From the Archives: Harley Race vs. Mil Mascaras... in Japan?!?

Harley Race was the Original King of Wrestling. Mil Mascaras was arguably the most important figure in lucha libre history. On September 11, 1980, they faced off in an All-Japan Pro Wrestling ring for Race's NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Let's take a look:

Part 1


Part 2


A few things stick out to me. One is how goofy Harley Race would look in today's landscape. He's a big, barrell-chested, flabby roughneck. In today's game, the only guys who can seem to pull that look off are the Samoans and Bubba Ray Dudley. However, while Race would seem like a fish out of water, I think more guys like him would be a refreshing change. The toughest guys at bars aren't always the pretty-boy muscleheads. Just because you lift weights doesn't mean you know how to handle yourself. It's a shame Vince McMahon can't seem to see that.

The next thing that sticks out is how liberal the ref is in this match. Before he calls it at a double countout, he allows a table to be thrown into the ring, for Race and Mascaras to use a steel chair (that Mascaras actually puts through Race's head in one of the best spots of the match) and allows them to use the ring bell as a weapon. It's almost like AJPW was a forerunner to ECW... Hmm...

Another thing was how both guys seemed to play the heel in the match. Even though Mascaras had the crowd support, he was acting up his rudo side a bit during the affair, and of course, Race was in full on heel mode. I thought it was a nice change in dynamic from what we normally see. It's usually face/heel or face/face, since the aim is to have the crowd invested in the match somehow. I guess in this match, it really didn't matter since it was clearly pro-Mil from the start.

Anyway, I thought it was a good match. Mascaras pulls out some pretty sweet high-flying stuff, including a plancha to Race on the outside that looked cool for its time. I have to admit it took me awhile to really get into what Race was doing, because he did look a bit awkward, but once he got going, he looked every bit the HoFer that he's reputed to be. While I would have enjoyed a pinfall in the ring, I thought the way the match was going, a double countout worked. I also enjoyed the hell out of Mascaras and Race in a Mexican standoff with those steel chairs post bell. If anything, both men were showmen in their day.