5 Dark Gimmicks WWE Gave Up on 

#4 Mordecai

The Pale Rider tried to bring darkness to light

Just over two years before Kevin Fertig debuted as the vampire Kevin Thorn in WWE ECW in 2006, he debuted as another dark character on SmackDown in 2004, Mordecai.

Mordecai was dubbed 'The Pale Rider'. Vignettes had aired for weeks on SmackDown showing him dressed in all while with his hair and beard dyed a very white shaded kind of blonde, as he stood among candles seemingly performing some kind of Zealot style religious ceremony. Mordecai spoke of ridding the world of sin and how he should be followed or revered.

Mordecai made his debut on the Judgement Day pay-per-view, squashing Scotty 2 Hotty. Over the next few weeks he would win more squash matches over the likes of Funaki and Spike Dudley, before defeating Hardcore Holly at the Great American Bash. Without mentioning, Mordecai would make reference to The Undertaker during several promos, which was to lead to a feud between the two. However, after suffering his first loss to Rey Mysterio on the post-Bash episode of SmackDown, Mordecai was removed from television after creative had already given up on the character.

There was never any reason given to why the character was dropped, but some suspect it may have been due to a potential religious backlash, as well as not having any idea's for the character beyond a feud with The Undertaker.