Zharya "Zye" Marie Johnson-Burke better known by her ring name Zye, Zharya Johnson-Burke, or most recently, Zharya Burke is a professional valet, trainer, and wrestler. Burke gained most of her fame with General Manager roles, and quickly became a hated character in wrestling. She currently works for World Elite Wrestling as apart of their Board of Directors and on the Adrenaline brand as the Starlets Consultant. Also in WEW, Burke was 1/2 of the Tag Team Champions while apart of the tag team, The Hellcats, and reigned for over 200 days (the first to complete this feat) before they vacated the titles due to having no more competition left in the division. Zharya also had a short stint in WWEXtreme where she was a 2-time Divas Champion before the federation merged with another company and Burke chose not to resign.
| Zharya Johnson-Burke | |
|---|---|
| |
| Statistics | |
| Real name | Zharya Johnson-Burke |
| Ring Names | Zharya Johnson-Burke Zharya Burke Zye Zye Burke |
| Height | 5 foot 9 inches |
| Weight | 125 pounds |
| Date of birth | June 25, 1985 (27 years old) |
| Place of birth | San Jose, California |
| Date of death | {{{death_date}}} |
| Place of death | {{{death_place}}} |
| Resides | San Jose, California |
| Billed from | San Jose, California |
| Trainer | StarrDome Alakai Burke |
| Current federation(s) |
World Elite Wrestling |
| Previous federation(s) |
UFL WWEXteme |
| Handled by | {{{handler}}} |
| Win/Loss Record | {{{winloss_record}}} |
| Debut | 2009 |
| Retired | {{{retired}}} |
Relationship with Dorian Burke[]
Johnson met Dorian Burke in high school and the two shared a very intimate relationship. She got pregnant at the age of 17 by then 18 year old Dorian. Zharya gave birth at 18 and Dorian married her after their child was 8 weeks old. Dorian was on the road a lot due to him training in the StarrDome with this father and siblings...trying to keep the tradition of wrestling alive and Zharya, taking the ring name Zye, decided to join as well. She was 20 years old and Burke was 21 when he started training her. She got a severe leg injury and she decided to just manage the Burke Family, who took on the last name Starr. A few months after healing from her leg injury, Johnson-Burke's child, Angela, stayed with Zharya's grandmother as Burke left for the road with her husband and his family.
UFL! (2009)[]
In UFL! Zharya debuted in the surprise revealing of Dominick's family along with Dorian as his legit wife. She was barely on-screen and didn't take a big role as she managed Public Enemy and Allyson Letherlund, Dominick's then girlfriend. It wasn't until Dominick cheated on Allyson and they had a betrayl SL did Dominick's lover, Veronica and legit wife, come out as a fan and attack Allyson, then she would sign a contract and Zye managed her as well. Johnson-Burke has taken some time off of T.V. to go back to the StarrDome and begin training to wrestle again. Her career along with everyone else was cut short as UFL! promptly closed. After that, Johnson-Burke retired completely from wrestling and is now staying home with her child and training superstars at the StarrDome.
World Wrestling Headquarters (2009)[]
Bombshells With Attitude[]
Burke debuted in a non-wrestler role as the Bombshell's With Attitude brands assistant general manager on December 2nd, 2009. Before Burke's debut within the company, she was hyped prematurely with the kayfabe feuding of her and reality television star, Megan Hauserman. The two signed contracts a week from each other, and due to different storylines, their in-ring feud was cut short when Burke fired Megan in her first match after losing with the stipulation being if Megan lost, she was fired; kayfabe, it was to move her to the brand Showdown for a tag team storyline involving Sayge Jemson. Over the next few weeks, Burke began to get into kayfabe confrontations with the women of the brand, and tried to screw them over numerous times. Most recently, Burke fired Thalia Dulce Penvellyn after she also lost a match, with it being prior to the match Penvellyn made rude comments towards Burke. This would give her the ultimate "bitch" gimmick and storyline for the rest of the show. After a falling out with the companies owner, Adrian Hart, the Burke family decided to leave the company promptly, leaving Bombshells with Attitude without an Assistant General Manager. It was days after Burke's half-sister, Laila Burke, had come to the company.
