}

Paul Burchill (born Paul Birchall) is a British professional wrestler, who works for World Wrestling Entertainment on its SmackDown! brand. A former primary school teacher from Surrey, England, Burchill got into pro wrestling in 2001 by walking into a FWA Weekend Training camp, and quickly impressing the man running the camp, Mark Sloan.

Career

European promotions

After finishing his training at the FWA Training Academy, under Sloan's guidance, Burchill made his debut in August 2002. He made a huge impact in the Frontier Wrestling Alliance, interfering in many matches and leaving a trail of broken bodies along the way.

In May 2003, Burchill's exploits earned him the notice of top British manager, Dean Ayass, who took Burchill on as a client. Over the rest of that year, Burchill competed in several handicap matches, defeating FWA-based tag teams by knockout. Burchill was named Total Wrestling and 1 Stop Wrestling's "Rookie of the Year" for 2003.

Burchill would continue to wrestle in the FWA as well as various other promotions in 2004, both in England and around Europe, promotions such as the Frontier Wrestling Alliance, The Wrestling Alliance, All Star Premier Promotions, GBH, HCW, High Impact Promotions, WXW Germany, IWP, British Championship Wrestling and Italian Championship Wrestling.

On August 1, 2004, Burchill defeated Doug Williams and The Zebra Kid (Roy Bevis) in a No Holds Barred Three-Way Dance to become the IWP Champion, a title he would hold until November 6, when he lost a Falls Count Anywhere match to D-Lo Brown. Five days later, on November 11, 2004 Burchill signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment, and left England to train at its farm federation Ohio Valley Wrestling.

Before leaving, during one of Burchill's last appearances in the FWA at its British Uprising III event, which saw him team with Terry Funk and Paul Travell to defeat Drew McDonald, Raj Ghosh and Thunder, Burchill received a standing ovation and a "Please Don't Go" chant from the 1800 fans in attendance.

World Wrestling Entertainment

Paul Burchill in WWE

Burchill continued to train in OVW as well as performing in WWE's other farm federation Deep South Wrestling, LLC, before being called up to the main roster. Burchill made his WWE debut on an episode of WWE Velocity, which aired August 27 2005, when he interrupted a match between his fellow Englishman, William Regal and Scotty 2 Hotty. Burchill quickly established an alliance with his countryman, helping Regal to beat down Scotty 2 Hotty.

His WWE Friday Night SmackDown! debut occurred on the September 1, 2005 episode of SmackDown! in a tag team match. In this match Burchill teamed up with William Regal to defeat Scotty 2 Hotty and Funaki, after Burchill forced Scotty tap out with the "Royal Mutilation". The week after on SmackDown! Burchill defeated Scotty 2 Hotty in a singles match with the same armbar submission.

Regal & Burchill were part of a Fatal Fourway Tag Match facing The Mexicools, MNM, and Road Warrior Animal & Heidenreich, with the Winner acquiring the WWE Tag Team Championship. Regal & Burchill came up short, when MNM won the titles from Heidenreich & Animal. Regal & Burchill continued tagging together, mainly feuding with The Mexicools on Velocity. Regal often acted as a manager for Burchill during his singles matches.

On the December 31 edition of Velocity, Burchill debuted his C-4 move in WWE, which aided him in a victory against the jobber, John Xavier.

During January 2006, Burchill would still make regular appearances in Ohio Valley Wrestling. He was teaming with Ken Doane in a match against Brent Albright and CM Punk, often acting face and seeming on a championship hunt for the OVW TV title. In an OVW match against Ken Doane, Burchill would hit a second rope C4. Burchill would feud with Aaron Stevens for the OVW Television Championship also.

