The Undertaker has been a staple part of WWE since the early 1990s, and has seen many pretenders
to his throne come and go.
From his brother, to imposters, to cult leaders, Undertaker has fought against many foes just
like him.
But in 2005 there was set to be his biggest challenge to date - a challenge that Vince
McMahon loved, but was sadly ruined by a real-life incident.
I am Luke Owen and this is The Undertaker’s Missing WrestleMania 21 match.
Kevin Fertig had been wrestling in WWE’s developmental camp OVW since 2002, where he
was developing a gimmick called Seven - a take on the seven deadly sins.
He was then put into a tag team with Travis Tomko, and the two started working dark matches
on the road with the Raw brand.
It was on the road that Vince McMahon sat Fertig down with Stephanie McMahon and John
Laurinaitis - with Vince telling him that he didn’t want a tag team guy he wanted
a singles star.
Fertig already had an answer, a continuation of his previous Seven character - only this
time playing him as a religious zealot.
“Mordecai would have been Bray Wyatt before Bray Wyatt…
I laid out my idea of long coats and a cross, almost Pope-ish, and even vignettes with a
confessional where I punch through the confessional booth and choke out the sinner.
Vince’s eyes blew up and he looked at me and said, ‘Holy s***.’”
- Kevin Fertig, Extra Mustard, June 28th 2017
According to Fertig, after the meeting Laurinatitis grabbed him and told him he was:
“about to make a million dollars.”
- Kevin Fertig, Extra Mustard, June 28th 2017
WWE began to air vignettes for this new character Mordecai with promos that got the seal of
approval from Vince - and The Undertaker.
The character was dressed all in white, complete with white hair and beard - a sign that he
was good and pure - and he carried a giant sword with him to the ring.
As Bruce Prichard revealed on Something to Wrestle, the costume was deliberately designed
to be the opposite of The Undertaker.
Mordercai made his in-ring debut at Judgment Day 2004, defeating Scotty 2 Hotty, and then
defeated Hardcore Holly the following month, with the idea to build Mordecai for the rest
of the year, and then have him face The Undertaker at WrestleMania 21.
“This was going to be even more unique because the cowboy dressed all in black was the good
guy and the guy in white was evil.
We would have built that up throughout the whole year, which would also have allowed
‘Taker some time for a smoke-and-mirrors angle so he could rest the wear and tear on
his body.”
- Kevin Fertig, Extra Mustard, June 28th 2017
Sadly, after only a few months on television, Mordecai disappeared from WWE and was never
heard from again.
So what went wrong?
Shortly after his debut, Fertig went to a bar with former Tough Enough winner Maven
and Sylvain Grenier - when a patreon decided he wanted a fight.
“Basically a kid decided he wanted to hit us with a bottle and I kind of intercepted
him and broke his nose.
And they found out that I was supposedly a WWE Superstar, a WWE guy who was worth so
much money.
If they knew how much money I had at that time, which was jacks***, they probably wouldn't
even have sued.”
- Kevin Fertig, Wrestling Inc, September 13, 2016
The person did in fact sue WWE, and Vince McMahon paid out - but doing so meant that
Fertig had to be fired.
“And that was basically how it was done.
And then, when they realized how much money I didn't have, it got pretty much dismissed.
I paid a little bit of money and it was done.
But long story short, it was something that the kid started and I just finished it.”
- Kevin Fertig, Wrestling Inc, September 13, 2016
Fertig would re-debut a few years later in ECW as the vampire Kevin Thorn, and The Undertaker
instead wrestled Randy Orton at WrestleMania 21.