Burke family

The Burke's are a multicultural, predominantly African-American, family with a significant history within the professional wrestling industry. The patriarch of the family is first generation amateur wrestler and professional wrestling trainer David Burke. In the early 2000's, David created the StarrDome as a means for private training for his kids. By 2008, his kids garnered breakthrough mainstream success as the heel wrestling stable Public Enemy in the amateur wrestling promotion Underground Fight League (UFL!). The stable's storyline was as a mysterious alliance before eventually unveiling their relation to each other. The StarrDome gained notoriety within the wrestling community and has gone on to produce several generations of professional wrestlers from the Burke lineage as well as successful classes of wrestlers, interviewers, valets, and managers. 
== Legacy ==
In UFL! the second generation of Burke's (Dorian, Selena, and Alakai) debuted as a stable: Public Enemy (managed by Dorian's wife, Zharya). Their stable began as a mysterious alliance before it was revealed that they were in fact related. Alakai Burke became a stand-out performer, winning two championships and several year-end awards in 2008; Alakai was the final UFL! World Heavyweight Champion before the promotion went defunct. Alakai received his first major wrestling contract under his ring name Dominick Starr with the federation World Wrestling Headquarters (WWH) in 2009. There Alakai achieved his first and only major World Heavyweight Championship win as apart of the company's InnerCircle brand. In late 2009 Zharya Johnson-Burke signed to WWH in an administrative role for their all-women's brand Bombshells with Attitude (BWA). Zharya and Alakai never shared storylines while signed to WWH, but both exited the company in 2010. Zharya became an authority role for other promotions through 2010-2011 and made her in-ring debut with WWEXtreme, going on to become a two-time WWEX Divas Champion. Meanwhile Alakai led UFL's 2010 Revival Tour before his induction into the 2010 UFL! Hall of Fame. Following the conclusion of UFL's Revival Tour, Alakai opened World Elite Wrestling (WEW), a wrestling federation he founded and co-owned with their headquarters in the Burke's hometown of San Jose, California. Dorian signed as the company's President and remained in the role until the end of 2011. For the first time in her career, Zharya was signed under the ring name Zharya Burke (foregoing her nickname Zye or using her maiden name hypenated to her married name) and formed The Hellcats. The Hellcats went on to experience success as one-time WEW Tag Team Champions & 2011's Tag Team of the Year. Alakai's in-ring retirement happened following the conclusion of his feud with SM Raye in 2012; at WEW's flagship event, Legacy, Alakai defeated Raye in a Street Fight. Zharya remained an active in-ring competitor until 2012. After that, Zharya assumed several authority positions as the Starlets Consultant for WEW's Friday Night Adrenaline brand and later as the Commissioner of WEW's developmental talent farm, TNT. In 2013, Zharya and Dorian's daughter, Anjelah, performed at WEW's Beach Brawl event alongside her pop girl-group, Fab 5ive. The Burke's relatives by marriage, Felicia Johnson and Angelica Monroe, also signed with WEW and experienced individual successes. Angelica became a Starlets Champion & was crowned the 2012 Starlet of the Year; Felicia was most notably the host of WEW's inaugural Miss WEW competition and subsequently earned an award as 2011's Staff Member of the Year. At the beginning of 2014, the entirety of the Burke family was involved in a storyline with then-Adrenaline General Manager, Haylee Beaulieu. Beaulieu brought accusations of embezzlement and an unsake work environment against the Burke family. The storyline saw the first and only resurrgence of Alakai, Zharya, Dorian, and Selena Burke together since their Public Enemy days. The family was kayfabe stripped of their authorative powers as the Board of Directors and led to the formation of The Board, a villainous stable. The storyline culminated in a No Disqualification match at Legacy: Jamaica where Zharya defeated Beaulieu to regain authority of WEW. Two months later, a private plane accident resulted in Dorian's death & put Alakai in a coma in critical condition. Zharya kayfabe relinquished power back to The Board to take time off to grieve and be with the Burke family. In 2015, after celebrating its 4th anniversary, WEW announced its closure at the conclusion of its second World Tour. In 2019, Zharya became the only Burke to receive a WEW Legacy Award for her work as The Hellcats. 
== StarrDome & Top Notch Training ==
===== Main Article: StarrDome =====
==Family Tree==
The wrestling lineage below follows two family trees linked through Zharya & Dorian's marriage; the Burke family relative to David Burke and the Johnson's relative to Zharya's parents & her uncle, Osiris:
*David Burke (b. 1956–1999), married Ella Fontaine (b. 1959 – 1991)
**Dorian Burke (March 5, 1971 – August 9, 2014), first son of David & Ella; married Zharya Johnson (June 25, 1985)
***Anjelah Burke (b. 2003), daughter of Dorian & Zharya
**Alakai Burke (January 10, 1974), second son of David & Ella; married Brenda Flair (b. 1976)
***Nevaeh Burke (b. 1994), first daughter of Alakai & Veronica Striker
***Brayden Burke (b. 1999), first son of Alakai & Brenda
***Nico Burke (b. 2000), adopted second son of Alakai & Brenda
**Selena Burke (October 14, 1983), first daughter of David & Ella
* Blair Johnson (b. 1959 – 1994), grandfather of Anjelah Burke & Dorian James
** Zharya Johnson, first daughter of Blair; niece of Osiris; married Dorian Burke (m. 2001 – 2014)
** Felicia James (June 21, 1991), second daughter of Blair; married Brian James (b. 1988)
***Dorian James (b. 2016), first son of Felicia & Brian
*Osiris Johnson (b. 1960), married McKenzie Adams (b. 1959)
**Melina Johnson (b. 1997), daughter of Osiris & McKenzie; cousin of Zharya & Felicia
*Angelica Artois (April 23, 1987), cousin of Felicia, Zharya, & Melina; married Beau Artois
*Trisha Monroe (b. 1989), sister of Angelica; cousin of Felicia, Zharya, & Melina
Category:Wrestling Families
Category:StarrDome
Category:StarrDome trainer