On a new DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show, I present the 100th installment in my long-form history of pro wrestling series.
This week, join me in looking back at March 1984 which had the fallout from the shocking death of David Von Erich in February, Ric Flair and Harley Race pulling off a secret NWA World title change on the other side of the world, Jumbo Tsuruta touring America as AWA World champion, and Hulk Hogan settling into his initial run as WWF World Champion.
Join me to look back on a very exciting time in the history of pro wrestling.
On this installment of my DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show longform history of pro wrestling series, I am up to November 1983 which is hugely important because we have NWA Starrcade — a show that was highlighted by Ric Flair regaining the NWA World title from Harley Race in a steel cage match.
That show wasn’t even the biggest drawing event that day as many areas had traditional Thanksgiving shows and this year may have been the peak of that tradition.
Plus, David Von Erich, Japan, and more.
Enjoy this giant, historically important month in pro wrestling history.
My deep dive into pro wrestling longform history continues.
We stop into September 1983 and the time is getting near for Hulk Hogan to jump to the WWF. Sgt. Slaughter (seen above) continues to rise there as does the Masked Superstar as the era of change draws near.
Before we get there, NWA Starrcade looms where the NWA World title will go back from Harley Race to Ric Flair. Thus, Flair is doing the job tour to set up challengers and will lose the Missouri title to David Von Erich, lose clean to Bob Armstrong, and lose to Pedro Morales in Puerto Rico.
On the latest DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show, my longform series on the history of pro wrestling is up next in the rotation.
We are up to August 1983 where we discuss Ken Patera in Memphis, Harley Race continuing his record-breaking reign as NWA World Champion, the annual NWA convention, the Midnight Express, and more.
My longform history of pro wrestling series picks back up with a detailed look at every major event and news story from July 1983 including a shadow break-off NWA group threatening to form with Southwestern Wrestling, ICW, Georgia Championship Wrestling, Bill Watts, and more.
The feud between new NWA World Champion Harley Race and former champion Ric Flair heats up, plus Hulk Hogan wins the IWGP title tournament in Japan in that crazy “shoot but not really” match with Antonio Inoki.
Tommaso Ciampa is dedicating his performance on WWE Raw to the first-ever United States Champion, Harley Race.
The 37-year-old will challenge Bobby Lashley for the US title on Monday’s show.
Ciampa trained with Race and performed for his World League Wrestling promotion from 2008-09. He took to social media on Monday and mentioned how much Race has meant to his career.
Tonight is dedicated to Handsome Harley, The King, the first ever United States Champion….or as I always called him “Boss”.
In 2008, when I moved to Eldon, MO to train with Harley Race, I was a lost twenty-two year old kid. I had just been released from my developmental contract, I lacked confidence, and I was battling depression.
The decision to leave home, step outside of my comfort zone, and start fresh in a new territory was horrifying to me…but it’s a risk I needed to take.
When I reflect on my career today, it’s extremely clear to me just how big of an impact Harley had on me…personally and professionally.
Harley is a no nonsense man. His mere presence demands respect…this I could tell from the moment I met him. However, as the days turned to weeks, and the weeks to months, I came to discover that Harley had a heart of gold. He cared about his students, not only in the ring but outside as well.
Harley’s confidence in me as a man and as a performer allowed me to regain confidence in myself. He allowed me to make mistakes, and he helped guide me to fix those mistakes.
Before class every day, I would try to get to the school early and I would ask Harley to watch tapes with me. Sometimes he “politely” said, “not today kid”. But sometimes the answer was yes…and I’ll tell you this, not many things compare to tape study sessions with Harley Race.
My best memory from my time training at the Harley Race Academy actually took place away from the ring. It was Thanksgiving of 2008 and I (along with many others) could not afford to travel home for the holiday. Harley invited a bunch of his students to his place for a home cooked Thanksgiving feast. He treated us as family. It was incredible!
I’m grateful for the time I spent with Harley in ’08… I wouldn’t be the man or performer I am today without him.
Harley passed away almost exactly three years ago from today. And still, I can hear his voice clear as day, “you done good kid, you done good”.
Thank you, Boss. Thank you for everything.
Race passed away at 76 years old on August 1, 2019.
It’s time for match 22 in round 1 of the Greatest Kayfabe Tournament, a fun way to do some pro wrestling biographies.
On this edition, we have a very close match-up: Antonio Inoki vs. Harley Race. Inoki was the ace (and founder) for New Japan Pro Wrestling for many years. In storyline, he also was the World Martial Arts Champion, defeating not just every major pro wrestler of the day but several other combat sports athletes including Muhammad Ali in their famous draw.
