The Leo Burke Chronicles 1966-1969

1966-1969
Leo Burke was born Leonce Cormier on June 29, 1948 in Dorchester, New Brunswick. He was one of thirteen children in his family. During his childhood, Leo and his family lived on a farm. Throughout their lives the Cormier brothers have been heavily involved not only with professional wrestling but also with horses and harness racing. His older brothers Rudy Cormier (who wrestled as Rudy Kay) and Yvon Cormier (The Beast) had already broken into the business when they trained Leo to wrestle prior to his 1966 debut. His brothers had travelled throughout the U.S. working since breaking into the business.

Leo claimed in an interview with Slam Wrestling that he had been a major wrestling fan since he was six years old. After being trained by his brothers to wrestle he took the professional name of Leo Burke. Leo borrowed the last name Burke from his friend, boxer Jackie Burke, in order to have his own identity separate from his brothers. Of course, since this is professional wrestling, the future Maritime legend had to spend part of his early career wrestling as “The Batman” for Stu Hart’s Calgary Stampede wrestling.

Between 1966 and 1967 he worked in Calgary in matches against his brother The Beast as well as Jerry Graham, Stan Stasiak, Dave Ruhl, and Kurt and Karl Von Steiger. In 1968 he worked in Vancouver for promoter Sandor Kovacs against wrestlers such as Jerry Graham, Chris Tolos, George Cannon and Abdullah The Butcher. On August 7 he teamed with Rocky Johnson and Don Leo Jonathan to beat George Cannon, Baby Boy Shields and Red McNulty (Ivan Koloff). In 1968 he worked a number of matches in Stampede against Ox Baker, Waldo Von Erich and Archie Gouldie.

Leo appears to have first wrestled in the Central States territory as Tommy Martin in 1968. Martin went to a draw against Pat O’Connor on October 3, 1968 so it would seem like he had a good position on the cards. On October 11, 1968 Martin defeated Bob Brown for the Central States Heavyweight Title. On October 31, 1968 he and his brother Terry Martin beat Bob Brown and Bob Geigel for the Central States Tag Team Titles and subsequently lost the tag titles on November 7 to Dusty Rhodes and Dick Murdoch. Martin lost the Central States Title to Dusty Rhodes on December 13, 1968 in what is cited as the first major singles championship for Rhodes.

Leo then spent the winter working for Stu Hart in Calgary prior to touring the Maritimes in the summer of 1969. At the age of 21, he seemed to be featured more prominently on the Maritime cards, appearing on show posters for cards promoted by Al Zinck. During this tour Leo was able to work with Ox Baker, The Spoiler, Rocky Johnson, The Stomper and Al Costello and Don Kent.

It would appear that this is the point in time when Leo started to work the summer months in the Maritimes and touring elsewhere in between as the Maritimes only ran a season from Spring until Autumn. Between July and September of 1969 Leo worked in Montreal. In July and August he had singles matches against Ben Sharkey and Don Serrao. In September Leo had separate tag team matches against The Mongols, with Luigi Marcera and Tony Ballairgeon as Leo’s partners. Leo also had a singles match against Ivan Koloff on September 8 at the Paul Sauve Arena. In November 1969 Leo returned to Central States as Tommy Martin and was able to work with wrestlers such as Terry Funk, Lou Thesz, Ernie Ladd, Bob Geigel, Waldo Von Erich, Blackjack Lanza, Bobby Heenan, Lars Anderson and Angelo Poffo.

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) Biographical history at http://www.canoe.ca/SlamWrestlingBios/burke_leo.html
4) Maritime show posters at http://jerome-macdonald.magix.net/
5) Biographical history at http://yvon-cormier.co.tv/
6) Montreal records at http://sportsandwrestling.mywowbb.com/forum2/577-5.html

Leo Burke and Big Stephen Petitps Comps

Leo Burke Compilation Match-List


Disc 1

1977 Calgary Stampede Wrestling
Leo Burke and Keith Hart vs Cuban Assassins


1977 New Zealand
Leo Burke vs Les Thornton
Leo Burke vs Brute Miller


1979 IWE Japan as The Atomic
The Atomic and Alexis Smirnoff vs Mighty Inoue and Higomi Hamaguchi
The Atomic and Alexis Smirnoff vs Rusher Kimura and Great Kusatsu
The Atomic vs Rusher Kimura


1979 Calgary Stampede Wrestling
12/8/1979 Leo Burke and Hubert Gallant vs Tom Stanton and Oshira


1980 Calgary Stampede Wrestling
Leo Burke and Hubert Gallant vs Bret Hart and Dynamite Kid
Leo Burke vs Bret Hart
Leo Burke vs Dan Gagne (Frenchy Martin)- No ending

1981-1982 Stampede

2/?/1981 . Leo Burke vs David Schultz
2/19/82 Leo Burke and David Schultz vs Duke Meyers and Kerry Brown

Disc 2


1982 Calgary Stampede Wrestling
Leo Burke Interview
Leo Burke vs Duke Myers
12/1982 Leo Burke vs |Goldie Rogers
1/1983 Leo Burke vs Mike Miler


