All language subtitles for S05E05 Dark Side of the Ring

I don't have to
prove anything to

any livin' human being.

Harley Race is
wrestling personified.

The man that when
you mention the word,

has rewritten every book
that's been wrote on it.

When you look at Harley, and
then you look at the man,

and then the two
start coming together,

then it's a perfect
picture of a badass heel.

And Harley Race
was that badass heel.

He was no gimmick.
He was Harley Race,

the toughest man on
God's green earth.

I've been shot at,
I've been stabbed...

I just looked at it I must
have been doing

my job fairly well,
right?

[narrator] If there's one
man who connects

wrestling's modern era to
its earliest days,

whose legacy in the
Squared Circle stands as

a monument to the
evolution of the sport,

and who epitomizes the ideal
of a fighting champion,

that man is
Harley Race.

All mortal men are
gonna bow to the king.

I knew all about Harley Race
before I'd even

seen a Harley Race match.

His legend preceded him.

Harley Race has literally
been wrestling all his life.

Earned his first
paycheque in wrestling

before he got his
driver's license.

As Harley's violence
spilled out of the ring,

the line between person
and persona became blurred.

[Sirens]

The police came.

That's when things
went downhill.

And I just wanted
away from him.

As a lifetime of
tragedies and injuries

took their toll
on the man.

And he was passed out on the
floor in a fetal position.

It was a pretty
traumatic event.

The boating accidents,
the car wrecks,

the in-ring accidents...

the human body
is not built to

undergo punishment
like that.

In a land of tough guys,

he was considered the
king tough guy.

He's given his body and
his life to this business.

And he did what he
had to do to survive.

♪

[Off-screen] Woah.

I've got two rods and
eight screws in my back.

I've got an artificial hip.

I got four metal screws
in my right knee,

and two braces and
12 pins in this arm.

How do you
quantify toughness?

Is a guy tough because he can
beat you in a wrestling match?

Or is a guy tough because
he's just a badass

street fighter and he can
pull your eyeball out?

Because when you think
about Harley Race,

the cumulative effect of
the thousands and tens of

thousands of slams and falls
and bumps on hard rings,

concrete floors and
sawdust floors in a barn

or at a carnival...

Harley Race did
all of that.

He was legendarily tough not
only for his ability to

beat people up, but also
because he gained a mystique

as somebody that couldn't
physically be hurt.

No matter what you did
to Harley Race or

what he did to himself,
you couldn't stop him.

[Screaming] I'm gonna
hurt you somehow!

If I gotta do it
that way, fine!

You have insulted

the World
Heavyweight Champion!

Agh!

You better believe I was
inspired by Harley Race.

He was the first guy I saw
to take a backdrop outside

the ring and a suplex
outside the ring.

And he was doing this as the
traveling World Champion.

Harley was among the very
first to do table spots.

I mean, he was
before his time.

Heading in full speed,
going face first over

the top turnbuckle,
that's Harley Race.

Getting your arms
caught up in the ropes,

that's Harley Race.

Bombs away!
Ah!

Right to the
side of the head.

One of Harley's major
wrestling moves was

a diving headbutt, where
he'd come off the top rope

and land headfirst on
his opponent's head.

You have to imagine
a man, 280 pounds,

jumping off of a five foot
top rope and coming down

completely on his
chest and his belly,

while he's taking his
forehead and driving it

into another individual.

The skill and the amazement
of it was that it looked like

every time Harley did it,
he was killing guys.

But in all reality, he was
barely touching 'em.

As a performer,
as a wrestler...

it just blows your mind,
because that's what you want.

That's the 'it' factor
of pro wrestling,

is make it look like we're
killing him, but not.

He has left an
indelible footprint,

because he passed on his
style to people like me

who passed it
on to others.

The stars of today are
borrowing liberally from the

Harley Race catalog,
whether they realize it or not.

One of the fiercest men to
ever lace a pair of boots,

Harley Race was a wrestler's
wrestler who began

his journey to the
ring as a teenager.

Harley Race grew up poor
on a farm in Missouri.

My name is Jim Cornette,
and I've been a fan,

an admirer, and a colleague
of Harley Race's.

He had to work from the
time he was a, a young boy,

and that instilled in him the
work ethic that he carried

with him for the
rest of his life.

Harley was a good kid.

We liked each other
right off, third grade on.

We hunted, fished together,
wrestled together.

My name is Daniel Keever.

I went to school
with Harley Race,

met him in the third grade.

He would let people
hit him as hard as

they could in the stomach.
I mean, these are big guys.

He'd get up and he
wouldn't say nothing.

♪

If they wanted to do
it again, he'd let 'em.

I supposed in his mind,

he was building himself
to be a wrestler.

We used to watch all
the old wrestlers.

Bob Brown.
Sonny Meyers.

Yukon Eric.

We played hooky one
Friday afternoon.

Every time Harley and
I'd go somewhere,

he'd wanna, "Come on,
let's wrestle a little while.

Let's wrestle a little while."
He, well, on Monday,

Principal called us
in the office.

He's: "I want to know why
you left here." Harley said,

"Well," he said,
"a good day to wrestle."

Harley was a part
of the original

---- around and
find out era.

[Indistinct commentary]

Oh, God!
Good grief!

My name's Trevor Murdoch.

I'm a two time NWA World
Heavyweight Champion,

three time WWE World
Tag Team Champion,

and I was trained
by Harley Race.

The reason, like I know
these stories is because

I've heard 'em from
Harley himself.

So the principal gave him
a big slap in the face.

Harley knocked him out.

[Chuckling] He hit the floor
and Harley hit the door.

He was a fighter as a kid.

And then that's when he
wanted to start wrestling.

My name is Evonne
Hedbávny Race.

I was married to a
handsome Harley Race,

the eight times World
Champion wrestler,

for 24 years.

When he was 14 years old,
he left home because

his family couldn't afford
to keep him up.

He got a job on a
farm out in the

middle of nowhere,
Missouri.

And it just so happened
that that farm was

owned by the
Zbyszko Brothers.

Stanislaus Zbyszko and
his brother, Wladek,

the two of them
were iconic names.

Stanis was a former
World Heavyweight

Wrestling Champion.

Harley found out
they were wrestlers,

and they offered to train him
in exchange for his farm work.

It amounted to
legalized torture.

They would stretch him.

They would beat him up.

They would put him in holes
he couldn't escape from to

see if he was tough enough to
come back and ask for more.

Because in their generation,
a professional wrestler,

they knew the other guy had
the ability to grab one of

their appendages- [snapping]-
and break it instantly.

It was the most primitive
form of hand-to-hand,

man-to-man combat.

And that's what
Harley learned,

and that served him well when
he went to the carnivals.

♪

That was the
thing back then.

That's how you got
started in the business,

was on a carnival.

Yes, that's true, Marty.

I'll wrestle anybody
in the business,

any size or weight
at any time.

I'm Eddie Sharkey.

I've been in the
business a million years,

and Harley Race was
one of my best friends.

There's a flying head
scissors by Sharkey.

We make three, four
dollars a match,

which wasn't much money,
but at the end of the night,

it, it, it come out okay.

♪

At the carnivals in the 50s,
one of the big tents

had a champion wrestler.

And the carnival barker,
he would do the spiel.

"We'll give X amount of
dollars if you can stay

5 minutes with our
champion wrestler."

You had truck drivers,
you had farmers,

you had butchers,
you had a variety of guys

with a couple of drinks
in 'em, who would

get up and challenge
the carnival wrestler.

And there were
shoot matches,

which are real matches,
and then there were works.

When they couldn't get a
challenger from the crowd

to challenge the
carnival wrestler,

there was a plant
in the audience.

But he would look like
one of the locals,

and Harley played this
part a number of times too.

And then people would get
behind one of their own.

As he said, "I can
take that guy."

And then Harley would
get in the ring,

and he would work with
the carnival wrestler.

But if Harley was the
carnival wrestler

taking challenges,
it was a shoot.

And Harley'd have to go in
there and do whatever

he had to, to win.
And he's this 16 year old kid.

[Harley]
When you're there...

That's why he needed to
come up with shortcuts,

like the headbutt to
the bridge of the nose.

♪

Or the double wristlock,
where you could take a guy's

shoulder out of joint if he
didn't give up immediately.

It was always dangerous,

but that's how
Harley survived.

He just had to fight five or
six strange guys every day.

On the carnival circuit,
Harley goes to work for

legendary promoter
Gust Karras

who puts Harley on the road
with one of the biggest men

in the history of the
wrestling business.

Happy Humphrey was
a pro wrestler

in the late 50s and 60s.

His real name was
William J. Cobb.

In Happy Humphrey's
pro wrestling career,

he was somewhere in the
range of 700 pounds,

and Harley Race was chosen
to be Happy Humphrey's

driver, and valet,
and attendant.

He had to drive Happy
Humphrey to the shows in a

specially built Cadillac,
and he had to make sure that

Humphrey's needs were met
after the matches

which one of those things
entailed bathing

Happy Humphrey.

Happy Humphrey would lay
down on the ground naked and

Harley Race would take a
bottle of liquid soap, a mop,

and a garden hose,
and basically clean

Happy Humphrey off, so they
could get back in the car

and go to the next town
without enduring the

unending disaster of B.O.

-That's paying your dues.
-[Laughing]

In 1960, at just
17 years of age,

Harley marries a single
mother named Vivian Jones,

who is soon pregnant with
Harley's first child.

Then,
tragedy quickly strikes.

It was around Christmas time.

He had his wife in
the car with him,

she was pregnant
with his first child.

Three o'clock in the morning,
they're driving down

this lonely road,
snow on the ground.

There's a tractor trailer
truck in front of 'em,

jack knifes, gets into
the snowbank.

Harley's car rams
into the truck.

[Horn blaring]

She's killed instantly
from a head injury.

[Crashing]

And he's severely injured...

to the point where when the
people picked him up in the

ambulance, they declared
him dead as well,

and then saw him move,
and that's how they knew

he was still alive.

And when he was
hospitalized,

they were gonna amputate
Harley's right leg.

Wasn't even
20 years old yet.

And the doctors told Harley
he'd never walk again.

♪

A car accident on
Christmas Eve has killed

Harley Race's
pregnant wife.

Somehow,
Harley is holding on,

but concerned doctors
want to amputate his leg.

Kansas promoter Gust Karras,
when he heard about

the accident, he checked
on Harley, and said,

"No, let's not do this."

"He's gonna walk out of this
hospital," which he did.

They did a surgery,
saved the leg.

In effect, saved
Harley's career.

And from there,
for the rest of his life,

Harley hated Christmas.

Several years
after the crash,

as Harley continues
his wrestling career,

a chance encounter introduces
a new woman into his life.

I was a flight attendant.

Harley kept
calling me all day.

"How about if I take you out
for a piece of blueberry pie?"

I thought, "Wow,
that's a neat way."

And I said, "Okay."

And we went out, had the
pie, had the coffee...

he had his blond hair,
and I wasn't used to that.

I came from a little town,
and I wanted a family

and I wanted
a home life, and...

And my mother
and my father,

they were very upset.
My dad said,

"I don't want you
seeing him anymore."

But I kept on.
It was like a magnet.

We were on our way from
Minneapolis to Duluth,

Minnesota, and he said there
was a bag in the back seat.

You pick it up and look at it,
and it was a diamond ring.

So I always knew
I'd marry a athlete,

but I didn't know I was going
to be marrying into wrestling.

Marrying Evonna despite
her parent's wishes,

Harley gets back
to the ring.

When Harley first teamed
up with Larry Hennig,

he had bleach blond hair.

So, they adopted the nom de
plumes of 'Handsome'

Harley Race and
'Pretty Boy' Larry Hennig.

In the mid 60s, guys as
big and rough as them,

they didn't have
bleached blond hair,

so it was a way to get heat
with the fans and it worked.

He chose to be a villain.
I didn't like it because

everybody booed him,
and didn't like him,

but he was good
at what he did.

Between the size and
the strength of Hennig,

and the speed and the
athleticism of Harley Race,

they had a tremendous run
in several of the major

territories as the top
heel team in wrestling.

When we had our son,

and we traveled a
lot together...

when we'd go to matches,
I would ask Harley if it was

going to be a bloodbath
at the wrestling match

or, is it gonna be clean?

If it was gonna
be a bloodbath,

my mom and I were probably
going to a movie

or to miniature
golf that night.

My name is Justin Race,
and my father is

the king, 'Handsome'
Harley Race.

I got to see him
wrestle a lot,

and the chairs start flying,
and the world title belt

starts hitting people in the
heads and this and that,

and dad's gushing blood
out, stumbling around.

I mean, it was scary.

But it was happy then.

And he was a kind person.

He was kind to everybody,
he was well-mannered...

it was fun being with him.

Touring arenas, sports halls,
and bars across America,

Harley's status as a
legitimate tough guy is

frequently put to the test.

Harley, he sees this man
being very aggressive

with this woman.

Just berating her,
getting handsy with her.

So Harley goes over there to
confront the guy about it,

to tell him to back
off or leave her alone,

what Harley doesn't know is
the guy's friend is behind

Harley and has a knife, and
goes up behind Harley

and stabs him three
times in the back.

The guy takes off and
the other guy takes off.

Harley has to go
to the hospital.

Harley knew quite
a few people,

was able to find out
where the guy lived at,

and got a pistol and
went by the guy's house.

[Gunshots]

Now I had heard this story
from somebody else and

asked Harley about it.

He looks at me and he goes,
"It wasn't a pistol.

It was a machine gun."

[Gunshots]

♪

And that was enough for me
to know that it wasn't a lie.

As Harley's legend grows,
so does his busy schedule,

keeping him on the road for
days and even weeks at a time.

It was always wrestling,
wrestling, and wrestling.

And he didn't have
time for family.

He was a good father,
but he was only home

three times a month.

What I hated was when
he'd stop after the

wrestling match, he got a
six pack of beers,

and he started right
then and there, drinking.

When his first
wife was killed,

he was only going
30 miles an hour.

He never drove slow since.

He didn't care.

If the speed limit said 70,
he thought it meant 90 and

he'd be flying
down the highway.

And sure enough we'd
see a cop and they...

you would watch them
power walk to

Harley's vehicle.
Angry.

Who is this person
driving 90 miles an hour?

And they'd get to
the window and go,

"I need your license
and reg-

Harley? Harley Race"?

"Okay, Harley.

Take it easy, slow down."

That got me mad too.

He believed, 100%,
he was the man.

Inside the ring and
outside the ring.

Sometimes they realized who
he was and didn't bother him,

sometimes they didn't know
who he was and tested him.

And it was a mistake
every single time.

He knew exactly what
he wanted to do,

when he wanted to do it,
and how he wanted to do it.

I just don't know if Harley
knew how to be anything else.

♪

A rising star across the
territories with his

tag team partner,
Larry Hennig,

Harley Race emerges
as a singles competitor

after Hennig
breaks his leg,

setting the stage
for a legendary run.

When the Hennig-Race
tag team split up,

Harley got a reputation
as a top guy,

and that's where he first
got into contention in the

NWA promoters' eyes
for being a

World Heavyweight
Champion someday.

Though the NWA title
changed hands in the ring,

the champion was actually
chosen by committee-

selected for
their popularity,

trustworthiness and ability
to protect themselves

if a match goes off script.

A stunning turnabout
here at Comiskey Park!

In 1973, the reigning
NWA World

Heavyweight Champion
was Dory Funk Jr.

And his father, Dory Funk Sr.
was one of the most prominent

promoters in the National
Wrestling Alliance.

For a long time, there has
been quite a feud

between the Briscos
and the Funks.

Jack had gone
for years, you know,

as the number one contender,
and it was time for

Dory Jr. to step down.

Hello everybody,
I'm Gerald Brisco,

Jerry Brisco
to a lot of ya.

I'm a WWE Hall of Famer.

I'm a 50-year veteran
of pro wrestling.

Jerry Brisco clearly
out-thinking

his opponent thus far.

The rumor was that
the old man, Dory Sr.,

did not want Dory losing
it to another babyface.

And course Jack
was a babyface.

But if he lost to a bad guy
who was a cheater,

well, that's
something different.

So they put him in the
ring with Harley Race.

This served two purposes.

Number one, he was going
to lose to a guy that was

a noted heel, a rule
breaker, a cheater.

But, he was also gonna
be wrestling a guy who,

if it came to it, if there
was not cooperation,

would be able to
legitimately take the

World Heavyweight
Championship in the ring.

[Cheering]

Count of one!
Two! Three!

[Cheering]

History has been made!

Harley's first title win
in 1973 really is

what brought his name to
national prominence

from coast to coast.

And there were champions
that held the NWA title

longer than Harley did,
but Harley, at the time,

was the most constant
champion from the

early 70s through
the mid 80s.

It was more often than not
you would see Harley

holding the belt,
and he became

kind of synonymous with it.

That's exactly why Harley
was there, it was just,

just personify that image of
the NWA belt that

you got to be a tough
son of a bitch.

He was wrestling
an hour a night.

One hour matches,

night after night
after night.

As an eight-time
NWA champion,

Harley Race took
on all comers,

establishing his reputation
as the most fearsome man

in the business.

And what a lot of
people don't know,

those hour long matches...

it isn't like
wrestling today,

where a lot of guys plan out
their matches in the back.

How could anybody go through
the various injuries and

accidents and things
that he had done,

and still be
able to do that?

That's why all the guys
looked at him like...

this guy can't
be human.

Harley was so important to
the Central States territory

in Kansas City that he was
allowed to buy into the

territory and actually
own part of the promotion.

I encouraged him.

I knew he was good
at what he did.

The NWA World Champion's
road schedule was probably

the most gruelling in all of
professional wrestling.

Nobody traveled as
many different places,

worked in as many different
territories for as many

different promoters, in as
many different countries,

as the NWA
World Champion.

And there were literally
almost no days off.

He'd just fly
from city to city,

and when he could have
24 hours he'd fly home,

and then back out
on the road again.

And it was a horrible,
horrible life to live

in the limelight.

Well, especially because
he was who he was,

and how he was, you know,
he treated everybody

like gold except
with me. I mean,

he bought me Porsches
and mink coats

and things like that.
Well, that doesn't buy love.

♪

This is Barbara Clarey
on special assignment,

reporting from
Tampa, Florida.

Across the street is
the Hyatt Regency Hotel,

where at this moment a
special meeting of the

National Wrestling Alliance
Board of Directors

is in progress.

In 1983, the NWA decides
Harley Race will

lose his championship
to Ric Flair at a

massive event
branded 'Starrcade.'

I think that I want to
call my quest for

the World Heavyweight
Championship,

'A Flair for the Gold.'

Ric was as hot a babyface
as babyfaces can get.

Harley and Ric were
perfect foes at that time.

Ric, the young,
upcoming, cocky,

flamboyant type deal
with the

raw bone badass,
Harley Race.

A lot of people have thought
they put Harley Race

exactly where they
wanted him.

Well seven times around

I proved every [beep]
one of you wrong.

And I'll guarantee ya
this in Greensboro, Flair,

I'm gonna prove
you wrong.

The match is meant to mark a
generational changing of

the guard, but rival
promoter Vince McMahon

has other ideas.

Hello everyone. This is
Vince McMahon in the

studios of the
USA Cable Network.

We wholeheartedly welcome
you to the premiere of

All American Wrestling.

In 1983, Vince McMahon Jr.
had just moved from

becoming the announcer
for the WWF,

his father's company,

to the owner of the World
Wrestling Federation.

And most of the promoters
didn't know yet,

but in the next
couple of months,

he was going to start a
national expansion of the WWF

that would see him moving
into all of their territories

and trying to sign away
all their top talent.

Ric Flair was over,
and Vince, he knew,

that when Harley dropped
the world title to him,

that Ric was gonna be
the next big thing.

And Vince was trying to do
whatever he could

to shut it down.

Just hours before the NWA's
massive Starrcade event,

Vince McMahon meets in secret
with Champion Harley Race

in an attempt to
sabotage the show.

Vince laid out an
opportunity for my father

to come over
to the WWF...

if dad would not
go to Starrcade.

And for an extraordinary
amount of money,

back then,
$250,000.

I think there's an element
of truth to all of that.

But if Harley had
never lost the title,

then how they gonna
explain that to anybody?

And whoever they made
champion after that,

the fans would not have
looked at them as legitimate.

That could have put
you out of business.

And of course Harley he
said, "Hell no,

I'm not gonna do that,
I gave my word."

I was with Harley
for ten years.

You know, when you spend
that much time with Harley,

you get comfortable, you
start asking him questions

of stories that other
people have, have told.

Or, or rumours.
And so, of course,

that was one of the
questions I had to ask, was,

you know, "Have you and Vince
ever got into a fight"?

Apparently Vince
wasn't very happy.

Vince suddenly gets that
look on his face and turns

around and tries to leg dive
Harley and take him down.

According to Harley,
he just puts him in

a front face lock,
hooks his arms,

and stands up
with him.

Basically puts
Vince to sleep.

Drops him on the floor.

Harley got him
into a choke hold.

He said, "I wish I would
have wrung his neck."

Because he was driving us
out of business.

He could have broke his
neck. I mean, he even

told me, he's like, "I could
have ended all this right then."

Just-
[Clicking tongue]

Fans, I'm Bob Caudle,
along with Gordon Solie,

and we're delighted
to be bringing you,

wherever you are,
live from Greensboro,

North Carolina,
Starrcade '83.

This is the wrestling
event of all time.

Fortunately, the main event
of Starrcade '83 did come off.

It did turn out to be the
biggest gate of

any NWA show
previously in history.

Flair did win the
title from Harley.

He's got him down-
one, two, three!

He did it!
He did it.

Ric Flair has just defeated

7 times World
Heavyweight Champion,

Harley Race.

Vince's failure to persuade
Harley to leave the NWA and

join the WWF isn't McMahon's
only attempt to take over

Harley's Kansas
City territory.

When Vince McMahon started
taking his live WWF events

all across the country in
other promoters' backyards,

running their buildings,
running their towns...

none of 'em appreciated it,
but most of 'em

didn't confront
him personally.

Harley Race did.

When the WWF went
to Kansas City,

Harley showed up.
That was his town.

He had owned it,
pioneered it,

and he wanted to know why
these son of a bitches were

coming trying to take his
fans and ticket money away.

Now, Hogan, Hulk Hogan
has told some stories.

You shall feel the
wrath of Hulkamania!

This is where
the power lies!

All right, get ready.

They were promoting big
that Hulk Hogan is

the World Champion.
He is the man.

What I heard was that Harley
had a pistol in his belt and

he was looking for Hogan.
He wanted to find out.

"You're the World Champ,
let's find out."

And that's the second,
third and

fourthhand on
stuff I heard,

but Harley come in and
everybody held their breath

for like a half hour,
you know- [Laughing]

to see what was
gonna happen.

♪

Harley went round looking
for Hogan, couldn't find him,

so he proceeded to
light the ring on fire.

[Laughing]

So that was him
protecting his business.

That was him protecting the
business of Kansas City.

♪

I don't doubt
it for a second.

Even if it didn't happen,
does it really matter?

It's something that
could've happened.

Despite Harley's best efforts
to ward off Vince's invasion,

the WWF's nationwide
expansion cannot be stopped.

Harley bought into
Kansas City and

the territories were dying.

Vince come along and offered
him a pocketful of change

and he grabbed it.

But he knew that that's
what he had to do

in his next phase
of his career.

He knew Vince
was taking over.

Vince liked tough guys,

and Vince liked
veterans who had

accomplished things in
the wrestling business.

So, I think he
respected Harley,

but he thought he
was too "rastlin".

He was just "too plain".

Nobody wants to
see a tough guy wrestle.

They want to see colour
and character and

ice cream bars.

That was what Vince
was going for,

and Harley was the
antithesis of that.

So when Harley got there,
they wanted to make him the

original 'King of the Ring.'

That character and that...
that attitude.

I crown you,
and you only,

the King Handsome
Harley Race.

Did he like it?
I doubt it.

He never, never
bitched about it

'cause that wasn't
Harley's style.

Whatever Harley
was handed,

Harley would make it
work for Harley.

The WWF at that time

was appealing to kids
who, they had no idea

who Harley Race was-
they're kids.

And they see an older guy
that's not particularly

impressive, dressed up
in this King outfit...

Enh...

And the older fans who knew
Harley, they were like,

"Wow, this is what it's
come down to."

Now we realize, you know,
Harley at that point

was very methodical,
and I enjoyed seeing a

guy of that age taking off
from the top rope,

dropping headbutts
from the top.

Here he comes down from
his throne, headbutt!

Big roundhouse right.

-Oh!
-[Cheering]

Taking the big bumps still,
like, he made it work.

He was there to
make a paycheque.

He was there to take
care of his family.

But Harley's time in the WWF
is cut short by an injury.

Ironically, while in the ring
with Champion Hulk Hogan.

Ooh, he's going out
of the ring alright!

The hard way!

Eight-foot-long table.

So they had that out there,
and Hogan got on the table.

A chop to the throat!

The Hulkster down
on the table.

He's setting the table up
for something.

And Dad leaped off the
ring to land on Hogan

on the table,
and Hogan moved...

and he went
through the table.

King coming down!
Oh!

That steel table
bent in two!

And the metal bar that
goes underneath it,

like supports the table,

had been bent down,
not broken.

The metal bar came up and

hit him in his lower
abdomen just below

the belly button and blew
out his lower intestines.

Created a big hole,
a rupture.

He was at my apartment,

and I left,
and I came back,

and he was passed out on the
floor in a fetal position.

I thought he was dead.

♪

King coming down!
Oh!

After suffering an internal
injury during a move gone

wrong, the future of Harley
Race's career is in doubt

when he's found on the floor
of his son's apartment.

Harley had an
abdominal hernia.

It required multiple
surgeries to fix the damage,

and it significantly
hampered the rest of

his wrestling career.

And that was a
long recovery.

