Harley Race vs Terry Funk (NWA Title Match, JULY 1, 1977)
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- Опубліковано 1 гру 2024
- From the Sam Houston Coliseum, JULY 1, 1977. Another amazing find as lost footage of a 2 out of 3 falls NWA World Title Match between defending champion Harley Race and former champion Terry Funk.
This is all 3 falls, with proceding promo. I'd previously only seen the match as the last fall, & promo.
Please comment if you like this & want to see more!
Two of the greatest and toughest wrestlers to ever lace a pair of boots.
Both earned their place in history.
For sure
Jungle Boy Jack Perry has entered the chat
Yes and both such great, long careers
Perhaps the 2 greatest ever... UA-cam gold no doubt. I hope they're up in heaven reliving the glory days!
Nope.
R.I.P. Terry Funk. Legend!
I missed how paced wrestling was. My uncle got me into wrestling with the attitude era when I was little, but he would ALWAYS show me NWA matches... You don't get an appreciation for the ART of PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING until you study these gems
True. I think also with the advent of MMA, people appreciate more how wrestlers apply and sell the moves back in this era.
You hit the nail on the head with "ART."
Very Astute , spespwcially for someone who was intro'd to wrestling during the biggest hotshotted era of wrestling in history . The Attitude era really destroyed the industry because it left the promotion with nowhere to go after throwing every thing and the kitchen sink at the fan . Its rare to hear a young fan sing the praises of old school wrestling.
@@ShinSuperSaiyajin You would think so Ramil but wrestling has degraded to a Stunt show .
@@georgeelmerdenbrough6906 to a degree I will agree. But there are still those who draw because they are good at mat wrestling like the Zack Saber Jrs or Bryan Danielsons
This is one of the greatest NWA Title Matches I've ever seen!! Great in ring work, great psychology and storytelling!!!
Glad you enjoyed it.
@@SuprJoinT Excellent match. Kudos for the upload.
Storylines didn’t even exist back in the 70’s till Vince made wrestling storylines, this was real professional wrestling 🤼♀️ trying become who’s the best
@@ricardosantiago9888 pos vkn DID NOT invent storylines. Storylines and ring psychology have been around since the 1950s.
@@ricardosantiago9888 lmao you modern day kid have no idea about wrestling.
Funk before his hardcore wrestling and all the injuries that he sustained. its amazing that he was taking chair shots, barb wire matches, deathmatches in his 40s and 50s.
Harley Race was one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. A true artist.
Yes sir .. Harley was the man.
This is the wrestling I grew up with. Thanks for posting it. Two of the toughest hombres ever in the ring.
Brilliant pacing. I also enjoy how few high-spots were used, they were both going for submission holds. Especially playing off of Harley winning that year in Toronto with the Indian Death-Lock that Terry was quick to escape. Some stiff, hard shots they both took but you can tell they had great chemistry.
To me high spots just make it so obvious that you are not watching a true competition .
Easily the greatest title defense of Harley Race's 8 reigns as the NWA Champ. A masterpiece.
No question, Terry and Harley were and are some of the toughest badasses!
Thank you for taking the time to share this with the world. Fantastic quality too
Love the clarity of the video. Classic old school wrasslin’ . Miss the good old days.
I've watched a lot of Funk in my life. But I'm only 34, I saw the flair feud in 89, the ecw stuff, chainsaw charlie, and some of the Japan matches. Never until now have I seen Terry in the 70s, as a great worker. Who better than Harley to have this match with? Long live both these men. This is wrestling!!!
PS Paul Boesch rules
This was one of only 2 times i got a chance to see race live(the other time was against andre 2 years later).Even at 8yrs of age,i could appreciate how much on a whole different level both these guys were.
I grew up in the 90s and I am so excited to watch this. Tears in my eyes excited. So much respect for the old timers
Stone cold has me watching this clinic.