Then, there’s Race, the eight-time NWA World Champion and, by reputation, the toughest barroom brawler around.
Enjoy this GKT edition of the DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show and check out previous editions of the tourney in the archives.
The spring of 1981 saw Harley Race continue his run as NWA World champion, Ron Fuller losing his smile and going home, Junkyard Dog cranking it up in Louisiana, Hulk Hogan battling Jerry Lawler in Memphis, a big name wrestler appearing on a game show, Sgt. Slaughter becoming a force in WWF, Don Muraco heading to WWF, and Dusty Rhodes and Andre the Giant forming a impressive tag team.
In this episode of the DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show, I look at all that and more that was happening in the pro wrestling scene in 1981 as the scene was heating up.
Harley Race, who in many ways was the embodiment and face of territorial pro wrestling in the late 70s and was undeniably one of the greatest pro wrestlers to ever walk the Earth, passed away on 8/1 at the age of 76.
Race had been battling lung cancer and the belief was that it was terminal months ago. Ric Flair said as much, but because the family didn’t want that known, Flair later apologized and said he was wrong, even though he was actually correct.
Race held the NWA world heavyweight championship, the top belt recognized in more parts of the world than any other, on eight occasions between 1973 and 1984. Race walked the walk and talked the talk as champion. He looked more like a tough bar fighter, which from all accounts he was, than a television star, or a guy a post-1984 company would build around. He looked much older than he was.
A public memorial service for Harley Race will be held this weekend.
Race’s World League Wrestling has announced that the service will take place in Troy, Missouri at 3 p.m. Central time on Sunday (August 11): “MANY people have been asking about memorial services for @8XNWAChampion. There will be a memorial service for the public to attend on Sunday, August 11th at 3:00 PM. It will take place at the Race Wrestling Arena in Troy, MO. Everyone is welcome to attend as we honor him that day”
Race passed away at 76 years old last Thursday. He was battling lung cancer and had to be hospitalized last month while traveling to an appearance at the Knoxville Fanboy Expo.
Joseph Currier looks at the successes and failures of WWE’s latest nostalgia episode.
WWE went back to the nostalgia well for last week’s Raw Reunion episode.
The show featured dozens of returns and was capped off by Steve Austin, Ric Flair, and Hulk Hogan all making appearances. Austin led a toast to Monday Night Raw to close the episode, with all of the returning wrestlers coming out and taking part in what was genuinely a sincere moment. Austin didn’t give out stunners to anyone. There was no one to come crash the segment. He spoke about all of the returners being a family, and it was intended to be a real celebration for all of them.
Raw Reunion also included an increasingly rare appearance by John Cena, D-Generation X, Kevin Nash & Scott Hall saved Seth Rollins from AJ Styles, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson, Bray Wyatt attacked Mick Foley and put him in the Mandible Claw, and there were nine 24/7 title changes. R-Truth started and ended the night as 24/7 Champion, with Drake Maverick (twice), Pat Patterson, Gerald Brisco, Kelly Kelly, Candice Michelle, Madusa, and Ted DiBiase holding the title between Truth’s reigns.
The new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter has details on WWE’s second quarter financials. Financially, things look great. But product popularity continues to fall, slowly but steadily.
We cover how WWE was able to beat most projections and bring in higher profits in the second quarter, even with most key metrics showing declines.
We discuss how the company’s finances look going forward, as well as two big television deals on the horizon.
We also have news on what could end up being the most important pro wrestling show of the year, AEW’s TV debut. We break down the two key busiess aspects to the story, and discuss what those in the TV industry expect in terms of ratings for the show.
We cover Jerry Lawler’s lawsuit against Hardeman County, TN regarding the death of son Brian one year ago.
The new issue also covers C.M. Punk and the rumor mill that seems to follow him everywhere. We talk about the reaction to his discussion of AEW in a recent interview, as well as those who say they expect him to go back to WWE.
We also have the latest on the SummerSlam card, and how the show is doing on the secondary ticket market. We also cover how the other WWE shows in Toronto that week are doing in terms of ticket sales.
We have coverage of UFC 240 from this past weekend, and have business notes on nthe show, and also detailed television ratings for the prelims.
There’s also a run down of the ratings of all the major TV shows, along with detailed demo info for the WWE shows and results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE
We have three different weekend shows up on the site, a Friday show with Bugsy McGraw and talking AEW, a show last night covering G-1 and TripleMania as well as the latest news, and a show with Fumi Saito and Jim Valley talking Harley Race.
