Gene Gordon Photo / c. Ditchcat Photography |
No champion ever spoke more reverently of the NWA World Championship belt than Handsome Harley Race.
Gene Gordon Photo / c. Ditchcat Photography |
No champion ever spoke more reverently of the NWA World Championship belt than Handsome Harley Race.
"In the year nineteen hundred and seventy eight, Terry Funk told me if I wanted to be a star in this business I had to get to St. Louis on Friday night. You know what I'm talkin' about. I had to be at the Kiel or The Arena, I had to be live at the Chase, I had to be in St. Louis if I wanted to be a star.
And then I saw this for the first time. It was around the waist of the legendary Jack Brisco. And I said, "Jack, do you think I could ever be World champion?" He said, "Kid, keep workin'. Work at it every day and every night and maybe by the grace of God you might get it some day.
And then there was Terry Funk, and then it was Harley Race, and then it was Dusty Rhodes.
And then it was my turn.
And this is what we all desired to have and be, the World Heavyweight championship. We gave up everything. We gave up life, we gave up our families, we worked every day, we partied all night. We were the champions of the World. The best this sport had to offer."
That episode of WCW Monday Nitro is currently available on demand on the Peacock Network. The interview with Flair is at approximately 25:20 into the program.
A very bright moment during a really sad time in WCW.
This post was originally published on the "Domed Globe" website in May of 2019, and republished on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway in May of 2023.
I suddenly realized the referee in the ring was walking towards my position. I thought, well this is it, someone is finally going to ask me to leave. But as I looked up, he reached out with the NWA world title belt - - the beautiful "ten pounds of gold" - -- - and waited for me to take it.
The Montgomery Civic Center in Montgomery, AL. Circa 1960s. "Wrestling Tonite" on the marquee! |
Ring attendant with the NWA title in Dothan, AL. This wasn't me, this wasn't Montgomery, it just reminds me of that moment in my life. |
Instead, I just looked at it. I couldn't believe what I had in my hands. This was the famous domed-globe belt; the Lombardi trophy and the Stanley Cup and every championship trophy in every major sport all wrapped up into one. Ric Flair's world title. The same world title that had been held by Brisco, Funk, Race, and Rhodes. And now I was kneeling at ringside in Montgomery, Alabama with that belt in my hands.
If I had really wanted to run away with the belt (which I did not), my window of opportunity quickly closed as the ring attendant had returned and I suddenly realized he was right behind me. He snatched the belt from my hands.
"You need to get back to your seat, bud," he said with a cold stare. And so without a word, I complied.
Can you imagine how badly this might have ended otherwise? I'm guessing the boys in the back would have had a field day with the young punk who tried to steal the champ's belt. More likely, I would have been arrested and spent the night in the Montgomery county jail.
My pulse was still racing as I thought about what had just happened. It was my one brief moment to touch history, to touch this belt I would have never thought I would have a chance to get anywhere near.
Many years later, however , on October 28, 2008, Dave Millican and I had the opportunity to photograph this very same belt. These photographs would later wind up in our book "Ten Pounds of Gold."
I would have never dreamed I could have gotten that close to it again.
One of the great frustrations for wrestling fans interested in wrestling history, especially fans a little older like me, is the lack of focus and context on the early aspects of Ric Flair's wrestling career, especially during the era when the territories were still going strong in the 1970s.
A less familiar observer who spent time reading or watching popular culture presentations on the life and career of the "Nature Boy" might think things took off for him professionally about the time he defeated Harley Race for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship at the landmark Starrcade event in 1983.
Not so in "The Last Real World Champion" by respected wrestling historian and author Tim Hornbaker. He is nearly 130 pages into his biography before he ever gets to Starrcade.
Spanning over 400 pages, "The Last Real World Champion: The Legacy of Nature Boy Ric Flair" covers every aspect of Flair's remarkable in-ring career that spans nearly half a century. But in a pleasant development, to my experience, there has never been a more thorough review of the ten years before that famous win over Race in Greensboro. So much of Flair's career before his historic run as world champion often gets glossed over by others, hitting only a few high spots. Hornbaker goes deep into Flair's early career, especially concerning his development as a major star and box-office draw in the Mid-Atlantic Wrestling territory promoted by the Crockett family. He covers Flair's arrival in the Carolinas in great detail, his development under booker George Scott, life on the road, and his early tutoring by Johnny Valentine, Wahoo McDaniel, and others. Long-time Mid-Atlantic fans will revel in the details of the significant angles and achievements early on, while fans less familiar with that era will find lots to learn, love, and celebrate.