Me too LOL
Same
Fuckin’ awesome..😁
@@ShinSuperSaiyajin ららららららららららららりららららららららららららららららららららららららららるらららららららららららららららららららららららららららららららららららららららららららららららららららららららららららら
Lmao thats how I got here
a classic battle between two great Legends in professional wrestling Harley Race and Terry Funk
Wow, never seen this one before. Big thanks for sharing. ✌
This what makes the word classic valid when describing pro wrestling. It doesn't get much better than this.
Both of these men are grappling in the great beyond now
R.I.P Terry
R.I.P Harley
Ah the good old days.
The days when wrestling sold tickets not merchandise.
The days when the majority of the action was in and around the ring during the match, not out back.
We didn't care that the action was carefully controlled - the top wrestlers worked so well.
This made my day. Just incredible. Two of my all time favorites
What an amazing video library you have ! Im enjoying all of it . Thank You !
Thanks so much for sharing this. Watching two of the greatest legends ever brings back the best of memories.
No gimmicks,just to great wrestlers getting at each other.The kind of wrestling we used to like.
Alain Robert wrestling is just awful today
Totally agree!
Pro Wrestling today isn't wrestling Boss. It's Dancing and talking.
Gimmicks? Its scripted. Watch 3:42 slo mo & he clearly hit Harley across the chest., nowhere near the neck or throat , yet the announcer clearly says he was slashed across the throat . Then Harley acts like hes hurt. - Its entertaining though. Back when I was a teen I thought all this was real.
@@97warlock part of the story
Notice how long this match was,these guys today can't carry a match that long anymore
Matches are rushed. Only high spots and finishing moves people kick out of on regular basis
NJPW
They come through the curtain doing cartwheels now
Terry Funk celebrated his 33rd birthday a day before this match.
One of the best matches I seen yeah its not fast paced but the selling of the holds and the psychology in the ring. It made it believable it made you think it was real the emotion by Funk trying to lock in the submission but bled continuously. I wish we had more matches like this today. By the way being 22 years old I love going back and watching Houston Wrestling Paul Boesch commentary is great and its one of my favorite territory to go back and watch.
Thanks for posting this. It's so great to watch "old school" matches!!! It's fun watching these two legit badasses go at it!!!
what an unbelievable good match, one of the best matches i have seen ,when high spots were used they made a great impact and they were done properly with speed .
I get so lost in good professional wrestling from the 70s I forget it's pre determined. It feels real
It is real wrestling and thats what i was looking for
This is one of the coolest things I’ve seen in awhile. I miss the longer matches, slower pace, and the wrestlers making it more ‘believable’.
Did not expect that first body press from funk wow
PABrewNews Yes! It emerged very quickly and was pretty technically sound for such a sudden press.
Yea same here, was all oh shit damn that was beast
These guys had wrestling down to a fine art! Brilliant choreography, and professional style. True professionals. May they both RIP.
Wow I’d never seen Funk in such great shape ! Please post more!
Remember when wrestling was great? Me too. Harley Race was my favorite. These are two of the greatest ever--and two the genuinely toughest guys ever to wrestle.
Agree
Wrestling used to be (past tense) great.
Thanks for the upload.
Two of the toughest men ever to step foot in a wrestling ring? 45 minute, 2-out-of-3-falls match for the NWA World Championship? I'm in!
The legendary match between the King 👑 Harley Race vs the King 👑 of Hardcore Terry Funk both legends in their own right awesome match.
I loved the 2 out of 3 falls matches. All world title matches should be this way.
It was supposedly to combat the notion that any title change was a fluke but it was really a way to keep both the champ and the challenger strong . This stopped with Ric Flairs first reign . It hurt Flair in my mind because as champ he never pinned any contender he faced cleanly, leaving you to wonder how he could be champion in the first place
@Pood De Screwch Flair was champion because he had what it took to be the champion. and few others came close. Rick Steamboat was awesome but didn't cut it on the Mike. Not even close to Flair.
Funk! Awesome grappler. Great, well-made video. Beauty.
Incredible match, the way Funk sells his exhaustion in the 3rd fall is unbelievable.
