The NWA Champion in CWF

The 10lbs of gold, the $10,000 gold and diamond studded belt.  Those were the two common phrases of the great Gordon Solie when he was talking about the National Wrestling Alliance Worlds Heavyweight Championship. 

Ah, that domed belt.  From 1973 to 1986 that beautiful belt was wrapped around the waist of some of the greatest pro wrestlers of all time.  Jack Brisco, Terry Funk, Harley Race and Ric Flair.  An impressive list, wouldn't you say?  Even some other greats had short runs as NWA World Champions and for each one of those men it was an honor and a privilege to wear the belt that told the world of wrestling that you were the very best in your profession.

I have stated before here on Kayfabe Memories, my prime years of watching Championship Wrestling from Florida was from the summer of 1978 until early 1984.  During those years, two men stood above all the rest when it came to being called Worlds Heavyweight Champion, Harley Race and Ric Flair.  When they came to town, action was soon to follow and memories were going to be created to last a lifetime.  I would like to focus on my favorite NWA Worlds Champion Harley Race, and his time spent in CWF.

Harley Race was in the midst of his second NWA Title reign after defeating Terry Funk in the famed Toronto Maple Leaf Gardens on February 6^th, 1977 .  My first two memories of Race were individual matches he had with one of my favorite tag teams of all time, Mike Graham and Steve Keirn. 

The match with Steve Keirn was covered in my first article for Kayfabe Memories.  It was the first live wrestling event I ever witnessed.  To quickly recap, Race and Keirn had the entire West Palm Beach Auditorium in the palm of their hands.  The match went back and forth the match with several near pin falls by the challenger.  Race eventually retained his title via pin fall when special guest referee and former NWA World Champion Pat O'Connor indirectly helped Race by getting into a verbal confrontation with Keirn.  Race did everything right in the match.  What I mean is he made Steve look like a million bucks, he maintained his heat and title and in the eyes of the fans, Steve Keirn, given the right circumstances, could become NWA World Champion next time they battled.

The Race - Mike Graham battle was shown as highlights on a CWF program.  I remember it well.  The year escapes me, I want to say it was early to mid 1979 but I am not sure.  Graham was an excellent worker and always had the fans heavily in his corner and this night the fans wanted to see Mike Graham shock the world and become the new NWA World Champion.  For most of this match, it appeared Graham was not going to let the fans go home disappointed.  That was until one slip up by Graham allowed Race to once again escape Florida with his World Title.

Late in the match Mike stumbled over Race and flipped into the ropes, getting his head caught between the top and middle rope, nearly hanging himself.  He and the referee sold it so well I thought it was an accident.  Race won the match but his luck was running out in Florida .

August 21^st, 1979 , Harley Race is defending his title against long time nemesis and number one challenger, Dusty Rhodes in Tampa .  Dusty had come close so many times against Terry Funk and now Harley Race but due to technicalities the title eluded his grasp.  Rhodes was bloody and beaten, but mounted a comeback.  With Race down on the mat, Dusty delivers his patented bionic elbow smash.  He immediately gets up and delivers another elbow smash.  Dusty rises again, ready to deliver another bionic elbow to the chest.  He pauses for an extra second to add to the drama, and delivers the biggest of the three bionic elbow smashes to the prone Race.  Three seconds later the arena erupts, as Dusty Rhodes is the new NWA World Champion.  I distinctly remember Dusty's reaction after winning the title.  He was so convincing in his joy at capturing the elusive crown.  Jack Brisco, Steve Keirn, Manny Fernandez and other wrestlers joined the celebration in the ring.  Big Dust was hoisted high on their shoulders.   More...