A Pirate's Life for Paul

[Darkshot77]

Lets face it, life was much better for Paul Burchill as a Swashbucking Superstar on Smackdown. He was picking up victories, and riding the huge wave of popularity of the Pirates of the Carribean movies. But apperanly Vince being behind the times once again, not knowing of the Pirates movies, was not on board with a pirate being good, not evil. And so the gimmick was scrapped.

Now we see the new Paul Burchill a jobber with no gimmick. Burchill now joins Paul London in the ranks of underutilized talent. No Ripper gimmick, no British Nobility gimmick, hell the Incest Gimmick would have been much better than where he is now.

But lets get back on task, Pirate Paul was a comedy gimmick, so how far would he have gone. The year was 2006, he was not a cruiserweight and now he was singles wrestling. The US champs at that time were Booker T, Chris Beniot and JBL, so did he really have a chance there. Afterwards it was Bobby Lashley, Mr. Kennedy and Finlay. Had the gimmick not been scrapped, mabey we could have seen a Pirate US Champ. Granted life was better then...but how much.

 

[Dead Kennedy]

Paul Burchill definitely deserves better, he's a pretty good big guy worker. He was pretty damn over as Pirate Paul and the gimmick was one of the few entertaining things on SD at the time. Vince killing that gimmick was stupid. But yeah, his ring work and overness was definitely at a level good enough to be considered US Championship material at the time. I would have liked to have seen that. God knows it'd have been better than Bobby Lashley.

Basically, what I believe killed Burchill's momentum was the quick end to his feud with Mr. Kennedy. It was really heating up and could have put both guys over some more. Had Kennedy not been drafted, the feud could have been one of the better Raw storylines at the time, perhaps leading into IC territory for Paul.

I like Burchill. There's no reason why he should be jobbing out as he is one of the better mid-carders on Raw. Maybe they could bring the gimmick back...hell, I know I'd like it. Either way, anything's better than being released. Lots of others should be cut before him.

 

[Tim]

I liked the pirate gimmick, it was good for a laugh. Plus the finisher was awesome. He was over with the fans, and if he had stayed on, he would have had a chance at the US belt, and probably won it too. I think it got a bit too stupid when William Regal had to dress as his Buxom wench, and Regal followed Burchill around. They knew that he wasn't going to go anywhere after that, so they stopped the gimmick.

When he came back, I was thinking Yes! Birchill's back! But he basically went nowhere. He was having a couple of goodfeuds arund the mid card, but they didn't lead anywhere and they finishe shortly, I don't think he had a PPV match. But now he's stuck in limbo, and the only way he's getting out is a character change.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

I LOVED the Pirate gimmick, a throw back if there ever was one, and it sounded like it was pretty over. I only seem to remember it lasting for a very small while however, and I dont think he ever broke onto a PPV with it. So, its sorta like....now??

I am torn here. While it would seem as if he couldnt have ever gone further than US title gold, do you see him even attaining THAT now??? No. So while it would seem as if the current gimmick would give him more longevity, and enable him to be taken more seriously, he doesnt even make it on tv, when he was legit over before. Bringing it back wouldnt be such a horrible idea. SD! is hurting for faces. And now there is little hope for a brit stable on RAW since the priceless stable is already forming. poor paul

 

[Starchild]

I thought the pirate gimmick was great. Paul was way over with the fans as has been said. Since his return, he just hasn't done anything special for me. The Kennedy feud might have been good, but then Kennedy was drafted so that was scrapped. The only reason I even wanted to see him is because of Katie Lea.

Now yea the pirate gimmick was over the top and a bit silly, but it worked. Just use him as a face doing what he was, but he'd have to go back over to Smackdown where he could be maybe second face in line for US title behind R-Truth.

On top of all that, his finisher was sick!! I debated this with someone before, but his current finisher is just shit. I don't care what anyone says...he picks them up and steps. Very generic. The C4 on the other hand was unique and showed his athleticism. It seemed like a legit finisher that could actually end the match.

Like Norcal said, there isn't gonna be a British stable with Priceless forming now so why not give the guy a shot and if nothing else, a talented superstar would at least be able to make tv and fans would actually like to see him.

 

[ronthony717]

I think the pirate gimmick was good... But now to get him over in some kind of way wit the crowd would be against the pg rating lol... I say have him and katie act very flurty now and then have them make out one day after a lot of promos and teases and we'll see if the crowd loves him or hates him and I believe that if they bring the incest gimmick back now and really push it this time, there would be a new raw goin on and I can see burchill being a top contender.. He just needs the fans behind him.. And have him use the C4.. Thatll get him over wit the live crowd...

 

[Bozzaholic]

I remember seeing Burchill at an FWA event a few years ago for the first time and saying to a mate that he will one day get a WWE contract. Talent wise he is pretty good for a big guy with one of the best finishers around - Pirate paul was a great gimmick with a fantastic entrance and to be honest could have been briliant for paul even if it meant a career as a Goldust type charicter (Dont forget Goldust has won 3 intercontental titles and a tag title)

Paul isn't even that bad on the mic either - its frustraiting to see a talent get wasted like this but I suppose I should be used to it as WWE has been doing it for years... Its just annoying as he is probably the best thing to come out of the UK since Davey Boy Smith

 

[Sticky]

The Pirate gimmick was very successful for Paul and i guess it sort of worked (even if Vince said he didn't know of Pirates Of the Caribean movies and the Jack Sparrow character in the the movie, he said the same for the Razor Ramon/Scarface connection. (Doesn't Vince got to the cinema?)) WWE seem to push those type of gimmicks to a certain peroid of time (Remember Vito's streak?) Now in the present and Paul comes back from OVW with Katie Lea and they sort of have an undefeated streak on Heat and RAW and even a tiny push to the Intercontinental title put still lose. So now he's been reduced to jobbing it's a bit sad to have someone like Paul a talented wrestler jobbing, plus my British sense is felt in this.