Gino Brito
Cormier spent much of the early 1970s competing in the Maritimes for his brother Jean-Louis' Eastern Sports Association (ESA) (which owned International Wrestling, or IW) as both a singles and tag team wrestler. He did not want to use their name recognition to further his own career, so he took the last name of his friend, boxer Jackie Burke. The four Cormier brothers all competed in the territory and often joined forces in feuds with the promotion's top heel (villain) wrestlers. Burke won the IW North American Heavyweight Championship on June 22, 1971 by defeating Eric Pomeroy. The title reign lasted for three months; Gino Brito won the title from Burke during a match in Halifax, Nova Scotia, but Burke regained the championship five days later. On August 8, 1972. Burke teamed with his brother Romeo again (who was now wrestling as Bobby Kay) to win the ESA International Tag Team Championship. They held the title until the following June, when they dropped it to Fred Sweetan and Kurt Von Steiger. In August 1973, Burke became the first ESA Taped Fist Championship when the promotion awarded him the title.