Great-ing Gimmicks of the Past: Mordecai – WWE, 2004
History
At the same time Booker T was chasing (or running from) the Undertaker with bags of dirt, another famous Smackdown superstar was preparing to debut. His big night occurred on April 15, 2004. That night, Mordecai appeared in a taped vignette. A man clad in a white robe, Mordecai talked about living to serve the father. In the WWE, that must mean he’s another of Vince McMahon’s goons.
Mordecai’s videos continued for the next few weeks. They were basically the same thing as before, although they soon added the fact that he would debut at Judgment Day.
Finally the big night arrived. For his debut, Mordecai took on Scotty 2 Hotty. Mordecai completely obliterated Scotty before finishing him off with his finisher (the Razor’s Edge).
On Smackdown, Billy Kidman was taking on Akio (Jimmy Yang) when all of a sudden the lights went down and music began playing. Mordecai made his way out, destroyed both cruiserweights, and left.
Mordecai didn’t show up in person the next week, opting instead to deliver his message via a video. In it, he called himself the one man crusade and talked about destroying sinners.
He showed up on the next episode, which was taped in Toronto. Mordecai interrupted a promo for Summerslam by saying he wanted to pray for the fans’ cesspool of a country. Apparently someone had no problems graduating from Cheap Heat 101. After running down the Canadians for a few more minutes, he left.
The next week, Mordecai talked about what sinners the locker were, especially Eddie Guerrero. However, that was it for the night. What, you thought there would be a match?
Leading up to the Great American Bash, we saw Mordecai jump Hardcore Holly in the back, and the two brawled, with Mordecai threatening to crucify Holly. Hey! He’s not crucifying him; he’s just strapping him to a symbol!
That took us to the Bash itself. Mordecai managed to do 2 things – 1) put away Hardcore Holly, and 2) put the crowd to sleep.
Things went sour on the next Smackdown. Mordecai took on Rey Misterio in a non-title match (Rey was the cruiserweight champion, and Mordecai was about 50 pounds away from being a cruiserweight). In a shocker, Rey ended Mordecai’s undefeated streak.
And that was that. Mordecai was removed from the active roster and returned to OVW.
Analysis
Well, over the week’s I’ve been doing this column, we’ve looked at some screw-ups, but this one is notable because of the length of time it was given. Normally, an angle would run and run and run before it was finally taken out back and shot. This one ran for just shy of three months.
Mordecai wasn’t a bad wrestler, and he did have charisma, but the angle just didn’t click with the fans. He had a great look and a great entrance, but if the connection with the fans isn’t there, it isn’t going to work. Of course, putting him against Hardcore Holly wasn’t going to result in a ***** Scott Keith match anyway.
Actually, this is short, so let’s take a look at Scott’s ratings for Mordecai’s PPV matches. The spectacular debut against Scotty drew $5 via the SMURF (Shane McMahon Unconditional Refund Formula). The Hardcore Holly one drew ½ *. See? He was improving!
Where are they now?
Mordecai returned to OVW – first as Vengeance, then he returned to his original name of Seven. In July of 2005 (after a backstage incident with Jim Cornette), he was released from his developmental contract.
As late as October, Seven was still working with OVW, although he is presumably active on the indy scene.
Next Week
Lenny and Lodi are off TV? Vince Russo to the rescue!
