character. It could have been a classic gimmick with the right superstar playing it.

 

[famous]

I remember this guy, it was shortly after Taker got "buried alive" at... backlash was it? and Heidenreichs (sp) glove popped out of the grave but suddenly there comes this... almost a combo of CM Punk's personality and Taker's look but christian, and he cut one promo hit some guy with a crucifix slam and that was it... i think he went to velocity after that and then got released because like has been stated, he had no charisma and a massive amount of stage fright.

In answer to the question tho, I could see the gimmick working in the attitude and ruthless aggression eras. He could form a fundamental christian stable and call it the white knights or some bullshit like that and feud with the ministry. (Imo more meaningful of a feud than with the corporation but not having and longevity to it) but in todays PG era I could never see it working. In an age where religious tolerance is king and fanaticism is frowned upon it's just a bad PR move, that's why they got rid of Hassan.

 

[wooooo]

To clear it up he debuted at Judgment Day 04 after some promos had been shown in the weeks before, he squashed Scotty 2 Hotty, had a random feud with Hardcore Holly i think beating him at GAB O4 then just seemed to disappear.

I thought he was pretty good from the little i saw of him. The main story i always heard was he would get extremely nervous before going out so they had to scrap it. I like the idea of feuds with HBK, Rey and Undertaker, shame it never happened.

 

[S.J. Maximus]

I've never seen or heard of Mordecai but from what I'm seeing in this thread it was a good gimmick with a bad wrestler. I'd love to see someone else try to work with it because it sounds like an amazing idea and a good foil to the Undertaker but can even take it a step further and say "I'm better than you" like Punk and his straight edge gimmick.

Hopefully he can get a reverend or something like how D-Von had Deacon Batista and he can form his own little church or something. Given the right person this would be an amazing gimmick that would draw tons of heat and create a couple of solid faces for them to feud with

 

[S.J. Maximus]

Oh and to answer question 3 I'd have him get 2 deacons and a young wrestler to be like an alter boy and have those 4 men be the next big faction. Mordecai would have an epic match with Undertaker at WrestleMania to try and end the streak but fail, then have his deacons and alter boy help him win the world title while they try to win titles of their own.

I'd have him turn Punk face but feuding with him and then feud with Orton to try to get "the demonic viper" out of him

 

[THTRobtaylor]

He was the same wrestler who later became Kevin Thorne, the vampiric guy from ECW.

The gimmick just didn't take off the way they'd planned in those few short months... the 2nd didn't work either so eventually I guess you have to blame the wrestler... although had they not canned Gangrel I think it would have worked.

With WWE going full PG I think Punk's gimmick is as close as you will get to a religious one now... if WWE is firing people for booking national anthem interruptions imagine what the Christian Alliance/PTC et al would make of a zealot character...

 

[JBSMan]

I think having the gimmick kick off by beating Scotty 2 Hotty wasn't a great start. They needed him to beat someone credible for a more impactful debut, but the ball just never got rolling.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I liked Mordecai, and was disappointed when he suddenly vanished after initially looking very good.

I do think the gimmick would have worked, but as other posters have mentioned, in this PG era where religious tolerance is very important and Vince is obsessed with ensuring WWE get no negative publicity, I do not think the gimmick would fit in. That is a big shame, as Mordecai had alot of potential

In the late 90s-early 2000s when the WWE was more edgy, then I think Mordecai would have been alot more successful and the gimmick would have lasted a long time, but right now I cannot see a way he would fit in with the WWE's image and target audience.

 

[Nate DaMac]

I've actually come to this thread a couple of times with intentions of posting but when I go to Youtube to look up some videos of Mordecai, I get side tracked.

I feel like I have seen enough of the guy to know why he really didn't work out. First of all, the gimmick was a bit over the top. Well not so much the gimmick itself, but the entrance. That music is just way too much and the way he walked to the ring was just comical. The pyro was bad ass though.

But mostly, he just wasn't that impressive in the ring. His power move set, which is basically the only thing he has, only really worked with Cruiserweights which is why he looked so bad ass against Scotty but even then, he used a lot of weak looking strikes and shit instead of just throwing him around. It really shows at his Great American Bash PPV match with Hardcore Holly. That match blew and it was evident that Mordecai just didn't have the moveset to go with the awesome look.

Sending him out to pasture was for the best.