Kevin Matthew Fertig (born January 17, 1977) is an Americanprofessional wrestler. He is best known for working withWWE under thering namesMordecai andKevin Thorn.
He competed on theindependent circuit for the next year, before returning to WWE to wrestle on itsECW brand as Kevin Thorn, avampire character. He gainedAriel as avalet, and later joined theNew Breed faction in early 2007. After Ariel was released in mid-2007, Thorn continued to wrestle onECW, but was sent to OVW in late 2007, after undergoing an image change. He wrestled in both OVW and WWE's other developmental territory,Florida Championship Wrestling, until January 2009, when he was released from his contract. He then returned to theindependent circuit, and also wrestled inEurope asSeven Thorn.
In April 2002, Fertig signed a developmental deal withWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF) and was assigned to their development territoryOhio Valley Wrestling (OVW), where he continued to use the Seven gimmick. After wrestling sporadically in OVW throughout 2002 and 2003, against wrestlers includingChris Cage andJohnny Jeter, he joined the Disciples of Synnstable. Along with stable-mateTravis Bane, he won theOVW Southern Tag Team Championship on March 5, 2003, by defeatingLance Cade andRené Duprée.[7] After holding the championship for just over a month, they were forced to vacate it on April 10, when Bane suffered an injury.[7][8] In late 2003 and early 2004, Seven and Bane began competing indark matches prior to theRaw television show, using their real names of Kevin Fertig and Travis Tomko respectively.[2]
In 2004, Fertig pitched the idea of a religious character named Mordecai to Vince McMahon.[9] In late April 2004, Fertig was called up to theSmackDown!brand withvignettes playing on the show announcing his new character, Mordecai, a religiousZealot-type character, which was partially based on his previous Seven gimmick.[5][10] During numerouspromos, Mordecai claimed to be on a crusade to rid the world ofsin.[11] He consistently wore white and had blonde hair and a beard as a sign of his purity.[5] Mordecai debuted in-ring for the SmackDown! brand on May 16, 2004, during theJudgment Day pay-per-view, defeatingScotty 2 Hotty.[12][13] In later appearances, Mordecai condemned the audience for their sins, and led them in prayer.[14] AtThe Great American Bash, Mordecai defeatedHardcore Holly. On the July 1 episode ofSmackdown, Mordecai lost toRey Mysterio. In early July, however, the gimmick was dropped and Fertig was sent back to OVW for more training.[15]
Fertig's return to OVW was also due to his involvement in a bar fight, and subsequent impending lawsuits meant that WWE decided to take Fertig off television.[5] Fertig returned to OVW, wrestling under amask as Vengeance, and competed only sporadically against wrestlers includingElijah Burke,Mark Henry, Johnny Jeter, andMatt Cappotelli.[2] He was soon released in July 2005.[16][17]
Following his WWE release, Fertig began using the Mordecai name again while working on theindependent circuit.[2] He wrestled forMemphis Wrestling, where he won theSouthern Title in March 2005.[6] He went on to retain the championship in a match againstGarrison Cade on April 16. He also worked for UCW, and wrestled against competitors includingMarty Jannetty and Shayne Maddox.[2]
Fertig made his return in June 2006 on WWE'sECW brand as avampire. His first appearances onECW on Sci Fi saw him appear in several vignettes, looking into the camera and spitting blood, while remaining unnamed and unofficially known as the "ECW Vampire".[18][19][20] The idea behind the vignettes was that Fertig was to be part of a 'vampire' faction withGangrel andAriel; however, the faction did not materialise on television.[5] The vignettes later expanded to include Ariel as atarot card reader.[21][22]
Fertig's televised in-ring debut for the brand on the July 25 episode ofECW on Sci Fi, defeatingLittle Guido Maritato, with Ariel acting as hisvalet.[23] The next week, in another vignette, Ariel revealed his name to be Kevin Thorn.[24] Ariel then increased her ringside presence during Thorn's matches, often interfering in his matches, and Thorn began ascripted feud withBalls Mahoney.[25][26][27] In order to counteract Ariel's interference, Mahoney began bringing inFrancine as an equalizer.[28] The two teams feuded until early October, until Francine was released by WWE.[29][30] As Ariel began to feud withKelly Kelly, Thorn became caught up in the feud and at theDecember to Dismember pay-per-view, Thorn and Ariel defeated Kelly and Kelly's on-screen boyfriendMike Knox in amixed tag team match, after Knox walked out on Kelly.[31][32]