Wow, this was before Terry Funk started wrapping himself in barbed wire, and getting blown up in Japan.
Pre Hardcore Legend.
Terry Funk is a tough s.o.b has well has Harley Race.
Yeah i geuss it was.
Terry Funk was a very accomplished wrestler before he started.doing the hard core stuff
But Harley wasn't gonna do that stupid Mick Foley shit, Funk should not have either. Remember when Funk was fighting Mick and they were both taken out on stretchers, and moments later they both ran back to the ring with IVs in there arm and shit.
Did he HAVE to go to Japan to get blown up?🔥🧨
(The Japanese and Chinese pioneered gunpowder!)🎆🎇
I hate that people watch this amazing match, and instead of saying how fantastic it is, they use it as a tool to bash other wrestling styles.
thats because its an example of great wrestling the same thing happens in other formats all the time
Get used to it . People are realizing that wrestling doesn't exist anymore .
The Glory Days of Professional Wrestling indeed. Back in the day, this bout was EPIC! The post match pics of Funk's bloodied face in the wrestling magazines were legendary. Those guys knew how to put-in some work. That was some fun stuff well before the era of pay-per-view pageantry.
Damn Harley got them waves like he had a wave cap on lol
This was my first reaction! How Harley get those waves so W A V Y?!?
Straight Ocean 🌊
Facts lol
Harley never brushed his hair. He would only have to look in the mirror and say, "Hair, do this style" and his hair would say, "Yes sir, Mr. Race, we will do it."
My dad was a few days away from 12 years old here..crazy to think this was over 40 years ago...r.i.p dad I miss you everyday
(7/6/65-3/3/23)
He died way too early
It was the golden time for me in wrestling. Loved the 70s through mid 90s. Never was the same when Vince said it was fake! We knew it was but didn't want to be told that! Brings back so many memories of a simpler time without Internet.
I love how the old school announcers called the matches, It sounded professional like a boxing event.
And if you heard this on the radio it would make sense. Not a soap opera style. Things have changed over the years and decades.
@@cartergarrett5905 Exactly so. The broadcasters should _always_ call a match so that if you close your eyes you can still see the action. If you must have two 'casters, it's fine to let one do the color (tell the story of the characters), but one should always call the moves and what is happening in the ring minute-to-minute. So much of the art of professional wrestling is lost.
i am very old school, . 3 of my all time favorite matches in st. louis mo.. at the kiel auditorium... and there were a ton... dory funk jr. vs jack brisco... terry funk vs pat o'connor, and harley race vs bruno sammartino... nwa rock it hard
Both gone but never forgotten.
My Uncle Paul had 2nd row ringside seats during the 1970's, at The Sam Houston Coliseum Wrestling, every Friday night! Great memories!
I love this. True legends.
Every up and coming wrestler or any wrestler for that matter should watch this match if they have not seen it ! As well as fans too , no matter what style you are in to . THIS is pro wrestling . You can pick up a lot from this match .
Two legit badasses fighting nothing fancy about it, but so pure and great
Thanks for the memories 🙏
A Master Class!!! Thanks for the share!!!
these men helped bring professional to such doing this time and in eighties and nineties as wrestler or managers or coach to another wrestlers it was an honor to have meet these two in my life and go see them wrestle in person or on tv rest in peace harley race and now terry funk you will in minds forever and hearts thank you for life and careers god speed with you in heaven.
Now that's what I call wrestling,.. This was a classic match. 👌
Both are amazing legends!
I grew up with 80s wrestling in NWA and WWF. I never saw any 70s wrestling from either promotion. This is better than the garbage of wwe today. I cant watch and havent watched any wwe in 11 years.
Wonderful, amazing match.
Workin’ the arm! Love the slow-burn pacing, really convincing stuff. Gettin’ your money’s worth here folks, great championship match…
Real arm bars make you tap right away. Stop pretending ten minute arm locks are real!
