Kevin Fertig had an interesting but disappointing run in the WWE, in which he portrayed two characters that had elements ripped off from some dark and creepy movies. The first, Seven, was actually based more on the idea behind Se7en, one of the most iconic 90s thrillers (now labelled a "neo-noir crime psychological thriller horror"). While the film isn't straight horror, there are horrifying elements to it (the knife appendage, the box, and so on). Thorn took the seven deadly sins idea for Seven, the name he wrestled under in OVW, then the WWE's developmental territory. By the time he was called up to Smackdown! in 2004, he had been renamed Mordecai, but the character was similar - he wanted to rid the world of sin, was a religious zealot, and chastised the crowd for their transgressions. Seven was positioned for a feud with The Undertaker, however after a bar fight, he was dropped from television and sent back to OVW, then eventually released from the promotion in 2005. Returning in 2006 to the ECW brand, he played vampire character Kevin Thorn alongside Ariel, his valet. This was at the height of Twilight and vampires being part of pop culture. The third Blade movie had been released (featuring Triple H), and there were about a dozen or so vampire flicks in theatres and straight-to-DVD each year around that time. Thorn rode the vampire wave onto TV, but it was probably at the wrong time, since Zombies were starting to take over from vamps as the 'cool horror thing'.
Primarily covering the sport of MMA from Ontario, Canada, Jay Anderson has been writing for various publications covering sports, technology, and pop culture since 2001. Jay holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Guelph, and a Certificate in Leadership Skills from Humber College.
