In the mid -1980s, then WWF was expanding through the United States entering territories affiliated with NWA. Today we remember in particular Central States Wrestling since there the legend of the twelve strings Harley Race It was an essential figure.
► Harley Race and WWE's threat
The wrestling empire under construction was a threat to all the small promoters and «Mr. Pro Wrestling» He wanted to answer her when they visited her city, Kansas Cityto celebrate a show at the Kemper Arena on October 26, 1984 where Hulk Hogan vend to Big John Studded.
In his autobiography Hollywood Hulk Hogan, and in several interviews (as in the DVD The Self-Description of the Ultimate Warrior), “The immortal” reveals:
“We were in Kansas City, and someone came to the locker room and said: 'Harley Race is here with a gun!' I thought, 'Oh my God'. We were invading his territory and he was like the king there. But when he entered the locker room, I approached, I offered his hand and said: 'It is an honor to meet you.' He told me something like: 'I respect what you are doing.' We end up smoking a cigar together.”
Being Hogan's words we must take them with tweezers -specially there would really be a present weapon; although some people like Ric Flair or Jim Cornette have said that “That was very Harley”– but The incident would have really happened. Race briefly treats him in his own autobiography King of the Ring: The Harley Race Story as he did on other occasions:
«Yes, I went to see what they were doing in Kansas City. He was not personal with Hogan. I was defending what was mine.»
There is no recording or official witnesses that accurately confirm every detail, and as usually happens in wrestling, history has been adorned over time. But yes, it is widely accepted that an incident with Harley Race armed by confronting Hulk Hogan, although probably not with the intention of hurting him but only intimidate him. In an article in The New York Post, David Shoemakerresponsible for the documentary of Vince McMahon in Netflix, he points out:
«Supposedly, Hulk Hogan was in the locker room when a local fighter named Harley Race broke out. Race approached Hogan, who was sitting, and gave him a punch, throwing him to the ground. When Hogan, half ashamed. .38 Special. No one was injured, but Race made his point clear.
Later, Hogan said Race even tried to set fire to the WWF ring, although Race denied it. Like most regional promoters, Race lost a lot of money when WWF took control, and to recover the lost, ended up working for McMahon just a couple of years after the incident with the weapon ».
On the other hand, Harley Race would end up working at WWE only two years later.