Russian Roulette Wrestling (2010)[]
On October 16, 2010, Zharya was hired to become the "Head of Siren Affairs," for her friends Lucky Lawliet's newest federation, Russian Roulette Wrestling. For the first time, Zharya cut the "Johnson," from her name and was billed simply as Zharya Burke. In her debut to Russian Roulette, Zharya decided two of the Siren's Championship Qualifier matches via a Russian Roulette wheel, but interfered in one of the matches that included Jemmye Spades, a girl that Zharya expressed dislike for, and caused her to lose the match. Later, Jemmye was released by Zharya due to unknown circumstances kayfabe. Later on in the night, Zharya hosted the first annual debut Halloween Costume Contest only to announce herself the winner. One of the women, The Fizz, did not take too well to this and stood up to Zharya. On Burke's behalf, Derrian Banshee, yet another new signee, went toe-to-toe with The Fizz in a verbal war that eventually lead to a brawl between all of the competitors. Burke escaped the ring, and it was later cleared out by The Fizz, Jenna Sky, and Ashley Massaro, otherwise known as the babyfaces in this situation. The heels, Marcella Love, Zharya Burke, and Derrian Banshee were sent up the ramp in a wild retreat. It was then that Zharya announced next week the four girls, excluding Ashley, would be in a tag team match with Zharya accompanying the team of Love and Banshee, and also stated a stipulation that included a No Disqualification rule that was only set in place for the team of Derrian and Marcella, while The Fizz and Jenna had to compete under normal match rules. Two weeks later, the federation folded.
WWEXtreme (2011)[]
Burke made announcement about her in-ring return, but did not name the promotion she would be going to. On May 11, 2011 it was announced on Zharya's fan webpage that she had joined WWEXtreme and was signed to the Smackdown brand. A week later, Zharya made her debut in a battle royal match in the main event of Smackdown, which also included the Divas Number One Contender, Kinley Beau. Zharya won the match, and immediately after was attacked by Echo Rayne, a participant in the match who didn't show up.
WWEX Divas Champion[]
After taking a short hiatus, Burke returned at the pay-per-view The Bash, beating Alison Vayvander in an over the top rope challenge to win the number one contendership for the WWEX Divas Championship.
Burke as the WWEX Divas Champion.
Two weeks later on Smackdown, Zharya faced both Ariel Starr and Kinley Beau, who was invoking her rematch clause, in a triple threat match for the Divas Championship, pinning Kinley Beau to become the new Divas Champion. The following week Burke lead the team of Misa Xavier and Lissianna K. in a 6 Woman's Tag Team Match against Layla, Mikaelah Spencer, and Ariel Starr. Burke scored the victory after executing her Z'ing Stars finisher on Mikaelah. At Night of Champions, Zharya Burke had to relinquish her championship due to refusing to show up at the pay-per-view for family issues. A week later on Smackdown, however, Zharya regained the title after beating Ariel Starr, with the stipulation being that Ariel would not get a re-match for the title. A week later, Zharya's contract was merged with another company, True Calling Wrestling, but decided not to renew her status with the company and for now go their separate ways.
World Elite Wrestling (2011-)[]
The Hellcats & WEW Tag Team Champions (2011-2012)[]
In early 2011, Burke joined her brother-in-laws federation, World Elite Wrestling, and formed the tag team The Hellcats with partner Shauvon, and the two are scheduled to compete for the WEW Tag Team Championships at the Free Fall to Fury pay-per-view. In a preview of the match, Burke and Shauvon defeated The Bella Twins on Monday Night Animosity, having been both teams on-screen debut in WEW. The following week at the Free Fall to Fury pay-per-view, Burke and Shauvon defeated The Bella Twins to become the inaugural Tag Team Champions.
Burke after winning the WEW Tag Team Championships with Shauvon.
Due to her schedule with WWEX, Zharya remained off of WEW TV until the next pay-per-view where she and Shauvon, as the Hellcats, defended their championships against The Bella Twins in a Tornado Tag Team Match; this is when Burke debuted her new red-haired gimmick in WEW. The Hellcats returned to in-ring competition at Cyberslam, defeating The Bella Twins once again. Two weeks later, The Fizz finally cashed in her championship shot earned at Free Fall to Fury with her tag team partner Charlie D Luzon to face The Hellcats for the Tag Team Championships; a match where The Hellcats were once again victorious when Zharya pinned The Fizz. The following week Zharya debuted in her first singles match and defeated The Rock after interference by Shauvon. Burke and Shauvon proceeded to initiate a post-match attack on Rock, but Evan Bourne came out to his save and was announced as Rock's partner. At the Shattered Dreams pay-per-view, Zharya pinned The Rock for The Hellcats to retain their championships once more, using her new finishing maneuver Code Red. Almost a month later, The Hellcats were booked to face Angela Fortin and Serai Leone, two members of the New Breed, as Priscilla Oliveira's way to "put them to the test" against "WEW's best tag team." The Hellcats came out victorious and were booked the next week against Lucky Lawliet and Blackout, members of both The New Breed and The Takeover, with their Tag Team Championships on the line. Once again the Hellcats prevailed when Zharya used her Code Red finisher on Blackout.