1983 Calgary Stampede Wrestling
Leo Burke vs Davey Boy Smith
Leo Burke vs Nick Bockwinkle (AWA Title) (Ending)


1983-1984 Mid-Atlantic Maple Leaf
Leo Burke vs. Jobber
Leo Burke and Don Kernodle vs Johnny Weaver and Mike Rotundo
Leo Burke and Don Kernodle vs Joe Marcus and Nick Decarlo
Leo Burke vs Jobber
Leo Burke vs Tito Santana
Leo Burke vs Bobby Bass
Leo Burke vs Nick Decarlo
Leo Burke vs Joe Marcus

Disc 3

1984 Mid-Atlantic Maple Leaf
Leo Burke and Don Kernodle vs Bob and Joe Marcus
Leo Burke vs Vinnie Valentino
Johnny Weaver vs Swede Hanson (Leo and Kay brothers interfere)
Leo Burke vs Buddy (Bret) Hart (very short clip)
Leo Burke heel promo
Leo Burke & Terry Kay vs Dale Moore & Don Koloff

1984 AWA Winnipeg
Leo Burke vs Buck Zumhofe

1984 Southwest (Texas)
Leo Burke vs Juan Reynosa

1984 UWF Japan
Leo Burke and Rocky Dellasaras vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara and Nobuhiko Takada

1985 Lutte International
Leo Burke vs Kendo Nagasaki
Leo Burke vs Italian Stallion Tony
Battle Royal with Leo Burke

Disc 4

1985 Lutte International
Leo Burke/Richard Charland angle
Leo Burke vs Dino Bravo

1986 NWA Jim Crockett Promotions
3/22/1986 Leo Burke vs Don Graves
4/19/1986 Leo Burke & Thunderfoot & Black Bart vs Wahoo McDaniel & Manny Fernandez & Hector Guerrero
5/24/1986 NWA Pro Leo Burke, Vernon Deaton and Thunderfoot vs Jimmy Valiant, Hector Guerrero and Manny Fernandez
5/31/1986 Leo Burke vs Ron Garvin including angle with Tully Blanchard


1986 ATLANTIC GRAND PRIX WRESTLING
Leo Burke vs The Spoiler
Leo Burke Vs. Nikita Kalimakoff
Interview with Leo Burke & Cuban Assassin
Leo Burke & Cuban Assassin Vs. Spoiler & Nikita Kalimakoff (International Tag Team Title Match)

Disc 5

1986 ATLANTIC GRAND PRIX WRESTLING
Leo Burke Vs. Frenchy Martin (International Title Match)
Leo Burke and Cuban Assassin vs. Butcher Vachon and Nature Boy Sweetan
Leo Burke vs. Chuck Simms
North American Tag Team Titles: Leo Burke and Cuban Assassin vs. Nikita Kalmikeff and The Spoiler


1987 ATLANTIC GRAND PRIX WRESTLING
Leo Burke and Cuban Assassin v. Butcher Vachon and Masked Thunderbolt
Leo Burke & Cuban Assassin vs Nature Boy Sweetan & Buthcer Vachon
Nature Boy Sweetan vs Leo Burke

Disc 6

January-February 1988 Calgary Stampede Wrestling
1/29 Leo Burke vs Goldie Rogers
2/5 Leo Burke vs Hashif Khan (Shinya Hashimoto)
2/12 Leo Burke vs Makhan Singh
2/19 Leo Burke vs Makhan Singh


1988 All Japan Pro Wrestling
6/1988 Leo Burke and Terry Gordy vs Yoshiaki Yatsu and Jumbo Tsuruta
7/1988 Leo Burke and Stan Hansen vs Tiger Mask and Isao Takagi


1988 ATLANTIC GRAND PRIX WRESTLING
Leo Burke vs. Bulldog Bob Brown


October 1988 Calgary Stampede Wrestling
10/7 Leo Burke vs Goldie Rogers
10/14 Leo Burke vs Cuban Assassin

Disc 7

October-December 1988 Calgary Stampede Wrestling
10/21 Leo Burke and Randy Thatcher vs Gama Singh and Akim Singh
11/11 Leo Burke vs Makhan Singh
11/18 Leo Burke vs Vulkam Singh (Gary Albright)
11/25 Leo Burke vs Johnny Smith
12/2 Leo Burke vs Rip Rogers
12/16 Leo Burke vs Steve Blackman
Leo Burke vs Gama Singh


Disc 8

1989 All Japan Pro Wrestling
1/1988 Battle Royal
1/1988 Leo Burke and Mike Miller vs Giant Baba and Rusher Kimura
2/1988 Leo Burke and Dan Spivey vs Genichiro Tenryu and Toshiaki Kawada


1989 ATLANTIC GRAND PRIX WRESTLING
Leo Burke and Big Stephen Pettipas vs. Ron Starr and Pat Brady
Leo Burke vs Pat Brady
Leo Burke vs. The Mongolian

1990 WWC PUERTO RICO
Leo Burke vs The Super Medic
Leo Burke vs Ron Starr
Leo Burke vs Miguel Perez Jr.

Disc 9

1989-1990 WWC PUERTO RICO
Leo Burke vs Armalito Selgada
Leo Burke vs Miguel Perez Jr.
Leo Burke vs The Red Demon
Leo Burke vs La Zombra
12/17/1989 Universal Title: Leo Burke vs Carlos Colon
2/9/1990 Universal Title: Leo Burke vs TNT
Leo Burke and Chicky Starr vs Miguel Perez Jr and Hurricane Castillo Jr
Universal Title: Leo Burke vs TNT
Leo Burke and Manny Fernandez vs Carlos Colon and Invader #1
Leo Burke vs Miguel Perez Jr.
Leo Burke and Chicky Starr vs Tito Carreon and Herbert Gonzalez
Leo Burke and Chicky Starr vs The Invaders

