Elijah Burke

Elijah Burke
File:ElijahBurke1.JPG
Born	(1978-05-24) May 24, 1978 Jacksonville, Florida
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Elijah Burke
Billed height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Billed weight	230 lb (100 kg; 16 st)
Trained by	Ohio Valley Wrestling
Debut	2003

Elijah Burke (born May 24, 1978 in Jacksonville, Florida) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment wrestling on its ECW brand.

Career

Burke is a former officer for the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office in Florida who would become an amateur boxer in Jacksonville's Club 5 and Club Plush where he claims to have had a 98-1 win/loss record. According to his WWE.com profile, Burke has a record of 103-1 with 102 knockouts in his amateur career. Both of these records are unsubstantiated. Still, according to WWE, the only loss he sustained was a disqualification, after he knocked his opponent out and refused to back down to his corner. Before each of his matches he writes the phrase "4-Up" on his wrist tape, and in an interview with WWE Magazine, Burke stated that this came from the phrase "I'm going to give you five upside your head," used by comedians such as Redd Foxx. However, when you punch somebody, it's more accurately four upside the head.

World Wrestling Entertainment (2006–present)

After signing with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), he was sent to their developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). There, he won the OVW Heavyweight Championship on December 8, 2004, by defeating Chad Toland. On April 14 Burke lost the Championship to Matt Morgan. Burke was offered a spot in the Spirit Squad by the WWE Creative Team, but turned it down, forcing him to stay in Ohio Valley Wrestling on a longer stint before moving to Smackdown! with Sylvester Terkay.

SmackDown! (2006)

Burke would be brought up to the main roster of SmackDown! on July 28, 2006 working a mixed martial arts cornerman gimmick with the also debuting former MMA fighter Sylvester Terkay. His first WWE match saw him defeating Scott Wright and he would also break Vito's four month winning streak while on SmackDown!, albeit with Terkay's assistance.

ECW (2006–present)

Burke making his ring entrance in WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008

On November 7, 2006, Elijah Burke and Sylvester Terkay debuted on the ECW brand by cutting a backstage promo. The following week, Burke replaced Tazz, who had knee surgery, as color commentator alongside play-by-play announcer Joey Styles. Two weeks later, Burke returned to the ring; he and Terkay lost to The Hardys. At the ECW brand's December to Dismember pay-per-view, Burke and Terkay defeated the Full Blooded Italians, a feat which the duo have since repeated. The pair were later dubbed The Knock-Out / Tap-Out Connection, in reference to Burke's amateur boxing career and Terkay's Mixed Martial Arts background.

On January 18, 2007, Terkay was released from WWE. Since then, Burke has wrestled in singles matches, and appeared in a segment where WWE owner Vince McMahon showed disdain for members of the original ECW and called Burke to the ring, naming him "The Future Of ECW". Burke was then attacked by Tommy Dreamer, Rob Van Dam, Sabu, and The Sandman, who would later form the ECW Originals stable. Burke then became the official leader of the "New Breed", a group of new ECW stars including Matt Striker, Marcus Cor Von and Kevin Thorn, who proceeded to feud with the ECW Originals. At WrestleMania 23, The New Breed faced off against The ECW Originals but were ultimately defeated.

After several weeks of trying to recruit fellow roster mate and new ECW superstar CM Punk, Burke and the New Breed were successful on April 10. However, just two weeks later, CM Punk betrayed the New Breed, attacking Burke after a match. The next week, Kevin Thorn quit the New Breed due to lack of interference in his match with CM Punk. The same night, Matt Striker and Marcus Cor Von were defeated by the Major Brothers, a debuting tag team. After being pinned, Burke screamed at Striker creating tension between the two. The New Breed would then feud with the ECW Originals, CM Punk and the Major Brothers at the same time. At Judgment Day, Burke was defeated by CM Punk. Then, at One Night Stand, Burke, Marcus Cor Von and Matt Striker were defeated by Tommy Dreamer, The Sandman and CM Punk in a Tables Match. On June 19, 2007, Burke lost to Chris Benoit (which would be Benoit's last match before his death) in a match that would decide who would face either CM Punk or Marcus Cor Von for the vacant ECW World Championship at Vengeance: Night of Champions. Burke lost to CM Punk in a best two out of three falls match, which would see the winner becoming the number one contender to Johnny Nitro's ECW Championship. On July 10, Burke rebounded with a decisive victory over Balls Mahoney. He was then named the number one contender for the ECW Championship and went on to face CM Punk at the Unforgiven pay-per-view where he was beaten after CM Punk cleanly pinned him.

Two days later on ECW, an elimination chase was set up by ECW General Manager Armando Estrada. This challenge was to determine the number one contender to CM Punk's ECW Championship in order to compete for the title at No Mercy 2007. Estrada pitted four of the best wrestlers that ECW would offer (Burke, Kevin Thorn, Tommy Dreamer and Stevie Richards) in a fatal four way that night, which was won by Elijah Burke. It also meant the loser of the match, Stevie Richards, was out of the chase to No Mercy. The following week, Burke eliminated former New Breed comrade Kevin Thorn from the competition after Tommy Dreamer nailed Thorn with a Dreamer DDT. The next week, he was eliminated from the tournament by Tommy Dreamer.

On the November 20, 2007 edition of ECW, Burke introduced and formed an alliance with the newest member of the ECW roster, Shelton Benjamin, who jumped over from the Raw brand.

Burke reappeared on WWE television by participating in the 2008 Royal Rumble, entering as 28th entrant but was eliminated by Triple H after having Mick Foley pushed into him, after which both Foley and Burke were eliminated.

He later participated in a 24-man battle royal at Wrestlemania 24. He was eliminated early in the match (shortly after he himself eliminated Stevie Richards) by Kane.

Burke then reappeared again in a tag team match on Smackdown pairing Burke and Shelton Benjamin against Kofi Kingston and then-United States Champion Matt Hardy in a losing effort and again the next week losing to Matt Hardy in singles competition.

Burke also has a journal on WWE.com called Elijah Experience where he discusses the happenings on ECW on Sci-Fi. It has been rumored that he is working on a vampire type of gimmick, parts of this rumored gimmick include spitting blood out during his entrance.

In wrestling

• Finishing and signature moves

• Elijah Experience (Arm wrench forward Russian legsweep) – 2006–2007
• Elijah Express (Running exposed double high knee strike to the back / chest of a cornered opponent)
• Scissored armbar – 2006
• 4–Up Combo (Punching combo to the opponent's torso ending with a high impact uppercut)
• Abdominal stretch
• Diving clothesline
• Dropkick
• Outer Limitz Elbow Drop (Turnbuckle handstand twisted into a low–angle diving elbow drop onto an opponent lying underneath the bottom turnbuckle)
• Rolling German suplexes
• Rolling Hip Tosses - OVW
• Stinger splash
• Running flying shoulder tackle
• Spinning sitout spinebuster slam
• Stinger splash
• STO
• Vertical suplex followed by a belly to back suplex

• Entrance themes

• Don't Waste My Time by Jim Johnston

• Nicknames

• The Silver–Tongued Pugilist
• Paragon of Virtue
• The Elijah Experience
• The Black Pope
• The Guiding Light

Championships and accomplishments

• Ohio Valley Wrestling

• OVW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated

• PWI ranked #87 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2007

Other media

Burke was a guest on Sci-Fi's Ghost Hunters, on the October 31, 2007 Halloween live special episode.

External links

• WWE Profile
• Official Website