Leo Burke, one of the major stars of wrestling in Atlantic Canada and Alberta in the 1970s and 1980s, died on Wednesday afternoon at the age of 76.
Burke, whose real name was Léonce Cormier, was surrounded by family when he died at a nursing home in Calgary, his son Travis Cormier told Global News.
A native of Dorchester, N.B., Burke began wrestling in 1966 alongside three of his brothers.
As was often the case with French Canadians in wrestling at the time, none of the brothers wrestled under the Cormier name. Yvon Cormier wrestled as The Beast while Jean-Louis and Romeo were Rudy Kay and Bobby Kay.
But the youngest brother, Léonce, had the longest and most storied career of the four brothers who wrestled as Leo Burke.
“The promoters actually selected the name and that name actually stuck,” Travis Cormier said.
Burke travelled the globe, with stints wrestling in Puerto Rico and Japan as well as across the U.S. and Canada, but his star shone brightest while wrestling in Atlantic Canada and Alberta.
Ron Hutchison, who wrestled with Burke back in the 1980s, said that they would perform to packed houses across the Maritimes.
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“We would go to our big shows where every Thursday night in the Halifax Forum and they usually average around, it varied through the years, but I would say when I was there anywhere from five, 6,000 every week,” he said.
“When we were in the Maritimes, crowds were very good. So good that the promoter had run two shows a night.”
Burke would wrestle out east for many different companies, including Grand Prix Wrestling.
Hutchison said that it was a different era in Atlantic Canada, as there were very few channels on offer so everyone watched wrestling and knew who Burke was.
“He was a hero to them. He was like a rock star,” the wrestler said.
Cormier echoed those sentiments as he was unable to walk through a shopping mall with his father.
The hero’s son said that instead they would spend time in nature.
Travis Cormier said that in the summer his dad would wrestle in Atlantic Canada, whereas in the winter he would ply his trade for Stampede Wrestling in Calgary.
Over the years and over his travels, he would wrestle against some of the biggest names in the sport including Bret Hart, the British Bulldogs and Harley Race.
He also wrestled a few times against Hutchison, although both were “good guys”, so it was not too often.
When it happened, Burke generally came out on top against his Ontario friend and competitor.
“Leo very, very, very rarely lost,” Hutchison explained. “Like I said, he was a hero in Atlantic Canada. Every summer, you know, he was the champion, let’s say, at the beginning of the tour. He may have lost the belt somewhere in there, but you could bet your bottom dollar by that.
“By the time that tour wrapped up in September, Leo would once again be the champion.”
After Cormier hung up his tights, he went on to train some of the biggest names in pro wrestling including Mark Henry and Ken Shamrock, according to his son.
Hutchison said that he was so well-respected that the WWE would send wrestlers to Calgary to try out in front of Hutchison and Bret Hart.
WWE owner “Vince (McMahon) would send guys to Calgary for Bret and Leo to have a look at and if they passed the test … then that would be good enough for Vince McMahon and he’d take them on to the WWE roster,” he explained.
Tributes have been pouring in all over the internet for Burke as well as to his family.
“For the past 24 hours, people reaching out from all over the world,” Cormier said. “So I know that he was really big … just because of the outpouring of support.”
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