Opinion
Steve Cook: Thoughts on Harley Race
“Old school might be dying off, wrestler by wrestler, but it’ll never rest in peace.”
Steve Cook, an old school fan at heart, shares his thoughts on one of the greatest of all time, the late, great, Harley Race.
I’ve spent the last few days reading stories about the late Harley Race from people that knew him. Through his wrestling, promoting & training careers, Race touched a vast amount of lives throughout the American Midwest and the world. Personally, I never met the man.
While I’m well aware of his accomplishments & standing within the industry, I’ve never seen the vast majority of the work that made him famous. Its not like there’s a ton of surviving footage of his tag team with Larry Hennig, or for that matter, most of his work before the 1980s. From most accounts, the man wearing a crown & cape while calling himself King in the WWF was a shell of his former self. Those who were around at the time were surprised that Race even ended up there.
Reading stories about Race’s life seem like reading Chuck Norris Facts, except that most of these things probably actually happened. Race’s career nearly ended years before he achieved stardom as NWA Champion. He was involved in a car accident that led to the death of his wife & the near-amputation of his leg. Polio couldn’t beat him. One of his first jobs in the business was driving 800 pound Happy Humphrey from town to town. He was the ultimate traveling champion, perfect to represent the NWA because nobody could beat him in a shoot.
Well-respected
Race commanded a large amount of respect from other wrestlers during his career, and wrestlers that came afterward learned to respect him as an elder statesman. Every time a major promotion came through Kansas City, ol’ Harley had a big barbecue & everybody was invited. Word on the street is that CM Punk even took a shot of alcohol one time at the behest of Harley Race. I mean, that’s what Bruce Prichard said, so it must be true.
I was surprised to learn that Race was only 76 years old when he passed. I would have pegged him in his 60s when he was managing Big Van Vader in 1992. The man always looked & sounded grizzled. It gave him an extra air of wisdom in my young eyes. Having watched Race take on Ric Flair on multiple occasions, I never would have guessed they were within six years of age. Flair looking up to Race like the father he never had would also made me think they were at least twenty years apart.
Diving Headbutt
Harley Race was the man that came up with the idea to dive head-first onto an opponent. Later on, after suffering injuries due in part to doing that move every single night, he wished that he hadn’t, and he warned others not to do it. Dynamite Kid didn’t listen. Chris Benoit didn’t listen. Daniel Bryan didn’t listen. There were others, of course, but those three immediately come to mind, and all three men suffered neck injuries that were career-threatening. People will insist that sort of a thing is a coincidence, but I can’t help but think that diving head-first onto somebody with minimal protection night after night might cause some issues. Maybe.
For an old school kind of guy that promoted basic wrestling for the last two decades of his life, Race was considered one of the daredevils of his time. He was willing to take risks to help put his opponents over–like going through a table in the video above against Hulk Hogan. For being such a tough guy, he wasn’t afraid to play the clown if that’s what it took. Race’s character traits in the ring were often contradictory to his reputation outside of it.
Old School
To me, Harley Race is less of an actual person than an ideal of what a pro wrestling champion should be. A champion should be tough. They should be able to handle anybody daring to question the legitimacy of the craft. Any wrestler should value their promotion’s main championship more than anything, including life itself. They should take a less than serious business very seriously. They should be supremely talented in the ring & on the microphone.
Back in Race’s day, the NWA World Heavyweight Championship was the biggest prize in the game. There was no argument about this. There weren’t periods like you see now where titles are rendered meaningless. Almost everybody promoting wrestling on a major level agreed that the NWA World Heavyweight Champion was the top dog in the industry, holding the richest prize a wrestler could hope to obtain.
The promo below illustrates how most of us fans with an old school mentality want our champions to present themselves:
I mean, that’s a ridiculous outfit that dates the interview, but Harley Race could get away with wearing that.
Harley Race was a symbol of what professional wrestling used to be. We’re running out of people that can remember what things were like before the days of sports entertainment. The days when the phrase “blood & guts” wasn’t meant as an insult. Fortunately, Harley influenced so many people within the business that those old school values he personified won’t go away.
Old school might be dying off, wrestler by wrestler, but it’ll never rest in peace.
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Opinion
Chris King: The Wyatt Sicks’ Wasted Potential By WWE
Chris King takes a look at the WWE and their wasted potential of Uncle Howdy and the Wyatt Sicks faction.
Chris King takes a look at the WWE and their wasted potential of Uncle Howdy and the Wyatt Sicks faction.
It’s that time of the year again, folks; it’s unfortunate and downright awful that so many WWE superstars got released today. I’m not going to list all of them, but I am going to talk about one of my favorite factions,
The Wyatt Sicks. Nikki Cross, Joe Gacy, Erik Rowan, and Bo Dallas (Uncle Howdy) were something special. After Bo’s brother Bray Wyatt’s tragic passing, WWE felt like there was a hole that needed to be filled. Wyatt was one of the most creative and brilliant characters, and Bo would be taking over his brother’s concept and bringing it to life. In 2024, at the end of an incredible documentary highlighting Wyatt’s career and struggles, Bo appeared on the screen portrayed as Uncle Howdy. The last time Uncle Howdy was seen on-screen was at the 2023 Royal Rumble, where Wyatt defeated LA Knight in a Pitch Black Match. Howdy jumped off a structure onto Knight.
