King Of The Ring: The Harley Race Story

Rating:
Summary: the greatest
Review: i have been waiting for this book for years , and it is as good as i hoped ,the book is a inside look at the man who controled the wrestling world for more then 10 years as world champion.harleys caring for his sport shows in this book. the chapter where he discribes the meeting and scuffle with vince jr is a eye opener.i call it a must read for any wrestling fan.the only draw back i would say is that the book is to short 200 pages.harley could have gone on for a 1000 pages about his wrestling. overall a great book ,ps harley thanks for the great memories gary,from buffalo

Rating:
Summary: King of typewriter as well
Review: I really loved reading this book. It came straight from the heart and there was no question that Harley wrote it. Just a great autobio of a great wrestling career. He's honest, pulls no punches, and makes you wish for a video of his career. Write another book, Harley.

Rating:
Summary: Race books details decline of National Wrestling Alliance
Review: I started going to wrestling matches in Topeka, KS, in 1963. This was the home territory for "Handsome" Harley Race as they called him. The wrestling promotion here was called All-Star Wrestling, which was a major portion of the National Wrestling Alliance Central States division. Even though Harley's home town area was Kansas City, we really didn't see him in the ring around here nearly as much as the other All-Star wrestlers like "Bulldog" Bob Brown, "Texas" Bob Geigel, Mike George, and Rufus R. Jones. The reason seemed to be because Harley was forever traveling as one of the most famous wrestlers in the world. So when we did see him here he was always just back from some distant place where he accepted challenges from other wrestlers. Even then we realized Harley was a major star in the sport, too big to just wrestle in the Central States region.

Harley's book details all this: his rise to fame in our area, his world travels, and his frequent homecomings. It is very well written and nicely illustrated.

I am particularly interested in the reproduction of the cover of the program booklet for the first "Starcade" event which really was the first ever wrestling televised pay-per-view.

Harley's book also details the decline of the National Wrestling Alliance during the 1980s as the umbrella organization for locally owned and operated wrestling organizations around the U. S. and other countries. All these years later Harley writes as though he still cannot believe how massive the World Wrestling Federation became during that decade, and quickly, too, causing numerous local wrestling promotions, including our beloved All-Star Wrestling, to go out of business.

Earlier this year, I read Ric Flair's autobiography. In that book, too, I read an awful lot about the decline of the NWA as well as World Championship Wrestling in the wake of the WWF. I recommend that you read both Flair and Race's autobiographies in order to understand how drastically professional wrestling has changed since the 1980s. It is quite a story!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Memoir
Review: This is an excellent autobiography for folks who are fans of Harley Race or the NWA World championship. Mr. Race tells the story of his career with both candor and respect to the people he works with in the wrestling biz.

Harley Race tells of his humble beginnings in the business; serving as chauffer for 800+ pound wrestler Happy Humphrey, learning how to market himself properly, from being a tag team mid-card wrestler to an individual main eventer. You'll read how he worked his way through several major injuries and tragic losses from his rookie years and past his career as an active wrestler.

For those of you who have never seen Harley Race wrestle, he is one of the most unique and talented of the classic NWA Heavyweight Champions. He looked like one of those old-movie whisky-voiced sailors you might see belting it out with Popeye, but in the ring he moved with the grace of a dancer. He could take just about anybody out in a fight, but was a true professional, always making his opponent look good in a match, always giving the wrestling fans a good show.

There are lots of great "On the Road" tales here, from his friendships with Humphrey, Ted DiBiase, Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith, his having to put folks like "Lawman" Don Slatton and Robot C3 in line, his plane flight sitting next to Boy George, to the friendships he acquired with fans throughout the years. Harley Race is one class act.

I don't know if I would recommend this book for somebody who is new to wrestling fandom; great as the book is, I think it might occasionally lose the reader who does not already have a decent understanding of old school pro wrestling.

If there is any other criticism of this book, it is only that it is too brief. I would have loved another hundred or so pages of Harley Race memories. That said, Mr. Race does an excellent job of compacting his story into just under 200 pages; he included the most pertinent, compelling, and moving stories into the mix. This is a must buy for fans of old school pro wrestling.