Blehschmidt Posted August 1, 2019 Report Share Posted August 1, 2019 AEW, the NWA, and Dash Wilder of The Revival have Tweeted that Harley Race has passed away. That's one of wrestling's all time great's gone. Rest in Peace Champ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffey Posted August 1, 2019 Report Share Posted August 1, 2019 Dustin Rhodes also mentioned it. One of the greatest of all-time. In my personal top three favorites of all-time. The more of his work that I watch, the more I admire him. I'm really saddened by this. I knew his health wasn't great but I was literally just talking about him last night with a buddy & saying how I really wanted to meet him, shake his hand & get his autograph. Literally last night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Migs Posted August 1, 2019 Report Share Posted August 1, 2019 Those who knew him had some wonderful things to say about him. I interviewed the Beer City Bruiser and he couldn't have been more eloquent about the impact Harley Race had on his life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted August 1, 2019 Report Share Posted August 1, 2019 Man, I saw the NWA account and some others tweet some random thank yous to Harley last night and knowing he was in bad shape it was afraid it was in memoriam type thing. I started watching almost exactly at the time he passed the torch to Ric so my only experience watching him growing up was as the King in the WWF and as Vader's manager in WCW. Even that was enough to let me know how awesome he was. Being able to go back and watch him as traveling NWA champ just sealed the deal to me that he was everything you wanted in a world champion. Dude could wrestle, and if shit went down you'd want him on your side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirEdger Posted August 1, 2019 Report Share Posted August 1, 2019 The first I saw from Harley Race was during his King days in WWF in 1987. It's only really later in my life that I truly was able to appreciate the impact Harley Race has had in the business as NWA World Heavyweight Champion. Arguably the toughest champion that walked on God's green earth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted August 1, 2019 Report Share Posted August 1, 2019 Wrestling definitely lost one of the greats today... It's amazing to think he was only 43 when he joined the WWF in 1986. He seemed easily a decade or two older. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted August 1, 2019 Report Share Posted August 1, 2019 It's often overused, but in this case it's really a legend and one of the greatest of all time that goes away. So influential for pushing pro-wrestling toward the modern era too. My favourite stuff from Harley were all his matches against Baba in Japan, just awesome stuff. He had the perfect look for a pro-wrestler in his era too. The stories of his demeanor as a boss, including in Japan of course, are legendary. Yeah, he was one of a kind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Afro Steel Posted August 1, 2019 Report Share Posted August 1, 2019 The entire Dino Bravo/Andre The Giant team from Survivor Series '88 is now dead. I'm too young to have watched even Harley's king stuff, but really became a fan of his selling in that gimmick when I got into the old Coliseum Videos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Posted August 1, 2019 Report Share Posted August 1, 2019 An absolute legend. I’d be hard pressed to think of many others who could go on national tv and expose the business and get away with it. Race had so much respect that he didn’t need to answer to anyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Jackson Posted August 1, 2019 Report Share Posted August 1, 2019 All-time great. One of the more believable wrestlers ever. Total badass. RIP to Greatest Wrestler on God's Green Earth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyonthewall2983 Posted August 2, 2019 Report Share Posted August 2, 2019 I only ever saw him at the tail end of his in-ring on camera career, managing Vader in WCW. He was the very definition of a working manager, because he bumped for pretty much everyone I saw Vader work big matches against during that time. From what I've read and heard in interviews, he was a calming force in Leon's life professionally, and it's no wonder that within the year of which Harley was unceremoniously fired from WCW that they would lose one of the greatest big men of all time. In my mind, Harley could have possibly squelched the heat with Orndorff and the whole trainwreck that was Vader's WWF career could have been avoided. The most eloquent I have ever heard Ric Flair speak was at Harley's induction ceremony to the WWE Hall of Fame in 2004. His love, respect, admiration and gratitude came through and Harley's acceptance is one of the most heartfelt things I've ever heard in my life. He gave every bit of blood, sweat, tears, love, frustration and knowledge he could to the business. What little I have seen of his promos as NWA champion should be shown and studied to guys today, as how to act as the top dog and I'm sure some of the best have certainly done that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peachchaos Posted August 2, 2019 Report Share Posted August 2, 2019 The word credibility immediately comes to mind, which goes beyond even Harley as a worker or a gimmick. Harley Race gave a legendary credibility to professional wrestling, not just as the premier World Champion of a generation but also as an aging midcarder and manager. He made Brisco, Funk, Dusty, and Flair household names by passing the torch and had no problem passing the belt to Baba and Rich. It's easy to say he was too giving as a champion without recognizing how perfectly he did he job. In falling hard on his ass every night and losing the title at every turn he cemented a dynasty. My favorite will always be that barn-burner with Terry Funk from the Houston footage. Or the hour draw with Lawler. Or the Hogan stuff. Or even just him intimidating with a briefcase full of cash and putting the hit out on Flair. Absolute legend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Log Posted August 2, 2019 Report Share Posted August 2, 2019 I didn't appreciate it at the time, but I now consider myself lucky to have seen Harley at the old Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis. It was a WWF show, but still, it was The King on his home turf. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted August 3, 2019 Report Share Posted August 3, 2019 Dee Snider posting memories of talking with Harley while they flew together is not a thing I was expecting to read on Twitter today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodhelmet Posted August 3, 2019 Report Share Posted August 3, 2019 https://twitter.com/deesnider/status/1157122512460767232?s=20 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thread Killer Posted August 3, 2019 Report Share Posted August 3, 2019 This is sad news. My first exposure to Harley Race was during his WWF run in the 80's, and I didn't like him at all. Later I saw him show up in Stampede and the AWA and I still didn't "get him." As I got older and was exposed to more of his work from the NWA and Japan, I really grew to respect, appreciate and actually enjoy his in ring style and aura, and especially how he carried the NWA World Heavyweight Championship during the territory era. He was a badass heel but he didn't mind bumping or stooging for babyfaces, which is a lost art. As sad as his death is, (especially his illness) at least he lived a long life. Harley Race was clearly widely respected by his peers and most importantly he lived his life on his terms, his way. RIP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted August 4, 2019 Report Share Posted August 4, 2019 Sad news. I encourage people to dig out his body of work. He has some phenomenal work buried in there. From memory a lot of the best stuff was from around 1982. I also seem to recall that some of his better matches were when he got to work on top and didn’t have the belt rather than underneath. There’s a thread here somewhere in Microscope in which we reviewed many matches. One of the all timers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted August 4, 2019 Report Share Posted August 4, 2019 Not sure if this is the right place for this, but I don't know where else to put it. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted August 4, 2019 Report Share Posted August 4, 2019 8 hours ago, C.S. said: Not sure if this is the right place for this, but I don't know where else to put it. The more things change, the more they stay the same. "not believable", "they are killing wrestling", "they have no ability anymore", "they take these bumps that mean nothing", "when you act like a clown you look like a clown", "goofy outfit" Corny talking about the Young Bucks or the AEW undercard guys ? Nope. Karl Gotch talking about Harley Race and the crew. It's amazing and awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohtani's jacket Posted August 4, 2019 Report Share Posted August 4, 2019 Well, if Harley Race can die there's no hope for the rest of us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted August 4, 2019 Report Share Posted August 4, 2019 10 hours ago, C.S. said: Not sure if this is the right place for this, but I don't know where else to put it. The more things change, the more they stay the same. <br> Race himself regretted inventing the diving headbutt and asked other wrestlers to stop using it. Too much wrestling on TV killing interest in the product also looks to be the right call in hindsight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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