How Vince McMahon Tried To Ruin Harley Race's Match With Ric Flair At Starrcade 1983
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During his time as a promoter, Vince McMahon was an exceptionally ruthless businessman. He didn’t get to where he was by playing safe and respecting the rules. By his own admission, he took a lot of calculated risks and worked towards the demise of his competitors. Vince loves competition but he loves trampling his competition even more.
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The year was 1983 and WWE had excluded itself from the purview of the National Wrestling Alliance. The new owner of WWE, Vincent Kennedy McMahon, was looking to take over the entire industry. McMahon had already brought over several wrestlers from a number of NWA territories and towards the fall of 1983, McMahon saw another opportunity to sew chaos within the NWA. Starrcade, the annual professional wrestling supercard, was to be held in November, and the main event of that year was a championship clash between Ric Flair and Harley Race.
Harley Race Was An Important Name In Wrestling
Harley Race was a veteran in the main-event scene while Flair was much younger, and a new face. Race was the heel, and the champion, while Flair was the babyface looking to capture the world championship for the second time. This was the beginning of his run at the top, and while his first reign was not too stellar, the build-up to his program with Harley Race got people talking. The booking plan was to put the title back on Flair as Race was nearing the end of his professional career, and he was exhausted with the schedule and pro wrestling lifestyle.
McMahon had brought over a number of superstars from the NWA territories and with the success of Starrcade hinging upon Harley Race versus Ric Flair, the ambitious new owner of WWE contacted the NWA world champion and arranged for a meeting in a fancy hotel in New York. Race accepted the invitation a few days before the event and met McMahon in New York.
Vince McMahon Offered Harley Race Big Money To No-Show Starrcade
Vince McMahon offered Harley Race a quarter of a million dollars. All he had to do was no-show Starrcade and bring the coveted NWA belt over to WWE. By that point, McMahon had already settled upon Hulk Hogan as the franchise player, so if Harley had accepted the offer, he would have lost the title to Hogan, who would have moved on to unify the NWA and WWE world championship belts. That alone would have crashed the National Wrestling Alliance right there and then.
For some reason, this discussion led the two to the bathroom. Harley Race gestured over to his reflection in the mirror, telling McMahon that he had to face the guy tomorrow. Simply put, Race told McMahon that if he accepted his offer, he would never be able to look himself in the eye. That was his answer, and from here, the story splits into two different versions.
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According to most people, Vince McMahon understood, thanked Harley Race for meeting him and that was that. In the other version, the meeting turned physical. This comes straight from Race’s autobiography, King of the Ring, and in the book, the NWA world champion claimed that while the two were exiting the bathroom, Vince McMahon attacked him from behind.
Harley Race Turned Down Vince McMahon's Offer
It is pertinent to mention that Race, in addition to being a professional wrestler, was an accomplished amateur athlete as well. McMahon dove for the legs in an attempt to take Race down, but he was quickly reversed and Race got into a position where breaking his neck would have been no issue. This commotion led to Harley Race’s wife to intervene and she calmed her husband down.
So the meeting was a failure and Harley Race went back to North Carolina to wrestle Ric Flair. In one of the more iconic matches in NWA history, Race and Flair battled in a steel cage and the contest lasted 23 minutes. In the end, Flair defeated the heel champion and started his second reign as the NWA world champion.
In his own autobiography, Flair mentioned that there was a bit of tension and hostility in the locker room as Race was late to the event. Maybe word got out that Race had met Vince McMahon but in the end, Race did what he was told: He dropped the title to the deserving contender and he was paid an extra bit for doing the job with no complaints.