Disc 10

1990 WWC PUERTO RICO
Leo Burke and Chicky Starr vs Miguel Perez Jr and Hurricane Castillo Jr
Leo Burke and Chicky Starr vs The Invaders
Leo Burke and Chicky Starr vs Tito Carreon and Herbert Gonzalez
Leo Burke vs Super Medico
Leo Burke Training Video
Leo Burke v Invader 1
Leo Burke-Invader 1 Contract signing
Leo Burke vs Invader III
Leo Burke vs Hector Gonzales
Leo Burke v Invader 1 (Boxing, Invader 1 accompanied by Robocop and Hector “Macho” Camacho)
Leo Burke v Invader 1


Disc 11

1990 ATLANTIC GRAND PRIX WRESTLING
Continental Tag Titles: Leo Burke and Bobby Kay vs Diamond Timothy Flowers and Bobby Bass
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
Leo Burke vs. Diamond Timothy Flowers

Extra:
The Beast and Phil Lafleur (Dan Kroffat) vs Gerry Morrow and Cuban Assassin (North American Tag Titles)
The Beast vs Harley Race with Frenchie Martin




Disc 12 Big Stephen Petitpas

Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling

1984
Big Stephen Petitpas vs Lenny Montana (Moondog Ed Moretti (poor footage)

1985
Big Stephen Petipas and Ronnie Rich vs The Spoiler and Rocky Delasara
Big Stephen Petitpas and Great Malumba vs Rocky Delasara and Tiger Williams


Lutte International (Montreal) 1985-1986
Big Stephen Petitpas as Sheik Ali

Sheik Ali & Jimmy Garvin vs Dino Bravo & Rick Martel
Sheik Ali vs Rick Martel
Sheik Ali vs Dino Bravo
Sheik Ali & Man Mountain Moore vs Maurice Vachon & Joe Leduc


Disc 13 Big Stephen Petitpas

Lutte International (Montreal) 1985-1986
Big Stephen Petitpas as Sheik Ali

Sheik Ali and Bob Serrai vs.Rick Martel and Prince Alofa (aka Fatu or Rikishi)
Sheik Ali vs. Prince Alofa
Sheik Ali vs Abdullah The Butcher
Sheik Ali vs Abdullah The Butcher (Re-match)

All Japan Pro Wrestling 1988
Big Stephen Petitpas as A. Sheik

A. Sheik and Mitch Snow vs Great Kabuki and Hiroshi Wajima
A. Sheik and Terry Gordy vs Jumbo Tsuruta and Yoshiaki Yatsu

Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling 1990

Big Stephen Pettipas vs. Chi Chi Cruz
Big Stephen Pettipas vs International Champion Rip Rogers
Big Stephen Pettipas and Buddy Lane vs. Chi Chi Cruise and the Alaskan Bear

Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling Compilation

Disc 1)
Grand Prix 1984 Part 1
Chris Pepper & Buddy Lane Vs. Sweet Daddy Siki & Cuban Assassin
Steve Casey Vs. UFO
Big Stephen Petitaps Vs. Lenny Montana (Moondog Ed Moretti)
Highlights of Ric Flair Vs. Jumbo Tsuruta (Japanese Language, I believe this was aired to build up Ric Flair's tour of the Maritimes defending against Pettipas)
Mike Blood & Danny War Eagle Vs. Bulldog Bob Brown & Mr. Pogo

Grand Prix 1984 Part 2
Killer Karl Krupp vs. TG Stone
Ronnie Rich and Ron Star vs. Sweet Daddy Siki and Len Montana

Disc 2)
Grand Prix 1985
Stephen Pettipas and Great Malumba vs. Rocky Delasara and Tiger Williams
Super Destroyer (I believe this is ET Stanton) with No Class Bobby Bass vs. Willy Tremblay
Sweet Daddy Siki with Len Montana vs. Ronnie Rich

Two Matches from Lutte International in Montreal from around 1986:
Abdullah The Butcher vs. Sheik Ali (Big Stephen Pettipas)
Re-match with Abdullah The Butcher vs. Sheik Ali (Big Stephen Pettipas)

Disc 3)
Grand Prix 1986 Part 1
The Cuban Assasin vs Bobby Crawford
Great Malumba & Gerry Etifier (Gerry Morrow) vs Rocky Delesara & Paul Peller
Leo Burke vs The Spoiler
Frenchie Martin vs Buddy Lane
Cousin Mike (Mike Shaw) & Sunny War Cloud vs Nikita Kalimekoff & Chuck Simms

