Legitimate tough guy Harley Race was already a veteran when, at 30 years of age, he got his first shot at the NWA World Heavyweight Title. It was still considered a major upset, though, when he defeated Dory Funk, Jr. for the title, and though his reign didn't last long, it cemented Race as a wrestling star. "Handsome" Harley was far from finished, though. As the U.S. Champion, he promised to once again claim the world title, and he did so in 1977, defeating Terry Funk. This time, Race fully assumed his position as the top man in wrestling - between '77 and 1981, he racked up five reigns as NWA champion, only losing the belt very briefly to challengers like Giant Baba and Tommy Rich. Race was a fighting champion, wrestling a gruelling schedule and taking on the biggest names of the day - including WWE Champions Billy Graham and Bob Backlund and AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel in interpromotional matches. Even after passing the torch, Race still racked up a couple more reigns, bringing his grand total to a then-record eight.
Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried.
*Best Crowd of the Year, 2013
