Pro wrestling legend Harley ‘The King’ Race dead at 76

The “greatest wrestler on God’s green earth” has gone to the squared circle in the sky.

WWE Hall of Famer Harley Race passed away on Wednesday following a battle with lung cancer. The eight-time NWA world champion was 76.

“Today at 12:50, we lost the man that fought up until the very last of his existence,” read a statement posted on Race’s Twitter page. “More information will be released soon, but just know that he loved pro-wrestling and the fans that loved him. ”

Race, a Missouri native, had been hospitalized last month and was treated by doctors for roughly a week before being sent home last Tuesday. Updates were being posted on his Twitter page about his condition.

“He had a bit of an increase in health today, but still not out of the woods yet,” a tweet read on July 19. “He was World’s Champion for a reason, not just because his ability to wrestle.”

Race — who often went by the nicknames “The King” or “Handsome” — began his storied career in the early 1960s as a teenager after being born into a family of sharecroppers.

He made a name for himself in the NWA, with his legendary promos and hard-knock ring style making him a favorite among wrestling die-hards.

“He’d drink a case of beer and smoke a pack of Marlboro Reds then get up the next day and slam his body around the mat for 60 minutes against guys like Ric Flair and Terry Funk, selling their moves so furiously that he helped turn them into stars,” wrote the Riverfront Times newspaper in St. Louis in a 2012 profile about Race.

The tattooed icon was able to overcome polio as a kid — and almost had to have his leg amputated after surviving a severe car crash, which left his girlfriend dead.

“The wrestling helped me cope with it,” Race told the Times about the accident. “That’s one of the amazing things about being out in front of live audiences. They give you a reason for wanting to go on, for wanting to succeed. Had I not been able to go back to what I was doing, God only knows what would have happened.”

Race later spent some time in the WWE towards the end of his career — winning it’s King of the Ring tournament in 1986 and later doing some manager work for WCW — but it was his run with the NWA that he was best known for.

“Today the world lost one of the toughest men ever to walk God’s green earth,” said NWA officials in a statement. “The entire sport of professional wrestling and the National Wrestling Alliance sends its deepest condolences to the family and friends of Harley.”

The entire wrestling world was mourning the loss Wednesday — with current superstars and former legends taking to social media to remember Race.

“Today We Lost Not Only A Great Personal Friend, But In My Estimation The One And Only REAL World Champion,” tweeted WWE Hall of Famer and frequent opponent Ric Flair. “Without Harley Race, There Was No Ric Flair. I Tried My Hardest Every Day To Live Up To His Standard In The Ring.”

WWE owner and chairman Vince McMahon said, “Harley Race was literally the King of his profession for 25 years. Long live the King.”

WWE superstar and COO Triple H added, “Everything about Harley Race commanded RESPECT…Today our world mourns with all the RESPECT you deserve…One of my favorite people in the business and in life. See you down the road, my friend.”

Some of the industry’s biggest names have said they idolized Race growing up, and many wrestlers got their start at his famous Harley Race Wrestling Academy in the Missouri town of Eldon.

“Learning under Harley Race at his school in Eldon, MO, in our early years, will forever be a career highlight,” tweeted WWE superstars the Singh Brothers.

“My dad said I was going nowhere else but Harley,” retired wrestler Ted DiBiase Jr. — son of “the Million-Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase — told the Riverfront Times. “He said, ‘If you’re gonna learn to do this, you’re gonna learn from one of the best.’”

Race told reporters that he opened the school as a way to keep his finger on the pulse of the wrestling business.

“It’s about the only thing left to do to keep myself involved in wrestling at a high level,” he told the Times. “When I finally knew for sure that I wasn’t going to go any further in wrestling, the next thing was to build a new Harley Race to keep the image alive.”

The father-of-two remained out of the ring, publicly, throughout the later years in his life — but the itch was always there.

“Until the day I die, I’ll miss that nightly hour in the spotlight,” he said in 2012.

“We love it so much,” added Terry Funk, another one of Race’s legendary foes. “The really great ones, they wouldn’t be great if it wasn’t our fix, our shot in the arm. It’s our narcotic.”

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