Colby Covington was the third most searched topic yesterday on the Internet with 200,000. President Trump called him up after his win over Robbie Lawler and Trump’s sons were at cageside for the fight. There were more than 200,000 searches. The only topics ahead were the shootings in El Paso and Dayton. Harley Race’s was the 8th most searched term on Thursday with 100,000. Cain Velasquez and the AEW sellouts did not track.
Hobbs & Shaw is estimated at $60.8 million for the weekend, easily No. 1. That’s exactly at the $60 million mark projected by the studios. The movie did another $120 million outside North America, the fifth largest worldwide opening in the history of Universal Studios. It was No. 1 in 52 of 63 countries it opened in this past weekend.
My story on Cain Velasquez with quotes from his coach and AEW stars for MMA Fighting. Cody and Psycho Clown talked to ESPN about Velasquez.
Trevor Murdoch noted that a few days ago that Harley Race needed to be transferred from the hospital in Atlanta to St. Louis and take a Med flight because he was in bad shape. Medicare wouldn’t cover it. A call was made to WWE and Vince McMahon paid for it.
WWE
WWE will debut a documentary on Kofi Kingston Sunday after SummerSlam on the WWE Network.
Matt Riddle threw out the first pitch at a Tampa Bay Devil Rays game and then did a running cross body to mascot Raymond. This clip got a lot of sports coverage.
UFC
Proper No. 12, Conor McGregor’s Irish whiskey, will be debuting in Canada after selling 200,000 cases in its first six months in the U.S,.
MISCELLANEOUS
Ads for the first AEW TV show were played this weekend before Hobbs & Shaw at AMC Cinemas.
Harley Race’s World League Wrestling show went on as scheduled last night in Troy, MO: Moses b Rahim de la Suede, Jaden b Colton Vaught, Lucy Mendez b Seishin,Jon Webb b Kenny Alfonso, Da’Marius Jones b Kyle Roberts, Deek Stone NC Camaro Jackson, Leland Race & Camaro Jackson & Kenny Alfonso b Derek Stone & Jon Webb & Jaden. (thanks to Patrick Brandmeyer)
Regarding Bugsy McGraw, whose book “Brute Power” comes highly regarded, here’s the Facebook page for the book, as well as the Amazon link if people are interested in purchasing it.
Stardom results from yesterday in Tokyo: Saya Iida won three-way over Rina and Hina, Tam Nakano d Starlight Kid 15:00, Hazuki & Natsuko Tora & Jamie Hayter b Zoe Lucas & Bobbi Tyler & Ruaka, Kagetsu & Andras Miyagi & Natsu Sumire b Bea Priestley & Momo Watanabe & AZM, Utami Hayashishita retained the Future of Stardom title over Leo Onozaki, Hana Kimura & Jungle Kyona & Konami b Mayu Iwatani & Arisa Hoshiki & Saki Kashima (thanks to Shannon Walsh and wrestlingwithdemons.net)
Jayla Dark from Scotland, after keeping her title yesterday on the Ice Ribbon show in Osaka, announced she would be retiring after a match on 9/28 for Pro Wrestling Eve in the U.K. against Tsukasa Fujimoto. Dark follows Kris Wolf and Charlie Morgan this year in having retirement matches with Eve.
All Pro Wrestling on Friday night in Daly City,CA before 400 fans: Steve Tesario won three-way over Aaron Solow and Wiseguy, Will Hobbs b Zicky Dice, Chavo Guerrero Jr. b Papa Esco, Marcus Lewis & Keita Murray b RJ Santos & Dom Kubrick, Dominic Teixeira & Derek Slade & Boyce LeGrande & Rik Luxury b Jody Kristofferson & Ring Crew Charlie & Alpha Zo & D-Dre, Levi Shapiro b Dave Dutra to keep Internet title, JR Kratos b Jake Frost, Shawn Spears b Matt Cross, Jake Atlas b Jacob Fatu to win APW Universal title. Main event said to be outstanding. I’m really surprised nobody has signed Atlas yet. Nobody has improved more over the last year and he’s got star charisma. (thanks to Matthew Mann)
I Believe in Wrestling from Friday night in Orlando: Mike Reed & Jake Shadows b Carlos Gabriel & Jay Sky, Lexi Gomez b Sofia Castillo, JD Amazing b Kwame Nas, Jarett Diaz won 12 way, Amber Nova b Blake Banks, Chasyn Rance b Deon James, Kaci Lennox b Gia Roman, Aaron Epic b Andrew Merlin. Next show at the Dojo is 9/6 (thanks to Al Haft)
I Believe in Wrestling early earlier today in Orlando: Ariel Dominguez & Jake Shadows & Jay Sky b Kwame Nas & Christian Mills & Ahmed Ayooti, Djokovic Rabbit b Jarett Diaz, Deon James b Cisco Sucio, Kaci Lennox b Gia Roman, Chasyn Rance b Aaron Epic to win Florida title
Wrestling Go from Friday night in Sydney, Australia: Artificial Jude & Paris De Silva b Jason Dewhusrt & Nikki Van Blair, Will Kedis b Gatt, Bee Boy b Bel Pierce, Kai Drake won four-way over Matty Wahlberg, Robbie Eagles and Zac Reynolds, Jessica Troy b Mick Moretti, Silvio Milano won Battle Royal, Bee Boy won three-way over Kai Drake and Will Kiedis to win the Ewan Monkleigh Memorial Cup, Massive Q b Ricky South to keep the gold medal, TJ Perkins b Michael Spencer (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
There will be an autograph signing with Cryme Tyme, Godfather, Teddy Long, Ron Simmons and Chavo Guerrero Jr. on 9/28 from Noon to 3 p.m. at Harry’s Hofbrau in San Leandro CA.
