Paul Burchill Paul Birchall ( October 8 , 1979 ) , better known by his ring name Paul Burchill , is an English professional wrestler . He is best known for his time with World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ) , where he signed after training and debuting for the Frontier Wrestling Alliance in his home country . Wrestling career . Frontier Wrestling Alliance ( 2002 – 2004 ) . Birchall is a former primary school teacher from Surrey , but got into professional wrestling in 2001 after walking into the Frontier Wrestling Alliance ' s ( FWA ) Academy and quickly impressing the man running the camp , Mark Sloan . While training at the Academy under Sloan ' s guidance , Birchall made his debut in August 2002 using the slightly modified spelling of his name Paul Burchill . In mid - 2002 , Burchill began to appear in the FWA by interfering in matches or before them , making unscheduled appearances and beating other wrestlers leading to October at Uprising when he took out both members of The New Breed ( Ashe and Curve ) singlehandedly before their match . He went on interfering in matches , even taking out all four competitors in a four - way match until May when he made his first scheduled appearance at Frontiers of Honour , jointly held between FWA and Ring of Honor ( ROH ) . Debuting with manager ' Twisted Genius ' Dean Ayass he defeated the tag team of Double Dragon ( Raj Jordon and Ross Jordan ) , in his first sanctioned match by double knockout . Burchill went on an undefeated streak in handicap matches against tag teams for the rest of the year , often running into the Duke of Danger ( who he ' d taken out in the four way ) and Andy Simmons , part of the aristocrat themed group Hampton Court . He cemented this winning streak in a moment voted thirteenth on the FWA ' s Top 20 Moments when he interrupted the Duke ' s thrashing of peasants ( squashing jobbers ) at Hotwired in September and performed a double rolling fireman ' s carry slam before debuting his C - 4 finishing move . By the end of 2003 he was voted Rookie of the Year by both Total Wrestling and 1 Stop Wrestling . His winning streak would go untarnished until mid - 2004 at June ' s Carpe Diem event where Simmons continued to resist being pinned or submitting to Burchill . Frustrated , Burchill went up the ramp to talk to his manager Ayass but while there veteran Drew McDonald came from the back and hit him with a steel chair causing Burchill to lose via count out . Burchill gained some level of revenge when he teamed up with Terry Funk and Paul Travell to take on McDonald , Thunder and his first victim Ghosh at November ' s British Uprising III , receiving a standing ovation from the 1 , 800 fans in attendance as news broke that he had signed with American promotion World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ) . A fortnight later at FWA ' s annual Gold Rush event he faced FWA British Heavyweight Champion Alex Shane in a non - title match , being pinned for the first time since training in the Academy in his last match . Other promotions ( 2004 ) . On August 1 , 2004 , Burchill defeated Doug Williams and The Zebra Kid ( Roy Bevis ) in a No Holds Barred three way match to become the International Wrestling Promotions ( IWP ) Heavyweight Champion . He would hold the title until November 6 , when he lost a Falls Count Anywhere match to D ' Lo Brown . In May 2004 , Burchill made two appearances in Athletik Club Wrestling ( ACW ) in Germany losing in a tag team match to Jerry Lynn and Michael Kovac . Later that night he took part in a 22 - man battle royal losing to fellow Brit Doug Williams . He returned in July for Summer Heat where he took on Patrick Shulz , who he had tagged with at the previous event , and won in a grudge match . Shulz , with his Made In Germany tag team partner Eric Shwarz , gained a return victory later that night over Burchill and Crazy Sexy Mike . World Wrestling Entertainment . Ohio Valley Wrestling ( 2005 – 2008 ) . Burchill briefly appeared in Ohio Valley Wrestling ( OVW ) in 2005 before his appearance on SmackDown , making it to the second round of a tournament for the OVW Television Championship . He also feuded briefly with Nick Nemeth , exchanging victories before winning an OVW Southern Tag Team Championship shot along with Seth Skyfire in a battle royal but the hastily assembled pair could not defeat The Blond Bombers ( Tank and Chad Toland ) in the next match . In January 2006 he began a feud with Ken Doane after Doane abandoned Burchill during a tag team match . The following week Burchill defeated Doane despite the presence of the rest of the Spirit Squad at ringside . He also had a brief angle where he interrupted a match to attack Shelly Martinez but instead carried her backstage and she was later seen wearing a pirate ' s wench outfit and chasing him to no avail . She would later attack