Harley Race on His Health, Inspiring Wrestlers, and Being World Champion

Sports Illustrated held a recent interview with Harley Race discussing his health, feelings on inspiring the wrestling careers of other big stars, and reaching world champion status in his career.

On the topic of his health status, Race stated he is still feeling some lingering pain in his legs after breaking both last month. Said he’s at the point in his rehab where he feels he will be able to walk again very soon.

“Right now, it’s the legs that are bothering me. I’m sitting here now with two legs that aren’t very good. They’re in route to recovery, and I’m right along with them. In a little amount of time, I’ll be up walking again.”

When asked about his feelings on inspiring future generations of big stars, Race said he loves the impact he’s provided on the industry.

“I love that. And it’s all true. I was the guy who would go out and do whatever he needed to do, no matter what.”

On the topic of achieving World Champion status in his career, Race stated it was his main goal as a wrestler and part of a bigger set of personal goals he wanted to achieve during his life.

“Being world’s champion is what I set out in life to do. I’m one of the few people on earth that can say they completed, in every aspect, what they wanted to do with their life. …Whether it was sitting in a steak house eating a steak or getting onto the edge of the ring with two or three people standing there, it was all the same to me.”

At the end of the interview, Race stated he is very appreciative and thankful for the support from fans over the past 50 years. He wants to go right back to interacting with fans once he heals from his current injuries.

“That means so much to me, it sure does. I’d like to thank each and every one of them for their support, and I promise them I will be back when I can stand and talk to people face-to-face. I will be back.”