The Next Big Thing: Elijah Burke

It flows so beautifully: The Elijah Experience. Simple alliteration that tells everything a viewer needs to know. His name is Elijah and you are ready for a show. Self-indulgent slogans like this are soaked with arrogance, something the leader of the New Breed has plenty of.

Since the WWE canned tag team partner Sylvester Terkay, Elijah Burke has flourished and shown that he has what it takes to be the next great menacing heel. It all began when he got the ultimate heel rub when he was introduced by one Vincent Kennedy McMahon as the future of the company. Doesn't get much better than that. What followed proved Burke's potential.

He stood alongside the biggest, most powerful name in the industry, and candidly cut a promo with McMahon. He was still a new face. Not many viewers knew much about him. But we were sold. He didn't look at all out of place. Without missing a beat, Burke has established himself as one of the most important pieces of the ECW product. Hardly an "Extremist," Burke is a throw-back with an up-to-date flair.

He has perfected the pompous jerk promo. He knows how to pull at the crowd and his timing is impeccable. His smug, good looks and stylish braids portray his character perfectly. His physique is hardly juiced. Instead, he looks like a pure athlete, one that has busted his butt in the weight room to prove to the world why he is better than everybody else.

As the leader of the New Breed, he is the centerpiece of ECW's only hot angle. (I do not count Lashley against Umaga as an ECW angle.) This feud was a necessity to the show. Everybody knew it was coming. Anybody could write the storyline. New Skool vs. Old School. It's simple. The question mark was whether or not there were the proper characters in place to carry out the mission.

The Originals have been less than impressive. Dreamer has never appealed to me. Sandman, while he may have had the character earlier, is a poor-man's Stone Cold. Van Dam and Sabu are great in ring performers but when asked to cut a promo they fall short.

The New Breed has all the mic skills needed between Burke and Matt Striker, but Burke has taken the lead. Burke's recent interactions with C.M. Punk have been fantastic. These two, if given the opportunity, have the potential to be exactly what WWE needs. They are young and talented in the ring with great charisma. Punk will surely align himself with the Originals, sparking a feud between himself and Burke through the summer, which could be the first of a lineage of great battles between the pair.

Article written by Joe W., Article edited by Benjamin Zeidler