CWE this coming Saturday in Winnipeg at Buhler Park.
Rocket City Wrestling in Hazel Creek, AL on 8/17 has announced an ECW themed show with autograph signings with Jerry Lynn, Francine, Super Crazy, Raven and Sandman.
Mike Mooneyham talks “The Gathering,” a wrestling convention upcoming.
Joseph Currier looks at the successes and failures of WWE’s latest nostalgia episode.
WWE went back to the nostalgia well for last week’s Raw Reunion episode.
The show featured dozens of returns and was capped off by Steve Austin, Ric Flair, and Hulk Hogan all making appearances. Austin led a toast to Monday Night Raw to close the episode, with all of the returning wrestlers coming out and taking part in what was genuinely a sincere moment. Austin didn’t give out stunners to anyone. There was no one to come crash the segment. He spoke about all of the returners being a family, and it was intended to be a real celebration for all of them.
Raw Reunion also included an increasingly rare appearance by John Cena, D-Generation X, Kevin Nash & Scott Hall saved Seth Rollins from AJ Styles, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson, Bray Wyatt attacked Mick Foley and put him in the Mandible Claw, and there were nine 24/7 title changes. R-Truth started and ended the night as 24/7 Champion, with Drake Maverick (twice), Pat Patterson, Gerald Brisco, Kelly Kelly, Candice Michelle, Madusa, and Ted DiBiase holding the title between Truth’s reigns.
The new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter has details on WWE’s second quarter financials. Financially, things look great. But product popularity continues to fall, slowly but steadily.
We cover how WWE was able to beat most projections and bring in higher profits in the second quarter, even with most key metrics showing declines.
We discuss how the company’s finances look going forward, as well as two big television deals on the horizon.
We also have news on what could end up being the most important pro wrestling show of the year, AEW’s TV debut. We break down the two key busiess aspects to the story, and discuss what those in the TV industry expect in terms of ratings for the show.
We cover Jerry Lawler’s lawsuit against Hardeman County, TN regarding the death of son Brian one year ago.
The new issue also covers C.M. Punk and the rumor mill that seems to follow him everywhere. We talk about the reaction to his discussion of AEW in a recent interview, as well as those who say they expect him to go back to WWE.
We also have the latest on the SummerSlam card, and how the show is doing on the secondary ticket market. We also cover how the other WWE shows in Toronto that week are doing in terms of ticket sales.
We have coverage of UFC 240 from this past weekend, and have business notes on nthe show, and also detailed television ratings for the prelims.
There’s also a run down of the ratings of all the major TV shows, along with detailed demo info for the WWE shows and results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
THURSDAY NEWS UPDATE
Garrett Gonzalez and I will be doing a show tomorrow night on Harley Race. There is so much to say about him. The NWA did a nice video of Nick Aldis talking about him and I’m sure there will be many others. Race epitomized blue collar pro wrestling, just a tough guy who did believable interviews and was a master performer inside the ring. An ironic part about Race is some modern fans who hear old-timers complain about using too many finishers and them not being finishes, nobody did that move than Race. It was always funny that he’d use every finishing of the 70s even in his TV squash matches, including piledrivers, and then job guy would kick out of all of them until he’d win with his delayed vertical suplex. A few people grumbled about it then, but not many. And in title matches, he did it even more. He was exceptional at the art of beating someone while elevating them at the same time. When he’d face the upcoming athletic young babyface as champion, he’d win at the end, but give them so much offense against the world champion that people left with the idea that in a few years that guy was going to be something. When Don Muraco first came to Florida in 1974, I can recall he and Race having a classic where Muraco came within a hair of beating Race, who was not the world champion at the time, but as a former champion and perennial top contender, was protected in booking and it was matches with Race and Jack Brisco that made Muraco into a babyface people thought would be world champion some day. You can now substitute Muraco with literally every top young wrestler of that era and the story was identical.
