Athletes - Harley Race

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	Athletes - Harley Race

Harley Leland Race (born April 11, 1943 in Quitman, Missouri), is an American professional wrestler and promoter. During his career as a wrestler, he amassed eight National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) World Heavyweight Championship reigns at a time when wrestlers rarely repeated as champion, and worked for all of the major wrestling promotions, including the NWA, the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), and World Championship Wrestling (WCW). His ring skill, legitimate toughness, and classic matches with the icons of professional wrestling make him a legend in the business.

Career

Early career

Race was an early fan of pro wrestling, watching programming from the nearby Chicago territory on the DuMont Network. He began training as a pro wrestler as a teen under former world champions Stanislaus and Wladek Zbysko, who operated a farm in his native Missouri. At age 15, while in high school, an altercation with another classmate led to the principal kneeing Race in the back of the head as he tried to break up the fight. Enraged, Race attacked him, resulting in his expulsion. Already 6'2" and 225 pounds, Race decided to get his start in pro wrestling.

Race was recruited by St. Joseph wrestling promoter Gust Karras, who hired Race to do odd jobs for his promotion. Eventually, Race started wrestling on some of his shows, and some of Karras' veteran wrestlers helped further Race's training. At the age of 18, he moved to Nashville and began wrestling under the alias of "Jack Long", forming a tag team with "brother" John Long. The duo quickly captured the Southern Tag Team Championship. Race was seen as a rising star in the business with a bright future, until a car accident left him temporarily paralyzed. Although he recovered from his paralysis, doctors told him that he might never walk again, and his wrestling career was over. Undaunted, Race endured grueling physical therapy for several months and made a full recovery. He returned to the ring in 1964, wrestling for the Funks' Amarillo, Texas territory. This time, he wrestled under his own name, after his father told him that he shouldn't work to make anyone else's name famous. Race never used a different ring name again.

In Amarillo, Race met fellow up-and-coming wrestler Larry Hennig (later Larry "The Axe" Hennig and father of Curt "Mr. Perfect" Hennig). The two formed a tag team and moved to the American Wrestling Association.

AWA career

In the AWA, Race and Hennig branded themselves as "Handsome" Harley Race and "Pretty Boy" Larry Hennig, a cocky heel tag team with a penchant for breaking the rules to win matches. They quickly become top contenders, and in January, 1965, they defeated the legendary tandem of Dick the Bruiser and The Crusher to capture the AWA Tag Team Championship. Race and Hennig continued to feud with the Bruiser and Crusher and other top teams for the next several years, amassing five title reigns. Verne Gagne, in particular, was a hated rival of the team, and recruited many different partners to try to defeat Race and Hennig during their AWA run.

Despite his tag team success, Race left the AWA after several years at the top of the division to pursue a singles career in the NWA. Although he would return at WrestleRock 86' (against Rick Martel) and challenge Larry Zbyszko for the AWA World title in October of 1990 in the main event of an AWA broadcast on ESPN.

NWA singles career

Race jumped from territory to territory in the early 70's, renewing his rivalry with Terry Funk in Amarillo and winning a regional title. He was seen as a gifted territorial wrester, not quite ready for the worldwide spotlight, until 1973.

In 1973, Race faced NWA World Heavyweight Champion Dory Funk, Jr. in Kansas City, Missouri. Race emerged from the battle as the new World Champion in a stunning upset, a match Race considers the best of his career. Though Race held the title for only a few months, losing it to Jack Brisco in Houston, Texas in July, he became a worldwide superstar and perennial championship contender.

Race was determined to eventually regain the World Championship, often moving between territories and collecting several regional titles, including eight Central States Titles, seven Missouri Titles, the Georgia Heavyweight Championship, the Stampede North American Title in Canada, the Japan-based NWA United National and PWF Titles, and becoming the first-ever holder of the Mid-Atlantic U.S. Title, still defended today as the WWE United States Championship. This kept Race in contention for the World Championship, and Race vowed that he would only need one chance against the champion to regain it.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Harley Race ]

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Athletes - Harley Race

Career

Early career

AWA career

NWA singles career

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