Harley Race Harley Leland Race ( April 11 , 1943 ) , is a retired American professional wrestler and current 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 ) 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 Zbyszko , 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 ' 1 " 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 ( his first wife died instantly while pregnant - they had been married for little over a month ) put him out of action , with his leg coming close to being amputated . Karras heard about this and went rushing into the hospital and blocked the planned amputation , stating " Over my dead body " ; by doing this , he saved Race ' s leg . Although he recovered , 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 " Mr Perfect " Curt 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 ( which was actually a moniker given to him by fans in Japan ) and " Pretty Boy " Larry Hennig , a cocky heel tag team with a penchant for breaking the rules to win matches . They quickly became top contenders , and in January 1965 , they defeated Dick the Bruiser and The Crusher to capture the AWA World Tag Team Championship . Race and Hennig continued to feud with the Bruiser and Crusher and other top teams for the next several years , amassing four 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 . Race returned to the AWA in 1984 to wrestle Curt Hennig . The confrontation was fueled by Larry Hennig confronting his former tag team partner at the end of the match . Race would also wrestle former AWA World Champion Rick Martel at part of WrestleRock ' 86 . Toward the end of his in - ring career , he would challenge Larry Zbyszko for the AWA World title in October 1990 in the main event of an AWA broadcast on ESPN . However , all of these matches were basically just special appearances . NWA singles career . Race jumped from territory to territory in the early 1970s , renewing his rivalry with Terry Funk in Amarillo and winning a regional title . He was seen as a gifted territorial wrestler , 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 . 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 NWA 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 . Race finally got his wish in 1977 , facing familiar rival Terry Funk , who had become the champion since their previous encounters , in Toronto , Ontario , Canada . Race won the title by submission with the Indian Deathlock , a rarely used submission move but one that put great pressure on Funk ' s injured leg . The NWA World Champion once again , Race this time established his dominance , defending the title up to six times a week and holding it for four years ( excluding extremely short reigns by Tommy Rich , Dusty Rhodes , and Giant Baba ) . At the time , the NWA , AWA and WWF were on good terms , and Race engaged in title vs . title matches with WWF Champions " Superstar " Billy Graham and Bob Backlund , as well as AWA World Champion Nick Bockwinkel . Race toured extensively all over the country and the world , including many stints in Japan , where he was already well - known from his visits with Larry Hennig . Race lost the title to Dusty Rhodes in 1981 , and despite many attempts , could not regain it from the popular fan favorite . Rhodes lost the title to up - and - coming star Ric Flair , though , and Race was able to defeat Flair in St . Louis in 1983 for his seventh reign as champion , breaking the record previously held by Lou Thesz . What followed was one of the classic angles of the 80s , which led to the first - ever NWA Starrcade event . Determined not to lose the title again , Race offered a $ 25 , 000 bounty to anyone who could eliminate Flair from the NWA . Bob Orton , Jr . and Dick Slater attacked Flair , inflicting what appeared to be a career - ending neck injury , and collecting the bounty from Race after Flair announced his retirement . However , Flair ' s retirement was a ruse , and he eventually returned to action , much to Race ' s surprise . NWA officials set up a championship rematch , to be titled " NWA Starrcade : A Flair for the Gold " . The match was to be held in Flair ' s backyard , Greensboro , North Carolina , which enraged Race . Race lost the title to Flair in the bloody and memorable Starrcade cage match ( with Gene Kiniski as the special referee ) in November , 1983 . He would regain the NWA title for a short two - day reign in New Zealand in 1984 ( a change not recognized by the NWA in the US until 1996 , making Race an eight - time champion ) , but his loss to Flair at Starrcade was largely seen as the torch - passing from Race to Flair , who would go on to an unparalleled 20 reigns as World Heavyweight Champion ( 10 of those reigns as NWA World champion ) and largely credits Race for igniting his legendary career . Earlier in his career , Race became involved in the ownership side of wrestling , buying a portion of the Kansas City and later St . Louis territories . St . Louis was a stronghold of the NWA , and around this time in 1984 , WWF owner Vincent K . McMahon began his invasion of NWA territories , including St . Louis , in his ambition to build a truly national wrestling promotion . Race was enraged , famously confronting Hulk Hogan at a WWF event in Kansas City . Race lost over $ 500 , 000 as an owner of the Kansas City territory , and despite his championship years being at an end and wishing to retire from active competition , was forced to rely on continuing to wrestle to make a living . He continued to travel in the US and abroad , and signed with McMahon ' s WWF in 1986 . WWF career . Race entered the WWF managed by longtime friend Bobby " The Brain " Heenan , bleaching his hair blond and billing himself again as " Handsome " Harley Race . During a time when promotions did not recognize the existence of other promotions and the accomplishments a wrestler made there , WWF officials came up with a solution to recognize his wrestling pedigree by renaming the " WWF Wrestling Classic " to the " King of the Ring " tournament and