Wow. Never knew Funk was a powerhouse military pressing a 255lbs Harley Race.
excellent match two great superstars
This was a great match
Harley actually looked pretty good here compared to say 1980 where he really put on to too much weight. Anyway a really good example of an old school match
I never knew Terry to do power moves , that press slam on Race really surprised me
That Race was agile enough to get up there without it showing was suprising too
Harley busting Funk open hard way during the spinning toeholds was B R U T A L. 2 absolute legends just doing legend stuff in there.
It's not the hard way, Funk bladed. Pause the video at exactly 35:40, you will see the split of the aisle where the audience is sitting. Directly behind Funk, you will see two women. Watch the lady closest to the aisle. You will see her show the other lady with her fingers where the blade is hidden, then watch her slowly rake her fingers across her forehead demonstrating the blade job to her friend 😉
Outstanding match. I believe Funk's wound came the hard way, as I saw no blading, plus the interview with Funk afterwards shows a wound near the corner of his left eye that may have been stitched. I heard Harley Race was a master at drawing blood with simple punches around the eyebrow area.
CStomp1 z
Looks like Terry is holding a blade in his left hand. Funk is a southpaw.
Could be. I think he's one of the best at concealing blading. Dory Funk Jr. carried the blade in his mouth, which seems completely insane. Look at the videos of the Funks v. Sheik and Abdullah the Butcher from Japan in the late 70's. In a couple of those matches you can clearly see Dory go to the mat face down, go to his mouth, blade, and put it back in his mouth. Unreal.
SUPERB! I never knew Terry was so good!
Well, he WAS a world champion.
Classic pile driver for a pin.
I dont know if it was scripted but no gimmicks, no use of dangerous objects. Just two men in a typical wrestler attire and almost the same weight and height fighting each other with grips, submitions and some hits. Something betwen I quit and one fall match. Pure wrestling.
It was still scripted, as in predetermined, but the old school guys made it more believable back when kayfabe was still alive. I truly miss this style and of pro wrestling 🤼♀️
One reason why Harley is GOAT is because he could have different types of matches without gimmicks and props. Ric and Bret as much as i enjoy watching their matches, they were mostly the same match
Jack Brisco brought a certain nobility to the NWA crown. He looked like a world champion!!
I came here after hearing Bruce Prichard mention this match on his podcast. Hands down this is one of the best matches I've seen.
The video archive from Houston is pristine. They did a wonderful job preserving these treasures.
Spoilers Below:
Thanks for uploading, really good match. The main story was Funk taking in to Race, with Race getting in good counters. I liked how Race used his fist whenever Funk went for the spinning toe hold and it eventually paid off by making Funk so bloody that he couldn't see and mistakenly attacked the referee.
This is the good old days the way I remember it the way pro wrestling use to be before wwe ruined it.
Funk might not be universally recognized as the best ever - but does anyone else *really* have a better resume than him?
-Trancendent guy in the territory years - massive draw in multiple territories - Amarillo, Memphis, Florida and Mid-Atlantic.
-Successful in a multitude of roles - young up and comer, bonafide main event guy, insane heel, rough and tumble babyface, tag wrestler, comedy wrestler, rugged/crafty vet, tag teams, mid card.. I mean he's the only guy I ever saw who was great in literally any role he was ever in.
-Successful across multiple eras and time periods in wrestling - from the transition to small arena shows to TV in the late 60s, to a more nationalized territory system in the 70s, the cable and ppv eras of the 80s and 90s.
-Successful in more places than anyone - was monstrously over in Japan, here, the WWE, Florida, Memphis, Amarillo, Mid Atlantic... the 90s indy circuit even...
-When you think of the all time greats - he's proboably in the top five matches of 20-25 of the best wrestlers to ever do it.
-Wrestled for almost 40 friggin' years. Longevity out the nose.