The rest of Flair's unique story is told throughout this amazing book, including the NWA title era, WCW and Nitro periods, and the latter years in WWE and Impact Wrestling.
When it comes to the more challenging aspects of Flair's personal life and entanglements outside of wrestling, Hornbaker doesn't flinch there, either. But with regards to the personal drama, he reports on all of it succinctly and cleanly, unlike some other accounts, which look more like wide-eyed gawkers slowing up to pass an accident on the side of the highway. If you want that dirt, help yourself; it's been done to death in many documentaries and articles over the past years and even by Flair himself. Hornbaker doesn't gloss over any of it, to be sure, but he doesn't dwell on it either. There are no judgments here. The title, after all, purports to examine the legacy of the "last real world champion," and the more interesting aspects of the book focus on Flair's remarkable and unparalleled legacy in the ring, not out of it.
"The Last Real World Champion" is the perfect title for the book. Not only does it call back to a fun moment in time when Flair took the Big Gold Belt to the WWF, but it is also factually accurate. Flair was the last in a long line of touring world champions before guys with belts were nothing more than company champions. It's also a positive reflection on Flair's in-ring career as a whole.
With great affection for the subject matter, Tim Hornbaker brings Flair's amazing career into focus unlike any other. It is a tour de force with respect to thorough research and is impeccably documented with nearly 55 pages of end notes. This type of exhausting research is a hallmark of Hornbaker's work generally.
A walk along this rich historical journey is great fun. Available for pre-order now, it is highly recommended reading for fans of Ric Flair and of pro-wrestling history and sports entertainment in general.
Great magazine cover from 1982, former NWA World Champion "Wildfire" Tommy Rich battling reigning champion Harley Race. This was Tommy Rich in his prime. The two traded the NWA title a year earlier in Georgia.
The Crockett Territory's Biggest Night of the Year
Ticket stub from Thanksgiving Night in Greensboro 1973 Nov. 22, 1973 - 48 years ago! |
Championships At Stake In Thanksgiving Wrestling
Thanksgiving night in the Greensboro Coliseum will be wrestling championship night, the finest card ever presented to Piedmont sports fans.
Jack Brisco, the new world heavyweight title-holder, will risk his crown against Dory Funk Jr. of Texas, the former champion. Funk lost his title some time ago to Harley Race, who in turn was beaten by Brisco ... and Jack Brisco has never beaten Funk in a title match. Lou Thesz, a former world champ, will be the special referee.
Younger brothers of both champions clash In the Eastern Heavyweight title match. Jerry Brisco, who holds the crown, will take on Terry Funk. Both title features will be one hour time limit.
This Thanksgiving special, which usually draws the season's largest wrestling crowd at the Greensboro Coliseum, will be the first in a series of Jim Crockett Scholarship Fund events throughout the area. Wrestlers and promoters alike are working to set up a series of college scholarships to honor the late Jim Crockett, regarded as the South's outstanding promoter at the time of his death last spring.
Other matches include Cowboy Bill Watts versus Beauregard, Bob Bruggers versus El Gaucho and The Destroyer versus Rufus R. Jones. A special tag team match will have Rip Hawk and Swede Hanson against Eddie and Mike Graham.
Wrestling Set Tonight
The late Jim Crockett will be honored tonight during professional wrestling in the Greensboro Coliseum tonight involving world champions.
Lou Thesz, who held the world crown for many years, will referee a match between current champ Jack Brisco and Dory Funk Jr. Funk lost his title to Harley Race who was beaten by Brisco.
The Eastern Heavyweight title is also at stake with present titlist Jerry Brisco being challenged by Terry Funk. Rip Hawk and Swede Hanson will have a tag team battle against Eddie and Mike Graham and there will be several singles events.
A Rare Thanksgiving Night Card in Charlotte
With so many big outside names taking the top spots on the Greensboro card, one could easily wonder where the rest of the Mid-Atlantic roster was that night. Typically, Norfolk, VA, also hosted a big card of wrestling on Thanksgiving night. But in 1973, Charlotte instead played host to a rare Thanksgiving night show that, like Greensboro, also featured some special guest stars.Could Terry Take The Champ?
from "The Grapevine" Volume II, Number 34
August 1979 (Championship Wrestling from Florida)
Sports fans of the future will look at the decade which is the Seventies and see three names at the top of the roster in the area of professional wrestling. These are, Funk, Brisco and Race. Perhaps another will be added before 1980 is upon us, but time is drawing short.
