Harley Race was a great “worker” which means that he understood his role in every match, and in pro wrestling in general. As the fat, old, fearsome Heel, his job in the 1970’s and 80’s was to make the hot young talents like Ricky Steamboat look good — to get us to fall in love with the other man. Here are some high quality photos of an old match showing Race putting Steamboat over.
The reason wrestlers like Harley Race stand out as true talents in the ring is not for their many victories and championship reigns — although those are impressive enough. A pro wrestler’s greatest value lies in his ability to humble and humiliate himself, to make the other man seem powerful, spectacular, and worthy of our worship. A great pro wrestler acts clownish and submissive to work in partnership with his dominant opponent to really mind-fuck us.
Race is able to seem larger-than-life, an Immovable Object, a brutal Sonuvabitch at some points in his matches, but at other points, he finds himself defenseless against the young stud’s attacks, unable to over-power the hero. All great workers understand that pro wrestling is not about them — it is about the pleasure and entertainment of the audience.
In the 1970’s, Richard Henry Blood (AKA Ricky Steamboat) was the rising star. The fans loved him and wanted to see him win. He also had a smoking body and hard little ass that really made jaws drop when he’d flex it, twist it, and put it on display.
Harley Race, who was 10 years older than Steamboat, understood how the fans loved this kid just as clearly as he understood that his fleshy, ponderous body would look fantastic at both pummeling the younger pretty-boy as well as suffering under the hot kid’s splashes and kneedrops.
This match and many others like it featured Ricky Steamboat putting the vicious veteran in his place — pornography for lovers of pro wrestling Baby-Faces.
The scene depicts a transfer of power from the big-bellied Champion to the young hard-body. This dramatic shift of control, this utter defeat of one man by another, this admission by the honored veteran that he is inferior to the hot new stud, is what gives pro wrestling its sex appeal and keeps the fans coming back for more.
Harley Race is more than willing to play along with this scenario, to stoke our fires by adopting the role of the over-powered, over-whelmed veteran, totally humbled by the new Big Swinging Dick. The best wrestlers are the ones who give us exactly what we’re yearning to see.
