Elijah Burke Elijah Samuel Burke ( May 24 , 1978 ) is an American professional wrestler and color commentator currently signed to Impact Wrestling under the name of " The Pope " D ' Angelo Dinero . . He also previously worked for World Wrestling Entertainment , on its SmackDown and ECW brands . Career . Law enforcement and boxing 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 . On the " Right After Wrestling " program on Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 98 , Burke told hosts Arda Ocal and Jimmy Korderas that early in his pro wrestling career , he never threw " worked " punches due to having difficulty pulling his punches . World Wrestling Entertainment . Developmental territories ( 2004 – 2006 ) . 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 . Alliance with Terkay ( 2006 – 2007 ) . 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 . On November 7 , 2006 , Burke and 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 . 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 . New Breed ( 2007 ) . Following this , Burke usually 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 . Just two weeks later , however , 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 , ending the New Breed stable . Singles competition ( 2007 – 2008 ) . 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 then lost to Punk in a 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 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 ECW wrestlers ( Burke , Kevin Thorn , Tommy Dreamer and Stevie Richards ) against each other in a fatal four - way that night , which Burke won , removing the loser of the match , Richards , from contention . The following week Thorn was eliminated and the in the final match of the elimination chase , Burke was eliminated by Dreamer . Towards the end of 2007 , Burke had a short feud with then - World Heavyweight Champion Batista after Batista claimed his upcoming match with Burke was the last thing on his mind , thus disrespecting him and leading to two singles matches against Batista with Burke on the losing end of both . On the November 20 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 was then taken off television for several months but he later reappeared by participating in the 2008 Royal Rumble , entering as the 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 XXIV to determine who would face ECW Champion Chavo Guerrero . Burke 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 " where he and Shelton Benjamin faced Kofi Kingston and then - United States Champion Matt Hardy in a losing effort . Burke faced Hardy the following week in what would be his final televised match , but was unsuccessful . Burke later resurfaced once again in 2008 with a new " Black Pope " gimmick defeating Stevie Richards , Kung Fu Naki and Jamie Noble in dark matches . On November 10 , 2008 , Burke was released from his WWE contract after being absent from television since May 2008 . Independent circuit ( 2008 – 2009 ) . On November 16 , 2008 , One Pro Wrestling based in England announced that Burke would be appearing on their " Friday the 13th " show in February 2009 , but was canceled . Burke appeared at the World Wrestling Council show , " LockOut " on December 13 , losing a hardcore three - way dance match , also involving Steve Corino , to Sabu . Later in January on an event named Euphoria he teamed with Armando Alejandro Estrada to unsuccessfully challenge Thunder and Lightning for the WWC World Tag Team Championship . Burke appeared at the Blue Collar Wrestling Alliance ( BCWA ) show " Superslam 7 " in Detroit , Michigan on April 12 , 2009 , winning in a singles match against local indy wrestler " The Reason " Black Velvet . In February 2009 he wrestled for Xtreme Valley Wrestling in a 6 - man tag match . Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ( 2009 - 2013 ) . Debut and feud with Suicide ( 2009 ) . On May 27 , 2009 , Burke defeated Shawn Spears in a tryout dark match for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ( TNA ) at their " TNA Impact ! " television tapings . On July 29 , the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that Burke had signed a contract with TNA . On the August 6 edition of " Impact ! " a vignette was aired that announced that Burke would be debuting under the ring name D ' Angelo Dinero at Hard Justice . Burke made his debut as a heel on August 16 in the Steel Asylum match , which was won by Daniels . On August 20 , 2009 , he made his " Impact ! " debut and defeated Consequences Creed before he was attacked by Suicide , who had lost the Steel Asylum match because of Dinero ' s interference . On the September 17 edition of " Impact ! " , Dinero defeated Suicide . At No Surrender , Dinero defeated Suicide once again , this time in a Falls Count Anywhere match . The following week on " Impact ! " Suicide finally defeated Dinero , by pinning him in a street fight . Face turn ( 2009 – 2010 ) . Burke was slated to take part in the Ultimate X match at Bound for Glory , but ended up missing the event due to a " family emergency " . Dinero returned on the November 12 edition of " Impact ! " , aligning himself with Matt Morgan and Hernandez against Team 3D and Rhino , which turned him face as a result . Three days later , on November 15 , 2009 , Dixie Carter announced on her Twitter account that Burke had signed a new long term deal with the company . At Turning Point Rhino and Team 3D defeated Dinero , Morgan and Hernandez . On the following " Impact ! " Rhino and Team 3D won the rematch as well , when Jesse Neal turned heel and joined them . On the December 3 edition " Impact ! " Suicide accepted Dinero ' s offer for peace and joined him , Morgan and Hernandez in their war with Rhino , Team 3D and Neal . At Final Resolution Morgan , Hernandez , Dinero and Suicide defeated Neal , Team 3D and Rhino in an eight - man elimination tag team match . On the January 4 , 2010 , special live three - hour Monday night edition of " Impact ! " Dinero picked up his at that point arguably biggest TNA victory , by defeating Desmond Wolfe . Two weeks later at Genesis , however , Wolfe avenged his loss and defeated Dinero in a rematch . On the February 4 edition of " Impact ! " , Dinero scored a non - title victory over the TNA World Heavyweight Champion , A . J . Styles . At Against All Odds Dinero defeated Desmond Wolfe , Matt Morgan and Mr . Anderson , despite being attacked by Scott Hall and Syxx - Pac prior to the match , to win the 8 Card Stud Tournament and earn himself a shot at Styles ' World Heavyweight Championship at Lockdown . Two months later , at Lockdown , Dinero failed in his attempt to win the World Heavyweight Championship from Styles . During the match Burke suffered ligament damage in his shoulder , which would sideline him for over two months . In storyline Dinero ' s absence was attributed to Mr . Anderson attacking him backstage on the May 3 edition of " Impact ! " . Dinero returned on the July 1 edition of " Impact ! " and was immediately challenged to a match by Kurt Angle , who had vowed to go through TNA ' s top ten wrestlers in the Championship Committee ' s rankings and had now arrived to the man ranked number eight . At Victory Road Dinero was defeated by Angle in his return match . Afterwards Dinero started a storyline with Mr . Anderson , who had recently turned face and wanted to prove his change to the man he had injured two months earlier by saving him from Matt Morgan . On the August 19 edition of " Impact ! " the TNA World Heavyweight Championship was vacated and Dinero was entered into an eight - man tournament for it . In his first round match he defeated Morgan to set up a semifinal match against Anderson . At No Surrender Anderson defeated Dinero to eliminate him from the tournament . Heel turn , Face turn and various storylines ( 2010 – 2013 ) . On the September 16 edition of " Impact ! " , and the " Reaction " following it , Dinero turned heel by aligning himself with Kevin Nash and Sting , who had been feuding with Hulk Hogan , Eric Bischoff and Jeff Jarrett for months over the way TNA was run . His heel run was cut short after the emergance of Immortal ( with Hogan , Bischoff and Jarrett leading ) and Nash & Sting departing from the company . After months of only appearing on Xplosion , Pope would continue his heel run in a feud with Samoa Joe . In mid - 2011 Pope would turn face once again siding with Brother Devon against Mexicana Americana . Return to OVW ( 2013 - 2015 ) . On September 11 , 2013 , Burke returned to Ohio Valley Wrestling and defeated Flash Flanagan to win the Television Championship . After defeating Flanagan to retain the OVW Television Championship in a rematch the following week , Burke successfully defended his title twice against Raul LaMotta and Rockstar Spud before losing the title to Shiloh Jonze on October 5 at the " OVW Saturday Night Special " . On October 9 , 2013 , Burke teamed with Eddie Diamond to defeat The Marauders ( Joe Coleman & Shiloh Jonze ) , then made a challenged to Jonze for a title rematch . On October 16 , Burke faced Shiloh Jonze in a Steel Cage match for the Television Championship but was unsuccessful . On September 16 , 2015 , Burke made his return under the ring name General Pope , teaming with Private Anthony defeating Adam Revolver and Reverend Stuart Miles in a number one contenders match for an opportunity at the Southern Tag Team Championship . On December 5 , The Band of Brothaz ( General Pope and Private Anthony ) defeated The Van Zandt Family Circus ( Dapper Dan Van Zandt and The Ringmaster ) to win the Southern Tag Team Championship . With this victory , Burke became the sixteenth triple crown champion in OVW history . Return to TNA ( 2015 – present ) . Burke returned to TNA on the June 3 , 2015 episode of " Impact Wrestling " alongside Josh Mathews on commentary under the ring name D ' Angelo Dinero . On October 4 , 2015 , at Bound For Glory , Pope entered in a twelve - man Bound For Gold Gauntlet match which was won by Tyrus . On the March 15 episode of " Impact Wrestling " , Pope saved Josh Mathews from an attack by Lashley only to be attacked himself . The following week , Pope cost Lashley a shot at the TNA World Heavyweight Championship when he interfered in a gauntlet match he was competing in and then fighting him to the backstage area . On the April 5 episode of " Impact Wrestling " , Pope was defeated by Lashley in a street fight . Other media . Burke was a guest on Sci Fi Channel ' s " Ghost Hunters " , on the October 31 , 2007 Halloween live special episode . He would become the second WWE wrestler to appear on " Ghost Hunters " , with the first being CM Punk . He also had a journal on WWE . com called the " Elijah Experience " , where he discussed the happenings on " ECW on Sci - Fi " .