And if the title does change hands before the end of the year, it seems quite possible that the new champion will not be entirely new at all.
"Handsome" Harley Race |
Another factor in Funk's loss to Race cannot be overlooked, however, and that is the fact that Terry emerged badly-battered from a match with Dusty Rhodes the night before Harley Race beat him for the NWA title. It's hard to ignore this factor in Race's victory. Funk won't claim it--he's too proud to make excuses. Race won't admit it because doing so might damage his image as world champion. Rhodes doesn't even want to talk about it.
Nevertheless, it's there, and the question remains, could Harley Race have beaten Terry Funk if Dusty Rhodes hadn't "softened up" his fellow-Texan first?The "experts" may still be arguing about this a hundred years from now, but for the moment we are left with two uncommonly tough Texans lined up in a determined effort to take the world heavyweight championship from Harley Race. It seems almost impossible to say which is first in line right at this moment, each having presented a strong case for himself as the "logical challenger."
Not to diminish Dusty in any respect, or any of the other challengers, for that mattter, it is only fair that we give Terry Funk some special consideration at this point. Terry is a former world champion, and because he has been active in other areas for the most part since Race took the title from him, we really haven't given Terry the coverage his status as a top contender merits. Terry Funk, it is said, didn't have to be slapped on the behind by the doctor who delivered him. He came into this world raising hell in a loud voice, and in all probability will go out the same way.
He grew up in the shadow of a father who did as much as Sam Houston and Billy The Kid to remind the rest of the world that Texans are tough. Terry also had an older brother who combined great athletic ability with a degree of intellectualism not always found among professional athletes. In other words, Terry Funk grew up with a lot of image to live up to. A lesser man wouldn't even have tried, but Terry Funk not only tried, he succeeded. He matched Dory Funk Jr.'s outstanding record as an amateur athlete at West Texas State University, and nobody anywhere made light of Terry's somewhat limited talents as a vocalist when he sang, 'Waltz Across Texas."
If Harley Race has to face Terry Funk -- and at this stage of the game it seems almost inevitable that he will -- the current world champion won't be going up against a man who has just finished battle with Dusty Rhodes. He'll be facing a more seasoned challenger who'll have a lot more reason to be confident than he had in 1977.
And just as much reason to be confident, it seems, as Harley Race had in that year. Time has a way of changing things.
⭐️NEW ADDITION⭐️8/20/79: West Palm Beach:
— Phil Cole (@Philcool27) June 20, 2023
NWA WORLD TITLE MATCH:
Harley Race
vs.
Steve Keirn
Manny Fernandez & Jack Brisco
vs.
Jos Le Duc & Don Muraco pic.twitter.com/hq1myT8g1y
The "Brisco Belt", the second version of the NWA World Title "domed globe" belt used in 1974-1976. Graphic art created by David Williams © 2019 |
By Dick Bourne, Mid-Atlantic Gateway
Art by David Williams
Back in late February of 2019, a computer artist named David Williams contacted me wanting to source some photos for a graphic art project he was envisioning. "I’ve been obsessed for several years with the thought of accurately rendering the classic NWA belt," he wrote me. "The problem is I want to make it as perfect to original as possible, or not bother."
Given my love and appreciation for that old belt, this certainly seemed like a worthwhile endeavor and I wanted to enthusiastically support Williams' project. The only thing David needed was some close-up hi-res photos of the belt, which I was happy to send him. Some of these photos I had taken myself, including the cover photo for the book "Ten Pounds of Gold" which showed close detail of the main plate, and others that showed the leather strap and details of the side plates.
With the help of some measurements Dave Millican made when he and I photographed the belt for the book back in 2008, Williams was able interpolate specific measurements for every element of the belt, all in perfect scale, in all of the title's iterations.
David Williams is a wrestling fan like the rest of us, growing up watching "Championship Wrestling from Florida," counting Jack Brisco and Buddy Colt among his favorites. Today he is a professional computer artist and career art director, as well as designer and publisher of the Ferrari Club of America’s Prancing Horse magazine.
And let me tell you, this cat has mad skills.
Version 2A, end to end, every meticulous detail. (David Williams) |
After reviewing all the photos I sent him, he decided to attempt not only the original version, but a recreation of all four versions of the "domed globe" belt that were worn and defended by the great NWA champions of 1973-1986. The two images you see on this page are of the second version of the belt. It is always identifiable by several unique characteristics, primarily the white lettering on black background above the flags, the tight leather cut, and "NWA" letters that go straight across the globe (as opposed to the curved letters on later versions.) You will also notice the "BRISCO" nameplate, which was on this version of the belt.
