Birchill the pirate - first pic

Sandals · 11-02-2006 1:31am

Is he the guy on the right or left?

Fozzy · 11-02-2006 2:17am

****s sake, hope this doesn't ruin his chances of doing anything big, like the Hurricane gimmick did for Helms. Burchill is a great wrestler, they haven't let him show that on SD yet though

Brow · 11-02-2006 9:49am

I laughed at first but then realised this could be crippling for him or something huge. If they invest time in the character with skits and all I could be something big. I mean who'd have thought Boogeyman would become as popular as he has.

Vince135792003 · 11-02-2006 11:21am

Yeah but the Boogeyman character has a shelf life which is fine fior a guy who plays him thats 40 years old and who really can't wrestle. Birchall according to reports has a lot of talent so the last thing he needs is a gimmick thats a carreer killer. But lets see how it turns out.

The Cannibal · 11-02-2006 3:42pm

Makes me miss Jean Pierre LaFiette, now that was a pirate!

Brow · 11-02-2006 5:05pm

Vince135792003 wrote:

Yeah but the Boogeyman character has a shelf life which is fine fior a guy who plays him thats 40 years old and who really can't wrestle. Birchall according to reports has a lot of talent so the last thing he needs is a gimmick thats a carreer killer. But lets see how it turns out.

Good point I guess. But seeing how he adopted the gimmick he could easily drop it. I mean had Marty Wright come in, had a few matches then became Boogeyman the same applies. Since he came in as Boogeyman any gimmick change could be dodgy.

littleninja · 14-02-2006 1:51am

Thought it was bit of a strange move myself tbh, I had to laugh at the initial interview where he claimed he could trace his ancestry back to pirates.. especially with William Regal's revelation of nobility in his ancestry just before that.

Did anyone else notice that Paul Burchill's pirate costume isn't too dissimilar to Johnny Depp's get up for Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean? Bit too gimmicky to work? Unfortunately, me thinks so, but hopefully it won't ruin his entire wrestling career.

dlofnep · 14-02-2006 8:36am

Pirates are great.

Dragan · 14-02-2006 9:50am

Vince135792003 wrote:

Yeah but the Boogeyman character has a shelf life which is fine fior a guy who plays him thats 40 years old and who really can't wrestle. Birchall according to reports has a lot of talent so the last thing he needs is a gimmick thats a carreer killer. But lets see how it turns out.

I think as long as the talent shines through the the gimmick doesn't matter to be honest. I mean, lets be honest, while being cool the Undertakers gimmick is still weird man, and when he was doing stuff like the Ministry that was ****ed up. Yet, he is the Taker and the crowd loves him.

As weird as if sounds, films like Pirates of the Carribean have shown people that pirates aren't all "walk the plank" and all that jazz. If they do a good sense of humour through the character, and lets say he goes around blaggin' booty backstage in order to start some feuds then that would rock.

Either way, if there's talent there, the crowd will see it, whether WWE will back it up remains to be seen.

bombidol · 14-02-2006 10:04am

He was a prick when i met him a few years ago.

Dragan · 14-02-2006 10:57am

bombidol wrote:

He was a prick when i met him a few years ago.

Which has **** all to do with wether he can wrestle, or will do well.

Jesus Christ man, 70% of the guys backstage are pricks.

Cactus Col · 14-02-2006 11:13am

I know everyone's making comparisions to johnny depp as capt jack sparrow ... but ti reminds me more of the dude from dodgeball .... and the problem there is that he was the most irritating character in it.

Dragan · 14-02-2006 11:19am

Cactus Col wrote:

but ti reminds me more of the dude from dodgeball .... and the problem there is that he was the most irritating character in it.

Steve the Pirate ****ing rocks dude.

Shame on you!!!

gimmick · 14-02-2006 12:42pm

Possibly a poor gimmick, who knows, but at least they are doing something with him, and this will at least have him stand out, unlike fellas like Sylvan, Conway etc.

A gimmick is only as bad as you make it, and I refute that "The Hurricane" was a career killer for Helms. If anything, reverting to being Gregory Helms could be more detrimental to his career, as he is now just another cruiserweight, with little or no gimmick, trying to keep himself employed. At least while he was The Hurricane, he was a comedy figure, who could put on a good match when required.

dlofnep · 14-02-2006 12:46pm

I think if anybody should what a good gimmick and bad gimmick is, it's gimmick. Let's all follow his guidelines for future references.

gimmick · 14-02-2006 12:48pm

^ What?

Vince135792003 · 14-02-2006 1:50pm

Dragan wrote:

I think as long as the talent shines through the the gimmick doesn't matter to be honest. QUOTE]

I'd disagree with that to some extent. A bad gimmick can be a carreer hurter if not killer even for people who have talent. Shane Douglas was a good worker and a pretty major player in ECW. They made him "the Dean" in WWE and it took away from alot of the ability and charisma he had. They tried to give Val Venis a push years ago but after 2 and a bit years of playing a pornstar I think it hurt his crediblility when they tried to make him a major player.

In Bret Harts dvd, he mentions how they wanted to turn him into a cowboy in the early 80s that would wear all white and that would come to the ring in a white horse. He turned that one down.

When you have a guy with talent, I think as Jim Cornette says you should just let them be who they are with the volume turned up. Like Foley, Rock and Austin.
But I can see peoples point, at least he'll get a bit of attention now.

Brow · 14-02-2006 8:58pm

Why are pirates called pirates?

They just ARGHH!!! Couldnt resist.

J.R.HARTLEY · 14-02-2006 11:56pm

Brow wrote:

Why are pirates called pirates?
They just ARGHH!!! Couldnt resist.

argh steve the pirate thanks ye lad for bringing a smile to an old pirates face.

wasn't the last pirtate originally a quebeccer or mountie or something

SxE Punk · 15-02-2006 2:33am

The gimmick seems rather lame, unless they bring in a ninja character for him to have feuds with, which would be even more lame, and offensive more than likely, there's not really alot you can do with a pirate gimmick.

And as for his talent shining through, please lads, lets not fool ourselves here, if the WWE had anything to do with talent in wrestling Shelton Benjamin would have been wearing the strap since he signed up.

dlofnep · 15-02-2006 9:21am

gimmick wrote:

^ What?

Come on Gimmick, you know!

Dragan · 15-02-2006 9:50am

SxE Punk wrote:

And as for his talent shining through, please lads, lets not fool ourselves here, if the WWE had anything to do with talent in wrestling Shelton Benjamin would have been wearing the strap since he signed up.

Maybe at the start, but he's hardly been turning in solid performances lately. He's had more than a few matches where it literally looked like someone else wrestling.

Birchill the pirate - first pic

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