No matter how it goes, the on-sale for the AEW show in Washington, DC tomorrow on 10/2, the first TNT live show, will be a major news story. All Out will establish the path to the women’s championship and the title will be decided on the first show. It will be similar to how the men’s title match was created coming out of Double or Nothing.
Donald Trump’s sons are expected to be at ringside supporting Colby Covington in his fight with Robbie Lawler on Saturday in Newark, NJ on ESPN.
The former What Culture promotion, later rebranded Defiant, announced today that it was folding. The promotion was unable to use the kind of talent it could in the past due to the independent star era drying up.
WWE
WWE has canceled the entire Smackdown tour this coming weekend. They had scheduled shows on Saturday in Bowling Green,KY, Sunday in Danville, IL and Monday in Kalamazoo, MI. Refunds are available at the point or purchase. Can’t say I thought I’d see a day where entire tours are canceled at the last minute.
Dave Heath aka Gangrel was among the guest teachers this week at the Performance Center.
Sami Zayn and Rene Young will be part of the Sam Jam Comedy House in Toronto on 8/9 at 8 p.m. It will be a fund raiser for SamiForSyria, Zayn’s charity that helps provide medical care for Syrian refugees. You can also donate to SamiForSyria.com. Tickets are $15 in advance at baddogtheater.com/calendar
Finn Balor was on FS 1 doing an interview during the MLS All-Star game in Orlando. He noted that Orlando City manager and manager of one of the All-Star teams James O’Connor was his next door neighbor growing up in Ireland. (thanks to Brian Henke)
UFC
David Branch is off the 9/14 show in Vancouver, BC. Andrew Sanchez, who was Branch’s scheduled opponent, will now face Marvin Vettori.
Also added to the Vancouver show is Brad Katona vs. Hunter Azure and Michel Pereira vs Sergey Khandozhko.
MISCELLANEOUS
There is an incredible amount of media publicity in Mexico City right now for Cain Velasquez’s pro wrestling debut on Saturday night’s TripleMania show.
Crowbar Press is releasing what looks to be a major historical book in English called “The Rikidozan Years.”Japanese historians Koji Miyamoto and Haruo Yamaguchi put this book together with Scott Teal, with more than 300 photos and coverage of 978 different live events. Rikidozan was the single most important and influential pro wrestler of the 20th century, bar none,and that includes Santo (who was more beloved and a bigger cultural figure, but not as influential). For more info go to http://www.crowbarpress.com/index.html
Dwayne Johnson’s movie Hobbs & Shaw will debut tomorrow night.
Regarding the stuff on the blackboard in the background on yesterday’s Road To show, the Harrington dress code was about Chris Harrington, the Vice President of Business Strategy and his wearing a hat with his suit at the live events. Chad Glenn is the company’s Director of Finance. They were just inside jokes.
Referee Bryce Remsberg has signed a contract with AEW to both referee and work in the office.
Innovate Wrestling on 8/10 in Kingsport, TN at the Civic Auditorium.
New England Championship Wrestling on 8/10 in Randolph,MA the Intergenerational Community Center with Tony Atlas.
A correction from earlier this week, the 8/10 combined Smash, Shimmer, Rise and Femmes Fatales show in Toronto that we listed for a Noon start will actually be starting at 11 a.m. There will also be a 9 a.m. meet and greet with Bull Nakano.
NPC on Saturday night at Center Stage in Atlanta for an MMA show. There are less than 100 tickets left for the show. NPC is going for its tenth straight Center Stage sellout.
I Believe in Wrestling tomorrow night at Team Vision Dojo in Orlando.
Shine on 8/24 in Livonia, MI has Allysin Kay vs. Ivelisse vs Mercedes Martinez for the Shine title, plus Gabby Gilbert & Luscious Latasha vs. Ashley Vox & Delmi Exo and Nova champion Shotzi Blackheart vs. Natalia Markova. It will be the first part of a doubleheader with Evolve.
Pro Wrestling Revolution brings in El Hijo del Santo for a 10/5 show in San Francisco.
Combate Americas will create its first lightweight champion on a 9/20 show in Mexicali, BC live on Univision with Rafa Garcia (10-0) vs. Erick Gonzalez (10-3). Garcia is a protege of Cub Swanson.
