Harley Race

[JerryvonKramer]

I haven't got to it yet but everyone talks up the 8/31/83 match from Kansas.

 

I had to take a break from Harley for a while, he was doing my head in (see above). He is like the total underneath NWA champ, if you think Flair worked weak sometimes, you ain't seen nothing until you see late 70s Harley. I don't actually get how the fans could think he was a tough guy when he got his ass kicked so much.

[Karl]

Harley is a massive blind spot for me - going to check out the primary matches and see how it goes. I suspect the concept of Harley may be greater than the reality.

[JerryvonKramer]

He threw a shit load of suplex variations, so there is that I suppose.

 

I'm looking forward to getting to the 81-3 period to see how he worked when he didn't have the belt. I'm also hoping that the matches are more complete from that period. His bouts against Terry Funk and Ted DiBiase from 78-9, while clipped, did look great. And I can see he has another DiBiase match coming up in 81 (I assume this will be clipping from The Omni, looks like a GCW run), one vs. Martel in 80, one vs. Steamer in 82, Kerry von Eric in 82, tag with Slater vs. The Funks, more matches with Baba and Jumbo (think I've seen at least 3 of those already on 80s AJ set?), random match vs. Curt Hennig in 84. If there's isn't something good in that lot, I'll be disappointed.

[PhilTLL]

The 8/31/83 MACW match is worlds better than Starrcade and has great extra-curriculars.

[BlueGuy]

Regarding Flair vs. Race on 7/19/84, what promotion was that in?

[Karl]

Just finished watching the 19/07/84 match, which was a lot of fun with Harley being the guy on top for the most part, dishing out a fair beating on Flair. Was building very nicely until then end.....

 

A pleasant surprise given my only real Flair v Harley experience prior was the Starrcade match.

 

The match was from Kansas.

[BlueGuy]

So is this July 19, 1984 Race/Flair match the one with Bob Brown or Missing Link?

[Karl]

Missing link does the run in.

[BlueGuy]

Thanks. For some reason, I thought that match was on March 8, 1984.

[Karl]

This is the end of the match in question, but I see a lot of notes relating to 08/03/84 and the Missing Link...of course it not out of the realm of possibilities that they did the same deal in a number of places. Im only going by the match list which states 16/07/84.

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0t6JNb14hCg

[BlueGuy]

Thanks for the link. That's the same one I thought was from March. To add to the confusion, according to the link below, it's most likely July 19, 1984.

midatlanticgateway.com/resourcecenter/results/pages/results_flair.htm

[Strand Peanut]

That match is from the Central States promotion. I'm fairly certain it's 7/19/1984. Harley has a match with Link on the return show.

 

There's always been a little confusion over this. There are two Kansas City's, and the distinction isn't always made.

 

That footage is from Kansas City, KS. The 3/8/84 match is from Kansas City, MO. Don't think there's footage for that.

[BlueGuy]

That makes sense. I obviously had it wrong. Back on topic, my favorite Race match was the August 31, 1983 match against Flair that appears on the Definitive Ric Flair Collection WWE DVD set.

[JerryvonKramer]

Harley Race vs. Abdullah The Butcher (11/8/79)

 

This is from All Japan. Race has really cheesy keyboard music. World title match. Double juice early. Fairly listless action, which includes Race giving Abdullah a vertical suplex at one point, until they exchange chairshots on the outside for a double countout and brawl through the crowd. The brawl is about as long as the match, if not longer. Felt contrived and tame to me though, and lacking in genuine emotion or heat.

 

Your standard Abby fare. I feel matches like this devalue with NWA title.

 

**

 

Harley Race vs. Dusty Rhodes (12/17/79)

 

This is from WWF, MSG. Howard Finkel on the house mic. Dick Krohl is your referee. We reviewed this match all the way back on Titans of Wrestling #8. Both guys are more over than I seem to recall, but Dusty is nowhere near as over as, say, Bruno or Andre are at MSG.

