ECW keeps it in the family

It's official. Paul Burchill and his sister, Katie Lea, are now part of the ECW family. They made the transition to the ECW brand about a month ago and have had quite a tumultuous start, to say the least. So far, Katie Lea has gone 1-0 by defeating Alicia Fox, while she's watched her brother get embarrassed by DJ Gabriel, Finlay, and the Boogeyman. Tough break, eh? Still, some of us wonder just what's the deal about this dynamic family duo and how they got here to begin with? How did they get into not just the WWE, but onto the ECW brand? Alas, that story is an interesting one. Once again, thanks Wikipedia.

Let's begin with big brother, shall we? His full name is Paul Kenneth Birchall. He is a former primary school teacher from Surrey, in England. He played professional rugby as a center, earning the nickname,"Ripper". Then, the pro wrestling bug bit him in 2001 when he entered the FWA (Frontier Wrestling Alliance) Wrestling training camp. It didn't take long before he impressed Mark Sloan, the man in charge of the camp.

Burchill then debuted in August of 2002, where he made an impact interfering in many matches, destroying whomever got in his way. As his career progressed, he became somewhat of a "Goldberg"-like character destroying his opponents and keeping a winning record. In May of 2003, Burchill's ability landed him a top British manager named Dean Ayass, who managed notable names like Robbie Brookside and Christopher Daniels. Ayass would state that people facing Burchill entered the ring at their own risk as he would not be held responsible for Burchill's bone-breaking abilities. By the end of that year, Burchill was proclaimed "Rookie of the Year" by both Total Wrestling and 1 Stop Wrestling. Burchill then continued his wrestling journey, fighting in such places like Frontier Wrestling Alliance, WXW, The Wrestling Alliance, International Wrestling Promotions and All Star Premier Promotions. He would become a champion on August 1, 2004, winning a three-way No Holds Barred match involving the Zebra Kid and Doug Williams. He then lost the belt in a Falls Count Anywhere match with D'Lo Brown on November 6 of that year, and later, he signed on to wrestle for the WWE. He received a standing ovation in one of his last matches before his departure where he teamed with Terry Funk to win a handicap match.

After his time in OVW, he went on the the Smackdown Brand with fellow countryman, William Regal to do tremendous amounts of damage as a team in a sort of veteran/protege team-up in 2005. During this run, Burchill was seen on television suggesting that he change his gimmick to "Pirate" Paul Burchill as he was connected to pirates by blood. Soon, he would be seen with a pirate's effects (clothes), eyeliner a la Jack Sparrow, a rope to swing from the stage with, numerous beads and treasures, and even two buxom wenches at his side (one was Shelly Martinez before she joined Kevin Thorn, the other was William Regal after agreeing to wear a dress as a wench after losing a match to Burchill). His pirate days would soon come to an end after a run-in with Mark Henry that left him injured and never sailing the Smackdown seas again.

Katie Lea's arrival was a bit different. Her name is actually Katarina Waters. At age 18, she started training in the NWA UK-Hammerlock promotion. This allowed her to be part of the ITV Meridian television show, "Trans-Atlantic Wrestling Challenge", which was a British/American tournament pitting the two countries against each other on January 4, 2000. After doing battle with a number of different wrestlers from the NWA, Katie won the Women's Championship cup. Afterwards, the sky was the limit for Katie as she wrestled virtually everywhere. She even fought WWE Hall of Famer "Sensational" Sherri Martel in Germany. However, her biggest triumph was wrestling for the Frontier Wrestling Alliance in 2002, the same year Burchill was getting his start, but as he set sail for the WWE in 2004, she left the FWA in 2004 as well due to personal reasons and took time off. During her run in the FWA, she met up with Hade Vansen, a future and now former WWE trainee. She also feuded with the likes of Sweet Saraya, Paul Travell, and the group, The Family. She would then return to wrestling in 2005 in the UK, and then she started fighting all around Europe, becoming France's Queen of Chaos Women's Champion and appearing in Italy's Nu-Wrestling Evolution promotion, fighting Vanessa Harding. When she returned in 2006 to the FWA, she helped Vansen win the Champions Series Final on February 5th. Vansen would later on win the FWA British Heavyweight Championship in the main event of this tourney.

Katie Lea then made her way to the WWE during May of 2006, signing a contract with OVW. After severing ties with the different promotions she was involved in, she debuted there defeating Melody and feuded with the likes of Serena Deeb, TNA's ODB, and former WWE Women's champion, Beth Phoenix. She then went on to win the OVW Women's Title on November 1st of that year and held it until June of 2007 after losing to ODB who was involved in a growing feud with Katie. She then started her own talk show in OVW called "Kat's Kradle", and later on took part in some tours of Europe in tag matches with the Smackdown Brand on September 5 of 2007.