There is a pro wrestling-related musical coming out called “Rockquiem for a Wrestler” which is about the life of Ivan Koloff. It’s expected to debut at the Triad Theater in the spring. There will be a short documentary released on the Philip Paul Kelly You Tube page tomorrow at Noon Eastern time regarding this. (thanks to Mike Kuzmuk)
MLW announced the signing of Douglas James. He is a pro wrestler with a background in Jiu Jitsu under Eddie Bravo and MMA and has been a regular in California for a few years. He debuts on he 9/7 show in Dallas at the NYTEX Sports Center..
LFA on 8/30 in Riverside, CA on AXS from the Municipal Auditorium has a show headlined by Jared Vanderaa (9-3) vs. Renan Ferreira (5-2).
Championship Wrestling from Arkansas on 10/12 in Hot Springs, AR at the Convention Center headlined by Buff Bagwell vs. Matt Riviera and Elijah Burke vs. Barrett Brown. Bob Orton Jr. will be appearing at the show as well.
Eric Arndt, the former Enzo Amore, said he will do his first match since being fired by WWE on 8/16 for Northeast Wrestling in Poughkeepsie, NY on the show headlined by Jon Moxley vs. Pentagon Jr.
Nikki Bella back in the news at (thanks to Barry Werner)
Alex Marvez talked to AEW’s website about growing up as a pro wrestling fan, doing a newsletter, writing a wrestling column and covering the NFL
Dustin Rhodes on Challenge Mania talks about going into acting, AEW, the match with Cody, the impact Goldust had on wrestling and him as a performer, where wrestlers should be in the Screen Actors Guild, dream opponents in AEW and more.
A story on the new autobiography by Dylan Postl, the former Hornswoggle can be found here.
Harley Race, one of the greatest in-ring performers of all-time, passed away today.
Race, 76, had been battling lung cancer. He took a turn for the worst recently when going to Knoxville for a wrestling convention.
Race is probably best known for his eight reigns as NWA World Heavyweight Champion between 1973 and 1984, the first being under very unique circumstances, as was the last.
Between 1977 and 1981, Race would have been generally considered the top pro wrestler in the industry on a worldwide basis due to his role as traveling World Champion. He went all over North America, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and even Mexico. He would have been the most-traveled World Champion in history.
He had a reputation as a fierce street fighter, which played a part in his being picked to beat Dory Funk Jr. for the title on May 24, 1973, in Kansas City. The NWA had trust issues with Funk Jr., who suffered a severe ranch accident just days before he was to lose the title to Jack Brisco.
The Funk family had immense respect for Race, and if they didn’t, the NWA felt confident Race, wrestling in his home market, would take care of any issues. Race at the time was only meant to be a transitional champion, to get the title to Brisco, who the NWA had been building as its new top star for years.
But Race did so well as a worker during his short run as champion in 1973 that he became an instant star in all the major territories. From that point forward he was one of the biggest stars in the world. In 1975, when Brisco asked out of the title, the two names voted on were Race and Terry Funk. Funk got a 4-3 edge in the voting, but Race was promised the next run, which happened when Funk decided to relinquish the title to attempt to get back with his ex-wife in 1977.
Race faced every major star in the industry over the next four years, including one-week losses to Dusty Rhodes, Giant Baba twice, and Tommy Rich. His big reign ended at the Omni in Atlanta in 1981 to Dusty Rhodes, who later dropped it to Ric Flair.
Race got two more reigns, one in 1983, beating Flair in St. Louis and losing it back at the first Starrcade, and a two-day New Zealand/Singapore run with Flair in 1984.
In 1983, when Vince McMahon was attempting to garner what was the most recognized World title at the time, to go along with the WWF title that he owned, to create the idea of a unified champion, he made a huge offer to Race to no-show the planned title loss to Flair. No doubt the idea was for Race to lose to Hulk Hogan, who would have beaten both the NWA and WWF Champion enroute to being positioned as the top star in the business at a time when the perception of the World Championship in all combat sports was far stronger than it is today.
Race, as part-owner of Central States and St. Louis, battled against McMahon for a few years, but his companies started losing money and he instead took a job in 1986 with the WWF. Because Race had such a rep as a tough guy, McMahon kept him away from Hulk Hogan early until they trusted him, and then booked the matches where Hogan beat Race. Race was older at the time and his matches with Hogan didn’t draw nearly as well as expected in cities like St. Louis and Kansas City.
He suffered a terrible injury doing a diving headbutt through a table in a match with Hogan that was televised, and while he wrestled after that, it started to wind down his career.