Alliance with Priscilla Oliveira & "Barbie Movement" (2012)[]
Following the announcement of the release of Priscilla Oliveira from her role as the WEW Animosity General Manager, 1/2 of the Hellcats tag team, Shauvon, announced that Priscilla resigned the same night under a management contract with the Hellcats. On the November 7th edition of Animosity, after Hannah Walters loss to Karolina Graf, the Hellcats attacked Walters post-match; in a backstage segment later on in the night the two announced that until the new General Manager, Taylor Casitllo, quit and gave Priscilla back her job, that they would attack one "barbie" each week. This feud boiled over to Twitter where the Hellcats took to making trending topics such as "#BarbieDollProblems" and "#BarbiesSuckMoreThan" which multiple WEW Superstars and other fans participated in, mostly aiming their jokes at Hannah, her sister Zoey, and fellow Animosity Starlet Acacia Monroe. This led to Zharya's account being suspended by Twitter after complaints abotu her rude behavior to which Zharya immediately blamed the "barbies" for. The following week on Animosity the three women continued their tirade and attacked Kinley Beau while she was having an interview about an 8-person tag team match she'd had earlier on in the night. The following week on Animosity, Zharya and Shauvon defeated Zoey Walters and Acacia Monroe and attacked the two women, including Hannah Walters, post-match. At the Battlefield pay-per-view, The Hellcats hosted the first annual Hellcat Awards, which they'd hyped up before on their Twitter pages. They presented awards that were meant to degrade to their foes, such as Hannah and Zoey Walters, Justin Blade, Serai Leone, and Donna Perion. As the awards ended the Hellcats and Priscilla were attacked by all of the women they'd been talking about. The following week after on Animosity, The Hellcats announced that they were going to defend their Tag Team titles up until Winter Warzone to "show the Barbies how to get things done." Their first defense was in a Christmas Star Ladder Match where they defeated Justin Blade and Erica Lynne, after Shauvon pulled down the Christmas Star. That same week the girls defended their titles successfully against Serai Leone and Donna Perion on Adrenaline. Not but three days later the champions were back on Animosity for he "enemies become partners" themed Animosity; Zharya was teamed with Zoey Walters while Shauvon was with Isabella Luna in a match where whomever got the pin in the match won both Tag Team Titles. Shauvon pinned Zharya to retain the titles for the Hellcats after Zoey executed her finishing maneuver on Zharya. The following week Shauvon teamed with Vantage to defeat Jaxson Baxter and Isabella Luna meanwhile Zharya defeated Zoey Walters earlier on in the night in a one-on-one match. At the Winter Warzone pay-per-view, Zoey turned on Isabella to cost her team the match and thus Taylor was fired via the stipulation due to The Hellcats winning. Post-match, Ligeia Carisous made her return, seemingly being the "surprise" that The Hellcats spoke of, but Ligeia turned on the two as well.
Vacating Championships & Short Feud with Eliza Gray (2012)[]
The Hellcats returned after an almost full months vacation to announce that they'd thought about it and decided to vacate the Tag Team Championships due to lack of competition within the division, and they are so far the only champions to have made it past 200 days of holding their titles. A Twitter war sparked between former Starlet Champion, Eliza Gray, and Burke, which led to a match scheduled between the two on Animosity. The match ended in a double countout and carried on backstage where Shauvon was waiting to attack Gray, and Burke later on joined in on the attack after making her way backstage. Gray requested a handicap match against The Hellcats for the next week, and she defeated them after pinning Shauvon. Gray continued this streak of wins for two weeks, the first time getting a pin on Shauvon to get into the Retribution Rumble, and the second being in a tag team match with The Fizz.
