Like many wrestlers before him, Kevin Fertig was discovered working out in a gym. In his case, Sid Vicious got him to take up wrestling, and he’d wrestle for Memphis Championship Wrestling in 2000. By 2002 he had signed a development deal with WWE and was in OVW. When he debuted on SmackDown two years later, he would be known as Mordecai, a character on a crusade to rid the world of sin. He was expected to become a main event talent and feud with The Undertaker, leading to WrestleMania’s match.
Sadly for Fertig, these plans were scrapped following a bar fight which led to a lawsuit. He was released in 2005 but returned in 2006 as part of WWE’s ECW brand as a vampire character called Kevin Thorn that Heyman had wanted to use since the original days of ECW. While this run was longer, it was uneventful, and by 2008 he was back in developmental and eventually asked to be released.
It’s now been reported by HeelByNature that Fertig, who still wrestlers sporadically on the independents, has officially filed trademark applications for both his firmer WWE names. Fertig is 44, so he still has several years wrestling ahead of him if he chooses, although possibly not at the highest level. However, he has built a life for himself outside of wrestling as he is a successful realtor working and residing in Indiana. At this time, it is not known if WWE plans to challenge these applications, as they chose to abandon the trademarks over a decade ago. While they likely have no plans to use the names again, they might not want the names officially used in another promotion.
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