On this day June 10, 1983, Harley Race defeated Ric Flair at Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis, Missouri to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. The match was a best of three falls bout, following the classic format used for many major title matches in that era.
This marked Race’s seventh reign as NWA Champion, a record at the time, and underscored his legendary status in the world of professional wrestling. The win was part of a larger storyline building toward a dramatic rematch later that year.
Just months after this bout, Ric Flair would regain the title from Race in a steel cage match at Starrcade 83 A Flare for the Gold, a landmark event that helped define the future of wrestling supercards.
80s insight: Wrestling in the early 80s was evolving fast, and title changes like this helped set the stage for the national expansion of the sport. Race and Flair were key figures in the shift from territory based promotions to wrestling as a mainstream spectacle.
This marked Race’s seventh reign as NWA Champion, a record at the time, and underscored his legendary status in the world of professional wrestling. The win was part of a larger storyline building toward a dramatic rematch later that year.
Just months after this bout, Ric Flair would regain the title from Race in a steel cage match at Starrcade 83 A Flare for the Gold, a landmark event that helped define the future of wrestling supercards.
80s insight: Wrestling in the early 80s was evolving fast, and title changes like this helped set the stage for the national expansion of the sport. Race and Flair were key figures in the shift from territory based promotions to wrestling as a mainstream spectacle.