Like sure - Hogan, Flair, Austin, Hart all those guys get a lot of street cred primarily for their notariety - but Funk might have been better than all of them and unlike guys like HBK who kind of inhabited a few years in one promotion - this guy did it literally everywhere. And people forget - pro wrestling territories weren't the homogenious thing they are today. Wrestling in Florida was different than Chicago/Minneapolis which was different from say Portland, the WWF and Japan. It was it was just tougher. And he thrived in every role he was ever in everywhere he ever went when it was tougher to do that and always found a way to change with the times and be relevant over a longer period of time than anyone ever did.
Yes, there were more popular pro wrestlers. I'm not really sure there's a serious argument to be had that anyone was actually *better* at it though.
His ECW work was unbelievable.
@@mctavish23 He was great literally anywhere. He's probably the only guy I could ever honestly say that I didn't watch a single match he ever had and was at least entertained by it. Like there was definitely a lot of guys who were bigger names and I get it - that's the name of the game -drawing dough. But i'm not sure any was actually *better* at pro wrestling as an entire craft than he was.
RIP Harley. That was a great match.
I never saw Harley Race in a bad match
At 38:59 Harley said to Terry, "It's over Terry, get to the hospital!"
@@georgeelmerdenbrough6906 True. I always thought he was a perfectionist when it came to his work.
@@mctavish23 He was an artist
Back when the championship belt actually meant something. Now it’s just a joke
Blood Legion and it looks like a joke !! It's huge and stupid looking like a toy
That's why I'm glad that the NWA has the 10 pounds of gold.Nick Aldis had Harley's endorsement he's the right guy to carry on the lineage.
Harley Race is the Best Wrestler & Greatest NWA World Heavyweight Champion.
Flair was a big mouth joke!
Watching from Chicago. Reminds me of the FREELANCE wrestling shows I’ve been to here.
The GOAT Harley race classic match not this bull crap stuff where you have 15 finishers in a kick out 15 times this is old school psychology and a storyline etc. blood classic
Two legends. And, I agree, I believe Race was the best NWA World Champion ever.
In his prime, Lou Thesz would have mangled Race easily.
@James Bryan I wouldn't put Sammartino in the class of Londos or Thesz. And don't forget about Strangler Lewis who many think was the greatest wrestler of all time. Some of his matches were shoots along with some that were partially worked. It's too bad that Thesz only wrestled Sammartino twice both times in Toronto. Thesz won once and the other match ended in a draw. From various newspaper reports of those matches, Thesz let Sammartino have a lot of offense in both bouts. I always thought that Ric Flair was overrated. I have to agree with Sammartino when he said that every Flair match was the same. (For example; Flair getting tossed upside down into the ring post or how about this one that occurred all the time; walking away from his opponent and falling face down on the match. Race was a legitimate tough guy and not to be messed with. Dick Hutton had that reputation also but I never got to see him work.
@James Bryan Sammartino, at least, was a very credible wrestler in the ring. His overall record vs. Buddy Rogers was really bad. I recommend that every wrestling fan watch the 1951 Rogers-Thesz match from the Amphitheater. Rogers was twice the wrestler Ric Flair could ever hope to be. When Rogers briefly came out of retirement in the late 70's, he wrestled Flair a few times and Flair won most of the matches. Of course Rogers was long past his prime. You mentioned some good wrestlers but I never thought much of Pedro Morales. Austin was good in WCCW but he didn't show any wrestling skill, at least to me, in the WWE. The Rock, Cena, Savage and Hogan were not legit wrestlers. I did think that Savage's father, Angelo Poffo, was a very good worker in his prime. You mentioned Graham; the best of the Grahams, by far, was the late Eddie Graham. I remember seeing him in a match at the Amphitheater when he beat the crowd favorite, Prince Maivia quite handily. (His real name was Eddie Gossette.) I was fortunate to be at Comiskey Park to see Rogers beat O' Connor for the NWA title. Excellent match but I always thought that a match I saw at the Amphitheater between Sammartino and Kowalski was better. (they went to a 30 minute draw) They were great friends outside of the ring and had tremendous chemistry whenever they wrestled. Kowalski usually called the match and the impressive thing was that each of their matches were different. Not so when Rogers was U.S. champ and had a long program against Sammartino. The finish was like this; one fall apiece, in the 3rd fall Roger's tapped Sammartino on the back and Sammartino thought that he had won. He raised his hand in triumph and Rogers gave him the high knee in the back and pinned him for the win. The east coast promoters loved that finish. (before the internet, of course) They used the same finish 5 days in a row on the east coast. (New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Washington and Pittsburgh.) Now, it's usually outside interference, a ref bump or a screw job ending. (Sorry, I'm rambling!)
