FROM THE VAULT - Hurricane vs Burchill: Mask Vs Career (ECW 11/17/09)
I will be frank. I ABSOLUTELY DESPISED the WWE version of ECW.
If it was named anything other than ECW, it would’ve been an OK show. But when I think of ECW, I think about the cult promotion that revolutionized the industry in the 1990s, not the corporate rebranding from June 2006 to February 2010.
However, I will not lie and say there weren't some great memories within the brand. It was the WWE beginning of CM Punk. It began the rise of John Morrison and the Miz as one of the 2000s best tag teams. It helped establish Kofi Kingston, Sheamus, Zack Ryder, Kelly Kelly, Jack Swagger, and the vastly underrated New Breed of Elijah Burke, Marcus Cor Von, Kevin Thorn, and Matt Striker as future players of WWE. I dare say that it even really put Christian back on the WWE map, carrying the brand with great matches as ECW Champion.
It even hosted one of my favorite underrated rivalries with “the Ripper” Paul Burchill and the Hurricane.
As you’ve seen previously on HQ, we have written a DEEP DIVE on how Hurricane became what he was in the WWE in 2001. https://www.hardwayhq.com/single-post/hq-deep-dive-series-hurricane-1
We really need to get back on that.
By 2009, Shane Helms had just come back into the squared circle after a lengthy stay on injured reserve due to a severe neck injury in May 2007. After coming back in late 2008, with his Hurri-Popups (think VH1 Pop-Up Video), Helms was drafted to ECW in April 2009.
Almost immediately, Helms reverted back to one of his favorite occupations - journalism. He began back as a backstage interviewer for ECW, asking advice and opinions of various wrestlers before their contests.
Ironically, following interviews he conducted, some dangerous incidents began happening backstage, and just before harm fell various staff members, the HURRICANE would save the day, vacating the premises before being discovered.
Although this was on ECW on SyFy, this was an on-the-pulse story by WWE Creative, as Marvel was really picking up steam with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as well as the overwhelmingly popular Batman flicks with Christian Bale as Batman.
Paul Burchill and his sister Katie Lea were none too pleased with the coincidence that Gregory Helms and the Hurricane were, in their minds, one and the same. They decided to try and get the mild-mannered Helms to admit it on August 11, 2009, to which he wouldn’t. In turn, they laid him out.
Later in the night, following a two-on-one assault on Yoshi Tatsu, the arena got dark, the green tint hit, and a familiar bellow went through the PA.
“STAND BACK! THERE’S A HURRICANE COMING THROUGH!”
The Hurricane was perched on the top turnbuckle and leaped through the air with a vicious crossbody. From the ashes rose a green phoenix. The WWE’s superhero was officially back!
For the next four months, Hurricane and Birchall traded victories and attacks on one another. It was good to see on ECW TV, especially with how Burchill had been treated as a character on WWE TV prior.
After debuting in 2005 alongside the legendary William Regal, Network Representative Palmer Canon let the world know about Burchill's ancestry: he came from PIRATES! Despite what WWE thought, Pirate Paul Burchill was absolutely epic. In the heights of Pirates of the Caribbean popularity, he became a cult favorite, until he was unceremoniously injured and taken off the road for an extended period, healing a major knee injury.
Then in 2008, after being paired with Katie Lea as his “sister”, with the rumor that WWE Creative wanted them to be incestual (I’m not kidding), the angle faded quickly as WWE became PG and the pair were lost in the shuffle before heading to ECW. The rivalry with Hurricane was great to see, as both were a focal point on television and had great matches with one another.
Finally, on November 10, 2009, Burchill laid down the gauntlet to the Hurricane. Tired of the games, he challenged Hurricane to a match on the next week’s ECW on Syfy. If Hurricane lost, he would have to unmask. If Hurricane won, he and Katie Lea would leave ECW.
The superhero accepted.
Click on the card to watch the match on Dailymotion!
I loved everything about this matchup. Josh Mathews and a young Byron Saxton were on the call. Even Lauren Mayhew, who I had known from the early 2000s pop group PYT, was the ring announcer for the contest.
Both competitors really put on a clinic. Burchill, who never really got his due as a wrestler, used his strength and power to really put a number on the Hurricane. Hurricane, always the underdog, fought from behind most of the match and never gave up.
At the end of the battle, both men got to the top turnbuckle and Hurricane pulled out his last gasp, a FLYING SWINGING NECKBREAKER! He got the three and picked up the huge win.
The Hurricane’s identity was safe and Paul Burchill & Katie Lea were out of ECW!
For me, this was a perfect story. Both men were desperate for a win for different reasons. They unleashed everything in their arsenals. In the end, it was the Hurricane who laughed last, picking up the much needed W.
A few weeks later, Burchill and Katie Lea, under masks known as “the Ripper” and “the Beautiful Nightmare” respectively, tried to get ECW contracts, but lost their chance against Hurricane one final time.
Just as ECW was winding down in February 2010 for the impending arrival of NXT on Syfy, both Hurricane and Burchill were released from WWE.
Hurricane battled on the independents throughout the next decade until becoming a producer for WWE in 2021, and is still there to this day.
Burchill resurfaced after quite some time in the 2020s as a member of Billy Corgan’s NWA. To my surprise, his talents in his prime were ultimately wasted, and we never truly got to see how far he could rise.
I implore everyone to watch this match and study the absolute spectacle that it was. For what I hated about WWECW, this might have been the last true solid thing to happen on the program.
Plus, after writing this, I have to really get back on the Deep Dive of the Hurricane’s run. What’s Up With That?
Bankie Bruce
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