A member of wrestling’s major Canadian families died at the age of 76.
Léonce Cormier, better known under his ring name “Leo Burke” passed away on Wednesday with confirmation by his niece Janie Chappell to CTV Atlantic.
Burke followed his older brothers, Yvon “The Beast” Cormier and Jean-Louis “Rudy Kay” and preceded his younger brother, Romeo “Bobby Kay” into the ring.
Parents Edmond and Bernadette gave birth to thirteen children with four entering the wrestling industry to become staples in the Maritimes in Canada.
Burke made his debut in 1966 and opted to ditch the Cormier surname to avoid piggybacking the success of his elder brothers. The influence for his name came from boxer Jackie Burke.
One of his earliest territories was Central States in Kansas City where Burke teamed with brother Bobby Kay to win the territory’s tag titles in October 1968. The pair beat Bob Geigel & Bulldog Bob Brown for a one-week title reign, dropping the belts to Dusty Rhodes & Dick Murdoch.
During his Central States run and wrestling as Tommy Martin, he became its heavyweight champion in October 1968 beating Bob Brown, and remained champion until December when Dusty Rhodes unseated Burke.
Throughout his career, Burke would travel to New Zealand, Puerto Rico, and Japan among his international spots. In North America, he called the Maritimes home while venturing across Canada and becoming a mainstay in various spots throughout the U.S. including Jim Crockett Promotions where he migrated in 1968.
On February 24, 1970, he challenged Dory Funk Jr. for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in Sedalia, Missouri where Burke, as Tommy Martin, lost in a two-of-three falls match. Burke would earn subsequent shots against champions Jack Brisco in November 1975 in Halifax, a three-match series with Terry Funk in September 1976, challenging Harley Race on back-to-back nights in July 1978 and again in March 1980.
Burke toured with All Japan Pro Wrestling in late 1976 where he teamed with Dick Murdoch and Abdullah the Butcher while having a pair of singles matches with The Destroyer Dick Beyer, who was an iconic figure in the country.
From his earliest years, he had ties to Stu Hart, wrestling for his Wildcat Wrestling group, which begat Stampede Wrestling, which was the territory where Burke found his greatest success.
His time in Calgary included eight reigns as its North American Champion beginning in January 1978, defeating Don Gagne (Frenchy Martin) and feuding with the late Michel Martel (the older brother of Rick Martel). He was programmed with Bret Hart where the two traded the North American Championship multiple times with Burke becoming a major influence on Hart throughout his career.
Leo became a huge influence on me, teaching me right from wrong when it came to booking. He stressed the simple things, like when it made sense for a wrestler to bleed, or get juice; how to work a match, an angle, a program; when to do a count-out or a disqualification; who should go over and who shouldn’t; and not to repeat the same things week after week and risk boring the fans.
A match that had a great impact on Hart occurred on June 26, 1982, in Edmonton, where Hart was set to beat Burke for the North American title with a simple finish that Hart would tuck away for a larger match down the road.
When the time was right, he called for the finish. I reversed him into the ropes and he dove on top of me attempting a simple sunset flip, but I fought off falling backwards and dropped to me knees. I hooked his legs and there was no escape. What a beautiful finish, one that I would keep in the back of my mind forever for something special.
That “special” moment would be in front of 79,000 people at Wembley Stadium against Davey Boy Smith where it was Hart doing the honors that night and losing the Intercontinental title to his brother-in-law at SummerSlam 1992.
While wrestling in Stampede, Burke would win the tag titles for the group with multiple partners including Keith Hart, Bobby Burke, Ron Ritchie, and had one title reign with Bret Hart in 1982.
In April 1983, Burke challenged then-AWA champion Nick Bockwinkel in Calgary. Later that year, Burke began wrestling for International Wrestling out of Quebec and would begin teaming with a variety of partners including Rick Martel and The Destroyer. With Dick Beyer, the pair challenges AWA tag champions Jerry Blackwell & Ken Patera at The Forum in Montreal in March 1984.
In 1985, he returned to relaunched Stampede Wrestling after the WWF gave Stu Hart the ability to re-open and renege on their purchase of the territory and television slots. Burke remained a fixture in the territory through the end of 1988.
After winding down his in-ring career, Burke worked with several future stars when hired by the WWF in the mid-90s. Predating its developmental program or Funkin’ Dojo sessions with Dory Funk Jr., the WWF would send its prospects to Calgary to learn under Burke. This plethora of talent included Adam Copeland, Jay Reso, Andrew “Test” Martin, Ken Shamrock, Teddy Hart, Kurrgan (Robert Maillet), Don Callis, Ric Titan, Glenn Kulka, and Mark Henry.
Brother Jean-Louis died in May 2008 with Yvon passing away less than one year later in early 2009. The Cormier family was honored that year at the Cauliflower Alley Club.
Burke’s last set of matches occurred in 1998 for Atlantic Grand Prix and lived in Calgary for the remainder of his life.
