Former WWE Superstar Elijah Burke rejected the chance to join the Spirit Squad and make his WWE debut in 2006.
Burke had a good career in the WWE, making a name for himself on the ECW brand after their revival in 2006.
He made his debut as part of “The New Breed”, wrestling a gang of ECW Originals in his first year at WrestleMania 23.
However, Elijah Burke would not have prolonged success in the WWE, and would be fired from the company in 2008.
TNA would hire him after his release, and he would have a good run as “The Pope”, although the company never gave him the sustained push he deserved.
However, before he made his WWE debut, Elijah Burke was given the chance to be a part of The Spirit Squad.
This group of male cheerleaders (which included a young Dolph Ziggler) were not the best, but were involved in feuds with The McMahon’s and DX in their year-long run.
They also beat Kane and Big Show for the World Tag Team Championships, so were quite successful all-in-all.
Elijah Burke could have been a part of the group, but rejected the chance to join early on – according to one former member.
Speaking on the Cafe de Renee podcast, former WWE star Mikey revealed that Elijah Burke turned down the chance to join the Spirit Squad, which he admits was a good decision at the time.
“Yes. Yes, he did. And fortunately for him, he definitely made the right move because I think he had a really good and luscious career going forward after that. You know, he took a chance, he bet on himself, and I wanna say it worked out for him, you know.
He had a great run as The Pope, you know, TNA. He had a good run in WWE, the ECW brand. He was working like the main events with [CM] Punk. He was always in the mix and Elijah turned out to be a hell of a hand. A great worker. A great Talker. So, good for Elijah man.”