Race later worked as a manager for people like Big Van Vader and Lex Luger in WCW. In recent decades, he ran his wrestling school and World League Wrestling promotion out of Eldon, Missouri and later Troy, Missouri
Race picked up every possible honor in pro wrestling, including being one of only six men in the WWE, NWA, Wrestling Observer, Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame, and Tragos/Thesz Hall of Fame. He is also a member of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, the St. Louis Wrestling Hall of Fame, and the Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame, and was voted Wrestler of the Year the first two years of the Observer poll in 1980 and 1981.
Before his run as NWA Champion, Race & Larry Hennig were three-time AWA Tag Team Champions, a legendary team which had a rivalry with Dick the Bruiser & The Crusher that was one of the biggest tag team rivalries in wrestling history. Bruiser & Crusher were largely made into arguably the most legendary babyface tag team of all-time through their matches with “The Dolly Sisters,” as Crusher nicknamed Race & Hennig.
He held championships everywhere he went, won matches of the year in the U.S. and Japan, was the first local name anyone in the Central States would mention when it came to territorial wrestling, and was one of the biggest stars of the Wrestling at the Chase era in St. Louis, headlining the city’s big shows as often as anyone in the 70s and 80s when St. Louis had the nickname of being “The Cadillac of Wrestling Promotions.”
Before this week’s return to the norm, Joseph Currier looked at Heyman’s promising start in his new role.
Though it was only the beginning of him easing into the role, the first Raw of the Paul Heyman era showed promising signs for his future as executive director.
It was surprising that — during the build to a pay-per-view where the top of the card has already been announced — Heyman’s presence was so obvious. Even if WWE didn’t announce his executive director role, it still would have been easy to tell that something was different about the episode.
It started with a literal bang that doubled as a statement of intent. Braun Strowman and Bobby Lashley’s falls count anywhere match kicked off the show and ended in a no contest. Strowman charged at Lashley, with explosions going off as they crashed through the stage. The angle was treated with complete seriousness. Corey Graves even let out an uncensored “holy sh*t” on commentary.
A look at Paco Alonso and his role in running the most traditional of all pro wrestling promotions, and what happens next with CMLL, is the lead story i the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
We look at Alonso’s death, an update on who will be running the company, how things will stay the same, what could change, the 2008 Hall of Fame election, and the career of Alonso as a promoter including the wrestlings wars he was in and the boom periods he presided over. We also look at where things stand and why Alonso is the only promoter with so much tenure in the business who has never lost money promoting wrestling.
We look at the first show of the G-1 Climax tournament, including unique aspects of the crowd, the business notes and what was good and bad about the crowd, this week’s G-1 bouts, Dallas coverage with star ratings and poll results and will AEW and NJPW promote together any time soon.
We also look at a Saturday with five major shows, running down all of them and the story behind the change in WWE policy.
We also look at Dwayne Johnson and Conor McGregor earnings, Reigns winning award, new signings, Reigns talks why AEW isn’t competition, WWE’s latest network strategy, ideas that were nixed of late that were pitched, Eric Bischoff update, Stock price notes, new WWE television show, most-watched shows of the week on WWE Network as well as a rundown of all the arena events of the past week with results, highlights and business notes.
We’ve got full coverage of UFC 239, with all the different stories that came out of the show, the judging of Jones vs Santos, the future of several fighters, all of the business notes regarding the show as well as match-by-match coverage, fighter pay, and poll results.
We also look at the changes in All Japan Pro Wrestling and what it means going forward.
We also have coverage of the Impact PPV show, where Impact stands, how the PPV did, the crossover in buyers of Impact with other companies as well as match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.
We also run down the ratings of all the major TV shows, along with detailed demo info for the WWE shows.
We also have the results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight talking Raw and G-1 among other topics. You can send questions in for the show to [email protected]
Extreme Rules did 200,000 searches and was in 7th place overall yesterday on Google. That’s the number that would have been expected. The WWE Network also had 20,000 searches for 19th place. For an update on Saturday, Urijah Faber was 4th overall with 200,000, way above expectations, behind Area 51, the New York City blackout and Serena Williams. Jeff Hardy, due to his arrest, was 7th with 50,000.
Daniel Bryan was removed from the Battle Royal tonight and replaced by Sami Zayn. Bryan is on the show and they decided to go in a different direction tonight with him at some point today.
Harley Race is still in the hospital and under doctor’s care according to his Twitter account.
