He has a MOTYC-level match against Rick Martel in Portland, January 1980. One of the greatest championship matches of its time, for sure.

2 hours ago, Tetsujin said:

He has a MOTYC-level match against Rick Martel in Portland, January 1980. One of the greatest championship matches of its time, for sure.

I don't know about that. I think it's an incredible effective match in making Martel feel legitimate to the Portland crowd and he's basically a made man as lead babyface (or lead with Piper) for the rest of the year afterwards. I think it's a very focused, purposeful performance from Race, and when I say he gives too much, it's not really what I'm talking about because it's so exceptional and worked as such. But as a MOTYC and in a bubble, I find it pretty unsatisfying. If you didn't have to put it next a lot of Japan matches where Race gets eaten up when he's NOT the champ, I think it would be a better mark for his career overall.

BTW The biggest new Race match we got in the last few years is the Dory draw, right, which was exactly how you picture it? There's also the 83 Dibiase match in Japan that Eric, Phil, AND myself all thought stunk for the opposite reasons.

I'm not a huge Johnny Valentine guy, but man, that clip of Harley and Valentine in St. Louis in '72... 

Harley Race vs. El Halcon (AUGUST 31, 1979 NWA World Title)

Not a great match to start revisiting Harley. He gets beat up before the bell by Bruiser Brody and spends the majority of the bout getting beat on. And this is a week after he won the title back on a bogus disqualification. I suppose he deserves some credit for fighting his way back into the match, but his comeback isn't particularly awe-inspiring, and then he gets beat up again after the bout. This is how you book your World's Heavyweight champion? Not the kind of Harley Race I want to see. 

When I was dipping my toe in, I don’t know if I picked the wrong matches but there was a stinker vs Baba, a match against Hogan where Hogan was the better wrestler...I don’t remember what else I saw but there were a couple of other matches that didn’t leave an impression. I’m sure I’ll see more Race as I explore others and I’m still kind of curious but there are too many other people to prioritize right now. 
 

5 hours ago, MichaelZ said:

When I was dipping my toe in, I don’t know if I picked the wrong matches but there was a stinker vs Baba, a match against Hogan where Hogan was the better wrestler...I don’t remember what else I saw but there were a couple of other matches that didn’t leave an impression. I’m sure I’ll see more Race as I explore others and I’m still kind of curious but there are too many other people to prioritize right now. 
 

Try out Funk/Race from 1977 or Race/Wahoo from 1978. If you don't like Harley in those then you won't like Harley. The problem is that for every Funk/Race there's an absolute stinker. Harley/Flair was a total bust in Japan - maybe one of the worst spotfests I've seen.

4 hours ago, Rah said:

Try out Funk/Race from 1977 or Race/Wahoo from 1978. If you don't like Harley in those then you won't like Harley. The problem is that for every Funk/Race there's an absolute stinker. Harley/Flair was a total bust in Japan - maybe one of the worst spotfests I've seen.

For every Funk/Race there are ten matches where he gave the whole match. Way more than a 1:1 ratio.

Harley Race vs. Wahoo McDaniel Dream Match February 10, 1978

This was much better. Race gives Wahoo pretty much the entire match, but that's okay when it's a guy as tough as Wahoo, I actually liked how the only offense Race was able to muster was the headbutt while on one knee and those little jab-like headbutts from a standing position. I also liked that flat body bump Race took off Wahoo's chops. It was a touring champ performance from Harley, but it was an exciting one, and what the crowd wanted to see. This one goes in Harley's favor. 

 

Yep, this match is great. I am a Wahoo fan so this was up my alley. Wahoo seems like a good opponent for Race. This match felt big and Race’s style in this match helped that along  

 

Harley Race vs. Gino Hernandez (NWA World Title Sept 28, 1980)

This was a decent match. One thing I'll say for Harley is that he did a good job of working with younger guys like Gino and the Von Erich kids. As far as bogus finishes go, I think I'd take Flair with his feet on the ropes over Harley being tossed over the top rope.