10 Wrestlers Who Nearly Died In Travelling Incidents

3. Harley Race Loses His Family

One of the most legendary professional wrestlers of all time almost never became a star due to an horrific car accident right at the start of his promising career: one of only six men who€™re a part of the WWE Hall Of Fame, the WCW Hall Of Fame and the Wrestling Observer Hall Of Fame, and former 8 time NWA champion and King Of The Ring, Harley Race. Originally wrestling under the name Jack Long, Race was mentored at the beginning by Missouri wrestling icon Gust Karras, whose St. Joseph territory was incredibly influential throughout the central states in the USA in the sixties and seventies. A rising star, Race had the world in the palm of his hand at only eighteen years of age, until his car collided with a tractor trailer in 1961, tragically killing his wife Vivian and their unborn child. They had been married for only a month. Race was pronounced dead at the scene, but revived. Rushed to hospital, it looked like doctors were intent on amputating Race€™s leg until Karras arrived and refused to allow the operation, insisting that it would be done over his dead body. Despite this, doctors warned Race that he would be unlikely to walk again, and assured him that his wrestling career was over before it had properly started. It would take Race over two years to fully recover, but Karras was right: his leg was fine in the end. Heartbreakingly, a second car accident in 1995 would finally bring his career to a close€ but between the two, Harley Race would go on to have one of the most successful careers in the history of the business, inspiring countless stars including Mick Foley, €˜Stone Cold€™ Steve Austin and, famously, Triple H, who idolised Race so much that he practically built a career on emulating him.