Eight-Time NWA Champion has died:”The King” Harley Race has left us at age 76(Bruce Mitchell on the “Life and Times” of Harley Race on Twitter and at PWTorch.com)

CLICK HERE for Bruce Mitchell on Twitter, and Bruce has the full wrap on Harley Race…All of the details, all of the inside news, the Life and Times of Harley Race, from Bruce Mitchell of the Pro Wrestling Torch, on Twitter….A good read and very good background and photos on the history of Harley Race, in the NWA, WWF/WWE and WCW….Race went every place to defend his NWA Titles, and he was a “Champions Champion”…..A true fighting Champion and the man could fight and you better not end up on the wrong side of Harley Race, or he might mess up your face, and you could ask Vader about that, if he was still here to tell us about it….Many have lived to tell, and Bruce Mitchell is at the top of the list…He can give you anything you missed about Harley Race, from over the years….The ‘Race’ is over and now let us begin to look back, at “how the Race was won”/how Harley Race Won……

from WWE.com/www.wwe.com/CLICK HERE for a good photo of Harley Race….

WWE is saddened to learn that WWE Hall of Famer Harley Race passed away today at age 76 due to complications from lung cancer.

Harley Race captured the NWA World Heavyweight Championship eight times. To this day, only a handful of Superstars can claim to have won more World Heavyweight Championships than Race.

During the 1970s and early 1980s, Race was the National Wrestling Alliance’s most dominant champion, winning the sport’s oldest World Heavyweight Championship from the likes of Dory Funk Jr., Giant Baba, Terry Funk, Dusty Rhodes and Ric Flair.

The tough-as-nails Race was so universally respected that WWE, despite having seceded from the NWA and having its own World Heavyweight Champion, chose to recognize Race’s title status as well. As a result, Race was the first NWA Champion to engage in title unification matchups against WWE Champions like “Superstar” Billy Graham and Bob Backlund.

In what seemed unthinkable at the time, Race, one of the NWA’s most influential figures of all time, joined WWE in 1986 during the company’s national expansion. After winning the King of the Ring tournament, Race was the first to don regal robes and a crown. “King” Harley Race was managed by Bobby “The Brain” Heenan and was introduced to a new generation of fans. Race battled all of WWE’s top heroes and pinned Junkyard Dog at WrestleMania III in front of a record-setting attendance of 93,000 fans.

WWE extends its condolences to Race’s family, friends and fans……