[1984-07-03-International Wrestling] Rick Martel vs Leo Burke

[shoe]

 

This is for the AWA title. It's 2 out of 3 falls. They do a good job with the promos and pomp and circumstance to make this seem special. I loved the early head lock work. Martel had no answers to it. We skip ahead and Burke posts himself. Martel goes after the arm and works it real good. Eventually Burke catches Martel in the sleeper to get the 1st fall. After that we get some back and forth both guys selling big. The end Burke catches Martel in another sleeper as the bell rings. Pretty great match. 3 3/4*

[tcg91]

This was a fun, you could tell that having a AWA Title defence was a big deal for AGPW, there was a lot of focus around the presentation of the match. The bout was extremely clipped, it was a 60 minutes draw but only half of them made air, which was a shame. Solid match nonetheless, I haven't seen much of Burke, but he was very intense with his holds, simple spots like a headlock or abdominal stretch looked like major threats. Good Martel selling, he gave Burke a lot of offense but manage to keep the title thanks to the draw
***1/4