Copyright Michael W. Rickard II 2019

Editor's Note: Like so many fans, I'm saddened by the death of one of wrestling's true giants. The words legends and icons are often thrown out without much thought but Harley Race was and is one of the greatest figures in professional wrestling-in any era. There will be plenty of excellent obituaries so instead, I've put up a link to my review of Harley Race's memoir, King of the Ring. It's a great read about a true great in the ring. It's hard to believe but I wrote this review over 10 years ago at the website Gumgod.com

Back in the era when an ambitious promoter might try to upstage the world champion by having one of his wrestlers turn a scripted match into a free for all, the champion had to be someone who could defend himself and send a message to anyone who dared to challenge him. The champion would have to be able to endure months on the road as he traveled around the globe to make money by defending the world championship. In a word, the champion had to be tough. When it came to being tough, there was no one tougher than Harley Race

Click here for full review.