Disc 4)
Grand Prix 1986 PART 2
Cuban Assassin Vs. Lou Garvin
Interview with Bobby Bass, Spoiler (Karl Moffatt) & Nikita Kalimakoff
Nikita Kalimakoff Vs. Ron Hutchinson
Sunni War Cloud Vs. Bob Crawford
Buddy Lane Vs. The Spoiler (Karl Moffatt)
Interview with Bobby Bass, Spoiler & Nikita Kalimakoff
Leo Burke Vs. Nikita Kalimakoff
Interview with Leo Burke & Cuban Assassin
Frenchy Martin Vs. Lou Garvin
Interview with Frenchy Martin & Bobby Bass
Ron Hutchinson Vs. Bobby Bass

Disc 5)
Grand Prix 1986 PART 3
Buddy Lane & Lou Garvin Vs. Bobby Bass & Bob Crawford
Sunni War Cloud Vs. Paul Peller
Interview with Bobby Bass, Spoiler & Nikita Kalimakoff
Ron Hutchinson Vs. Frenchy Martin
Interview with Frenchy Martin & Bobby Bass
Leo Burke & Cuban Assassin Vs. Spoiler & Nikita Kalimakoff (International Tag Team Title Match)
Interview with Cousin Mike , Sunni War Cloud, Leo Burke & Cuban Assassin
Man Mountain Moore Vs. Paul Gray (International Wrestling Quebec)
Cousin Mike Vs. Hercules Simms
Buddy Lane & Ron Hutchinson Vs. Spoiler & Nikita Kalimakoff
Gerard Ettifier (Gerry Morrow) Vs. Hurcules Simms
Interview with Gerard Ettifier, Leo Burke & Cuban Assassin
Leo Burke Vs. Frenchy Martin (International Title Match)
Interview with Frenchy Martin, Spoiler & Nikita Kalimakoff
Rick Patterson Vs. Iranian Sheik (Angel of Death)
Interview with Bobby Bass & Iranian Sheik
Sunni War Cloud Vs. Bobby Bass
Gerard Ettifier Vs. Hercules Simms
Bobby Bass & Iranian Sheik runs the upcoming tour.
Great Malumba Vs. Bob Crawford
Interview with Great Malumba, Gerard Ettifier, Leo Burke & Cuban Assassin
Cousin Mike Vs. Iranian Sheik (Angel of Death Dave Sheldon)

Disc 6)
Grand Prix 1986 PART 4
Killer Karl Krupp vs. Great Malumba
Bob Crawford vs. Michel Rougeau
Yvan the Terrible vs. Sunny War Cloud
Ron Starr vs. Hercules
Sheik vs. Hercules Ayala Cortez
Leo Burke and Cuban Assassin vs. Butcher Vachon and Nature Boy Sweetan
Gerry Etifier and Great Malumba vs. Rocky Delasara and Bob Crawford
Leo Burke vs. Chuck Simms
International Champion Frenchie Martin vs. Ron Hutchinson
Bobby Bass vs. Sunny War Cloud
Cuban Assassin and Mike Shaw vs. The Spoiler and Nikita Kalmikeff

Disc 7)
Grand Prix 1986 PART 5
Cousin Mike vs. Rick Patterson
Killer Karl Krupp vs. Ron Hutchinson
Interview with Leo Burke, Cuban Assassin and Hercules Ayala Cortez
Hercules Ayala Cortez vs. Rocky Delasara
Interview with Killer Karl Krupp
North American Tag Team Titles: Leo Burke and Cuban Assassin vs. Nikita Kalmikeff and The Spoiler
Interview with Bobby Bass, The Iranian Sheik and Frenchie Martin
Sheik vs. Buddy Lane

Disc 8)
Grand Prix 1987 PART 1
Paul Peller & Gordy Mills vs Buddy Lane & Sunny War Cloud
Bulldog Bob Brown vs Bobby Crawford
Rock & Roll Rebel Express vs Yvan The Terrible & Dr Zargarvo
Rick Patterson vs The Spoiler (Karl Moffatt)
Ron Starr vs. Gerry Morrow (match footage from Calgary Stampede Wrestling)

Disc 9)
Grand Prix 1987 PART 2
Bobby Hart (Biff Wellington) vs. Paul Peller.
Rick Valentine vs. Buddy Lane.
Ron Starr vs. Sunny War Cloud.
Bobby Bass vs. Rick Patterson.
The Rock & Roll Rebel Express vs. Ivan The Terrible & Nature Boy Sweetan.
The Great Malumba vs. Bulldog Bob Brown. Killer Karl Krupp causes DQ
Rasputin vs. Sunny War Cloud.
Bob Brown & Rick Valentine vs. Hercules (Steve Blackman) & Sunny War Cloud.
Michel Rougeau vs. The Masked Thunderbolt.
Butcher Vachon vs. Bob Crawford.
Bobby Bass vs. Rick Patterson.
Frenchy Martin vs. Sunny War Cloud.
Kid Dynamite vs. Paul Peller.
Bob Brown & Rick Valentine vs. The Rock N Roll Rebel Ecpress of Kid Dynamite and Dino Ventura

Disc 10)
Grand Prix 1987 PART 3
Leo Burke and Cuban Assassin v. Butcher Vachon and Masked Thunderbolt
The Beast vs. Nature Boy Sweetan
Rick Valentine vs. Buddy Lane
Frenchie Martin vs. Sunny War Cloud
Paul Peller vs. Kid Dynamite

