Feature Story: Harley Race and Larry Hennig

The faces of Harley Race

Editor's note: This story takes a look at the partnership of Larry Hennig and Harley Race using the information made available to fans through the contemporary wrestling media. From what we now know about the wrestling media of that era, it is highly unlikely that Harley Race actually wrote an article for Wrestling Revue magazine, or that many of the quotes I have used here were actual quotes from the wrestling personalities listed. Since beginning work on this project, I have been told by other researchers that the meeting in the Amarillo hotel room probably never took place, and that the pair's 1966 foreign tour did not include a visit to Japan. I am presenting this particular version of the story for the benefit of those fans (myself included) who had not begun to follow wrestling at the time Hennig and Race teamed together, and because I think its more fun this way.

The Legend of Handsome Harley Race and Pretty Boy Larry Hennig

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Race and Hennig during their days as AWA Tag Champs

An Amarillo hotel room probably seems like an unlikely starting point for one of the most notable tag team partnerships ever, but that’s exactly where Harley Race and Larry Hennig decided to team together. One night in 1964, in that hotel room, the two vowed to one another that they would move mountains, cross oceans and take on the entire wrestling establishment in order to win the world tag team championships. Not only did they win the championships, they virtually dominated the world of tag team wrestling for the better part of five years.

Each man had taken a different road in getting to that hotel room in Texas. Larry Hennig had been tutored personally by Verne Gagne after graduating from high school. After wrestling preliminary matches for a couple of years, Hennig had gained enough experience to merit some main event matches and even held the AWA tag team championship for a short time with Duke Hoffman as his partner. Eventually, Hennig began having second thoughts about the scientific style of wrestling that Gagne had taught him, because it seemed to him that he was frequently being beaten by rougher, more experienced wrestlers who took liberties with the rules.

The story of Harley Race’s start in pro wrestling at the age of 15 has been well established. Trained by Stanislaus and Wladek Zybyzko initially and later by Ray Gordon, Bobby Graham and "Killer" Buddy Austin, St. Joseph Missouri promoter Gust Karras took Race under his wing early on and had a huge influence on his career. Although he was on the losing end of many matches early in his career, each defeat contributed to Race’s knowledge of the sport and to his determination to succeed at all costs. Race learned to take advantage of every opportunity that came his way, including opportunities to cut corners and break rules to come out on top.

During the summer of 1963, Hennig left the AWA for a stint in the Texas territories. While touring Texas, Hennig adopted a more brutal style and won the Texas Heavyweight Title. He also crossed paths with Harley Race. The two young wrestlers struck up a friendship and began working out together. Following their mutual commitment in Amarillo, the team spent months in rigorous training. Late in 1964, the new tag team burst upon the Minneapolis wrestling scene as "Pretty Boy" Larry Hennig and "Handsome" Harley Race. The duo quickly became notorious for their cocky attitude, their disregard for the rules, and their disdain of any opponent, official or promoter who stood in the way of their goals.

Verne Gagne immediately took offense to Hennig’s change in attitude. Gagne set out to prove to Hennig that the scientific style of wrestling was superior. Hennig wanted to prove that his strength, youth and desire were more than a match for Gagne's experience, finesse and guile. Throughout the years that Race and Hennig were together in the AWA, Gagne’s search for tag team partners to help him defeat Race and Hennig was a recurring theme. Wilbur Snyder, Reggie Parks, the Crusher, Cowboy Bob Ellis, Mighty Igor Vodic, Tim Woods, Danny Hodge, Pat O’Connor, Ernie Ladd, and Bill Watts were all part of the series of partners recruited by Gagne to try to get the best of Race and Hennig.

"I taught Larry Hennig to wrestle, but he just didn’t have what it takes to make it. Race wouldn’t win many matches on his own either. But, when they get in the ring together, they abuse the rules and help each other whenever they get in trouble. They are good wrestlers, but they will never be classified as great."

--- Verne Gagne, 1967

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Larry Hennig shows off his awesome strength by lifting a snowmobile in this photo from Wrestling Revue.

