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Post by "Playboy" Don Douglas on Jun 17, 2022 12:14:19 GMT -5
Prior to Starrcade ‘83, Vince called Harley Race and set up a meeting. The reason was obvious: he wanted Harley to come to the WWF with the NWA world title, sabotaging Starrcade ‘83 and the NWA itself.
Harley accepted the invitation, and they went to dinner. After the meal, Vince made the offer. Harley excused himself and went to restroom. Vince followed him soon after. Harley looked in the mirror and asked, “What do you see, Vince?” Vince replied, “I see you and me in that stupid mirror.” Harley told Vince that he had to look at himself in the mirror every morning, and the answer was no.
Things quickly took a turn.
Here’s what Harley said in his book:
“Vince never raised his voice, but I could tell he wasn’t happy with my answer. He wasn’t accustomed to being turned down. As we walked out of the restaurant, the cordial nature of our meeting took a turn for the worse. It’s hard to imagine a dinner meeting turning violent. But this is, after all, the wrestling business.
Vince and his wife were walking ahead of the rest of us, when I saw Vince start to walk with more of a swagger. Without saying a word, he pivoted on his foot and swung around to face me, then dove at my legs in an attempt to take me down. Barnett acted instinctively by shrieking and jumping out of the way. I acted instinctively by cross-facing Vince with my left arm, getting his head in a position where breaking his neck would be easy. I was angry enough to do it. In the split second I had to decide what to do next, my wife grabbed my head and said, “No, don’t do this.” I released my grip and let him go.”
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Post by CeilingFan on Jun 17, 2022 12:22:24 GMT -5
Ric Flair mentioned the story in his book, but not the altercation.
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Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on Jun 17, 2022 12:44:40 GMT -5
Jim Herd handing Flair and the belt over on a silver platter later by refusing to pay Flair the deposit on the belt back is one of those things I'd love to know what Race thought of. Probably, "This is really stupid."
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XIII
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Post by XIII on Jun 17, 2022 13:41:19 GMT -5
The infamous attempted double leg takedown against Harley Race is hilarious. Dude is lucky Harley didn’t shoot him never mind breaking his neck. lol
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Post by Some Baritone guy IS REDEEMED! on Jun 17, 2022 13:59:11 GMT -5
The infamous attempted double leg takedown against Harley Race is hilarious. Dude is lucky Harley didn’t shoot him never mind breaking his neck. lol I don't have any idea what he thought was going to happen really. Race was a man who Bruiser Brody, Stan Hansen and ANDRE THE GIANT were afraid of, a man who (allegedly) made a group of Hell's Angels run for the hills by beating their leader so badly. He got lucky. |
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Post by "Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay on Jun 17, 2022 14:01:57 GMT -5
The infamous attempted double leg takedown against Harley Race is hilarious. Dude is lucky Harley didn’t shoot him never mind breaking his neck. lol I don't have any idea what he thought was going to happen really. Race was a man who Bruiser Brody, Stan Hansen and ANDRE THE GIANT were afraid of, a man who (allegedly) made a group of Hell's Angels run for the hills by beating their leader so badly. He got lucky. Jericho talks in his book about how Vince thought he could take a UFC guy because he was short. |
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chrom
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Post by chrom on Jun 17, 2022 14:02:16 GMT -5
The infamous attempted double leg takedown against Harley Race is hilarious. Dude is lucky Harley didn’t shoot him never mind breaking his neck. lol I don't have any idea what he thought was going to happen really. Race was a man who Bruiser Brody, Stan Hansen and ANDRE THE GIANT were afraid of, a man who (allegedly) made a group of Hell's Angels run for the hills by beating their leader so badly. He got lucky. Probably snorted a bunch of cocaine before the meeting |
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XIII
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Post by XIII on Jun 17, 2022 14:04:42 GMT -5
I don't have any idea what he thought was going to happen really. Race was a man who Bruiser Brody, Stan Hansen and ANDRE THE GIANT were afraid of, a man who (allegedly) made a group of Hell's Angels run for the hills by beating their leader so badly. He got lucky. Jericho talks in his book about how Vince thought he could take a UFC guy because he was short. I now demand Vince McMahon vs. Kamaru Usman lol |
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salz4life
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Post by salz4life on Jun 17, 2022 14:18:29 GMT -5
Harley Race is one of those guys that, as a kid even when he was on his way out as an active performer, made me wonder if it was real... even when my dad would constantly say it was scripted. Even as an old man, I wouldn't have messed with him.