Disc 11)
Grand Prix 1987 PART 4
Bob Crawford vs. Michel Rougeau
Sunny War Cloud vs. Yvan The Terrible
Interview with Leo Burke, The Beast, Cuban Assassin
Ron Starr with Peaches vs. Hercules (Steve Blackman)
Interview with Ron Starr
Sheik vs. Hercules Ayala Cortez

Disc 12)
Grand Prix 1987 PART 5
Nature Boy Sweetan (Vicious Verne Siebert) & Paul Peller vs Rock n Roll Rebel Express
Interview: R & R, Cuban Assassin & Bobby Hart
Nature Boy Sweetan & Butcher Vachon vs Rock n Roll Rebel Express
Hercules vs Ivan the Terrible
Ron Starr vs Bobby Hart (Biff Wellington)
Interview: Ron Starr & Peaches
Nature Boy Sweetan vs Cuban Assassin
Nature Boy Sweetan & Butcher Vachon vs Rock n Roll Rebel Express
Hercules Ayala vs Iranian Sheik (Angel of Death)
Nature Boy Sweetan & Buthcer Vachon vs Leo Burke & Cuban Assassin
Interview: Ron Starr, Peaches and midget Sky Low Low
Nature Boy Sweetan & Ivan the Terrible vs Rock n Roll Rebel Express
Nature Boy Sweetan & Ivan the Terrible vs Rock n Roll Rebel Express
Nature Boy Sweetan vs Leo Burke
Ron Starr vs Buddy Lane

Disc 13)
Grand Prix 1988
Leo Burke vs. Bulldog Bob Brown
With an appearance from Masahiro `Tòkyo`Chono

Grand Prix Wrestlers in Stampede:
Bret Hart vs. Leo Burke (1980)
Owen Hart vs. Makhan Singh (Mike Shaw) (1987)
Owen Hart vs. Gerry Morrow (1987?)
Bruce Hart and Brian Pillman vs. Rip Rogers and Kerry Brown (1988)
Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid vs. Cuban Assassin and Gerry Morrow (1988)

Disc 14)
Grand Prix 1989 Part 1
Leo Burke and Big Stephen Pettipas vs. Ron Starr and Pat Brady
Buddy Lane vs. The Spoiler (Don Jardine) with Frenchie Martin
North American Tag Titles: Cuban Assassin and Gerry Morrow vs. Phil Lafleur (Dan Kroffat/Phil Lafon) and The Beast
Frenchie Martin vs. Wayne Gillis (Buddy Wayne)
Pat Brady vs. Leo Burke
Cuban Assassin vs. Paul Peller
Eddie Watts vs. The Beast
Dynamite Kid vs. Gerry Morrow
International Championship: Steve Casey vs. Ron Starr
Eddie Watts vs. Paul Peller
Big Stephen Pettipas vs. Cuban Assassin
Steve Casey vs. Pat Brady
Gerry Morrow vs. The Beast

Disc 15)
Grand Prix 1989 Part 2
International Championship: Dynamite Kid vs. Bulldog Bob Brown (Leo Burke as referee)
N.A. Tag Titles: Wayne Gillis and Buddy Lane vs. Cuban Assassin and Gerry Morrow
Pat Brady vs. Phil Lafleur
Leo Burke vs. The Mongolian
Ron Starr vs. Paul Peller
Harley Race with Frenchie Martin vs. The Beast

Disc 16)
Grand Prix 1990 Part 1
The Alaskan Bear vs. Mike Lozanski
Butcher Vachon vs. Robert Messerall
Rip Rogers vs. Buddy Lane
Stephen Pettipas vs. Chi Chi Cruz
Interview with Leo Burke, Paul Peller and Bobby Kay
Continental Tag Titles: Diamond Timothy Flowers and Bobby Bass vs. Leo Burke and Bobby Kay

Disc 17)
Grand Prix 1990 Part 2
Mike Lozanski vs. Diamond Timothy Flowers
Robert Messerall vs. Butcher Vachon
Interview with Bulldog Bob Brown
International Champion Rip Rogers vs. Rick Baker
Interview with Rip Rogers
Bulldog Bob Brown and Chi Chi Cruz vs. Leo Burke and Bobby Kay
Interview with Big Stephen Pettipas and The Maritime Giant (Kurrgan)
Mike Lozanski vs. Butcher Vachon
Bobby Bass and Bulldog Bob Brown vs. Paul Peller and Robert Messerall
Interview with Bulldog Bob Brown and Penelope Paradise
Alexander The Great vs. Bobby Kay
Interview with Leo Burke, Bobby Kay, The Maritime Giant and a woman
Chi Chi Cruz and Diamond Timothy Flowers vs. Leo Burke and The Beast
Interview with Bobby Bass and Rip Rogers
International Champion Rip Rogers vs. Big Stephen Pettipas

Disc 18)
Grand Prix 1990 Part 3
Bobby Bass and International Champion Rip Rogers vs. Mike Lozanski and Robert Messerall
Rick Baker vs. Bulldog Bob Brown
Leo Burke vs. Diamond Timothy Flowers
Big Stephen Pettipas and Buddy Lane vs. Chi Chi Cruise and the Alaskan Bear
Bobby Kay vs. Butcher Vachon

Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling- 1990

Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling- 1990
Gair Maxwell and Bulldog Bob Brown on commentary, this show was taped outside at the exhibition in Riverside Albert, New Brunswick

1) Bobby Bass and International Champion Rip Rogers vs. Mike Lozanski and Robert Messerall
Lozanski came out of Calgary and would go on to wrestle in Mexico, Japan and briefly in ECW. He’s a young rookie here who looks great in the ring. I don’t know anything about Messerall, which I don’t know if I’m spelling right, but he’s announced from Moncton so I assume he was a trainee of AGPW. He takes the heat for most of the match, getting worked over by Bass and Rogers. Bass is moving good at this point and Rogers is just a superstar. He eventually takes the match after a DDT. Longer match then I expected but fun and there was a great promo afterwards where they are challenging tag team champions Leo Burke and Bobby Kay.

