Elijah Burke
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Elijah Burke  | |
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| File:ElijahBurke1.JPG | |
| Born | April 11, 1978 Jacksonville, Florida, United States |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Elijah Burke |
| Billed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Billed weight | [undue weight? – discuss] |
| Billed from | Jacksonville, Florida, United States |
| Trained by | Ohio Valley Wrestling |
| Debut | 2003 |
Elijah Samuel Burke (born April 11, 1978) 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. According to Joey Styles, this stands for "four knuckles upside your head".
World Wrestling Entertainment
After signing with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), he was sent to their developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). There, he won the OVW Heavyweight Title on December 8, 2004. 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. [citation needed]
SmackDown!
After training with OVW, 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 4 month winning streak while on SmackDown!, albeit with Terkay's assistance.
ECW
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 Judgement Day, Burke was defeated by CM Punk. Then, at One Night Stand, Burke, Marcus Cor Von and Matt Striker were defeated by Tommy Dreamer, 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 would rebound with a decisive victory over Balls Mahoney. He was named the number 1 contender for the ECW Championship and will face CM Punk at Unforgiven.
In wrestling
Finishing and signature moves
- Elijah Express (Running exposed double high knee strike when opponent is on the turnbuckle)
- Elijah Experience (Forward Russian legsweep into an Armbar)
- Scissored armbar - 2006
- The Outer Limitz Elbow Drop (Turnbuckle handstand twisted into a low angle diving elbow drop onto an opponent laying under the turnbuckle)
- Abdominal stretch
- STO
- Flying clothesline
- High angle spinning sitdown spinebuster
- Stinger splash
- High angle inverted atomic drop
- Backhand chop
- Multiple bionic elbows followed by a backhand chop - OVW
- Flying forearm strike
- Flying shoulder tackle
- Punching combo to the opponent's torso
- Vertical suplex followed by a back suplex
Nicknames
- The Elijah Experience (OVW / ECW)
- The Silver Tongued Pugilist (ECW)
- The Paragon of Virtue (ECW)
- Your Guiding Light (ECW)
- The Future of ECW (ECW)