Kevin Thorn Weighs in on Bagwell’s WWE Lawsuit, Doesn’t Think He’d Want to Come Back

– Kevin “Thorn” Fertig spoke with Wrestling Inc about his WWE run, Buff Bagwell’s lawsuit against the company and more. Some highlights are below:

On if he’s talked with people in WWE since he left: “A little bit. I was always favorable with the agents. I was always favorable with everybody. I really don’t know them too much. I’m frustrated sometimes. But, yeah, here and there. Nothing that I’m going to come back in this moment in time. My hips, that six weeks of me doing what did didn’t do anything for my hip. I probably screwed myself worse by doing that than letting it heal. And I have issues sometimes with my hip. Could I do a full-time schedule? Man, I don’t know. I’d love to, but also, too, man, I was blessed by leaving when I did because my son’s nine. I’ve been gone eight years. I have been there every day for so much. And then, my daughter’s five now. I’ve been a stay-at-home dad and I’ve loved every minute of it. I haven’t missed a thing. I get them off the bus, I put them on the bus, I’ve made some good investment choices in life, my wife and I just opened up a Farmers Insurance agency, so hey, if anybody out there needs insurance and they live in Indiana, call me. But, I look back and you always look back with some sort of regret and, honest to God, I have none. I’d much rather have a family that’s together and kids that I love, that I’m able to go see sporting events and everything else, than be world champion sometimes.”

On his appearance for TNA: “Yeah, I went down there. They flew me in from England. I went and had a hell of a match with Billy and I don’t know. I was told by Terry Taylor that office politics played a part and contact him again in six months. And I was like, ‘well, if we’re going to do office politics here too, it’s really not worth it.’ I would love to be in TNA. God, what a great schedule. You work one weekend a month, you get paid pretty good, and you can do whatever you want during the rest of the time. It’s a great deal. With Billy being President now, hell, we’ll see what happens. It could be huge. The Harris Brothers, there’s a lot of potential there if they just get it moving on track. Matt Hardy is doing some great stuff, Jeff, I mean, who knows?”

On if Billy Corgan coming in is good for TNA: “It can’t hurt, honestly. They can be something. Not that they’re not something, they can be a little bit more. They’ve got the star power. They need to use it.”

On how stringent WWE’s wellness policy was: “It’s funny you ask. I was going through a bunch of stuff, I was cleaning out a bunch of stuff yesterday, and I found 15 of my Aegis tests from Dr. Black. I passed every one of them, but I think it’s one of those things to me that I think it’s used when they need it. I don’t know. I find it odd that there [are] a lot of guys up there that probably shouldn’t pass that do and there [are] a lot of guys that when they need them to go away, all of a sudden they get a 30-day [suspension]. Rey Mysterio is a prime example, knee hurt forever, they’re paying him a huge downside and everything else, they needed to make some money back, and the next thing you know, he’s popped. I don’t know. That’s a conspiracy theory, I guess.”

On whether some guys got tested more than others: “It was pretty uniform. The funny thing is, when I was sitting at home, I got tested, like, every two weeks after my hip surgery. And I’m like, ‘you guys know that I am still taking stuff because I’m still black and blue all throughout my leg.’ They wanted the doctor’s script. They saw it and there it was. I mean, they would come into my house. That’s where I always felt kind of a little violated with it is, us as independent contractors, I just got my house painted a couple of weeks ago. I didn’t test my painters. If I did ask them, they probably would have told me to f–k off and I would have had to find a new painter. That’s where I get it as employees, but I don’t get it as independent contractors. And I get that they need to save face and protect themselves. It always seems like to me guys get popped when they need them to go away. Reigns was semi getting over, they were still pushing him, they didn’t know what to do with him, the next thing you know, he gets popped. So, I don’t know. Del Rio, supposedly has heat with Hunter. The next thing you know, he gets popped. I don’t know.”

On Buff Bagwell’s lawsuit: “Yeah, I just saw Buff a couple of weeks ago. I didn’t didn’t know anything about it, I saw it the other day, and I’m like, ‘I mean, he has a point within reason’…I don’t know. The Network confuses me because I get a check every now and then for royalties for this and that, from video sales and stuff. But now that we have the Network, video sales are out the door. So how does that [happen]? I think it’s just them being so smart and seeing so much into the future with how things are going to be produced that they knew how to write it so they wouldn’t have to pay anybody. And I mean, you could try [to sue WWE], but it’s not worth it. Guys can try. They’ll just tie it up [in litigation] for as long as they need to and you’re eventually going to run out of money trying to fight them, so why bother?”

On his royalty check drop when the Network started: “Oh, huge! They were always, it wasn’t on a whole lot, but $2,000, $3,000, somewhere in there, and now they’re $67. I think the last one I got [was $67 for the quarter]…It took a while, but yeah. It’s basically what it is. Now, you’ll get one, it’ll be here and there, but nothing compared to what they were.”

On if he thinks Bagwell’s lawsuit will go anywhere: “Man, his lawyer has to be real smart. WWE’s guys are insane. I don’t know. That’s a huge fight. They can try. I just think they saw into the future and knew how to write the contracts. He might be in that cusp, being in 2003, but coming into when my deal or new deal, it was written in there. ‘Future this, future that’.”

On WWE not being able to get some of their former stars to come back post-Draft: “Yeah, because the majority of the guys know they’re going to push the guys they’re going to push. You’re really going there to be an enhancement talent within reason. Yeah, they’re going to say they’re going to do these big vignettes for you, but all you’re really there to do is to get the next guys over.”

On if he’s been approached to return: “Not really. There was talk, but nothing substantial. And I don’t know if I’d want to go back full-time. If TNA called me, yeah. Hell yeah. A couple of days a month doing something, yes. WWE, man, it’d have to be decent. Just knowing how it was up there and just like I said before, you blow through your downside and all of a sudden you’re just dragged along and you’re their monkey. Man, I have rose from the ashes from where I was and we’ve got everything going so good here that I don’t know if I could leave it…Man, I’d love to go put some guys over in [NXT] and stuff. But I don’t want to be there every day. If I could go down to [NXT] for their TV tapings here and there, yes, heck yeah, I’d do it in a heartbeat, as long as it was a couple of days and I can come back to the reality that I’ve set in.”