2) Rick Baker vs. Bulldog Bob Brown
I know nothing about Rick Baker. Rip Rogers was on commentary for this match, talking about his buddy the Bulldog who did a quick squash in this match. Bulldog was way up in years at this point but I remember him bringing a real presence to AGPW in its last couple years of its original run. He was all offense and took no bumps here and that’s ok. He finishes it off with a piledriver and a couple legdrops.

3) Leo Burke vs. Diamond Timothy Flowers
This match has Bobby Bass on commentary, who absolutely loses his mind when told that he and Flowers have to wait in line for a shot at the tag titles held by Burke and Bobby Kay. In a time capsule moment, they reference how Mike Tyson has to wait for a shot at Buster Douglas who will be taking on Holyfield first.
Flowers is much different from how I remember him. He was actually about 30 here and I would have thought he’d be older. They reference that before he “crossed over to the dark side” that he wrestled on the US Olympic team at the 1976 Olympic Games. A profile of him online says he was an alternate for the games. He’s pretty talented at this point, working smoothly with Burke and taking some of the better bumps I’ve seen in these shows. This was a fun match between two name guys with your traditional bad-guy beatdown followed by big Leo winning after rolling Flowers up with a schoolboy after Bass’s interference backfired.

4) Stephen Pettipas and Buddy Lane vs. Chi Chi Cruise and the Alaskan Bear with Bulldog back on commentary. I realized during this match that Bulldog sounds like Winnie the Pooh.
I remember Chi Chi from the Grand Prix comeback in the late 90’s and I saw him have a fantastic match in North Sydney with Joe E. Legend. He was a major babyface then but in 1990 he was a young heel associated with Bulldog. I checked out an article on him at http://www.canoe.ca/SlamWrestlingBios/bolton_bobby.html and it looks like he did a lot of travelling in Europe and in the southern U.S. I think he could have done really well and it’s a shame he didn’t get the chance early to tour Japan, Mexico and Europe or he could have been up there with the other great names of his generation to come out of Canada. He bumps a lot, works hard and most importantly has awesome hair. He and Buddy Lane do the majority of the work in this match, mixing it up with the two veterans in what could be part of the formula that gave the Maritimes the reputation as one of the top places to learn. Pettipas goes wild at the end of the match, finishing off the Alaskan Bear with a Fisherman Suplex, a move made popular at that time by “Mr. Perfect” Curt Hennig in WWF. There was a confrontation between Bulldog and Pettipas after the match, with Bulldog taunting Stephen, leading to a slap in the face for Bobby and an unaccepted challenge to take into the ring.

5) Bobby Kay vs. Butcher Vachon
My memories of Bobby Kay (brother to Leo Burke and one of the famous four Cormier brothers with Rudy Kay and The Beast) so this should be fun. This is not the famous Butcher Vachon, just the Maritime version, kind of like in the mid 90’s when people would get hyped for bands like “Road Apples” coming to town doing cover tunes of The Tragically Hip. Anyways, Bobby Kay is fun in the role of the aging veteran here and it’s like watching a comeback of one of the Harts in Calgary or one the Armstrongs in Alabama. Nothing wrong with this match, with the two of them going through their spots and then picking up the pace toward the end, with Bulldog escalating over the tag title situation on commentary until he got up and rang the bell, which of course always ends the match when done by the timekeeper but Bulldog did it on his own. Apparently this referee had no mind of his own since he declares the match a draw. Being bad guys, Timothy Flowers and Bulldog adamantly defend these actions, much like George W. Bush when no w.m.d.’s were found in Iraq.

Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling: Somewhere Around June-July 1986

Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling: Somewhere Around June-July 1986

1) Cuban Assassin vs. Bobby Crawford
This was a lot of Crawford working around the Cuban and doing armbars. A lot of armbars. Which is fine, really. The commentator noted that the Cuban Assassin had not as of yet been able to solve the riddle that is Bobby Crawford. Which apparently is a riddle that involved a lot of armbars. The match climaxed at the end when the Cuban put Crawford away with “a reverse brainbuster of sorts” which I guess is what you’d call the DDT he did a year before anyone in the Maritimes had seen Jake Roberts do it on WWF television.

2) Rocky Delasara and Stompin’ Paul Peller vs. Gerry Efifier (Gerry Morrow) and The Great Malumba
Gerry is probably the smoothest worker I’ve seen on either show so far. No wonder Lance Storm raves about him. Nothing seemed like it was just killing time. Malumba had more time in this match and was ok.

