Layla El

Layla El (born June 25, 1978) is a British professional wrestling diva of North African heritage, currently residing in the United States. She is employed by World Wrestling Entertainment, and appears on the ECW brand.

Before joining WWE in 2006, Layla El was a dancer for Carnival Cruise Lines, the Miami Heat franchise of the NBA, and has also danced for Kanye West at the MTV Video Music Awards.

Layla El first got in to the world of professional wrestling after her trainer suggested she try out for the $250,000 WWE Diva Search contest in 2006. During the contest she won a week's worth of "immunity" on the July 14 (taped July 10) edition of SmackDown! after winning Sgt. Slaughter's "Diva Boot Camp" obstacle course, despite having jumped over several tires in the tire hop section of the course and not having both of her feet cross the finish line due to her doing a split. She won another competition, the "Diva Search Talent Show," on the August 11 SmackDown!, when she danced dressed as a police officer. She won the entire Diva Search, beating out Jen England in the finals on August 16. She was the first non-American, first non-white, and oldest (28) winner in the history of the contest.

She made her first "official" WWE appearance at the 2006 SummerSlam pay-per-view in a backstage segment with several other divas. During the segment the other women initially taunted and teased her before revealing that "it was all in fun" and part of an "initiation" of sorts. Afterwards they dragged her into the showers, fully clothed, where they proceeded to spank her while laughing.

The week after SummerSlam, El made her debut as a member of the SmackDown! brand in an interview with Mike "The Miz" Mizanin—although he didn't allow her the chance to say much, spending most of the time talking about himself.view After this she wasn't seen on WWE TV for weeks, reappearing during the September 22 SmackDown! and getting into confrontations with both Kristal and Jillian Hall. She again went missing for a number of weeks after this, resurfacing at October's No Mercy event and embarrassing the Miz by tricking him into getting a lap dance from Big Dick Johnson while he was blindfolded and expecting it to be from her as a birthday gift.

Layla made her official in-ring debut, a "Diva Trick-or-Treat Battle Royal" on October 24. The match ended in controversial fashion when she was pulled from the ring apron by The Miz, causing her to lose. This led to Miz and Kristal briefly teaming in a feud against Layla and the Boogeyman.

On January 23, Layla was moved to the ECW brand. On ECW she joined up with Brooke and Kelly Kelly as Extreme Exposé, performing a weekly dance segment with the group. Extreme Exposé danced weekly on the ECW show for months until the Miz was also placed on the brand, at which point all three ladies began actively pursuing him. When Kelly shifted her attentions towards the much more slovenly looking Balls Mahoney, Layla, Brooke, and Miz openly mocked her. On November 1, Brooke was released from WWE, and Extreme Exposé dissolved as a group and Layla and Kelly began a feud.

Elijah Burke

Elijah Samuel Burke (born January 1, 1978 in Jacksonville, Florida) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE wrestling on its ECW brand.

Burke is a former officer for the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office in Florida who would become an amateur boxer in Jacksonville's Club 5 and Club Plush where he claims to have had a 98-1 win/loss record. According to his WWE.com profile, Burke has a record of 103-1 with 102 knockouts in his amateur career. Both of these records are unsubstantiated. Still, according to WWE's kayfabe, the only loss he sustained was a disqualification, after he knocked his opponent out and refused to back down to his corner.

After signing with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), he was sent to their developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). There, he won the OVW Heavyweight Title on December 8, 2004. Burke was offered a spot in the Spirit Squad by the WWE Creative Team, but turned it down, forcing him to stay in Ohio Valley Wrestling on a longer stint before moving to Smackdown! with Sylvester Terkay.[citation needed]

After training with OVW, Burke would be brought up to the main roster of SmackDown! on July 28, 2006 working a mixed martial arts cornerman gimmick with the also debuting former MMA fighter Sylvester Terkay. His first WWE match saw him defeating Scott Wright and he would also break Vito's 4 month winning streak while on SmackDown!, albeit with Terkay's assistance.

On November 7, 2006, Elijah Burke and Sylvester Terkay debuted on the ECW brand by cutting a backstage promo. The following week, Burke replaced Tazz, who had knee surgery, as color commentator alongside play-by-play announcer Joey Styles. Two weeks later, Burke returned to the ring; he and Terkay lost to The Hardys. At the ECW brand's December to Dismember pay-per-view, Burke and Terkay defeated the Full Blooded Italians, a feat which the duo have since repeated. The pair were later dubbed The Knock-Out / Tap-Out Connection, in reference to Burke's amateur boxing career and Terkay's Mixed Martial Arts background.

On January 18, 2007, Terkay was released from WWE. Since then, Burke has wrestled in singles matches, and appeared in a segment where WWE owner Vince McMahon showed disdain for members of the original ECW and called Burke to the ring, naming him "The Future Of ECW". Burke was then attacked by Tommy Dreamer, Rob Van Dam, Sabu, and The Sandman, who would later form the ECW Originals stable. Burke then became the official leader of the "New Breed", a group of new ECW stars including Matt Striker, Marcus Cor Von and Kevin Thorn, who proceeded to feud with the ECW Originals. At WrestleMania 23, The New Breed faced off against The ECW Originals but were ultimately defeated.

After several weeks of trying to recruit fellow roster mate and new ECW superstar CM Punk, Burke and the New Breed were successful on April 10. However, just two weeks later, CM Punk betrayed the New Breed, attacking Burke after a match. The next week, Kevin Thorn quit the New Breed due to lack of interference in his match with CM Punk. The same night, Matt Striker and Marcus Cor Von were defeated by the Major Brothers, a debuting tag team. After being pinned, Burke screamed at Striker creating tension between the two. The New Breed would then feud with the ECW Originals, CM Punk and the Major Brothers at the same time. At Judgement Day, Burke was defeated by CM Punk. Then, at One Night Stand, Burke, Marcus Cor Von and Matt Striker were defeated by Tommy Dreamer, Sandman and CM Punk in a Tables Match. On June 19, 2007, Burke lost to Chris Benoit (which would be Benoit's last match before his death) in a match that would decide who would face either CM Punk or Marcus Cor Von for the vacant ECW World Championship at Vengeance.On June 26, 2007, Burke lost to CM Punk in a best two out of three falls match, which would see the winner becoming the number one contender to Johnny Nitro's ECW Title. On July 10, Burke would rebound with a decisive victory over Balls Mahoney.

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Spinning the Chris Benoit Tragedy to Protect the WWE & Vince McMahon?

Spinning the Chris Benoit Tragedy to Protect the WWE & Vince McMahon?
By Jack Kramer
Jul 15, 2007

A toxicology report on Chris Benoit still has not been released. The spin however continues its daily onslaught. As the debate rages many are saying that former wrestlers friendly to the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) are spinning to protect the organization and its leader Vince McMahon. I'm not certain that is a fair assessment.

full story at:
http://www.nationalledger.com/artman/publish/article_272614739.shtml


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