@James Bryan I was never a fan of Randy Savage. I remember his wild match with Steamboat with a lot of crazy bumps and spots. Billy Graham did good promos but that's about it. Supposedly, Eddie Graham was another legit tough guy and was a very tough trainer also.
You do make a great point about Gene Kiniski. I remember a terrific match I saw at the Chicago Stadium where Gene Kiniski wrestled Eduardo Carpentier. A great back and forth match that was only marred by a terrible finish when Kiniski was Dq'ed for kicking Carpentier with the toe of his boot. (The dreaded Illinois State Athletic Commission in those days!)
These were two of the all time greats. What a treat to be able to watch these two men wrestle a two out of three match.
If today's youth wants to see how great wrestling once was, just watch these two men. I saw them both live several times.
This is how to have a truly great match. People wanting to get into the business, look at this. Learn from these guys, and the other greats.
A great match, even if it's a work, looks good enough to allow the viewer to suspend their disbelief. Funk and Race were masters at this; even in their later years either could put on a better match than most in their prime. In Terry Funk's case, still can, since he's still out there, crazy as ever, in the ring.
Vince does notvwant this in his promotion
@@georgeelmerdenbrough6906 Yeah, well, Vince wouldn't know good wrestling if it bit him on the nose.
Such an amazing match. Even during the extended parts with submissions, you can still hear the crowd making noise. In 2024, some of those sequences would probably result in "boring" (or similar) chants. Admittedly, the majority of today's wrestler would have no idea how to make something like that work so it may actually be boring. But Funk and Race could make it work, and make it work incredibly well. 10/10, would watch again.
Terry Funk was one of the best wrestlers ever. He could wrestling a very technical match like this or a barb wire match in ECW and do both masterfully.
People did not respect this style of wrestling so he devoted himself to a different style .
A Great match. Thanks for uploading.
Wow what a great match the nostalgia and history a month before Elvis died and a year after Terry did "Paradise Alley"
Thanks for posting. 5 star match this
Aside from the incredible match Harley race had the wave game on lock, look at that hair.
Bruh I was thinking the same thing lol.
Proper tough battle , a couple of hard blokes . You can feel the pain and understand the strength and condition of these guys .
This is what wrestling should be . Fair enough if you want to do high flying stuff , but at least make it look like there is a battle going on .
Great summation . This grittiness of wrestling is long gone . It used to be human chess . There was a pretense of strategy that built durring the match .
At least they should wear each other down before the big move sets come in and thats what they did .
@@georgeelmerdenbrough6906 I have to agree, I train (freestyle) wrestling and jiu-jitsu, and watching this match is much like watching an actual grappling match in its pacing/execution (some of the moves obviously wouldn't work in legitimate competition but some might, some positions could probably be used to setup legitimate moves, and some things done are blatantly legitimate moves, like that Russian tie variation (which the announcers coin an "Abdominal Stretch") at 25:57) which makes it much easier to suspend disbelief.
#RIP to both Terry & Harley, 2 of the best.
Great match! They don't make matches like this anymore.
rest easy Harley...
These were two of the toughest, meanest, authentically great wrestlers and bad men ever. They would make dog food out of anyone active today.
True. They were the epitome of what it meant to be great "working" champions. Something you don't see much of these days.
Great work by both legends. Terry could sell punishment better than anyone in the business. Harley was the best heel champion of all time. Funks and Harley always had good matches.
The World Champ should have always been a heel . You did not want your best babyface to disappear because he had to defend the belt in some other area . You could afford to lose your top heel .