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Post by "Playboy" Don Douglas on Jun 17, 2022 14:33:59 GMT -5
Harley Race is one of those guys that, as a kid even when he was on his way out as an active performer, made me wonder if it was real... even when my dad would constantly say it was scripted. Even as an old man, I wouldn't have messed with him. The last time I was around Harley, he was mostly using a wheelchair to get around, and he still had an aura of someone you didn’t want to mess with. But he was always such a great guy, to me and every fan I saw him interact with. |
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Aceorton
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Post by Aceorton on Jun 17, 2022 15:18:25 GMT -5
If you're Linda, what are you thinking in that moment?
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Post by "Playboy" Don Douglas on Jun 17, 2022 15:57:07 GMT -5
If you're Linda, what are you thinking in that moment? “I’m about to be a widow before we can even get this thing going.” Harley could apparently take the cap off his beer, set it on his ring finger, place his pinky on top the cap on the other side, and bend the cap in half. I wouldn’t have thought that was possible. |
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Post by "Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay on Jun 17, 2022 17:29:32 GMT -5
I can only assume that even in old age Harley was capable of killing via scorn
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nate5054
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Post by nate5054 on Jun 17, 2022 17:54:16 GMT -5
Attacking Harley Race seems like a real stupid idea.
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ChitownKnight
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Post by ChitownKnight on Jun 17, 2022 22:57:39 GMT -5
It’s hilarious stories like these that make me have a smidgin of respect for Vince. Say what you want about the guy but he has some balls lol
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Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on Jun 17, 2022 23:10:25 GMT -5
Reminds me of Harley helping Foley out when Mick got a gash from hitting a guard rail. Harley insisted to a doctor it was from a headbutt in the ring, so Mick could get insured for it. The doctor insisted it'd been the rail, clearly, but Harley just repeated himself, "No, I believe it was a headbutt." and the doctor took the implication and wrote it down as a headbutt. "He put the fear of Harley in him."
Additionally, Mick also joked that A. he'd someday just go to one of Harley's barbecues and let Harley punch him and split his eyebrow considering he'd twice been denied due to Mick being busted open in Vader matches before Harley got the chance, and B. that Mick was supposed to wail on Vader and Harley and I think Orndorff, I forget, with a shovel. Mick was swinging it meekly backstage due to never having done it before. Race saw his hesitation and told him that out there, he'd better hit them for real, or he's come backstage and give Mick the real thing. Mick then went to town on Vader and the others with the shovel, knowing it was more important for it to look good to Harley than how much it was going to hurt.
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J. Hova
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Post by J. Hova on Jun 18, 2022 0:36:20 GMT -5
Harley Race might be my favorite wrestling personality of all time. I really wish I would have met him.
He probably has the greatest quote ever, "If I hit a man with my left hand and he doesn't go down, I will walk around him to see what is holding him up."
But yeah, Vince is, was, and forever will be batshit crazy.
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Futureraven: Beelzebruv
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Post by Futureraven: Beelzebruv on Jun 18, 2022 4:54:45 GMT -5
It’s hilarious stories like these that make me have a smidgin of respect for Vince. Say what you want about the guy but he has some balls lol Nah, trying to get the jump on someone way tougher than him because he wouldn't do something unethical and immediately getting caught... takes away even more of mine, what a petulant child. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2022 8:42:36 GMT -5
It’s hilarious stories like these that make me have a smidgin of respect for Vince. Say what you want about the guy but he has some balls lol Nah, trying to get the jump on someone way tougher than him because he wouldn't do something unethical an immediatelygetting caught... takes away even more of mine, what a petulant child. All Vince stories can be fundamentally boiled down to 'and then Vince acted like an entitled manchild having a tantrum'. And the best ones end with him punched in the face (good guy Bret) |
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Post by MrElijah on Jun 18, 2022 12:25:15 GMT -5
I don't have any idea what he thought was going to happen really. Race was a man who Bruiser Brody, Stan Hansen and ANDRE THE GIANT were afraid of, a man who (allegedly) made a group of Hell's Angels run for the hills by beating their leader so badly. He got lucky. Jericho talks in his book about how Vince thought he could take a UFC guy because he was short. And that guy was Frank Shamrock, IIRC. You know, the brother of the guy who was an employee that wasn't no slouch in MMA. For any MMA fans out there, how good was Frank? |
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