September 17, 201411 yr comment_5625650 I've got a soft spot for Leo Burke since he was THE MAN in my neck of the woods when I was younger. Had some very memorable feuds with Harley Race, Big Stephen Pettitpas and, my personal favourite, Rotten Ronn Starr. I know he was more a journeyman outside the Maritimes, but he's a guy who shouldn't be dismissed off hand. He was good enough to be a go to trainer for the Hart family and put on some solid undercard matches all over the continent, and even had a run against Carlos Colon in PR. It's too bad that about 95% of the Atlantic Grand Prix tape library was destroyed in a building fire in the 90's before they could be digitized. I might be biased by memories of my youth, but there was a crew that on par with something like the Continental area, at least in terms of locals who were over with the crowd. Really fun old school territory that is lost to the ages. Moral of the story - search out some Leo Burke.
September 17, 201411 yr comment_5625659 That's going to be the problem with this one. Like I said, the majority of the AGPW tape library was destroyed in a fire. There are a few episodes on youtube with very low VQ....not even sure if Burke is on them.
September 17, 201411 yr comment_5625661 Though, youtube is God:http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=leo+burkeThere's even a Bockwinkle AWA title match from Stampede in there.....
September 17, 201411 yr comment_5625681 He really is a super smart worker. You can see a huge influence in Bret Hart's style through Burke.
September 17, 201411 yr comment_5625729 My big takeaways of the Burke/Bock match were 1.) It was really cool to see travelling champ Bock play de facto babyface. That was sort of a missing piece of the puzzle to me. There were a few little things, like how he was more aggressive in trying to get his hands on Burke during the King of the Mountain bit instead of just keeping him out of the ring. 2.) I think the finish was pretty smart as it made Burke look considerably good since, even though he was cheating and using nasty tactics, he still had a clear advantage and if Dr. D hadn't come out to save the day (for his own, believable reasons), you think he could have maybe won it, but at the end of the day Bock gets the win and all three guys have potential issues with each other. The local wrestlers keep their heat (maybe even gain some). Bock doesn't lose the title. There's even a pinfall. 3.) Stampede's footage issue is so frustrating.
September 17, 201411 yr comment_5625738 I prefer Ron Starr to Burke and could see voting for him so maybe I need to nominate him. Having said that Burke in PR in 89/90 was fucking awesome
September 17, 201411 yr comment_5625846 I prefer Ron Starr to Burke and could see voting for him so maybe I need to nominate him. Having said that Burke in PR in 89/90 was fucking awesome I was contemplating nominating Starr myself. Very underrated.
January 22, 20169 yr Author comment_5722353 This is a reminder for me to ask Musgrave on Sunday about posting in this thread.
January 22, 20169 yr comment_5722403 The Burke-Invader boxing match with Macho Camacho alone is enough to get Burke on lists. Great approach to bumping and striking. Mostly a comedy guy, but one who knew enough heel tricks to be dastardly and the sort you'd want to see get their comeuppance. Kind of a lot like Murdoch in his approach, actually. Maybe some traces of Arn Anderson in there too. Yet in total he moves in the ring unlike anyone I've ever seen, let alone any bald paunchy guy. A textbook example of it is the Savio title change in '90. He's a stooge, but kind of a real bastard of a stooge.
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