Kevin Thorn: What Could Have Been

[wrestlingrecap]

Kevin Thorn: What Could Have Been

Looking back at what derailed Kevin Thorn's seemingly huge push in 2004.

wrestlingrecaps.com/2017/07/11/kevin-thorn-what-could-have-been/

[CMPunkyBrewster]

I never knew about the stuff with the fight and all that. I honestly just assumed they let him go because the gimmick bombed and he wasn't very good in the ring.

That said, I have gotten to be around Thorn several times as of late, as the local indy my friend runs has been booking him pretty regularly. He really is a super nice guy, very down to Earth, always willing to stop and chat or take a picture. He also cut a promo thanking the fans and putting over the company and the owners on his first show there, which was apparently totally unplanned and a super cool move on his part. Just a cool dude.

[Deleted]

It's kind of crazy to think that twenty or thirty years prior, having almost killed a guy in a bar fight would have probably had him set for life in wrestling.

[Ben Wyatt]

I have to seriously question how much having Ariel around half naked makes people remember him more fondly. He was mediocre in the ring at best.

[OVO 40 hunched over like he 80]

In his podcast Bruce Prichard claimed that the Mordecai gimmick failed because Fertig tried to work exactly like The Undertaker when he debuted in 91, the problem was that Kevin was the shits in the ring. I think the bar fight was the excuse they gave him.

[jimmyjames]

Jul 11, 2017 13:06:29 GMT -5 Ben Wyatt said:

I have to seriously question how much having Ariel around half naked makes people remember him more fondly. He was mediocre in the ring at best.

I agree. I think Ariel is what made the whole thing work and standout. I also can't believe that was 10 years ago. Seems a lot more recent.

[The Dark Order Inferno]

I think Fertig's ceiling was the lower midcard, he just never really clicked as a performer, he was big and had a neat look but the WWE had a dozen guys just as big with just as memorable a look.

I think people are a little more sympathetic because of the way he was Raven'd, stripped of his gimmick and attire while being jobbed out.

[myrvarg]

Given how straight up dumb the writing for Smackdown was in 2004 I would've loved to see where they had went with the Mordecai character.

I believe he was rumored to feud with Undertaker after his program with Eddie Guerrero.

[chazraps]

Jul 12, 2017 2:33:05 GMT -5 OVO 40 hunched over like he 80 said:

In his podcast Bruce Prichard claimed that the Mordecai gimmick failed because Fertig tried to work exactly like The Undertaker when he debuted in 91, the problem was that Kevin was the shits in the ring. I think the bar fight was the excuse they gave him.

I think Bruce's excuse, rather, was so that he could blow the question off without entering into the legalities and confidential nature of the bar fight litigation. Just like how he ducks money/rib questions. He says something he may believe as an opinion, but doesn't give a definitive answer.

[OVO 40 hunched over like he 80]

Jul 13, 2017 15:35:59 GMT -5 chazraps said:

Jul 12, 2017 2:33:05 GMT -5 OVO 40 hunched over like he 80 said:

In his podcast Bruce Prichard claimed that the Mordecai gimmick failed because Fertig tried to work exactly like The Undertaker when he debuted in 91, the problem was that Kevin was the shits in the ring. I think the bar fight was the excuse they gave him.

I think Bruce's excuse, rather, was so that he could blow the question off without entering into the legalities and confidential nature of the bar fight litigation. Just like how he ducks money/rib questions. He says something he may believe as an opinion, but doesn't give a definitive answer.

I can see that, but unfortunately Kevin's work as Mordecai was so bad that I can also see that as the reason why the gimmick was killed.

Kevin looks like a great guy who made amends for the bar fight, but I can't buy him as a being able to hold his own against Taker work wise...although Taker ended up facing garbage like Heidenreich and Luther Reigns.

[Juice]

I haven't checked the article but other than this bar fight you guys mention there was also some weird backstage sexual harassment thing going on too.

[Capt Lunatic]

The one thing that held Kevin Thorn back...the unacceptable amount of Keven Thorn in his matches.

[Feyrhausen]

I always heard his tag team with Tomko in OVW was decent. Maybe if WWE had cared about tag teams they would have had some success.