This post-credit scene sparked so much speculation and excitement that Wyatt’s brother would carry on his legacy and possibly debut the faction that was Wyatt’s concept. On the June 17th episode of Monday Night Raw, The Wyatt Sicks made their dramatic debut ,destroying the backstage area as well as “murdering” Chad Gable. It was such an iconic arrival for Howdy as he made his menacing walk from the back into the audience who were chanting “Holy Shit.” The Sicks and American Made (Chad Gable and The Creed Brothers) battled for months, with The Sicks being victorious. On the September 9th episode of Raw, The Sicks defeated them, with Howdy getting the win with Sister Abigail.
The following year, The Sicks would move over to Friday Night SmackDown, and it seemed like WWE had a plan in place. They would win the tag team championships from The Street Profits and start to look dominant. Now, what should have happened next is Howdy should have won the United States title. The Sicks could have held all the gold over on the blue brand, but it never happened. The Sicks entered into a never-ending feud with The MFT’s (Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa, JC Mateo, and Talla Tonga.) It started off exciting, and the WWE Universe was red-hot for their interactions.
After months of repetitive matches and The MFT’s stealing their lantern, the feud grew tiresome and boring. Even Tama asked Solo why they are still holding onto the lantern, as it was destroying them as a whole. Finally on the SmackDown before Mania, Tama
gave the lantern back to Howdy against Solo’s wishes. Please explain to me why both factions fought almost every single week instead of just having one final blowoff match at WrestleMania.
It should have been either a massive street fight or a falls count anywhere match on the grandest stage of them all. Instead, it turned into a meaningless week-after-week extravaganza that benefited no one. The MFTs won the rivalry, and The Sicks don’t even work for WWE anymore. This was the same criminalized creative process that Wyatt dealt with during his first run in the company.
We’ll never know how much of a dangerous force The Wyatt Sicks could have been in the WWE. For all their careers’ sake, I hope they stay far away from the company for as long as possible. Every superstar that was cut deserves better!
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Opinion
Chris King: Bloodline Saga: Is This the Right Call For WWE?
Chris King questions the WWE’s logic in setting up Jacob Fatu as the next challenger for World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns
Chris King questions the WWE’s logic in setting up Jacob Fatu as the next challenger for World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns
Roman Reigns is once again World Heavyweight Champion after his dominant win over CM Punk at WrestleMania 42. On the following night on Monday Night Raw, The OG Bloodline came back together as a well-oiled machine as The Usos stood side by side with Roman. With the WWE Universe asking who would be the first to challenge “The Tribal Chief,” Jacob Fatu shocked the world by answering the call.
Fatu is running hot after his impressive win over Drew McIntyre and feels like he is ready to become the new world champion. This bloodline segment ended Raw, and it picked right back up on SmackDown with even Solo Sikoa and the MFTs involved. This is now two shows that have been centered around The Bloodline saga, and it’s made me question whether or not WWE should be retelling this story.
The Bloodline (Roman Reigns, The Usos, and Solo Sikoa) ran WWE for over four years as Reigns’ henchmen, doing his dirty work to retain his title. Even though Roman has declared he doesn’t want Jey and Jimmy to serve him, it sure seems like WWE are spinning their wheels. Fatu could add a whole new chapter into the story, even if he’s not able to beat Roman at Backlash. “The Samoan Werewolf” could be forced to do the same thing as Jey did all those years ago and fall in line.
In my opinion, I feel like Fatu should be challenging for the Undisputed WWE Championship because that’s a title I feel like he should win. I understand standing up to your blood and trying to prove you’re the best, but I don’t think this is the right move. It feels like 2022 all over again, as The Bloodline is the central focus on both shows. If Fatu doesn’t win, what happens to all his momentum he’s been building over the last two years?
Why did WWE make this the best choice for storyline purposes? Why couldn’t creative have come up with a different challenger for Roman? There are so many other superstars that could challenge The Tribal Chief, such as Rusev, Bron Breakker, Gunther, or even a returning Sheamus.
I just can’t help but question WWE’s logic here, and it kind of reminds me of all the times The Shield reunited. Could WWE be pushing the same storyline too many times here? Could the WWE Universe get tired of this rinse and repeat cycle of The Bloodline Saga?
Are we about to see all the weekly episodes solely focused on The Bloodline again? Will it be cinema… Yes. Is there still money in The Bloodline… Yes. Was it the right call? That’s to be determined!
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Attitude Of Aggression Podcast: The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE's PPV/PLE history) Unidentified History (Ufology) & Game Gone Wrong (Game of Thrones Universe)
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