We collaborated on what should be included with regard to some of the details and in the end, David wound up with ten (10) different amazing images showing the progression of the belt from when it debuted in Houston, Texas on July 20, 1973 until it was retired in February of 1986. Each version features some change in the physical characteristics of the plates or the leather, even including the dents in the globes and the busted lacing around the edges of the leather strap.
I present here each of these 10 images, taking the opportunity to use David's amazing work to illustrate the evolution of the belt over the years, paired with information taken directly from the "Ten Pounds of Gold" book. You will see for yourself in some enlarged images the incredible detail of every single aspect of the belts, right down to the exact number of "beads" around the edge of the belt, the specific maps on the different globes, the lacing on the leather straps, the wrestlers on the plate, the fonts on the nameplates, and every other detail you can imagine. Just amazing work.
See all of David Williams incredibly detailed art after the jump!
The 1975 U.S. Title Tournament Belt - Mystery Solved!
by Dick Bourne, Mid-Atlantic Gateway
Originally Published February 2020
Can you imagine at what point in the evening that George Scott, Sandy Scott, David Crockett, and Jim Crockett were all standing around looking at each other asking, "Who brought the belt?"
One of the longest unsolved mysteries in Mid-Atlantic Wrestling history, especially for belt enthusiasts, involved trying to figure out what belt Terry Funk held high over his head the night he won the famous United States title tournament in November of 1975. Because it wasn't the United States title belt.
It was part of the a great story and angle that eventually led to Terry Funk defeating Jack Brisco to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.
This tournament was held as a result of the October 1975 plane crash in Wilmington, NC that ended the career of then reigning U.S. Champion Johnny Valentine. This tournament that George Scott booked is the most famous and, arguably, the greatest tournament ever held in Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling history, from an era when tournaments meant something.
Not only were the area's top wrestlers involved, but Scott booked some of the top wrestlers from other territories around the country including Red Bastien, Dusty Rhodes, Harley Race, Ray Stevens, Terry Funk and Blackjack Mulligan. Mulligan wound up staying in the territory taking Valentine's spot as the area's top heel. But it was another Texan that wound up capturing the U.S. championship that night - Terry Funk.
Terry Funk holds up the "mystery" belt after winning the U.S. tournament in in 1975 (from pg. 59 in the book) |
Blackjack Mulligan on WWWF television wearing his WWWF Tag Team title belt. |
Three different teams wearing the WWWF Tag Team championship belts. Mr. Fuji and Toru Tanaka, the Valiant Brothers, Sonny King and Chief Jay Strongbow |
Race Regains NWA Title, Defends Against Brisco
Harley Race won the National Wrestling Alliance world heavyweight championship against Terry Funk in Toronto Sunday night and will defend the title against Jack Brisco tonight at Fort Homer Hesterly Armory.
As far as Brisco is concerned, their championship fight is three nights too late. Brisco beat Race Saturday night at the Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg.
The turn of events involving Funk, Race, Brisco and Dusty Rhodes make soap operas seem awfully dull.
Rhodes beat Funk in the featured title match Saturday night at the Bayfront, but Funk was disqualified for kayoing the referee and the title didn't change hands.
Funk, however, injured a knee in that match and against better judgment went ahead with his scheduled match with Race in Toronto Sunday night.
Race beat Funk in a quick 14 minutes, 10 seconds with an Indian death lock, which places pressure on the knee and ankle.
NWA rules require a new champion to fulfill the former champion's match commitments. Interestingly, this brings Race right back against Brisco on tonight's Gasparilla Championships starting at 8:30 at Hesterly.
Terry Funk defeated Brisco for the championship in Miami in December of 1975.
Race previously held the title by defeating Dory Funk Jr. - - Terry's brother - - in March of 1973 and Race lost it to Brisco the following July.
An interesting triangle.
And who does Rhodes, the popular "American Dream wrestle tonight at Hesterly? Dory Funk Jr.
So, tonight's intriguing lineup pits Race vs. Brisco and Rhodes vs. Funk -- one champion and two ex-champs in the top two bouts.
It was in the same Gasparilla week of 1969 that Dory Funk Jr., lifted the heavyweight championship from Gene Kiniski at Hesterly.
Race has been wrestling professionally for 17 years. He turned pro with the NWA at 16, the youngest wrestler ever to do so.
Race makes his home in Kansas City.