Return to Animosity and Departure (2012)[]
After The Hellcats short feud with Eliza Gray, The Hellcats disappeared off of television for months while the World Tour was going on. Burke teased her release due to not competing, while Shauvon barely tweeted. Finally, on the May 14, 2012 edition of Animosity, the girls returned to the show at the very beginning to attack a new debuting tag team, Dangerously Glamorous. The following week the two teams fought to a no contest after The Hellcats attacked them from behind. At Legacy, The Hellcats were booked in a triple threat contract-on-a-pole match which they lost to Cataclysm. Two weeks later, Zharya announced that she would be leaving WEW to be with her daughter aand enjoy her personal life. Her last match was a losing effort in a main event WEW Open Battle Royal during the WEW Draft for 3 draft picks; Burke was eliminated fifth by returning Starlet, Rhiannon. She's also announced that she will return to the StarrDome as a trainer once again until she is ready to return to professional wrestling. On July 23, 2012 she was officially released from her contract.
Return to WEW (2012-)[]
On the October 14th "Nathan Parker Appreciation Night" edition of Adrenaline, at the finale of the show, Zharya was introduced by the newest General Manager, Haylee Beaulieu, as one of the returning signees to the company. Later on in the night, it was announced that she'd been signed to the Adrenaline brand. A few hours later her tag team partner, Shauvon, also signed to the Adrenaline brand to once again become an active wrestler and the duo made it clear that the Hellcats would be making a return. The two officially returned as The Hellcats in a backstage segment together at the Third Degree Burns pay-per-view. The Hellcats made their return to the ring on the October 9th edition of Adrenaline against Caroline and Mercedes Vargas; Zharya pinned Caroline to give the two a victorious return match. The following week, the Hellcats were once again victorious, this time against the Werewolves of London. The Hellcats picked up another win, via count-out, in a 6-Person Tag Team match against the Armada Latina, with Brooklyn Carter as their partner. The Hellcats were spotted backstage by Rima Caprice on their cell phones, plotting a big surprise for the pay-per-view. Things turned physical on an edition of Adrenaline when Zharya grabbed the interviewer around her neck and threatened her before slapping her. The plans turned out to be a ruse as neither appeared at the pay-per-view. A week later, Burke was scheduled for a match with the Women's Champion, Rhiannon; however, as Zharya entered the arena, she was abducted by the British Alliance and the match was ruled a no contest. Later on in the week it was confirmed that The Hellcats would face the British Alliance the following week; The Hellcats went on to win the match after Shauvon pinned Tom Sykes. The Hellcats split once again following the announcement that Burke was once again leaving the wrestling scene, this time to become a Board of Directors member for the company.
Starlets Consultant (2013-)[]
On the May 24, 2013 edition of Friday Night Adrenaline, Burke made her on-screen return as the replacement Assistant General Manager of Abby von Cohen for the Adrenaline brand following von Cohen's firing. Later on in the night, Burke clarified her role as a resurrected position, the Starlets Consultant, a job first held by Ashley Tierney during Nathan Parker's General Manager era on Adrenaline. At the Retribution pay-per-view, Burke fired Haylee Beaulieu from her job as General Manager after an impending investigation on her reign as General Manager; Beaulieu attempted to attack Burke afterwards, but Burke retaliated with her Red Alert finisher.
Wrestling Information[]
- Finishing Moves
- Code Red (Hammerlock Guillotine Drop) – 2011–Present
- Infrared (Elevated double chickenwing wheelbarrow facebuster) – 2012–Present
- Red Alert (Bicycle Kick) – 2012–Present
- Z-Ing Stars (Scissored DDT) – 2009
- Signature Moves
- ZKO (Scissor Kick) – 2009–2012 (Finisher); 2012–Present (Trademark Move)
- Seeing Red (Discus slap)
- Deviously Damaged (Bridging Northern Lights Suplex)
- Dropkick from top rope
- Multiple Clotheslines
- Running Crossbody
- Tilt-A-Whirl Backbreaker
- Big Boot
- Snap DDT
- Baseball Slide
- Shoulder Tackle
- Diving dropkick
- Entrance Music
- "Diva" by Beyonce (UFL)
- "Sweet Dreams" by Beyonce (WWH, RRW, WEW, WWEX)
- "All Grown Up" by Jacki-O (PWI)
- "Run The World" by Beyonce (WEW, as apart of The Hellcats)
- "Bad Girls" by M.I.A (WEW, used as apart of The Hellcats)
- "S&M" by Rihanna (WEW, solo theme)
- Nicknames
- The Original H.B.I.C (WWH, StarrKut, RRW, PWI, WEW)
- Leanest, Meanest Bitch in the Game (RRW, PWI, WWEX, WEW)
- Vindictive Villan (RRW, PWI, WWEX, WEW)
- Red-Head Ring General (WWEX, WEW)
- Ms. Barbie Killer (WEW)
- The Chief Executive Bitch (WEW)
- Wrestlers Managed
- Dominick Starr (UFL!)
