Kevin Thorn

Kevin Fertig
Born	(1977-01-17) January 17, 1977 Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Seven Mordecai Vengeance Kevin Fertig Kevin Thorn
Billed height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Billed weight
Trained by	OVW staff
Debut	2000

"Kevin Thorn" redirects here. For the character from the comics series Fables, see List of Fables characters § Kevin Thorn.

Kevin Matthew Fertig (born January 17, 1977) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment wrestling on the ECW brand as Kevin Thorn.

Career

Fertig wrestled as Seven in Memphis Championship Wrestling, and some other independent promotions, and won the MCW Southern Heavyweight Championship on July 7, 2001.

World Wrestling Entertainment

In April 2002, Fertig signed a developmental deal with the World Wrestling Entertainment and was assigned to their development territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), where he continued to use the Seven character. In OVW, he joined the Disciples of Synn stable, and along with stable-mate Travis Bane won the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship in March of 2003, though they were forced to vacate the title a month later when Bane was injured.

In late April of 2004 Fertig was called up to the SmackDown! brand with vignettes playing on the show announcing his new character Mordecai , a religious Zealot-type character. During numerous promos Mordecai claimed he saw nothing but sin everywhere he went, and God had chosen him to rid the world of it. He constantly wore white and had blonde hair and a beard as a sign of his purity. Mordecai debuted in ring for the SmackDown! brand on May 16, 2004 during the Judgment Day pay-per-view, defeating Scotty 2 Hotty.

In later appearances Mordecai condemned the audience to hell, and often carried a crucifix with him everywhere he went; he was also known to pray before his matches, in one interview, he even said that the then WWE Champion Eddie Guerrero would pay for his sins which implied a rise to main event status to face Guerrero, but the gimmick was dropped in July and Fertig was sent back to OVW.

Fertig returned to OVW, wrestling under a mask as Vengeance, before reverting to the name Seven. He also continued to use the Mordecai name while working in Memphis Wrestling, where he won the Southern Title in March of 2005.

Extreme Championship Wrestling

Kevin Thorn and Ariel.

In 2006, Fertig joined WWE's ECW brand with a vampire gimmick, originally appearing on the debut of ECW on Sci Fi first making appearances standing outside of arenas, looking into the camera, spitting blood and hissing. The idea was that Fertig was planting the seeds for the long rumored 'vampire faction' with Gangrel and Ariel, although the angle with Ariel was kept and the plans for Gangrel were dropped due to his ongoing weight problems. The WWE knew Fertig had improved his in-ring skills since his first stint as Mordecai on SmackDown!, but did not know that Fertig had improved a lot; as a result, they decided on keeping him on the ECW brand for the long run. He then began appearing in vignettes with Ariel, the tarot card reader, spitting blood at the camera while she "predicted the future of ECW".

Fertig had his (television) in-ring debut on the July 25 ECW on Sci Fi, defeating Little Guido Maritato. During his debut, Ariel acted as his valet. The next week, in another vignette, Ariel revealed his name to be Kevin Thorn.

From there, Ariel increased her presence at ringside, often taking time out of the match to climb onto the apron or under the bottom rope to kiss Thorn while he continued to beat his opponents. During September Thorn began a feud with Balls Mahoney, and after Ariel started to help Thorn win their matches Mahoney began bringing in Francine as an equalizer. The two teams clashed over the next two weeks, until Francine was released by WWE.

As Ariel began to have heat with Kelly Kelly, Thorn became caught up in the feud and at December to Dismember, Kevin Thorn & Ariel defeated Kelly Kelly & Mike Knox after Knox walked out on Kelly. After that he became a member of the New Breed stable and took part in their feud with the ECW Originals.

CM Punk eventually joined the New Breed after weeks of recruiting. However, just two weeks later, CM Punk betrayed the New Breed attacking Elijah Burke after a match. On the May 1 edition of ECW on Sci Fi, Thorn quit the New Breed due to lack of interference during his match with CM Punk. On the May 8 edition of ECW, after interrupting Ariel's tarot card reading Thorn stated "My future was never the New Breed, and my future is not in these cards, my future is in fresh blood."

On May 18 2007 Ariel was released by the WWE. The following week, Kevin Thorn appeared by himself, with the commentators claiming that Thorn was "flying solo". After leaving Ariel, Thorn was on a winning streak, defeating superstars such as Stevie Richards, Balls Mahoney, Nunzio, and Tommy Dreamer. However, his winning streak would come to an end on July 3 on ECW when he lost to CM Punk. Thorn then began a feud with Stevie Richards after Richards pulled up an upset win over Thorn. After a 2 week long losing streak to Richards he once again lost after costing himself a match with Richards, which he had already won, for attacking him after it was over. However two weeks later, Thorn defeated Richards after he had attacked Thorn during an interview with Tazz and Joey Styles one week earlier.

In wrestling

• Finishing and signature moves

• Crucifixion (Crucifix powerbomb)
• Dark Kiss / Original Sin (Fireman's carry into Elevated stunner) - as Kevin Thorn
• Sinner Shot (Shoulder jawbreaker) - as Mordecai
• Sit-out side slam spinebuster
• Sitdown torture rack backbreaker drop
• Sleeper hold
• Flapjack
• Big boot
• Clothesline
• Gutbuster Drop

• Managers

• Ariel
• Synn
• Brother Ernest Angel

• Nicknames

As Kevin Thorn

• The Fanged Freak
• The Follower of Vampirism
• The Fanged Fiend
• Count Freakula

As Mordecai

• The Pale Rider

Championships and accomplishments

• Memphis Championship Wrestling
  • MCW Hardcore Championship (1 Time)
  • MCW Southern Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• Memphis Wrestling
  • Memphis Wrestling Southern Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• Ohio Valley Wrestling
  • OVW Southern Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Travis Bane

External links

• WWE Profile
• Kevin Fertig at IMDb
• Kevin Fertig at Online World of Wrestling