While the film world has Elle Woods, professional wrestling has Journey Burke, also known as “The Law of Attraction.” In both cases, Woods and Burke are lawyers defying the norms of their respective industries.
During the day, Burke worked in commercial civil litigation. At night, though, she transformed into a successful wrestler now carrying multiple titles across the indies. During a recent interview with WrestleZone’s Ella Jay, Burke explained how her day job as a lawyer bleeds into her in-ring character, which she describes as a “punk Elle Woods.”
“I’ve always been an emo kid, bar none,” Burke said. “There was no phase; It’s still here. It’s still right in the forefront. My favorite band in the whole wide world has been Fall Out Boy since I was 10 years old. So, that has never changed … Very much a punk Elle Woods. Something that I like to look at is suits. A lot of my gear will emulate a suit. Obviously the pink gear was for the pink suit for from Elle Woods.”
Burke Takes Inspiration From Other ‘Girly Pop’ Things
“My current black gear is also a suit,” she continued. “I just a new set of gear …. I don’t know when I’ll be debuting that, but so far it’s my favorite set of gear. It’s another suit, but that one was more inspired by like a cheerleading outfit because I was also a cheerleader back in the day. There’s a lot of things that go into it, but just taking a lot of the girly pop things that I like and making them emo kind of brings it back into my world and makes it a little bit more me rather than me trying to be a valley girl, which is what Elle was doing with the pink.”
Elle Woods, of course, is the main character in the 2001 comedy hit, Legally Blonde. In the film, Reese Witherspoon portrays Woods, a blonde sorority girl seeking to win back her ex-boyfriend. In an attempt to do so, Woods enrolls in Harvard Law School, where she later impresses her peers at a high-profile trial.
Earlier this year, Burke stepped down from her law firm position with the aim of making her wrestling full-time work. Still, she maintains her title as Journey Burke, Esq.
Watch our full interview with Journey Burke:
