Harley Race

Harley Race
Race in 2007
Birth nameHarley Leland Race
Born(1943-04-11)April 11, 1943
Quitman, Missouri, U.S.
DiedAugust 1, 2019(2019-08-01) (aged 76)
St. Charles, Missouri, U.S.
Cause of deathLung cancer
Spouse(s)
  • Vivian Jones
    (m. 1960; died 1960)
  • Sandra Jones
    (m. 1960; div. 1961)
  • Evon Race
    (m. 1962; div. 1993)
  • Beverly Race
    (m. 1995; died 2009)
Children2
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)The Great Mortimer[1]
Harley Race[1]
Jack Long[1]
The King[1]
Handsome Harley Race[1]
King Harley Race
Billed height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[2]
Billed weight253 lb (115 kg)[2]
Billed fromKansas City, Missouri, U.S.
Trained byBuddy Austin[1]
Ray Hrstich[1]
Stanislaus Zbyszko
Wladek Zbyszko
Debut1959[1]
RetiredDecember 1990

Harley Leland Race (April 11, 1943 – August 1, 2019) was an American professional wrestler, promoter, and trainer.[1]

Race wrestled in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), and World Championship Wrestling (WCW). He was a nine-time world champion, having won the WWA World Heavyweight Championship once and the NWA World Heavyweight Championship eight times and was the first NWA United States Heavyweight Champion (now WWE United States Championship).

Race is one of six men to have been inducted into each of the WWE Hall of Fame, the NWA Hall of Fame, the WCW Hall of Fame, the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame. He is widely considered as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time.

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cite error: The named reference oww was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference WWEbio was invoked but never defined (see the help page).