 

Dusty had won the title briefly in August of 1979 in Tampa where he had a five-day reign before dropping it back to Race. Such hotshotting devalues the NWA title in my opinion. Not long after this, Race traded it back and forth with Baba twice too. That's why he's an eight-time champion rather than a three-time champion.

 

Dusty mostly works this match on top. Race takes a big bump to the outside and a big piledriver. Comes back with headbutts. Suplex. Diving headbutt from the second rope! Knee drop! Dusty is pretty good at garnering sympathy.

 

Was pretty funny to hear Superstar Graham freak out so much recently when Vince Sr asked him and Dusty to teach "the kid" [backlund] how to have charisma. Graham isn't bitter or anything. Ha ha.

 

Stardust comes back with the bionic elbows but he's got colour. Ref is checking him. Rhodes takes a tumble to the outside. Holy Starrcade 84, the referee has stopped the match!

 

This was decent for what it was. MASSIVE "bull shit bull shit" chant breaks out around MSG.

 

***

 

Some nerd is probably going to go back and listen to Titans #8 and be like "Hey, Parv, YOU gave that match ***1/2 back then!", well maybe I did, maybe I threw out **1/2. Whatever, it's in that ballpark.

 

Harley Race vs. Rick Martel (1/12/80)

 

Don Owen is on the mic, so this has to be Portland -- has anyone ever remarked that he went to the exact same tailor as Paul Boesch? Those two wore exactly the same suit! Let me just pause here to point out that in less then three months we've seen Race defend the title in Japan, New York and Pacific Northwest. He was the definition of a travelling champ, and -- regardless of what you might think of him as a worker -- this is why he has such maximum respect in the business.

 

Race is booed pretty hard and Martel, who is announced from "Paris, France", is cheered especially by the girls (and me). Commentator starts going on about how the belt is "technically in abeyance" once the match starts. I assume this is Owen himself on commentary? Sandy Barr is the ref and he's wearing an appalling 70s polo shirt. Unacceptable attire for a ref!

 

Bodyslam by Martel. Arm drag and a beauty! Arm wrenches and Martel really tugs on that arm, shades of Jack Brisco. He lifts Race up by the arm and dumps him back down. Great limbwork.

 

Someone on the tannoy system announces: "Billy Wolf, you're wanted on the fifth floor" Ha ha.

 

Terrific armdrag by Martel and back into an armbar, which Owen calls a "wing lock". Race up to a vertical base. Goes for a gutwrench, can't hit because Martel blocks and hits a gutwrench instead. BEAUTIFUL arm drag by Martel, that was class. Into a "row row" arm wrench now. Don Owen's commentary style is ... laconic. Martel is rowing the boat with more vigour and tenacity and charisma than you'd ever see out of Howdy Doody.

 

Up into an arm bar now. Finally Race hits a running knee lift. Goes to the top rope. Martel slams him off. Chinlock now and Martel cranks it wildly.

 

This has been 100% Martel on offense so far, similar to the Race matches vs. Backlund and Steamboat. However, this has been much more enjoyable than both because Martel is so good at working holds and because he execution is so crisp. Race's selling is ok. His bumping, however, is of course exceptional. Race manages to get a suplex in for the first fall though. 1-0 to the champ. The fall came "completely against the run of play" as we'd say in soccer lingo. Well that's why he's the champ.

 

Second fall and Martel goes straight into an abdominal stretch. Martel pounds on Race's back. Piledriver! Cover gets two, but Race gets a foot on the ropes. Martel has kicked the shit out of him here! Race begs off. Forearm smash. Elbow smash. Massive punch. Race is like one of those punchbag clowns with the weighted bottom, just swaying all over the place as Martel lays into him. Backbreaker by Martel. Gets two. Race goes for a suplex but Martel slips behind for a sleeper. Race seems to be going out here. Yes, arm goes down three times for 1-1.

