BY KIRK STARRATT
Kings County Advertiser/Register
He won his first North American championship in the building 40 years ago, and was the headline attraction for the final professional wrestling show ever to be held at the historic Berwick Arena.
Leonce Cormier, better known as Leo Burke, the greatest professional wrestler to ever hail from the Maritimes; recalls defeating the legendary Eric Pomeroy for his first North American title in Berwick. Burke was in town with Ultimate Championship Wrestling (UCW) as part of the 2010 Legends of Maritime Wrestling Tour Aug. 28.
During an in-ring interview with UCW president, promoter, CEO and commissioner Chuck Martin, Burke asked if he could referee the main event, a return tag-team match featuring the Maritime Menace and Diamond Vegas with Mr. Keith taking on Aaron Awesome of Kentville and Cool Cross of Berwick, known collectively as the Retro Rockers; with UCW general manager Ron Cherry.
Burke told Martin a lot of people have been talking to him about the Menace, a brawler with no respect for the rules or his opponents. He asked Martin to allow him to referee the Menace’s match.
“All I need from you is an answer: ‘yes’ or ‘no’,” Burke said. “Hopefully, it’s yes.”
“You fans have supported me for a very long time and I really appreciate it... it’s been quite a ride, with lots of bumps and bruises, but I somehow managed to survive." - Maritime wrestling icon Leo Burke
Martin granted the request, and fans were delighted to see Burke ref the match, a bunkhouse brawl with no disqualifications. After tiring of Menace’s tactics, including hitting his opponents with a steal chair, Burke took the chair away from Menace and knocked him out in the centre of the ring with his patented “sleeper hold.” Burke then counted to three as Cross covered Menace for the pin.
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