Lucifer

Timothy James "Tim" Burke (October 1, 1960 – June 21, 2011), known by his ring name Lucifer, was an American professional wrestler, trainer and promoter who competed in numerous East Coast and Mid-Atlantic independent promotions during the 1990s and early 2000s; among the promotions he appeared in included the Atlantic Wrestling Federation, East Coast Wrestling Association, Cueball Carmichael's Independent Professional Wrestling Alliance, Long Island Wrestling Federation, New Jack City Wrestling, Regional Championship Wrestling, United Independent Wrestling, and the Wrestling Independent Network.

Timothy James Burke was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on October 1, 1960, to Eleanora and William M. Burke.

He was trained by Bob Starr who later helped he and promoter Dennis Wipprecht establish the Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation, then one of the first independent promotions in Maryland.

As co-founder of the Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation with promoter Dennis Wipprecht, Burke was a major figure in Maryland professional wrestling during the 1990s.

He not only brought in stars from Extreme Championship Wrestling, World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation to the area but gave many future independent stars their first big break in the business.

His "Brain Buster's Pro Wrestling Academy", the MEWF's official training facility, produced many of these wrestlers, most notably, Ruckus and Tonya Stevens.

The MEWF would eventually become of top independent promotions on the Eastern seaboard during the 1990s.

Burke also wrestled for other promotions while running the MEWF, using variations of his "Lucifer" ring name "Mr. Lucifer" and "Lucifer, the Knight of the Road", including the Atlantic Wrestling Federation and the Wrestling Independent Network.

By the mid-1990s, the MEWF was at the peak of its success.

It regularly featured talent from Philadelphia's Extreme Championship Wrestling, due in part to then booker Axl Rotten, including Raven, Stevie Richards, The Blue Meanie, Damien Kane, Pit Bull #2, and The Bad Breed (Ian and Axl Rotten), as well as The Honky Tonk Man, Jim Neidhart, Tom Brandi, and The Headbangers from the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling's Joey Maggs and Disco Inferno.

Several independent stars such as Boo Bradley, Devon Storm, Steve Corino, Jimmy Cicero, Christian York, Quinn Nash, and "Judge" Jeff Jones also made their home in the MEWF.

Their success encouraged he and Wipprecht opened their own training facility for the MEWF, the "Brain Buster's Pro Wrestling Academy", which included Bob Starr as an instructor.

He made his pro debut as "Lucifer" on its first show held in Pasadena, Maryland on August 2, 1991.

One of his earliest opponents during the MEWF's first year was Rasta the Voodoo Mon.

While working for promoter Steve Unterman, Burke was involved in several of WIN's charity events, most notably, wrestling Cream Team (Rip "Rest In Piece" Sawyer and "Diamond" Dave Casanova) with Morgus the Maniac at the Preakness Festival in Highlandtown, Baltimore on May 16, and Ivan Koloff for the Ronald McDonald House at Martin's North Point on November 15, 1992.

He and Wipprecht participated in fundraisers for their own promotion as well.

Five days after the Ronald McDonald House benefit show, the Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation held a fundraiser for North Carroll High School in the school's gymnasium with the proceeds going towards the purchasing of computer software.

The main event saw The Honky Tonk Man wrestle Max Thrasher and featured appearances from "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert, A. C. Golden, Morgus the Maniac, Rusty "The Fox" Thomas, MEWF Woman's Champion Heidi Lee Morgan, midget wrestlers Haiti Kid and Butch Cassidy, and the Cream Team.

Also on the card, AWF Heavyweight Champion Kirk Dredd defended his title against Axl Rotten.

Burke himself wrestled Bob Starr in a stretcher match.

Though still a fledgling promotion, which used a 1/3 the budget of its rivals, it eventually outlasted both the United Independent Wrestling and WIN to become the sole remaining promotion in the region.

After two years in the MEWF, Burke won the MEWF Heavyweight Championship from Max Thrasher on February 5, 1993, in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

It was also around this time that Burke formed the "Hollywood Hunks" with Bob Starr.

In August, they won the ECWA Tag Team Championship while touring the Mid-Atlantic "indy circuit" which they would hold until their eventual defeat by Ace Darling & Kid Flash two years later.

They also briefly held the MEWF Tag Team Championship, defeating The Goodfellows (Romeo Valentino & Dino Casanova), before dropping the belts to Road Warrior Hawk and Ultimate Comet in Catonsville on November 11, 1994.

Two days later, Burke's lost the heavyweight title to Morgus the Maniac in Hampstead ending his first championship reign after nine months.

He regained it the following night in a no-disqualification match at Kenwood High School in Essex, and successfully defended it against Doink the Clown among others, before finally losing the title back to Morgus in Baltimore on May 13, 1994.

On March 26, 1995, Burke attempted to win the MEWF Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship from The Ultimate Comet.

In spite of outside interference from Burke's then manager "Stud" Lee Osborne and bodyguard The Freak of Nature, he ended up being pinned by the champion.

Months later at the MEWF's annual benefit show for North Carroll High School, Burke officiated a "bunkhouse match" between The Ultimate Comet, now wrestling as Corporal Punishment, and Morgus the Maniac for the MEWF Heavyweight Championship.

At the end of the year, he began teaming with the Cat Burglar and the two defeated The Bad Crew for the tag team titles on December 3.

Burke made two appearances at the Good Sports Arena in Aberdeen, New Jersey for New Jack City Pro Wrestling and the Garden State Wrestling Alliance.

On December 18, 1995, he wrestled Steve Richards, Inferno Kid, and The Juggernaut in a 6-man tag team elimination match with The Dream Team which lasted 34 minutes.

He and the Cat Burglar continued defending the belts until February 25, 1996, when Burke was abandoned by his partner in a title defense against Darkside (Glen Osbourne and Rockin' Rebel) and forced to defend the championship in a handicap match which he lost.

He subsequently feuded with Cat Burglar as well as Bob Starr on MEWF television.

Their feud ended up spilling into other promotions such as Cueball Carmichael's Independent Professional Wrestling Alliance.

He continued making appearance in NJCW during the first half of 1997 and later had matches against Joe Thunder and joined forces with Mad Dog O'Malley to face Thunder and Gino Caruso.

Burke went into semi-retirement after the MEWF folded in 2004, partially due to his declining health, and spent his final years in Maryland Championship Wrestling until his death from cancer six years later.

He wrestled his final match at MCW's "Legends of Maryland" show against the Cat Burglar on November 7, 2009, and where he was inducted into the MCW Hall of Fame.

The company, which competed against the MEWF in a bitter 5-year rivalry, acknowledged Burke and Wipprecht's role in developing "indy wrestling" on the East Coast and "had it not been for these two men there may not be wrestling in Maryland today".