 

Jesus Christ, Martel just DESTROYED Race in the second fall. The ref wants Martel to bring Race around but the fans object. Good bit of business that.

 

Third fall and Martel goes right back to the sleeper. Action goes outside. Race goes for a piledriver, but Martel reverses it. Huge slam from the outside to inside by Martel. Everything he's done in this match has looked great. Misses an elbow. Race goes for a falling headbutt but misses. Swinging punches by Martel now. Lateral press gets two. Gut punch by Race. Suplex by Race. Rare bit of offense for the champ. Sleeper by Martel again!

 

Sandy Barr goes over to break it up ... the bell has gone for a time limit draw.

 

Wow, well first of all, you know how much I despise this narrative. There's showing ass, there's making the champ look beatable, and then there's ... making the champ look like a complete fucking bitch. Harley took it to ridiculous extremes. On the one hand, anyone who saw this match live or air on TV would have come away legit beliving that Rick Martel was a world class wrestler, and boy does Race make him look like a million bucks here. But on the other, I'm sure there would have been some fans thinking "well why is THAT guy the champ? He can't string two moves together". There's being weak and then there's having almost zero offense.

 

Despite all of that, I enjoyed this match a fair bit more than either the Steamboat or Backlund variants of this, and that was because -- to put it bluntly -- Martel was just a much more engaging and dynamic and energetic worker when he was on top that either guy. And this match played to a lot of his strengths. Race is probably one of the most unselfish workers in history by my reckoning -- in my view to the detriment of himself and of the belt. But if he's in there with someone like Martel, it can make for a very watchable and entertaining match. I could see some people who have less of a problem with the narrative and less of a problem with a babyface eating up 95%+ of all offense going higher. For me, it puts a cap on the highest possible rating. You're looking at -*1/4 almost autmatically just for that structure, so this is the highest possible rating a match like this can get from me, which is a testament to how GREAT Martel was in 1980. Anyone who thinks Flair worked too weak as champ needs to see some of this shit.

 

***3/4

 

Harley Race vs. Sivi Afi (5/80)

 

This is some obscure shit right here folks. I think this is from New Zealand. The ring has "On the Mat" written on the apron, which confirms that. If Wiki is to be believed, the commentators are Ernie Leonard and Steve Rickard. Afi is a lightweight sort of guy. Hiptoss from him. Bodyslam. This is in a cavernous-looking studio arena. Afi works a headlock until Race nails a back suplex. Knee drop. And another one. Fairplay, his knee drops are legit great. Butterfly suplex! Cover gets two.

 

Irish whip. Afi goes for a dropkick. Race evades and Afi lands on his ass. I've just realised something ... this match was clearly for TV. Race works strong as fuck on TV. Then at an arena show, he'll work much weaker. I guess it makes sense.

 

Great knee drop from Race. Vertical suplex. And a beauty. 1, 2, 3. Afi was meant to be quite a big star in New Zealand from what I've read, this wasn't a jobber match.

 

If this match was intended to say "look at how fucking amazing the world champ is, look at how high the standards of the NWA are", it did its job. I enjoyed it for what it was.

 

***

[goc]

Some nerd is probably going to go back and listen to Titans #8 and be like "Hey, Parv, YOU gave that match ***1/2 back then!", well maybe I did, maybe I threw out **1/2. Whatever, it's in that ballpark.

 

This coming from the same guy who blew off a date to record that podcast

 

I like listening to Harley commentate on videos of his matches more than I actually like watching Harley matches. I have the same Harley comp you do (I think) and I tried to watch some but I just can't get into him. He's probably someone who is HURT by availability of footage because back when he was wrestling you wouldn't see so much of him that it exposed how often he did the same stuff.

[JerryvonKramer]

I'm inclined to agree goc, if I see that piledriver into a backdrop on the outside spot one more time, I might start shouting out of the window.