And he's a 300 pound guy,
he went down to

200 pounds,
needed care, constantly,

needed a lot of my
help, constantly.

He had ended up having
two colostomy bags

on the front
of his stomach,

some 300 to 400 stitches
on the inside of him.

Weighing in at
260 pounds...

Harley Race!

He eventually got back
to his wrestling weight.

He was a bit old
to be doing-

to have to recover from
something like that.

Now to recover
and go back to

his job as an insurance
salesman? Sure.

But to go back to wrestling,
that was pretty tough.

Harley wrestles sporadically
over the next few years

as his career winds down,
and he spends more time

pursuing his
other interests.

But once again,
tragedy strikes.

[Bell chiming]

We had a lake home,
we went boating...

we had good times
at the lake.

Some of the best,

until that boat accident.

It was in the morning,

and he got up and
started drinking scotch.

So I went out on the dock,
and I sat there,

and I kept coming in and,
he'd just call me names,

so I'd go out again.

And that night he
stormed out the house,

and he zoomed out
of there, out of the cove.

The story that we were told
was that he was drinking.

There was a boat in the
middle of the lake that

turned off all their lights.

As he was coming
around the cove,

by the time he'd seen 'em,
it was too late.

[Whooshing]

And he ran into 'em.

♪

He was in the water,

the other people was
in the water.

He pulled them
over to shore.

It was a pretty
traumatic event.

As a result of this accident,
several other people in the

other boat were injured
and Harley was as well.

Harley was intoxicated and
also had resisted arrest

at the time the police
came to investigate.

And after he left, I called
Harley's psychiatrist and

she said, "Back the car up,
put your clothes in the car,

get out of there." I called
my attorney and I said,

"I want to file for
divorce tomorrow,

and have a restraining
order in place."

Very nasty.

Wrestling.

I mean, the arduous
relationship of

having someone
gone all the time.

Mom raising me
pretty much...

and then once his career
starts to wind down,

and they're together
a lot more,

they didn't get along.
[Laughing]

He was a
kind-hearted person.

He just wasn't
a family man.

At one time, I was putting
Christmas decorations up,

I got a phone call and said,

"Your husband has
got me knocked up."

I got a letter one time
to answer to a woman

from Wichita, Kansas,
said that they want

alimony for a
16-year-old girl.

That was real.

But he got out of that too.

'Cause he's Harley Race.

But I could never leave him
because he told me

he'd get rid of me
if I left him.

Well, what do you
think he meant?

It was terrible.
I was stuck.

I was afraid.

And even though he was

rough with me at times,

I should have done
what they do today,

they take you in.
But I didn't.

♪

I would find out more
sometimes about my

parents' divorce through
reading the newspaper.

In fact, remember the movie
with Michael Douglas and

Kathleen Turner called
'War of the Roses'?

Here in Kansas City, and
they wrote articles

about my parents' divorce,

it was called
'War of the Races.'

My dad did his best,

and he did a great
job as a father.

But, you know, different
stories that are told

that are true, not true,
who knows.

It was just too much.

But there were a
lot of arguments.

When Harley and
I would fight,

I would take Justin in his
little red wagon and

take him out of there so
he wouldn't see it.

And there were so
many of those times.

I, I just hope that

my son can understand
my side of the story.

It's true, it's not a lie.

And I don't know
that he will.

I wish it wouldn't have
happened the way it did.

I'm glad I got out
of the marriage.

Divorced from his wife,
Harley faces another

challenge when a lawsuit
from his boating accident

threatens to wipe out
everything he has left.

The woman that was injured
had two broken legs,

but a couple of years later,
when it went to court,

she was still
in a wheelchair.

And as a result,
she was asking for

$10 million in damages.

She ended up being
awarded $250,000

because Harley
was intoxicated.

This was a time where not
only had his wrestling

slowed down,
but also

$250,000 as a judgment,

it was a financial burden on
Harley that he would

possibly not ever
really recover from.

Everything he'd earned
traveling the world

for 20 years is
basically gone. Right?

Man... man.

♪

Facing financial hardship
for the first time in his

long career, Harley returns
to the wrestling world.

After the abdominal surgery
from the accident with

the table in the
Hulk Hogan match,

then Harley had torn
his shoulder out.

He knew his wrestling
days were behind him,

but Harley Race was
still a major name

in professional wrestling,
and WCW had

incredible respect
for Harley.

And they said if he can't
wrestle on a regular basis

anymore, he's still
a personality,

and he still has
that knowledge,

we can use him
as a manager.