3) Leo Burke vs. The Spoiler
I was pretty sure starting out that this was Don Jardine, with the only thing making me think otherwise being what appears to be a red beard. But he’s huge and moves well. They also announce him as being tag champion with Nikita Kalmikov and Jardine’s title histories list that as being him. Fun match. Burke was working hard and these guys worked well together, including a sunset flip out of the corner that was impressive on someone as big as Spoiler. Disqualification ending when The Iranian Sheik (Angel of Death) ran in, speaking of huge guys. And it’s the Cuban to the rescue.

4) International champion Maniac Frenchy Martin vs. Buddy Lane
I can’t fathom Martin being anything other than a heel. He calls himself the “Republic’s Greatest Athlete” with the Republic being Quebec, at the time the heels of Canada. But then they gave us poutine and there was peace and love. Martin dominates the match with dirty heel tactics like choking Lane with tape. He finishes him with a shoulder-breaker, pins him and then drops a leg for fun. He grabs the mic and tells Leo Burke to “stay away from the madman, stay away from the Frenchman”.

5) Chuck Simms and Nikita Kalmikov vs. Sunny War Cloud and Cousin Mike (Shaw)
This match is most falls to curfew. It’s fascinating seeing a team of an American and a supposed Russian (which in pro wrestling means he was from Quebec or Northern Ontario) teaming in the Maritimes. Both are outside super-powers in that area. Sunny War Cloud is constantly doing his Native dance when he’s in the ring, he shows a lot of good energy Young Mike Shaw is fun, it’s a shame he didn’t really get to have a good heel run in the Maritimes a few years later as he’s a big guy who could move. He gets a fall over the heels and then they go back and forth a little more until curfew.

Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling- August 20, 1985

Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling: August 20, 1985

1) Big Stephen Pettipas and The Great Malumba vs. Rocky Delasaras and Tiger Williams
Holy Crap, Pettipas is great. He’s a really big guy with a solid build and presence and he moves well. He throws good elbows, has good armdrags and does some good bumping and selling too. Wiliams was nothing too special, although the Newfoundland heel is a cool idea. But his work wasn’t that great. And at least at this point, Malumba was almost all gimmick but hey, it was an iconic gimmick for the Maritimes. The heels worked over Pettitpas for most of the match, with Malumba doing a couple stretches plus the hot tag. Pettitpas and Malumba Irish whipped the heels into each other with Pettipas catching Williams off the rebound into a small package. A little long but it was great to watch Pettipas, shortly after he won the International title from Super Destroyer.

2) Super Destroyer with Bobby Bass vs. Willy Tremblay
I’m quite sure this is Karl Moffatt and not Don Jardine. He’s bigger than Bobby Bass but not monstrous and seems built differently. Plus he works a little bit more of a dirty and chickenshit style rather than monster heel. This was a fun little match with Bobby Bass having great presence on the outside, taunting the crowd and poking Tremblay with a kendo stick. Destroyer won with his feet on the ropes.

3) Ron Starr and Bobby Bass vs. Buddy Lane and Rick Patterson
Ron Starr is fantastic here, doing some great mat wrestling and counter wrestling with Buddy Lane that is not dated at all. In fact, Starr and Lane would not look out of place on any show today and Patterson seems like a good young talent. Starr works most of the match, with Bass doing some work and showing some fun stuff such as a splash of the top rope onto his Patterson’s arm and a missed fist-drop in which he sells his fist afterward. Bass and Starr won over the young guys in a good ol’ time of a match.

4) Sweet Daddy Siki with Lenny Montana (Ed Morretti) vs. Ronnie Rich
Rich is in amazing condition. Siki plays up the “Black Gorgeous George” gimmick in taking a while to take his gloves off before the match and having Montana hold a mirror up for him. Siki also holds out his fist in front of the camera with brass knucks on and has Montana take them. Strangely, the knucks don’t get used again. Montana taunts the crowd through the match. Siki is older and slow but fun and Rich seems like he should have been a star, firing up and playing a fantastic babyface. Anyway, Montana interferes and gets Siki disqualified. They double-team Rich. In comes Pettitpas to help Rich! In comes Pettitpas to help Rich! In come Williams and Delasara to help the heels! In come ultra-babyfaces The Cuban Freakin’ Assassin and Man Mountan Mike aka Mike Shaw in shorts, a t-shirt and flip-flops!!!

The babyfaces clear house. Mike cuts a promo talking about the Cuban being one of the toughest wrestlers in the world and suggesting that he ally himself with Mike, Pettipas and Rich. Apparently The Cuban had been playing Switzerland for a while. The Cuban shakes hands with everyone and leaves with Mike. Pettipas cuts a promo saying that he’s been in “battles and battles” with the Cuban Assassin and that Bobby Bass owes him a lot of money. Pettipas steadfastly encourages Bobby Bass to start trainin’. Rich cuts a promo then the Cuban cuts a promo “People say Bobby Bass got no class...last time I and Bobby Bass fly to Cuba by airline...next time I fly Bobby Bass way up in the air with right hand...you never gonna forgot, you know, the power that Cuban Assassin got in his right hand” (shakes his fist in the air). The Cuban suggests that they can fight in a street-fight in the middle of the ring, in the street, in the parking lot or in downtown in any town here in the Maritimes. Bobby Bass and the Cuban Assassin duking it out in downtown North Sydney, Nova Scotia would be great. And man, the Cuban had the greatest hair and beard in history.