 

He does do some things well. His knee drops are sick. His suplex variations are all well executed. And he's a bump machine. But the more you see, the more you see how he went to the same things time and again. That's true of every wrestler, but especially with Harley, even down to the way he puts a foot on the rope and how he times it. I'd like him more if he took more offense in his matches. I don't see the logic in working AS weak as he did.

 

Incidentally, the next two matches on this set I'm not going to watch because I reviewed them already during 80s AJ viewing:

 

Giant Baba vs. Harley Race (9/4/80)

Giant Baba vs. Harley Race (9/10/80)

 

Both at ***

[goc]

I actually did see both of those Baba matches when I was trying to watch 80s All Japan and enjoyed them quite a bit. I thought Baba & Race worked well together.

[JerryvonKramer]

I gave their match from 10/31/79 ****1/2 and that remains the best Race match I've seen so far.

 

Based on his NWA title matches alone, Baba has a good case to be worker of the 70s.

[Tim Cooke]

10/31/79 has the great neckbreaker drop finish with the big pop for the title change, right?

[Matt D]

Meant to reply tot his the other day but saw it on the bus.

 

I could be wrong but I'm almost certain that Portland used Race vs Martel (and they ran it a couple of times in that week or two span) as a way to build Martel up as one of the big babyfaces for 1980. That was his introduction to the territory and it was an extremely successful one because they'd do great business all year with Martel and Piper as the lead faces. They also had other gimmicks like claiming Martel demanded they lower ticket prices for kids to get him over.

 

Usually the travelling champ comes in to make the established face or heel look good. I'm not sure of many other times where he came in to establish a brand new one who just had come in to the territory, something that'd be especially useful in a territory like Portland which was a little bit smaller and further outside the center. Are there other examples of this?

[JerryvonKramer]

Harley Race vs. Mil Mascaras (9/12/80)

 

PWI dream match, NWA Champion against Mascars in Japan? Forget about it, Bill Apter just came. Mil is in an elaborate leopard-skin mask and cape. This is All Japan Odds of Harley doing 99% of the selling: 99%. Odds of Mil eating a pin: 0%.

 

Some surprising things about this match:

 

- Harley hits at least 10 moves of offense, incuding three vertical suplexes (one outside ring), a piledriver and a back suplex and Mil actually sold them

- Mascaras does a crossbody from the top to the outside

- Things break out into a brawl, including Mascaras burying a chair on Harley's head

- Harley juices

- A table finds its way to the ring and is propped up on the ropes

- It doesn't suck

 

Less surprising:

 

Double CO finish. About as good as any Mascaras match I've ever seen. He worked hard and for once didn't bore me to tears.

 

***1/2

 

Harley Race vs. Bob Backlund (9/22/80)

 

8mm silent footage of this fucking travesty of a match, reviewed here: http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/19300-bob-backlund/?p=5579632

 

Harley Race & Larry Hennig vs. The Sheik & Mark Lewin. (12/11/80)

 

Rare opportunity to see a legendary tagteam here, Hennig and Race were a big deal in the 60s and I believe no footage of their run exists at all. Here they are reunited for the RWTL. Sheik and Lewin have colour seemingly within seconds. I don't know if they even came to the ring already bleeding.

 

Sheik beats on Race basically openly with his pencil.

 

The bell goes before long in what is an abortion of a match. I don't even know what the call was, DQ win for Race / Hennig I think.

 

*1/2

 

Harley Race & Ole Anderson vs. Dusty Rhodes & Tony Atlas (1/16/81)

 

JIP. Seems like GCW with Solie on commentary. Race gets pinned by Atlas. Just a little clip, but we do get a promo from Race, and he wants Atlas in the ring.

 

Later in the same ep Race does a run-in on Idol vs. Mr Wrestling II with Atlas making the save. Formulaic Ole booking.

 

Another Harley promo now.