Paul Burchill as the "Pirate"

On the February 3, 2006 edition of SmackDown!, Regal and Burchill told SmackDown! "network representative" Palmer Canon that they no longer wanted to be a tag team so they could go their separate ways. During this discussion Burchill informed Canon that his family heritage traces back to the pirate Blackbeard, and that he wanted to do a pirate gimmick on SmackDown!. He followed through on this promise the following week when he appeared backstage dressed as a pirate, with a look similar to that of Captain Jack Sparrow of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

Burchill with his babyface persona would start a rivalry with former team mate Regal who would weekly try to convince Burchill to return to his ruthless ways. Burchill had his first match as a pirate on the March 10th edition of SmackDown!, during his entrance Burchill would stand on a platform located at the far end of the entrance way and then swing down to the entrance floor on a rope. As he made his way down to the ring he threw beads to the crowd and pulled out his sword as his opponent William Regal looked on in disbelief. Burchill defeated William Regal using his C-4 move in this match.

Burchill would once again defeat William Regal in a singles match on the April 7, 2006 episode of Friday Night SmackDown!. However, this match saw a stipulation that would see Regal have to dress like a "buxom wench", since he lost the match. Lady Regal, as SmackDown! announcers would jokingly refer to him, would have no choice but to dress like what ever Burchill felt like having him wear until Burchill lost a match.

On the April 21, 2006 episode of SmackDown!, Burchill made Regal dress up in various costumes such as a gorilla suit and a chicken suit. Eventually, he made Regal dress up like a buccaneer for their tag match later in the night against Gymini. Burchill would end up abandoning Regal during the match, which led to Gymini picking up the victory.

On the April 29 edition of velocity, which was taped in the Britian, Burchill defeated Nunzio and received almost main event pop from his hometown crowd.

Burchill would soon be joined by a new buxom wench, this unnamed girl (Shelly Martinez) made appearances with Burchill in dark matches; before debuting and appearing on the May 6, 2006 edition of the WWE Velocity webcast in the corner of Burchill managing him. [1] Shelly Martinez disappeared after that one appearance because WWE management was upset with her performance.

In mid 2006, Burchill required knee surgery and so (in kayfabe) was injured by Mark Henry to allow Burchill time away from the ring to get it performed. This time away from the ring would also be used to develop a new gimmick to replace his pirate character on his return because Vince McMahon, who apparently wasn't aware of the Pirates of the Caribbean films and Johnny Depp's pirate character, believed the character should have thought he was a real pirate; acting more like the Carl Ouellet pirate character from the 1990s, and felt it couldn't work as a crowd favorite despite the positive crowd reactions Burchill received.Wrestling Observer Newsletter, June 5, 2006

In wrestling

*Managers:*"Twisted Genius" Dean Ayass:*William Regal:*Shelly Martinez:*Kristal Marshall
*Finishing and signature moves:*C-4 / Walking the Plank (Standing moonsault side slam) :*Royal Mutilation (High angle Fujiwara armbar):*Move With No Name (Grounded pumphandle lift into a sidewalk slam):*Diving knee drop:*Over-the-shoulder lift into a shoulderbreaker across the knee:*Standing moonsault:*Corner-to-corner moonsault:*Rolling fireman's carry slam:*Standing shooting star press:*No-handed suicide senton dive to the outside:*Northern lights suplex into air raid crash

Championships and accomplishments

*1-time IWP Heavyweight Champion

Trivia

*Burchill's C-4 move was also commonly named the C-4 Hotwired, as it was debuted at the FWA event Hotwired in 2003 and the subtitle of the C-4 on video was taken out of context.
*Since his pirate gimmick started, the C-4 move has been dubbed by some fans "The Plank" in reference to announcer Michael Cole's comment that Regal was walking the plank. Walking The Plank would later become the official name of the move.
*Growing up in Surrey, England (near London), Burchill became a supporter of Tottenham Hotspur football club, and continues to follow them today.

References and External Links

*Paul Burchill Online (dead link June 19, 2006)
*WWE.com profile
*Burchillonline.co.uk
*Paul Burchill.co.uk

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Paul Burchill: Encyclopedia BETA

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