5 Scary Gimmicks That Failed in WWE and WCW

Kevin Thorn (WWE’s ECW)

Part of the WWE deciding to bring back the ECW brand as a third-show on their television lineup, they brought the Tuesday night show to the Sci-Fi Network, which is less the home of sports entertainment and more the home of zombies, vampires and other supernatural ghouls.

In an effort to conform to the network, the WWE decided to bring out their own evil vampire – complete with a sexy female valet in Ariel – Kevin Thorn debuted in 2006 that featured him spitting blood into the camera, squashing opponents and building up towards a New Breed stable with guys like Elijah Burke, Matt Striker and Marcus Cor Von to feud with the ECW originals.

What might have been a problem with Kevin Thorn is that we’ve seen the vampire character before in the Attitude Era with Gangrel. On top of that, Thorn didn’t really add much to the gimmick and it sort of fell flat as he was given a new look with new attire and shorter hair before being sent to the WWE’s developmental territory in the Ohio Valley.

What’s sad about the eventual release of Thorn is that he had a better gimmick years before as Mordecai – a religious character that believed he was sent by the Christian God to rid the world of evil. With white clothing and bleach blond hair and beard, there was a lot more hope for Mordecai to eventually be built towards a feud with the Undertaker for a Heaven and Hell type of storyline (at least that’s what I was expecting back then).

But that went nowhere as Mordecai only lasted about three months before he was sent back to development and we got Kevin Thorn three years later.

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