Former heavyweight
champion,

Harley Race and Vader!

For a guy like Vader,
especially,

Harley Race was a
brilliant teacher,

because Vader was a
ex-pro football player,

he was used to coaches.

And Harley was a no-nonsense
guy that would not take

any shit, and he'd tell him
what he was doing wrong.

What are you
in my face?

I was a little
trepidatious, right?

Because I didn't know if
I was, like, a Harley guy.

I didn't drive fast,
I didn't drink much...

but he really
embraced me.

Again, Harley Race now
grabbing Cactus and

shoving him
back in there.

Harley had
respect for Mick,

but he thought
Mick was crazy.

Ah!
Oh my goodness!

The bumps that Mick
would take, it's,

"Jesus Christ,
he's gonna kill himself."

I know when I did
my feud with Vader,

the Harley stuff
was just priceless.

To have him there and
have him be part of it,

some of my
greatest moments.

Harley leaves WCW,

but his next
public appearance

shocks even his
closest friends.

♪

1998, an exposé,
'Wrestling secrets revealed

that it was a work, that it
was predetermined,

that everybody was in
on it together.'

And that's the antithesis of
what Harley Race would

have done publicly in his
entire wrestling career.

-As a booker...
-[Grunting]

...Your main job is putting
two people together

that'll draw money.

The production was able
to gravel out his voice,

but not so much to the point
where you couldn't tell

who it was, and obviously
the silhouette.

If you knew who Harley was,
you knew exactly who it was.

But it was surprising
to see Harley on there.

A guy who respected and
protected the business on

a show called 'Secrets
of Pro Wrestling.'

I was so disappointed.
And I even told Harley,

"Harley, why'd you do it"?
And he said,

"Money, brother."
Just like anything else,

money is the evil
to everything.

In a previous era,

the consequences for that
would have been dire,

but the guy that would've
been dealing out

the consequences would
have been Harley Race.

Who are you gonna get
to beat up Harley Race?

Retired from the ring,

Harley starts his own
wrestling school

where he imparts his
knowledge to a

new generation of talent.

And in 2004, his long
history in the business,

is honored with an induction
into the WWE Hall of Fame.

God gave me the talent
to work in this wrestling

business, and there's not
a better spot on Earth,

than under those
bright lights.

[Applauding]

In 2019, after years of
battling various ailments

including lung cancer, the
wrestling world awakes to

the news that
Harley Race has died.

Harley was in terrible pain,

but he sure had
kept it inside.

The depression
was kept inside,

the tears were
kept inside.

The human body,
no matter how much of

a superhuman he might be,
has its limits.

He was 76 when
he passed away.

When I came into the
hospital room,

and I whispered,
"Dad, it's me."

I had a hold of his hand
and he, like,

squeezed my hand and I
put my head down,

and I was crying,

and I put my head
down on this chest,

and he reached over, and
he patted me on the back,

and left his hand
laying there and

it was just as
warm as ever.

♪

[Speaking Japanese]

I'm Harley Race,
seven times

World's
Heavyweight Champion.

I would like to introduce to
you the star of this film,

and also the star
of my life,

my wife, Evonne.

Deep in my heart, I have
to say, he was a good guy.

Harley was a god
in wrestling.

He just wasn't meant
to be a husband.

One of the greatest men that
ever stepped in the ring.

It takes a certain
talent to get over.

Harley had that
talent to get over.

You could not be not
in awe of Harley.

After all these years,
we're still referring to the

Harley Race way of doing
things as being the best.

He was a real,
legitimate tough guy.

Some people are
just born that way,

he was one of 'em,

and he was very
good at what he did.

I don't see how anybody
could possibly be

tougher than
Harley Race was.

Maybe there's
somebody as tough.

Mental toughness,
physical toughness,

Harley Race had it.

I don't know if his
toughness was to

cover up emotions.

When he had the
wrestling school,

and he was married to
his wife, BJ,

and when BJ passed away,

we were talking,
and he said,

"I haven't cried."

And he goes, "I should be
crying, Trevor."

I don't know why I haven't
cried." And he goes,

"I miss her, I love her
and I'm hurting...

but I haven't cried."
And I told him, I said,

"I just don't
think that's you.

It's not who you are.
It's not...

it's not in your DNA,
brother."

There's probably nobody

in the history of
wrestling that

gave more of themselves,
physically,

and their effort, and
their determination,

and their credibility
than Harley race did.