So wow, a show with matches all leading up to a climax and interconnected storylines. Good times and I can’t wait to watch more.

Fights For The Ages

In light of the upcoming Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Couture fight, I am reminded of my childhood.

Twenty-one years ago, I recall the anticipation felt by myself and all my twelve-year-old friends of the upcoming epic, the fight for the ages, the clash of the titans. We were waiting for Hulk Hogan to square off against Andre The Giant.

Andre was my favorite wrestler. Sure, I had hardly seen any Andre matches but there was a mystique to him that was unmatched. After all, he was the guy who had always stood by the fans and had never lost but still had never received a title match. I sympathized with the man and wanted to be second in line to slap Hulk Hogan upside the head. I thanked Roddy Piper for providing Piper's Pit as a forum to set this up.

Hulk Hogan was the unstoppable force to Andre's immovable object. He was the only world champion I had ever known. He was the reason I started to watch wrestling. I was enthralled when he played Thunderlips in Rocky III. I was in awe when he accompanied Ciny Lauper to an awards show, flexed to the crowd and my brother said "He's a real wrestler, you know". I sought him out and realized that I liked Andre better. But Hogan won all his matches right? Andre had never been bodyslammed but if anyone could do it the Hulkster could, right?

Most importantly, it was the first match between them and none of us knew what would happen. We talked about it at our Scouts meetings. I picked Andre. Jeff picked Hogan. And of course we were both right and noone could convince us otherwise.

Of course, there was a lot of myth in this. Andre had done plenty of work as a "bad guy" in Japan which I enjoy much more when I watch it as an adult. Andre had lost plenty of times, including to El Canek in Mexico. He had been bodyslammed by Harley Race, Killer Kowalski, and El Canek (that guy again). And he had faced Hogan in Japan, in Memphis and most importantly on the 1980 Shea Stadium card, a predecessor to Wrestlemania.

But we didn't know these things. And we didn't need to know them. I could have felt betrayed when I learned these things later but I'm glad we didn't know. What mattered was that we believed. And the day after Wrestlemania III the result was the buzz of the playground at school. Hogan won. Hogan bodyslammed Andre. When I got to see the show a couple months later, my family cheered as Hogan bodyslammed Andre, dropped the leg and pinned him. My father simply said "Yup, that's it, he's the best". It didn't even matter that the match kind of sucked, the hype and belief had captured our imaginations and put enough people in the Pontiac Silverdome that Vince McMahon could lie and say it was 93,000.

Fast forward to 2008. Brock Lesnar and Randy Couture are set to meet in the modern fight for the ages. And yes, they've both lost inside the octagon of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Those losses actually and vulnerabilities actually add intrigue and everyone is sure they know who will win.

The third fight between Randy Couture and Chuck Lidell drew me into starting to watch UFC again, much like Hulk Hogan in 1986. Randy is like Andre in this fight with the size difference reversed. He's the old soldier of Mixed Martial Arts, the man who perseveres against all odds. He has fought the greatest mixed martial artists inside the cage and bureaucracy of promoting outside it (whether you think he was right or not, he did fight). He is every thing that an Ultimate Fighter should be: a world class athlete who brought his specialty (wrestling) into MMA, learned other skills and tied it together with the most important thing, heart. He has probably been in UFC a comparable amount to what Andre had been in the World Wrestling Federation (eleven years compared to fourteen years).

And then along came Brock Lesnar. The amateur wrestler turned professional wrestler turned mixed martial artist. The man who was seen as a bland, Bob Backlund-type in pro wrestling but is a colorful personality and promo man in MMA. Not because everyone else is bland in comparison but because there is such an air of legitimacy to this once "fake fighter". There has never been anyone like him. He exploded out of the gates to attack former UFC champion Frank Mir in February at a pace never before seen before getting caught in a kneebar. Then in August he spent three rounds bouncing around former Pride fighter Heath Herring, looking like a tiger playing with its catch before sinking in the killing blow.

Randy has never faced anyone like Brock. Tim Sylvia was bigger but Brock will be cutting to 265 pounds of muscle and strength, like any of the lower weight class champions, just way bigger. Randy's advantage is often wrestling, a hard advantage to have over Brock. And Brock's aptitude for picking up pro wrestling faster than most has transferred to his ability to pick up MMA faster than most.

Brock has never faced anyone like Randy. Randy always figures out a way to beat his opponents. even if he doesn't win, he seems to know how. Randy has as much experience as just about any MMA fighter you'll find, at least any one that is still good. And Brock was just a "fake wrester".

Is Brock too young? Is Randy too old? Is Brock too powerful? Is Randy too experienced? Is Brock too good for Randy? Is Randy too good for Brock?

Everyone thinks they know the answers. And everyone is sure they're right. Me, I think Brock will win. The harcore fan in me thinks that it is the best thing for business long-term, for both MMA and pro wrestling as Brock's exposure could be capitalized on by wrestling promoters (which doesn't mean they will do it). But more important than any such analysis, I just think it would be really cool. Of course, I will still cheer to see Randy win, just like I did when my father said "Yup, that's it, he's the best".

None of us know for sure. And it doesn't really matter what we think ahead of time. What does matter is that we believe.