 

Clip to Idol vs. Rich this time. Race walks out again. This looks like a dress rehearsal for his WCW days. Same Gene-Hackman-in-Superman suit. He accidentally hits Idol allowing Rich the pin to win the TV title. Post-match we get a heel beatdown, figure-four by Idol as Race lays in knee drops. Tony Atlas once again comes in to make the save, but Race wards him off as well as other babyfaces.

 

Rich's knee looks badly injured. Another interview with Race now, Solie with the mic. Race claims he did everyone a favour putting Rich out. A second interview now. Solie says he respects the World title but is disappointed in Race. Harley says he doesn't care as long as he gets done what needs to be done. Rich needed a lesson.

 

Harley Race vs. Tommy Rich (4/27/81)

 

Clip of this Omni match now with Rich commentating on it with Solie. Historic moments as Rich wins the world title with a Thesz press. Match before it looked good with Race giving Rich some of his typical highspots (piledriver, neckbreaker, suplex etc.) before the counter and pinfall.

 

Nice little angle all that. It was weird on the Rich commentary that he'd already lost the title even as he was celebrating it.

 

Harley Race & The French Angel vs. Ted DiBiase & Tommy Rich (5/81)

 

Well here's a Ted match I've never seen or heard of. This ring looks exceptionally small. I don't believe that this is THE French Angel (Maurice Tillet) but he is an ugly bald dude. DiBiase and Rich are a bit of a babyface dreamteam for 1981. Race bumps around for both faces before nailing Rich with a gutwrench suplex. Snapmare. Kneedrop. Actually, I think that is the "real" French Angel, he's certainly weird-looking enough. (confirmation from any of the historians would be good)

 

DiBiase in and he works with the same intensity as he did in 1979 WWF, but loses advantage and the heels take over. Race back in. Running knee. Awesome butterfly suplex by Race. Big backdrop by DiBiase and thee high elbow drops. And another one. Reverses a suplex that Race tries. All four men in. Thesz press by Rich on Race, and he pins the champion.

 

This was a very fun little sprint. Race looked awesome here with good workers like Rich and DiBiase selling his high-end offense.

 

***

 

Harley Race vs. Tony Atlas (2/8/81)

 

Random little clip back to this match from earlier in the year. Atlas commentating with Solie over Omni footage. This was a street fight. Can't really see a lot.

 

Harley Race vs. Spike Huber (5/20/81)

 

I think this is St. Louis because Larry Matysik is on commentary. He mentions that Race invoked his automatic rematch clause with Rich which is why he won the title back 3 days later. But apparently Sam Muchnick has point blank refused to let this clause stand when Race faces Missouri State Champion Ted DiBiase for the title in a few weeks. I love this Jack Tunney shit. Muchnick thinks that the 3-4-day clause is ridiculous and that a new champion should have more time to settle in before the rematch. I think it's an interesting wrinkle that all of the title drops in 81 were explained in-storyline by this clause. Wonderfully logical.

 

Matysik says "DiBiASS" like Watts. He also runs down every single NWA champion going back to the 1930s while Huber works a headlock. Race misses a dropkick. Bodyslam by Huber. Very competitive jobber here. Continues to work a headlock. Apparently Huber was Dick the Bruiser's son-in-law, and seems to be getting a push here. Race breaks the momentum with a headbutt. But Huber reverses a piledriver into a backdrop. Headlock takeover by Huber: he hasn't looked bad, but then Race has been making him look good. Headbutt in the bread basket by Race. Snapmare. Kneedrop. Swinging neckbreaker. Kneedrop. Dumps him outside. Misses a headbutt on the concrete. Back in and Huber gets a one count. Race hits a piledriver for three.

 

Really spirited performance from Huber and Race basically put in the "Flair vs. Sam Houston" performance. Very good.

