10 pro wrestlers who failed to live up to their hype

#2 Kevin Thorn/Mordecai

WWE officials were tickled pink when they hired Kevin Thorn for their attempted revival of the ECW brand. He had the size, the look, and a lot of poise for someone so new to the business.

Kevin Matthew Fertig had one of the luckiest breaks into the business imaginable. He was working out in a gym when then WCW star Sid Vicious came in to work out. The two struck up a conversation, and then a friendship, and Vicious helped Thorn get his early bookings in the southern independent promotions.

From there he was scouted by Ohio Valley Wrestling, which was at the time WWE's developmental territory. Thorn was never a great wrestler, but he was big and mean looking, so he was pushed hard by OVW.

When he made his debut on ECW, it was using a 'vampire' gimmick, which fell largely flat with the wrestling audiences, even on the Sci-Fi channel. His valet Ariel actually got more attention than he did.

WWE would try again with Thorn, this time branding him as the 'anti-Undertaker' Mordecai. While the character attempted to stir up controversy (such as by ex-communicating an entire Smackdown audience and condemning them to 'hell.') he still failed to resonate with fans and was released.

Why he never became a bigger star: While he was as big as the Undertaker, Thorn lacked the Phenom's athletic prowess. His gimmicks were also very over the top, given the era in which he wrestled for WWE.