The legendary Harley Race has passed away at the age of 76.
Having wrestled in four different decades, Race wrestled for several major companies throughout the world from WCW, WWF/E, NWA, AWA, All Japan Pro Wrestling and more. Race had been previously hospitalized for a couple of weeks. The NWA tweeted out the news confirming his passing.
Today the world lost one of the toughest men ever to walk God's green earth.
— NWA (@nwa) August 1, 2019
RIP Harley Race!
8X NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion.
The entire sport of professional wrestling and the National Wrestling Alliance sends its deepest condolences to the family and friends of Harley. pic.twitter.com/rEiHknbYn1
Today at 12:50, we lost the man that fought up until the very last of his existence. More information will be released soon, but just know that he loved pro-wrestling and the fans that loved him.
— Harley Race (@8XNWAChampion) August 1, 2019
Harley Race, we love you
Born in 1943, Race made his wrestling debut as a teenager and within a few years, started teaming up with Larry Hennig in the AWA, winning multiple tag team titles together in the company. Among the list of accomplishments and titles Harley won were the NWA Mid-America Heavyweight title twice and the NWA World Heavyweight Championship eight times.
Race would also wrestle for WCW in the early 1990s and retired as a wrestler early into his run with the company but continued to work there as a manager, helping Lex Luger win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.
Race competed in WWF throughout the 1980s and his time there was best highlighted by winning the second-ever King of the Ring tournament in 1986, beating Pedro Morales in the finals. Race was eventually inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2004 and would go on to make sporadic appearances and cameos on WWE television throughout the years after retiring.
Fightful extends our condolences to the family, friends and fans of Race.