- Selena (UFL!)
- Dorian Starr (UFL!)
- Veronica Striker (UFL!)
- Allyson Letherlund (UFL!)
- Monica Rinehart (WWH)
- Shauvon (WEW)
Championships and Accomplishments[]
- World Wrestling Headquarters
- Bombshells With Attitude Assistant General Manager (First)
- StarrKut Wrestling Academy
- StarrKut Live General Manager (First)
- Russian Roulette Wrestling
- Siren Law (First)
- Joker's Wild General Manager
- Pure Wrestling Industry
- Bombshells of Wrestling Board of Directors memeber
- WWEXtreme
- WWEX Divas Champion (2 times)²
- World Elite Wrestling
- WEW Tag Team Champion (1 time w/ Shauvon, inaugural)º
- Adrenaline Starlet Consultant (May 24, 2013 - Present)
- WEW Awards
The WEW Awards are awards given out annually by World Elite Wrestling to celebrate members of its roster. Part of the awards are awarded to Superstars via an exclusive voting committee while the other half are fan voted (the Viewer's Choice Awards). Zharya has won three out of nine nominations.
| Year | Nominated Work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | @MsZye | Tweeter of the Year | Nominated |
| 2011 | The Hellcats | Champion of the Year | Nominated |
| 2011 | Herself | People's Champ | Nominated |
| 2011 | "S&M" by Rihanna | Entrance Music of the Year | Won |
| 2011 | The Hellcats vs. The Takeover | Match of the Year | Nominated |
| 2011 | The Hellcats | Tag Team of the Year | Won |
| 2012 | The Hellcats | Comeback of the Year | Nominated |
| 2012 | @MsZye | Tweeter of the Year | Won |
| 2012 | The Hellcats vs. The "Barbies" | Feud of the Year | Ranked #7 |
- The Other Side
- TOS ranked her #20 of the best 77 female singles wrestlers in the TOS Awards of 2011 [1]
- Ranked as the #5 Feud/Storyline of 2011 - The Hellcats v. "The Barbies"
- Ranked as the #3 Tag Team/Stable of 2011 - The Hellcats
- Ranked as the #5 Heel of 2011
² Zharya left WWEX as the last Divas Champion for the federation before their merge with TCW.
º The Hellcats vacated the championships after claiming there was no competition left for them to beat in a weak division.
In Other Media[]
On October 7, 2011, Zharya and her tag team partner, Shauvon, attended a wrestling conference to represent the World Elite Wrestling federation as the Tag Team Champions. Later on that same night she appeared on the Mo'Nique Show for its last episode on the BET Network. Two weeks later Zharya and Shauvon made another appearance at a WrestleCon event, once again representing WEW as the Tag Team Champions. It was officially announced March 26, 2012 that Burke would be in the WEW Video Game with a preloaded storyline titled "Barbie" after The Hellcats 'Barbie Movement.' It was also announced that her wrestling theme, S&M, would be featured on the WEW Anthology CD. Burke received her first WEW Action Figure as apart of its "Elite Series #3." It was rumored that she would be receiving the first group set of action figures, alongside Hellcats tag team partner Shauvon, but these rumors were proved false and each of them received individual figures.
Personal Life[]
Zharya has a daughter named Angela, with husband Dorian Burke who was her high school sweetheart. Although Dorian has completely retired from wrestling to stay at home with his daughter and pursue other ventures, Zharya is still an active wrestler. Burke also has a younger sister, Felicia Johnson, who formerly worked in World Elite Wrestling as the Miss WEW host and as a manager to their cousin, Angelica Monroe. Burke released a perfume line earlier in 2011 titled "Fierce" and has shipped over 80,000 worldwide, making it a huge success and she has confirmed that she will come out with a second line titled "Red" in early or mid 2012; the project has since been pushed back to an unconfirmed time. Burke is also made it known that she is very good friends with her tag team partner, Shauvon, as well as fellow wrestlers Sayge Jemson, Giselle Stratten, Brooke Milton, and Charlie D Luzon. In 2012, Zharya made it clear that she was a firm supporter of President Barack Obama and helped promote for his re-election, even going as far as to host a Democratic Ball in the President's honor as a fundraiser. Burke became the face of WEW's "Be The Difference" campaign, which saw her going to Africa for a 3-month trip to raise awareness for the AIDs and HIV virus on the continent.