 

***1/2

 

Harley Race vs. Ron Sexton (5/27/81)

 

Still in St. Louis. Matysik runs through the hypothetical scenario that if DiBiase beats Race for the world title then the Missouri title would be vacated and Sam Muchnick would probably run a tournament for it. I actually think that people would like Larry Matysik as an announcer if he was around now, even if his voice is a bit annoying. Race dominates Sexton in the early going but eats a post to allow Sexton some time on top. Matysik talks up how hard Race's journey up to the top of the business has been, he puts over his first five years. I have to say, Matysik sells the dream of the NWA and the importance of the champion as well as any commentator I've ever heard. Race runs through all his signature spots including a delayed vertical suplex.

 

Race is fun working squashes.

 

**

 

Harley Race & JJ Dillon vs. Ted DiBiase & Spike Huber (6/5/81)

 

We have a match JIP with DiBiase giving "Benny Romeo", Dillon's partner, the figure four to take the first fall. Romeo is injured ... and I think I know what's coming. Bobby Jaggers comes out to check on Romeo's knee. Dillon continues 2 vs 1 against the faces. DiBiase starts beating on Dillon. Huber in with a bodyslam. Of course, Harley Race comes down and offers to be Dillon's partner. The refs don't want Race there. Sam Muchnick comes down to ringside. He's not happy about this. But Race reasons "why should Dillon have to fight alone?" And Muchnick, a fair and wise old man, agrees. And so Race takes the spot. St. Louis was a place where basically everything made sense. Dillon tags him in, but then accidentally knocks Race out of the ring. DiBiase gets Dillon in the figurefour, but Race gets on the top rope and comes down with a headbutt for which he's DQ'd. DiBiase goes after Race now and we get a bit of post-match action. Race is bleeding. DiBiase keeps attacking. Posts him. Slams his head into the announce table which topples over. Refs and Huber restrain Ted. He's riled up. I don't think Ted is as bland as a babyface as we often think. At least not in terms of his fire.

 

More of an angle than a match really, but fun to watch.

 

**

 

Harley Race vs. Ted DiBiase (6/12/81)

 

Matysik talking over arena footage. This is in the first fall. Race hits a tombstone piledriver (!!!) for the first fall. DiBiase with a shinbreaker and the figure four for the second fall. Ted keeps attacking the leg in the third. Spinning toehold. Cool backbreaker by Race. Ref bump. Slugfest now. But Race throws Ted over the top for a DQ which a second ref sees. DiBiase hits a back suplex into a bridge for the pin, but this is a Dusty finish. Ted shakes hands with the ref who denied him the world title, just to show what a nice guy he is.

 

Too clipped for a rating, but just as the late 70s bouts, it looks like Race and DiBiase had great chemistry.

 

Harley Race vs. Dusty Rhodes (6/21/81)

 

Solie on commentary here. I think this is GCW rather than Florida. Race is working a sequence on top from where we join. Headbutt from the top. Piledriber. Dusty comes back with jabs. Reverses a suplex. Elbow drop. Fliying crossbody by Dusty from the top. And ... yes, he's won the world title!! Race has lost it yet again. Jim Crockett is there to present him with the belt. Dusty is carried to the back on the shoulders of jobbers.

 

-------

 

This was a good batch for Race. Came out of it thinking more of him. He didn't work as weak in a lot of these matches, and he really was the top bomb-thrower of his day.

[Ricky Jackson]

This is the French Angel from the footage

http://www.cagematch.net/?id=2&nr=6269&page=20

[shoe]

Do you plan on reviewing his hour draw with Lawler?

[JerryvonKramer]

Yeah it's randomly on disc 13.

[JerryvonKramer]

Harley Race vs. David Von Erich (11/81)

Race had already lost the title at this point. This is from St. Louis and within seconds Larry Matysik is blowing smoke up Sam Muchnick's ass.

David spends at least the first six or seven minutes of this applying a headlock. Incredibly boring babyface control segment. Brief respite after Race hits a headbutt but then David goes right back to it. Dull dull dull.