By January of 1965, Race and Hennig had become such a dominant force that they could not be denied a shot at the World Titles. Following a loss in their initial title shot again the champs, Dick the Bruiser and the Crusher, Hennig and Race received a second title match on January 30 in Minneapolis. On that night, less than one year after becoming a team, Hennig and Race took the world titles in front of a record crowd. At that time, the duo were the youngest world tag champs ever.

       "Crusher and Bruiser could be great wrestlers. They have a lot of ability, but instead of training they spend most of their time in saloons. They are both illiterate and do not appreciate the finer things of life. They were a good team, but when they came up against the greatest team of all time, Handsome Harley Race and Pretty Boy Larry Hennig, there was no question at all that we would win the title." --- Harley Race, 1967

        Six months later, Verne Gagne and the Crusher succeeded in taking the championship away, only to lose it back to Race and Hennig two weeks later, on August 7, 1965. Hennig and Race held the titles for the remainder of 1965, then dropped the titles to the Bruiser and the Crusher in May of 1966. After losing a rematch the following week, Race and Hennig departed for a tour of Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

     "The Dolly Sisters aren’t even good amateurs. Larry Hennig can’t drink beer worth anything, and Harley Race goes to a hairdresser. What kind of men would do that?"
        --- The Crusher, 1967

   "Me and Crusher can take them Dolly Sisters any time. Gertrude Hennig and Sylvia Race are the worst excuse for rasslers you ever seen. They pay them girls to cheer them."
         -- Dick the Bruiser, 1967

       The duo tore into the competition in Australia like a pair of Tazmanian Devils. In June of 1966, Hennig and Race became the first World Tag Team champions for Australia’s International Wrestling Alliance. They lost that title to Mark Lewin and Dominic DeNucci just before leaving Australia for Japan. Opponents in Japan were equally futile in finding a way to beat them. Race and Hennig drew heat from fans all along the tour because of their attitude and tactics.

       Returning to the U.S. in the Fall of 1966, Hennig and Race had to work their way back up to top-contender status for the tag titles. On January 6, 1967 they received their opportunity, and won the titles from the Bruiser and the Crusher in Chicago. A broken leg suffered by Larry Hennig on November 1, 1967 ended their last title run. The AWA allowed Harley Race to select another partner to defend the championship. Race selected Chris Markoff, who had occasionally appeared in six-man tag matches with Race and Hennig. Race and Markoff dropped the titles to Pat O’Connor and Wilbur Snyder in their first title defense.

      While Hennig was shelved with his injury, Race wrestled singled matches and occasional tag matches with Hard Boiled Haggerty as his partner. Hennig returned to action in April of 1968, and again teamed with Race. The team continued to wrestle together through the end of 1968, but never regained the championship. Race left Minneapolis in December 1968 and launched his singles career in the NWA. Hennig started a new team with Lars Anderson (Larry Heinimi) and remained in the AWA through most (if not all) of the rest of his career.

       "Hennig and Race are among the all-time greats. Their record proves it. They are among the few honest and honorable men in the business." --- Mad Dog Vachon, 1967

       Where do Handsome Harley Race and Pretty Boy Larry Hennig stand among the great tag teams of all time? Many of the fans who actually saw the team wrestle rank them among the top 10-15 teams of all time. More recent fans tend to overlook them because their run together only spanned about five years, while other great teams like the Andersons, the Freebirds, the Road Warriors and the Midnight Express had much longer runs together. It also hurt their legacy that they wrestled as a team before wrestling "went national" on TBS and other cable stations. Videotape or film of the team in action is very rare ( I personally am unaware of any tape or film of Race and Hennig together during their championship run), although there are some relatively poor quality tapes available which have Race and Hennig competing as a team in a tournament in Japan in the early-80s. Finally, today’s fans primarily know Larry Hennig as the father of Curt Hennig, and think of Harley Race for his eight NWA World title reigns as a singles wrestler rather than in terms of what they accomplished together as a team.

End notes: Information for this story has been taken from George Paul Schire’s "Handsome" Harley Race -- The AWA Tag Team Years 1964-1969, and from an article titled "Why We Are The Greatest" which appeared in the December 1967 issue of Wrestling Revue and which lists Harley Race as author.