Hulk Hogan Claims Harley Race Pulled A Gun On Him In Locker Room
Hulk Hogan has shared a story about how wrestling legend Harley Race had a gun right against his face in a locker room.
The popularity of Hulk Hogan in the mid-to-late 1980s was very high as Hulkamania was at the forefront of WWE’s rise to the top of the pro wrestling business. Their shows were selling out everywhere with Hogan at the center of it all as the WWE World Heavyweight Champion during most of that period.
On the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Hulk Hogan told the story about how when WWE went to Kansas City, former NWA World Champion Harley Race went to the show and threatened to shoot Hogan.
“We pumped the signal into Kansas City for eight weeks. Harley Race had been there for like 18 years. He was the NWA champion. I’m the champion of the world and he’s a very proud and mean son of a bitch, and all of a sudden, here comes this blond-haired idiot from New York and went, ‘I’m the WWF Champion, the WWE Champion. I’m coming to Kemper Arena.’ We pumped the segment.”
“So I come. I fly into town. I show up about two in the afternoon. My guys call me and said, ‘Harley Race came down here with a gun. He tried to light the ring on fire.’ They told me Harley said when I show up, he’s gonna kill you. I had to go to the bathroom and my stomach was killing me. So I’m sitting on the toilet going to the bathroom. Davey Boy Smith, The British Bulldog said, ‘Oh my God. The fu**ing king is here. He’s gonna kill you, Hogan.'”
“I pull up my wrestling yellow tights up. I don’t even wipe my ass, as fast as I could because I don’t want to get caught with my pants down and I don’t have a fighting chance. I blow out of the bathroom.”
“I turn around the corner and he puts that gun right in my face. He said, ‘I should kill you for coming in and doing this’, and this is Harley Race talking to me, and then he puts the gun down and he goes, ‘I really need a job.’ I went, holy sh*t. I shook his hand brother. I was a huge fan. Loved the guy to death anyway.’”
Hulk Hogan Did Get Harley Race A Job
Harley Race did get a job in WWE in 1986 possibly because he asked Hulk Hogan to help him. Harley had a four year run that saw him wrestle as “King” Harley Race in WWE for a few years. Harley was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2004.
In case you’re wondering if this story is actually true because it’s coming from Hulk Hogan, who has been known to fabricate stories, it has been told by others in wrestling as well, so it’s likely a true story.
In the same interview, Hogan revealed what Vince McMahon told him ahead of his return match against The Rock.