11 Hugely Talented WWE Stars Who Were Fired Too Soon

4. Elijah Burke

One of the few standouts during the first year of the relaunched ECW was Elijah Burke. A young, charismatic talker with great athleticism and an unconventional style, he carried himself as a star and came across the way whenever he appeared on screen. His cadence and delivery while cutting promos was completely different than any other on the show and he began gaining a groundswell of support from fans across the internet that perceived as cool and different. When WWE devised the New Breed faction, made up of some of the bright young heels from ECW in early 2007, Burke was the natural leader of the group. He was the spokesman and the clear breakout star. After several very solid showings against Rob Van Dam, CM Punk and Tommy Dreamer, it was clear that he had the tools necessary to succeed in the sports-entertainment world of WWE. Yet after the New Breed angle wrapped up, Burke became somewhat irrelevant. Sure, he had a pay-per-view match against CM Punk and was one of the talents drafted to SmackDown later that year but he was largely unused and when he was, it was to put other Superstars over. Everything he accomplished in the short lifespan of the group came undone thanks to the way he was used immediately afterward. Becoming lost in the shuffle and with no particular momentum to speak of, Burke was quietly released in November of 2008. He would go on to star in TNA Wrestling as "The Pope" D;Angelo Dinero. He was an upper-level performer who competed in the TNA Championship main event of Lockdown in 2010. It was there that the full scope of Burke's abilities were realized and though his stint with that company was short-lived as well, fans got a taste of what should have been in WWE.