Bellator announced the first round of their featherweight tournament on DAZN will take place on 9/7 in San Jose and 9/28 at the Forum in Los Angeles. The San Jose first round fights are Daniel Straus (25-8) vs. Derek Camps (19-9), Pat Curran (23-8) vs. Adam Borics (13-0), Emmanuel Sanchez (18-4) vs. Tywan Claxton (5-0) and Sam Sicilia (16-9) vs. Pedro Carvahlo (10-3). At the Forum will be Patricio Pitbull Freire (29-4) defending the title against Juan Archuleta (23-1), plus Darrion Caldwell (13-3) vs. Henry Corrales (17-3), Daniel Weichel (39-11) vs. Saul Rogers (13-2) and A.J. McKee (14-0) vs. Georgi Karakhanyan (28-9-1, 1 NC).
WWE
Mickie James will undergo surgery on her right ACL tomorrow in Birmingham. She’ll be out seven to nine months. This will be her first major surgery of a 20-year career, which is an amazing stat.
At the Wells Fargo Center yesterday they announced a return date for WWE as 11/15, a Smackdown taping with the code word SMACKDOWN for the current presale. Not that this necessarily means anything, but Kofi Kingston vs. Randy Orton was listed as the main event.
Stuber with Dave Bautista was No. 4 at the box office at $8.04 million in its first week of release, behind Spider-Man, Toy Story 4 ad Crawl.
UFC
UFC announced today an extension of their partnership with Blackheart Premium Spiced Rum.
MMA Fighting has an interview with Johnny Walker, who says he can’t wait to fight again, and said he’ll fight Jon Jones or Francis Ngannou.
MISCELLANEOUS
AEW has announced a partnership with LiveSource, the mobile app that enables its partners the ability to offer fans unique collectibles and experiences via live accounts. This will allow fans to bid and buy AEW memorabilia and gear starting on 7/17 for merchandise and tickets for All Out.
An update on Don Wright after the fire that burned down his house.
Showtime announced two new shows starring Luke Thomas, who I worked with at MMA Fighting for many years. Morning Kombat with Luke Thomas and Brian Campbell will spotlight the weekend’s biggest boxing and MMA fights and Morning Kombat: Dissected will have Thomas breaking down boxing and MMA matches each week. Both shows will premiere at Noon Eastern on the Below The Belt YouTube Channel and Facebook page.
Inspire Pro Wrestling on 8/10 in partnership with Heavy Metal Wrestling at The Pit in San Antonio.
The local section of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel had a front page article on Micro Wrestling doing a show on 7/20 at the Casino at Dania Beach.
Eddie Alvarez and Edouard Foloyang were announced for One’s lightweight World Grand Prix which starts on 8/2 in the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, The Philippines.
Tickets went on sale today for Saturday Night SuperFight, the first PPV show from MLW on 11/2 at Cicero Stadium. Tickets are currently available at MLWtickets.com. No matches have been announced but there will be four title matches and Jacob Fatu, Tom Lawlor, The Von Erichs, The Hart Foundation Contra Unit,Alex Hammerstone, MJF & Richard Holiday (tag champs), Low Ki, L.A. Park. Flamita, Konnan, Salina de la Renta and Mance Warner have all been announced.
Matt Taven wall be throwing out the first pitch at the Red Sox vs. Toronto Blue Jays game tonight.
MLW announced Low Ki vs. Jimmy Yuta was added to the 7/25 TV tapings in New York at the Melrose Ballroom.
Stardom results from today in Nagoya: Saya Iida b Hina, Natsuko Tora & Sumire Natsu b Death Yama-San & Ruaka, Jamie Hayter & Hazuki b Arisa Hoshiki & Starlight Kid, Mayu Iwatani & Tam Nakano & Saki Kashima b Hana Kimura & Zoe Lucas & Bobbi Tyler, Jungle Kyona & Konami won the Goddesses of Stardom tag titles from Momo Watanabe & Utami Hayashishita when Kyona pinned Hayashishita. Kagetsu & Miyagi will be the next tag title challengers (thanks to Shannon Walsh and wrestlingwithdemons.net)
Jerry Lawler & Keith Youngblood vs. David Arquette & Brian Anthony was announced for NEW’s 8/16 show in Poughkeepsie which is headlined by Jon Moxley vs. Pentagon Jr. Darby Allin, Enzo, Cass and Rey Fenix are also wrestling on that show.
1977 was a very eventful year in pro wrestling history: Harley Race won the NWA World heavyweight title from Terry Funk and there were plenty of headlines with Gene and Ole Anderson, Mr. Wrestling II, Superstar Billy Graham, Bob Backlund, the Japanese scene, and more.
Come join me on the best pro wrestling history podcast on God’s green earth and journey back to the year we lost Elvis and Lynyrd Skynyrd but gained Harley Race and Sgt. Slaughter…sort of.
