Paul Burchill Talks About How He Got His Pirate Gimmick In WWE

In an interview with WWE.com for a “Where Are They Now” piece, Paul Burchill spoke about getting the pirate gimmick while he was in WWE. He recently received a WWE Talent Scholarship to become a registered nurse and practitioner. Here are highlights:

On his post-wrestling career as a firefighter/paramedic: “Having wrestled with the best in the world, I got my fix. I didn’t want people to remember me as the wrestler. I needed to do a little less for myself and a little more for others.”

On his pirate gimmick: “I went to Mr. McMahon and he said, ‘You’re going to be a pirate, like from ‘Pirates of the Caribbean.’ I said, ‘OK, so you want me to be like Keith Richards?’ He said, ‘Yes, but dressed like a pirate!’ It’s funny, that seems to be what defines my career. People are like, ‘Oh, the pirate,’ and some are like, ‘That poor guy, he had to do that.’ I would do it right now. I loved it.”

On getting the WWE talent scholarship: I [figured I was] going to work a little more and things [were] going to be tight, and then I got this scholarship. Oh my God, it was amazing! It’s literally meant I can quickly go through this degree. I have four more exams to take, some clinical stuff and I should be done by summer. That’s because of the scholarship. I could not do it without it. It’s made such a difference for me.”