So, how did these two get paired up? Funny you should ask. While Katie was doing some damage as on OVW diva ready to make the jump to the big time, Paul Burchill was rekindling his "Ripper"-style gimmick when he started wrestling and became this dominant threat. Upon seeing Burchill's improvement through rehabilitation and re-tooling and Katie Lea's style, beauty, and charisma, they were paired up as brother and sister. They debuted on Raw together early-to-mid last year as siblings with a daunting secret about their close relationship. As it turned out, they were two siblings who engaged in intimate dealings with each other, as if they were Commodus and Lucilla (from the movie, Gladiator). It was subtle, yet sultry. Seeing as how this would be very bad for their ratings, sponsors, and their move to TV-PG, the WWE scrapped that idea and just had them team up together. It's a shame, though, as Katie Lea reminds me of Lita in so many ways, that they could have easily made Burchill and Lea boyfriend and girlfriend, instead of brother and sister. Since the plan was 86ed, Burchill and Lea became the literal laughing-stocks of the RAW brand in which they were a part of. They had key losses left and right, and even Katie's outings were not so stellar as she had to struggle through matches here and there. After being literally forgotten on Raw, they were shipped to ECW and the rest is history.

Now, here's why this story is an interesting one. They go from top stars in their native England to laughing-stocks in the U.S. while being in the WWE. They go from holding gold to barely holding their own in matches. Burchill goes from dangerous Englishman to plucky pirate to rowdy ripper to relative reject losing much more matches than winning, while Lea struggles to hold a match together with relatively untalented divas and divas who have talent but are in as big of a wrestling pickle as she is. What does this all mean? Well, it means that once again two fine talents are squandered in the WWE horrendously while people are lead to believe that they are as horrendous as they are portrayed to be. This leads me to let you all in on a little secret: both wrestlers are HIGHLY underrated and need to be considered when the future of ECW is at stake. Why's that, you ask? It's because they can be a driving force in ECW when it comes to top heels.

You ask anyone who has seen Paul Burchill before the WWE, and they will tell you how different he is as a wrestler. They'll say how sound he is a wrestler, how technical he is and how powerful he is. They will tell you how he should be destined for very great things and is capable of great things. They'll be quick to defend Burchill and his wrestling ability on the spot. Now, does that sound like someone who has seen a complete loser? I don't think so.

As for Katie, come on!You're going to tell me she's a horrendous wrestler after feuding with not just some of the top female wrestlers in the world, from the NWA to the FWA? You're going to tell me she's crap after she's wrestled a legend like Sherri Martel? If she looks horrendous on t.v., it's because who she's wrestling with is not as good as her or is as restricted as she is. In fact, the same can be said about Burchill.

You see, Burchill and Lea have a problem. The problem is that they are probably two of the best up-and-comers on the WWE roster and are forced to curtail their efforts in an attempt to not outshine their co-workers. They, along with others like C.M. Punk, are stuck wrestling the "WWE" style of wrestling which curtails their abilities greatly. Let's not even look at the lack of luck Burchill has with gimmicks as his pirate gimmick was shelved because Vince couldn't spend time to research, let alone watch any "Pirates of the Caribbean" films. Katie Lea is just lucky enough to be reminiscent of Lita or I'd figure she'd just about be forgotten as well. Yet, beyond all that, they are two excellent wrestlers who are now stuck on ECW, and instead of putting them over as a top tandem of sorts, they are relegated into becoming the new "Gavin Spears" and "Braden Walker" by either losing or not even being shown as an interesting pair.

I can see Burchill becoming a top heel of sorts, terrorizing the likes of Evan Bourne, and I can even see Katie Lea slither her way into Tommy Dreamer's presence only to set up a beatdown by Burchill. These two can do great things in and out of the ring. Their talent speaks volumes. However, how can that be seen or found if they aren't given the chance to run with the ball? Now, their being on ECW can be a great chance of that. Fresh talent to fight, no pressure to be incredibly outstanding, just enough to secure a spot on one of the two top brands again, and some consistency with their gimmick should do just fine. However, while some might see this a chance to shine, others will see this as a chance to be forgotten. They go from a top brand to a 3rd-string one after literally being forgotten on television. Then, they start off on the losing end to virtually everyone that was on the way up. Nice start to a failed set of careers, eh?

Poor Paul Burchill, what are you going to do? The WWE just doesn't care about you. But, the opportunity is just to great to pass up, it's true. And as long as those zeroes are looking good, you'll stick around like glue. Katie, Katie, Katie, can the same be said for you? You're seen as inferior and you wrestle like your goo. You two are now together in this merry stew, so hope against all hope that you aren't hated like the flu (Yes, I'm a poet and I don't know it. I have a rhyme all the time. Yea, it's corny, but I'm trying to lighten the mood here).

So, before anyone reading this goes judging the "Burchills", remember this: they were not always like that, nor have they ever been. There's a reason terms like "underrated" are utilized these days. It's so people get in on watching who or what really has quality in a medium of pop culture and such. Let's just hope that someone important sees the quality of these two before the pink slips are passed out. Yea, I played this card before, but in these bad economic times and with Vince's lack of faith in the new president of the U.S., don't be surprised if he even ends up firing his wife, Linda.