Race hits a crossbody. Various headbutts. Tombstone and even that doesn't put the youngster away! Piledriver. But David slams him off the top. Elbow drop by him. Misses a second. Gut wrench suplex by Race. Misses an elbow. Action goes outside. Race slams David's head into the announce table. Goes for a suplex back in, David counters. Inside cradle. No. David hits a piledriver. Race gets a foot to the ropes. Claw! Race comes back. Suplex. Misses the diving headbutt. Claw from the top rope by David. Race throws the ref down. Action goes outside and Race hits a delayed vertical suplex on the floor. Race goes up top to hit something and Kerry von Erich makes a run in.

This match went 20 minutes and the first half really dragged. David von Erich sucked hard in this, I find it hard to get behind a guy who looks that goofy, but his offense was really boring. Match was a lot better when Race was on top, but they were working that thing where David almost had an answer for everything which is not a favourite narrative of mine and something we see all too often in Race matches. Finishing stretch was quite hot and it has set up nicely and logically for a bout with Kerry now. But David brought this down a lot.

**1/2

Harley Race & Greg Valentine vs. David Von Erich & Rufus R. Jones (JIP – 1/1/82)

Just a clip of the finish really. Rufus looked old and fat here. Greg hits a sweet clothesline at one point.

Harley Race vs. Ric Flair (2/28/82)

This has Japanese commentary even though it looks like it happened on US soil -- looking it up, yes, at The Omni. Flair is champ. Will be interesting to see who works on top more here.

Race controls early, Flair takes over, then Race has another spell on top. Double juice. Cool sequence where Race blocks Flair's knee drop and quickly goes over into a variant of the Indian deathlock.

The ref, a young Nick Patrick, takes a lot of punishment here. Flair accidentally punches him in the face. Then outside the ring Race posts him and beats on him some more! I think it's a DQ for that and they continue to brawl post-match. Tons of guys come from the locker room including Jack and Jerry Brisco to try to break them up but they can't. Race is possessed and hits a delayed vertical suplex on the champ.

This went a good 20-minutes and had a lot of parity. Not quite "your turn, my turn", I think Race took the most of it, but Flair was kept strong and seemed to be the babyface. The post-match brawl goes on forever and Flair is absolutely covered in blood, wow, probably a top 5 of all time blade job for a Flair, the Crimson mask in full effect. His eyes are psychotic and he won't leave the arena. Comes back for more, Christ this post-match has gone about ten minutes itself now!

This is an era of Flair I want to see more of and it feels kind of under-explored. I can't recall anyone talking about this match but it's good. Not blow-away great but definitely very good and worth seeing just for that insane post-match. Must watch for anyone who is a Flair fan.

****1/2 (probably **** for the match and the extra 1/2 for the amazing post-match)

Harley Race vs. Jumbo Tsuruta (4/22/82)

This is in All Japan, obviously. Lou Thesz is the ref, he wore that same weird diagonal striped shirt whenever he reffed - he must have owned it. Suplex City early on as we get a vertical, a butterfly and a gut wrench in quick succession. Jumbo hits quite a few Dory-style European uppercuts here. He's also wearing some snazzy red tights with "JT" embroided on them. Nice one Jumbo, he should have rolled those out a bit more often, mostly just went for the plain black.

Match slows down while Jumbo works some holds, but then picks up again when Race takes over with a big vertical suplex. Takes the action outside and hits another big suplex on the floor. Jumbo catches colour from the outside activity and is covered in blood. I don't recall Jumbo bleeding that often. Neckbreaker by Race. Wow, Jumbo is really covered in blood here.

He brutally stomps on Race and shows a great deal of fire. Crowd chants his name. Jumbo's fire is tremendous as he beats on Race and nails a piledriver. Slugfest now. And Race has colour. Double juice!

Race shoves Thesz a couple of times and he calls for the bell. They brawl outside the ring after the match. Then back in the ring to fight some more.

I know I keep saying it, but this is another match that really should have been on the DVDR All Japan set, it was a lot better than the other bout Race had with Jumbo in 82 or in 84 and showed us a different side to early 80s Jumbo. With so much blood here, I'm really surprised Will didn't nominate it.