On February 6, 2007, Thorn and Ariel joinedElijah Burke,Matt Striker, andMarcus Cor Von in formingThe New Breed stable, with Thorn taking on theenforcer role and describing himself as the "muscle" of the group.[33] The New Breed immediately engaged themselves in a feud with theECW Originals (Rob Van Dam,Tommy Dreamer,Sabu and The Sandman).[34][35] Different members of the New Breeds wrestled members of the ECW originals over several weeks, leading up toWrestleMania 23.[36][37] At WrestleMania, the New Breed was defeated by the ECW Originals in an 8-man tag team match, but won a rematch on the following episode ofECW.[38][39] In April,CM Punk aligned himself with the New Breed after weeks of recruiting.[40] Just two weeks later, however, Punk betrayed the New Breed and attacked Burke after a match.[41] The following week, Burke announced a match between Thorn and Punk, but Thorn lost. After the match, Thorn quit the New Breed, as none of the other members interfered during the match to help him.[42]
On May 18, Ariel was released by WWE.[43] The following week, Thorn appeared by himself, with the commentators claiming that Thorn was "flying solo". After leaving Ariel, Thorn waspushed, defeating superstars such asTommy Dreamer andStevie Richards.[44][45][46] His winning streak came to an end on July 3, however, when he lost to CM Punk onECW.[47] Thorn then began a feud with Stevie Richards, after Richards defeated Thorn in an upset on two consecutive occasions.[48][49] Following this, Thorn attacked Richards backstage.[50] He laterpinned Richards in a match, but the referee reversed the decision, and awarded the match to Richards, when Thorn attacked Richards after the match.[51] Despite this, Thorn defeated Richards the following week, and then teamed up with Elijah Burke to defeat Richards and Tommy Dreamer in a tag team match.[52][53] On the September 18 episode ofECW, Thorn along with Burke, Dreamer, and Richards involved themselves in anElimination Chase toNo Mercy to face Punk. In their first match, afatal four-way, Thorn was victorious, eliminating Richards, but was eliminated himself the following week, due to being pinned in atriple threat match.[54][55]
Thorn's new look in December 2007
On November 20, 2007, Thorn debuted a new look, with shorter hair and different ring attire, while defeating Nunzio.[56] Soon after this image change, Thorn was taken off of television and sent to the WWE developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling.[2]
In early 2008, Fertig made his return to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), and began wrestling under his real name.[2] He competed against wrestlers includingPat Buck, J.D. Michaels, andKofi Kingston.[2] In mid-2008, Fertig moved to the new developmental territory,Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), and reverted to the Kevin Thorn name.[2] His first match in FCW was on May 3, when he defeatedAfa Anoa'i Jr. in aStreet Fight.[2][57] On May 6, he teamed up withAtlas DaBone to defeat Afa, Jr. and "The Upgrade"Tyrone Jones.[58] His first loss in FCW was on June 3, when he was defeated byShawn Spears, following a distraction fromSinn Bowdee.[59]
Fertig was part of plans for a faction to feud withThe Undertaker in mid-2008, however, he underwent hip surgery in September, and the plans did not proceed.[5] He competed in his final match in FCW on December 4, when he,Sheamus, andGavin Spears were defeated byJoe Hennig,Johnny Prime, andEric Escobar in asix-man elimination match.[60] In January 2009, he was offered a new contract with WWE, but turned it down. As a result, WWE announced that he had been released from his contract by request on January 9, although his contract did not technically end until April 5, preventing him from wrestling for other promotions.[5][61]
Return to Independent circuit (2009–2011, 2015–present)
Following his release from WWE, Fertig toured Europe, and stated he was considering working inMexico andPuerto Rico.[5] He has been using the Kevin Thorn vampire gimmick, in various independent promotions, such asOne Pro Wrestling and Dynamic Pro Wrestling, and has also wrestled as Seven Thorn.[1][2][62] At the September 1, 2009, tapings ofTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling'sImpact! television show Fertig wrestled in a dark match under the ring name Serpent, losing toKip James.[3]
Fertig appeared at German Stampede Wrestling shows in September 2010 as Seven Thorn.[63] He wrestles for Frontier Elite Wrestling as 'Kevin Thorn', and won the FEW Heavyweight Championship.[64][65] In 2011, he took a hiatus from wrestling.
^PWI Staff (2007). "Pro Wrestling Illustrated presents: 2007 Wrestling almanac & book of facts"."Wrestling's historical cards". Kappa Publishing. p. 115.
^"Kevin Thorn". Frontier Elite Wrestling. Archived fromthe original on August 16, 2011. RetrievedNovember 13, 2010.
^ab"Current Champions". Frontier Elite Wrestling. Archived fromthe original on August 16, 2011. RetrievedNovember 13, 2010.FEW Heavyweight Champion: Kevin Thorn
,Wrestlingdata.com