The Leo Burke Chronicles 1990-1994

1990-1994

Leo Burke started the year as Universal Champion in Carlos Colon's World Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico and remained champion until losing the title on February 9, 1990 to TNT (Savio Vega in WWE). On March 28 Leo teamed with Chicky Starr to defeat Invader I and Invader IV for the Caribbean Tag Team Titles. The Invaders regained the titles from Burke and Starr on May 5. On May 19 Leo won the Carribean Heavyweight title from Invader I (Jose Gonzales). The two faced each other in a worked boxing match on July 7 at the 1990 WWC Anniversario show. Leo was accompanied by Chicky Starr while Gonzales was accompanied by both “Robocop” and Hector “Macho” Camacho, a Puerto Rican boxer who was WBO Light Welterweight Champion at the time. Gonzales won the match and the title with a “knock-out” of Leo.

Leo then returned to the Maritimes for what was the last summer season of Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling until 1997. Rip Rogers was the International Champion at the start of the season but lost the title to Leo on August 11. Rogers did regain the title before the end of the season. Leo also won the tag titles with his brother Bobby Kay when they defeated “No Class” Bobby Bass and “Diamond Timothy Flowers.” Televised matches that summer included Leo Burke and Bobby Kay vs Bulldog Bob Brown and Chi Chi Cruz, Leo Burke and The Beast vs Chi Chi Cruz and Diamond Timothy Flowers and
Leo Burke vs. Diamond Timothy Flowers. Leo was also associated with the Acadian Giant that summer. The Giant is better known as Kurrgan and was a trainee of Big Stephen Petitpas.

From this point on, Leo’s in-ring career appears to slow down to mostly wrestling in the summertime. Emile Dupre stopped promoting Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling but Stephen Petitpas started to promote the territory in the summer of 1991 as Maritime Championship Wrestling. The heel stable in the promotion was Team USA comprised of Ron Starr, Rico Frederico, Bobby Blaze, Eddie Watts and Goldie Rogers. Leo teamed with both the Acadian Giant and Petitpas in facing different combinations from this faction. On September 28 Burke and Petitpas defeated the Acadian Giant and Todd McPhee for the promotion`s tag team titles.

In 1992 Leo teamed with Stephen Petitpas throughout the summer in matches against the Cuban Assassin and Goldie Rogers. Burke and Petitpas won a match against Assassin and Eddie Watts on June 8 to become the first tag champions before losing the titles to Paul Peller and Butcher Vachon (the Maritime version who was not related to the famous Vachon family). Leo then started a feud with the Canadian Championship Wrestling champion Rick Patterson, with Burke wrestling more aggressively leading up to his winning the title from Patterson in Sydney, Nova Scotia. Todd McPhee was chasing the Jr Heavyweight title of Eddie Watts. When McPhee appeared to have won the title a complaint was made regarding and he was weighed in the ring. The title was returned to Watts as McPhee was over the limit and Leo and the Soaring Eagle hit the ring to help when McPhee started hitting everything. Leo put a sleeper on McPhee, seemingly to calm him down, but then released the hold and turned on Eagle. Leo had turned heel and issued a challenge to McPhee. Burke won their match with his feet on the ropes. McPhee did at one point defeat Burke for the title but lost it back to him two days later.

Leo next feuded with the Acadian Giant and formed an alliance with Paul Peller. Leo finished the summer in a feud with Big Stephen Petitpas. The two had a series of matches over the course of a couple weeks with Leo retaining the title with interference from Peller and the Cuban Assassin. At the end of the season Petitpas did defeat Burke with a small package to win the title. This was the last season for this promotion and would appear to have been Leo Burke`s only run as a heel in the Maritimes.

Leo did a tour of India in December of 1997. Records indicate that he lost to The Mongolian Mauler on December 8 in Calcutta. On December 9 Leo teamed with the Mauler and lost to Kamala and Brett Wolfe. In a later interview with Slam Wrestling Leo said that he did not like travelling to India as it was so poor. Leo said that anyone who would say they wanted to leave Canada would want to return home after travelling to India.

Sources:

1) Vance Nevada’s Leo Burke match history at http://www.infinitecore.ca/superstar/index.php?threadid=246
2) Title history at http://www.wrestling-titles.com/
3) General information on Maritime wrestling at http://www.infinitecore.ca/superstar/index.php?km_km_ict=f9b39869f70216be58a32f9c5104910b&forumid=5
4) Biographical history at http://www.canoe.ca/SlamWrestlingBios/burke_leo.html
5) Serge Niles writing on Maritime wrestling at http://www.kayfabememories.com/Regions/agpw/agpw6.htm, and http://www.kayfabememories.com/Regions/agpw/agpw7.htm