Cherry Pie during his win over Deuce Shade . In September he won a battle royal for a shot at the OVW Heavyweight Championship but lost the match later that night . He earned another shot at the championship in December by defeating Seth Skyfire in a Christmas Presents match . A week later Chett the Jet beat Jacob Duncan for the championship at which point Burchill came to the ring and hit Chett with a steel chair , telling Danny Basham , the Troubleshooter , that he was the primary contender for the belt and demanded a match instantly thus ending 2006 with his first OVW Heavyweight Championship . He defended the belt frequently against both Chett and Duncan in 2007 and earned the nickname " Ripper " by repeatedly defeating them both but lost it on February 17 in his second defence against Cody Runnels . He won it back the next day from Rhodes . After more successful defences , Aaron " The Idol " Stevens won the belt from him on March 14 . A rematch on April 18 ended in a double count - out but Burchill would not be appeased , interfering in Runnels ' title shot to make the match a no contest and on May 9 he was given another shot at the title and won it for a third time . Two weeks later on May 23 , a rematch between Burchill and Stevens went to a draw when both men simultaneously pinned each other , leading the title to be held up and vacated . A match for the vacant title was booked between Burchill , Stevens and Jay Bradley on June 1 with Bradley picking up the win . Burchill regained the belt later that month on June 27 but lost it on July 28 to Vladimir Kozlov . In August , Burchill pinned Mark Henry in retaliation for Henry injuring him on SmackDown months prior . In November he defeated Stu Sanders by the referee ' s ten count but teamed with him the following week , eventually getting to the finals of a tournament for the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship but losing the last match to Shawn Spears and Colt Cabana . In the first show of 2008 the team beat Cabana and Charles Evans to capture the titles . Around the same time he also began sending presents to Katie " The Kat " Lea as a secret admirer , eventually revealing himself when he helped her win her second OVW Women ' s Championship . His final appearance in OVW , on February 27 , was in a four corners tag team match where he and Sanders lost their championship to Los Locos ( Ramón and Raúl ) . Pirate character ( 2005 – 2006 ) . After arriving in the US , Burchill was scouted by Tommy Dreamer and called up to the main roster by August . He made his WWE debut on the August 27 , 2005 episode of " WWE Velocity " , when he made a run - in in a match between fellow Englishman William Regal and Scotty 2 Hotty . Burchill quickly established an alliance with his countryman , helping Regal to beat down Scotty 2 Hotty . A week later he debuted on " Friday Night SmackDown " teaming with Regal to defeat Hotty and Funaki , when Scotty tapped out to Burchill ' s Royal Mutilation submission hold . The next week on " SmackDown ! " , Burchill defeated Scotty 2 Hotty in a singles match in the same manner . After rising through the tag team ranks , Regal and Burchill were given a chance at the WWE Tag Team Championship in a Fatal Four Way match facing The Mexicools , MNM and champions L . O . D . 2005 ( Road Warrior Animal and Heidenreich ) , but lost out to MNM . Regal and Burchill continued tagging together , mainly feuding with The Mexicools on " Velocity " while Regal often acted as a manager for Burchill during his singles matches . He lost to the debuting Lashley in mid - December , but bounced back with a win on " Velocity " , debuting his " C - 4 " move in WWE , which aided him in a victory against the jobber John Xavier . In January he appeared in a 20 - man battle royal for the World Heavyweight Championship but was tossed out with a belly to belly suplex from eventual winner Kurt Angle . On the February 3 , 2006 edition of " SmackDown ! " , Burchill and Regal 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 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 Johnny Depp ' s character from the " Pirates of the Caribbean " film series . Regal tried to convince Burchill to return to his former ruthless gimmick , while Burchill refused cementing him as a fan favorite . Burchill had his first match as a pirate on the March 10 , 2006 edition of " SmackDown ! " , making an elaborate entrance by swinging down to the floor on a rope . Burchill defeated Regal using the C - 4 which was renamed Walk The Plank to suit the gimmick . After Regal continued to persuade Burchill to return to his former gimmick , the two were booked in a match where the loser would be forced to wear the winner ' s choice of clothing . Burchill won the match , forcing Regal to dress at his whim until Burchill lost another match , initially dressing him up as a buxom wench , and later in various costumes such as a chicken suit and a gorilla suit . Eventually , he made Regal dress up like a buccaneer in order to tag with him against Gymini on April 21 . Burchill ended up abandoning Regal during the match , which led to Gymini picking up the victory . In early June , Burchill ' s popular pirate gimmick came to an end when Mark Henry , who was going on a storyline rampage , defeated Burchill and then assaulted him afterwards resulting in him being stretchered off SmackDown . He resurfaced on SmackDown in July 2007 as a pirate for a Mardi Gras party thrown by Edge , though he was not acknowledged . This time away from the ring was also used to develop a new gimmick to replace his pirate character on his return . This was done allegedly because Vince McMahon , who reportedly was not 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 could not work as a crowd favorite , despite the positive crowd reactions Burchill received . Burchill siblings ( 2008 – 2010 ) . Burchil with his on - screen sister Katie Lea . After appearing on " Heat " on several occasions , Burchill made his return to WWE television as a villain again with fellow FWA alumnus Katie Lea playing his on - screen sister during the February 11 episode of " Raw " , defeating Brian Kendrick , who would defeat him in many occasions in the future . Continuing to appear on " Heat " , Burchill and Katie would occasionally appear on " Raw " in handicap matches . On May 26 , Burchill assaulted Mr . Kennedy because he forced William Regal to leave " Raw " which led to a brief feud until Kennedy was drafted to " SmackDown " . After this , Burchill engaged in a brief feud with then Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston while Katie Lea feuded with Women ' s Champion Mickie James but despite defeating them in a tag team match , neither won their respective titles in singles matches . Following this , Burchill had a minimal on - air role , making brief appearances in squash matches to Batista and Jamie Noble . Burchill and Katie Lea were later both moved from " Raw " to the " ECW " brand on December 30 , 2008 , where Burchill lost to DJ Gabriel in his debut match for the brand . The Burchills were defeated in a mixed tag team match against Gabriel and Alicia Fox on January 13 , 2009 . On the February 3 edition of " ECW " , Burchill scored his first win as a member of the ECW brand by defeating Tommy Dreamer . Burchill competed sporadically for the next few months , failing to win any of his matches , before taking a hiatus in June 2009 . He returned on the July 14 episode of " ECW " , losing to Yoshi Tatsu . By August , Burchill became embroiled in a rivalry with backstage interviewer Gregory Helms , who he accused of being a masked wrestler , The Hurricane ( who Helms also portrayed ) . After several months of matches and attacks , the two finally agreed to settle the matter in a match on the November 17 episode of " ECW " , which saw Hurricane ' s mask put up against Burchill ' s career on the ECW brand . Despite many attempts , Burchill could not secure the pin and subsequently lost the match . Despite being fired , Burchill appeared on the December 3 episode of " Superstars " under a mask during The Hurricane ' s match with Zack Ryder , and subsequently attacked Hurricane , giving him the victory by disqualification . The following week on " ECW " , Burchill and Katie Lea , now sporting masks and calling themselves The Ripper and The Beautiful Nightmare ( likely being ' supervillains ' to match Hurricane ' s superhero gimmick ) , respectively , appeared in a backstage segment with General Manager Tiffany and asked for a contract , which Tiffany said they would receive if The Ripper could defeat The Hurricane the following week in a match . However , The Ripper was unmasked by Hurricane and subsequently defeated , resulting in Burchill and Katie remaining off ECW . After the closure of the " ECW " brand , Burchill was formally released by WWE on 26 February 2010 . Independent circuit ( 2010 – 2014 ) . On 8 May 2010 , Burchill lost to A . J . Styles in a match for Pro Wrestling Syndicate . On 22 and 23 April 2011 Paul appeared at Heartland Wrestling Association and took part in " Heartland Cup 2011 " . He defeated Jesse Emerson in the first round match , but lost to Jake Crist in quarterfinals who later won the tournament . On November 3 , 2012 at a CFW event Burchill faced Matt Hardy in a losing effort . on January 5 , 2013 at Crossfire 2nd Anniversary Event , Rough Cut ( Burchill and David Young ) ( w / Jillian Hall ) defeated Blink 2 - 4 - 7 ( Derrick King and Tatt2 ) and lost to The Hot Shots ( Cassidy Riley and Chase Stevens ) on the same night . on October 17 , 2014 at the HOP : E FUTR 2 event , Burchill faced Zak Northern in a losing effort . on November 8 , 2014 at a GHW event , Burchill defeated Stingray .