This was a hot match, and would be something I'd show people who claim Jumbo was like Terry Taylor because he showed a fuck ton of fire here after he was bloodied. This is another one I don't hear anyone talk about and definitely needs to be seen by anyone who is a Jumbo fan.

****1/2

Harley Race vs. Kerry Von Erich (6/4/82)

This looks like it's from WCCW. Winner faces Flair for the title. They claim on commentary that two years ago in Houston, Race suplexed Andre! And it resulted in a count out. I'd like to see that, I wonder if Tharpe has it.

Great spot in this where Race is going for a falling headbutt and Kerry catches him in the claw. Things really pick up when Race takes over. Piledriver. Takes it outside. Smashes Kerry's head into a light rig. Suplex on the outside. Kerry has colour. Race ends up getting posted. And now he's bleeding too. Double juice! Third match in a row!

Race is bleeding from the mouth as well as above the eye. Low blow by Race regains advantage. Delayed vertical suplex. Cover only gets two. Drop kick by Kerry. Snapmare. Kneedrop. Race takes over. Goes up top. Slammed off. Cover by Kerry only gets too. This is turning into a really good match.

Race hits a flying crossbody from the top but the momentum takes him over and Kerry gets the upset pin and a huge victory.

I thought this was a hot match worked from the start at a good pace. Went a good 20 minutes and everything felt important. Race was really good at working heat sequences and it was a benefit to this match that he took a lot of it. The sequence outside that led to the double juice was good. He was on very good form during this post-title stretch of his career. VERY surprised to see this didn't make the DVDR set. I was fully expecting it to be in the top ten. Where is it?!

****1/2

Harley Race vs. Omar Atlas (6/26/82)

Back in St. Louis here. Omar Atlas has a pretty jobber-y look about him. He gets in quite a bit of offense here though with a slam, an arm drag and a arm lock. He probably deserved better than to spend the rest of the decade jobbing in WWF-land. He had a decent physique and execution. Nice quick arm wrench. He sort of looks like a middleweight Olympic weightlifter from Iran. Looking him up he was Venezuelan though.

Atlas works this arm for like a full eight minutes until Race hits a knee to the gut. That's surprising Atlas got that much time on top, but he worked it decently. Pinch to the jaw sends Atlas outside where he powers out of a piledriver. Atlas slams Race head first into a chair! Back in and Race goes to work with headbutts and knee drops. Finish is fun as Atlas misses a flying crossbody from the turnbuckle and Race hits a jacknife flip for the pin.

Solid TV bout,

**1/2

Harley Race vs. Jumbo Tsuruta (8/1/82)
Reviewed already, ***3/4

Harley Race vs. King Kong Bundy (8/15/82)

 

This is from World Class. Winner of this faces Kevin von Erich. Armand Hussien in Bundy's corner. This should be interesting to see Race up against a different type of opponent. On commentary they put over this idea that he was the only man ever to have slammed Andre again.

 

One little spot Race does that I like is when he punched a guy in the corner and follows through so that his fist ends up well beyond the face and past the head. It's cool visual.

 

Race gets a lot more of this than you'd expect and I'm not sure they did a very good job of establishing Bundy as a monster. That aspect didn't really come off. It goes a good 15 minutes before a double count out which is weird booking considering they made such a big deal abou the winner facing Kevin. Race slams Bundy at one point too, how'd you like them apples Hulk?

 

**

 

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Having watched through 1982 seems like a standout year for Race. Relieved of the burden of being NWA champ and relieved of the need to work the NWA champ style, he can flex his offensive powers a bit more. The THREE double juice matches here which each end in post-match brawls are must-watch for anyone interested in this period and are a good showcase for evaluating Race in GWE terms as well as good matches to watch for the cases of Flair, Jumbo and Kerry respectively. I was surprised at how good that run of matches was.