Kevin Fertig, a WWE Superstar on the rise, lost a major opportunity when a real-life bar fight disrupted his career path, leading to a last-minute WrestleMania opponent change incident involving The Undertaker. This unexpected event took place in 2004, shortly after WrestleMania XX, affecting WWE storylines and plans on SmackDown.
Kevin Fertig’s Rise and Sudden Setback in WWE
After WrestleMania XX, Kevin Fertig was assigned to the SmackDown roster with the striking character Mordecai, a dark, religious figure targeting the brand’s fan-favorite babyfaces. Mordecai scored decisive victories over Scotty 2 Hotty and Hardcore Holly during back-to-back SmackDown-exclusive pay-per-views. However, after a loss to Rey Mysterio, Fertig abruptly disappeared from television programming. Behind the scenes, Vince McMahon had pulled the plug on Fertig’s momentum due to his involvement in a bar fight, which led to serious consequences for his career.
Bar Fight Leads to Lost WrestleMania Main Event Chance
Fertig revealed in a 2021 interview on Sportskeeda Wrestling’s UnSKripted podcast that he was originally slated to face The Undertaker and Eddie Guerrero at WrestleMania. He said,
“I was supposed to go against The Undertaker [and] Eddie Guerrero. I was supposed to do a lot of stuff. But I ended up being an idiot and I got into a fight in a bar and it just didn’t work out – just didn’t work out that way, man. So, live and learn. Getting told you are about to go against The Undertaker and possibly main-event a WrestleMania match – I don’t know if you have the, I guess, business sense [in one’s late 20s]. You always say, ‘Hey, if I could have, would have, should have back then…’ Now at 45, if I could have known what I know now and done it then, it would have been a totally different ballgame.”
This candid admission highlights how a single moment of poor judgment halted what could have been a defining point in his WWE career.
How The Undertaker’s WrestleMania Opponent Shifted in 2005
Following Fertig’s removal from TV, WWE replaced Mordecai’s role leading into WrestleMania 21. Instead, The Undertaker faced Randy Orton in a high-profile RAW vs. SmackDown rivalry that unfolded in 2005. Over time, Fertig returned to WWE in a new persona, Kevin Thorn, and became a consistent presence on the ECW brand. Although he did compete at WrestleMania 23 as part of an Eight-Man Tag Team match featuring The ECW Originals versus The New Breed, his path diverged significantly from the main event scene he was once poised to reach.
Reflecting on a Career Altered by One Incident
Fertig’s trajectory serves as a reminder of how quickly opportunities in WWE can vanish due to outside actions. Fans and analysts have speculated about what might have been had he avoided that bar fight, wondering if he could have become one of WWE’s leading heels throughout the mid-2000s. Instead, his career took a different route, with unique moments but never quite reaching the same level of prominence.
This WrestleMania opponent change incident underscores the importance of professionalism in sports entertainment, where personal decisions can influence not only individual careers but also major storyline outcomes and company plans.