making Race the eventual winner . After winning the 1986 " King of the Ring " tournament , however , he referred to himself as " King " Harley Race , coming to the ring in a royal crown and cape , to the ceremonial accompaniment of the classical music piece Great Gates of Kiev by Modest Mussorgsky . After winning a match , Harley would make his defeated opponent " bow and kneel " before him . Usually Bobby Heenan would assist the defeated opponent to " bow and kneel " by grabbing their hair and forcing them to bow before King Harley Race . He participated in a notable feud with the Junkyard Dog , culminating in a match at " WrestleMania III " at the Pontiac Silverdome . He would spend 1987 feuding with Hulk Hogan and Hacksaw Jim Duggan , the latter of which highlighted by an extended brawl at the 1987 Slammy Awards . In early 1988 , he suffered an abdominal injury in a match against Hogan in which he tried to hit Hogan , prone on a table at ringside , with a swandive headbutt . Hogan moved out of the way and Race impacted the table inwards . The metal edge forced its way up into Race ' s abdomen giving him a hernia . Following this incident and during his recovery , the WWF ran an angle where they claimed Race had died and would show vignettes of him looking down from heaven . He left the WWF in early 1989 , following a brief comeback from hernia surgery and a failed attempt to regain his crown from the new " king , " Haku , at the " Royal Rumble " ) . While Race never won the WWF Championship ( at the time dominated by Hulk Hogan ) , his career was notable enough to earn him an induction into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2004 . He continued to wrestle until the Spring of 1991 , most notably with WWC in Puerto Rico , the NWA , and the AWA . After retiring from competition , Race joined the NWA ( WCW ) in July 1991 as an adviser / manager to Lex Luger . WCW career . Race excelled as a manager as he had as a wrestler , immediately leading Lex Luger to the WCW World Championship . Later , he led Vader to win the title as well . During his managership of Vader , Race met with racial controversy when Vader was feuding with WCW wrestler Ron Simmons when saying during a promo , " When I was World Champion , I had a boy like you to carry my bags ! " This was actually part of the booking strategy of then - WCW head Bill Watts to build support for Simmons , who he would eventually make champion . The wily veteran was popular among the young WCW talent , and developed close friendships with Mick Foley and Steve Austin , among others . However , as his early wrestling career had been nearly derailed due to a car accident , another car accident forced Race out of the wrestling business altogether . Race required hip replacement surgery , which , along with injuries accumulated after years in the ring , prevented him from even being a manager . In October 1999 he introduced Bret Hart and Chris Benoit to the ring for their tribute match for Owen Hart . Retirement and World League Wrestling . Race spent several years away from the business , working briefly as a process server before retiring with his wife in small - town Missouri . In 1998 another individual named Harley Race committed suicide . The news led to reports on Internet wrestling sites that Race the wrestler had taken his own life . In 1999 he started " World League Wrestling " ( Originally called World Legion Wrestling , but changed a year later ) , an independent promotion which runs shows near Race ' s hometown of Eldon , Missouri and other cities in Missouri including Kansas City . A year later , he started " Harley Race ' s Wrestling Academy " , which seeks to train up - and - coming wrestlers who will benefit from Race ' s unique experience and perspective on the wrestling business . Race ' s events are family oriented , and usually raise funds for local charities . As well as featuring his students , legends like Mick Foley , Terry Funk , Bret Hart , and even Mitsuharu Misawa make guest appearances . WLW has a working agreement with Misawa ' s Japanese promotion , Pro Wrestling NOAH and have NOAH star Takeshi Morishima as a former heavyweight champion . He is credited with training former WWE world tag team champion Trevor Murdoch who was then known as Trevor Rhodes . Harley is also famous for his barbeques , to which he invites current and former wrestlers and friends . He and his wife , BJ , live in Eldon , Missouri . Harley ' s autobiography , " King of the Ring : the Harley Race Story " ( ISBN 1 - 58261 - 818 - 6 ) , became available in 2004 . Also in 2004 , Harley Race was recruited to be a part of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as a member of their NWA Championship Committee . Despite reportedly being an authority figure as a member of the committee , he never made any official decisions and only made the occasional on - screen appearance for the company . Harley Race has said in numerous interviews that he thinks he has what it takes to have at least one more career match , but doubts he ' ll ever return to the ring . Along with Ricky Steamboat and Les Thatcher , Race is author of " The Professional Wrestler ' s Workout and Instructional Guide " . Race appeared at TNA Lockdown on April 15 , 2007 at the Family Arena in Saint Charles , Missouri and was the " special ringside enforcer " for the Team Angle VS Team Cage main event . WWE appearances . Race made a one - time only return to the now renamed WWE shortly after being inducted into their Hall of Fame . On an episode of RAW , Randy Orton confronted Race and spit in his face , to go with Randy ' s " Legend Killer " persona . Race returned again for RAW ' s " WWE Homecoming " episode , marking the show ' s return to the USA Network . Race , along with the other legends who were in the ring , gave Rob Conway a lesson in respect . At the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony on March 31 , 2007 , Race and Dusty Rhodes were " inducted " into the Four Horsemen by Ric Flair and Arn Anderson .