Royal Rumble 89 - King Haku vs Harley Race

[647416]

Would love 2c these 2 in a real life fist fight

[gary108]

Is that Tugboat/Typhoon carrying King Haku at the front @ 1.44?

[valiantbros]

@gary108 LOL. No ,even Tugboat wasnt in that bad of shape.

[BradleyVolk3]

It's funny, right when Harley dumped him I thought "Holy Fuck, dude. Haku will FUCKING KILL YOU!!" Then I noticed Harleys' dinky little clotheslines and knew that Harley was aware to not dare piss off Haku if he valued the nose on his face. LOL Haku is a BAD MOTHERFUCKER.

(no kayfabe)

[beeshnook]

they should have kept this as a title and not got rid of it when macho lost his retirment match to warrior.

[Londrick]

If anyone didn't know this was cut from the Colisuem home video version(at least in the UK, maybe it was on the US video)

[spoolyn]

@Londrick It was missing on the US video as well.

[1985HotRod]

and another thing - this was much more entertaining than that super pose down with warrior and rude, in my opinion

[1985HotRod]

race carrried haku in this match, though haku didnt do bad either, he just wasnt a wrestler or a good worker like race was, even in his older days.

[MrMolmem]

was this Race's last appearance in the wwf?  I know this match was done to put over haku, so Race could leave and deal with his injuries....But I do not remember seeing him much around this time period.

[BLACKFONZIRELLI]

I NEVER DID SEE THIS MATCH. FINALLY THANKS FOR POSTING

[sasfcps]

great match. Thanks for uploading.2 great wrestlers

[mrradams4616]

@ 7:15 still to this days has me LMAO!

[unclebobpart2]

This is much better than watching beaners like mysterio and sin cara, crap like Cena and the Miz......I miss the good ol days!

[pacmanfever100]

This was a good match.

[piggyinthehood]

Race was useless by this point

[Edgehead10075]

That's the "king" lineage.

[Edgehead10075]

Race>Haku>Duggan>Macho King

[D2Kprime]

The Islanders were the most underrated tag team in the history of professional wrestling.

*rant over*

[BLACKFONZIRELLI]

@D2Kprime I AGREE

[jelatov]

one of the best kicks in the history of wrestling, haku's thrust kick!

[that70smilkman]

face harley race? :O

[chad4cash]

Didn't know this match existed. Good find. Two of the toughest in the history of wrestling, each in their different ways. 

[MrWCW2000]

This was actually edited off the original Coliseum Home Video version of the show

[stndrds79]

@MrWCW2000 really>???

[MrWCW2000]

@stndrds79 Back in the day, VHS tapes were only formatted to go, I believe, 2 hours. Thus ppv's were heavily edited when put on tape.

[stndrds79]

@MrWCW2000 @MrWCW2000 thats not true. wrestlemanis were certainly longer then two hours,even when edited. They also had EP, extended play tapes that allowed for more recording time.

[that70smilkman]

@MrWCW2000 i remember survivor series 1988 being heavily edited as well. the big 10 team elimination match and main event were shown im their entireity but the other matches were edited.

[patriots2185]

Haku was best as The Islanders

[Nunnayadambiness]

arguably the two toughest men in the history of the business

[AllisterCooper2008]

So Harley's a lefty, cool! I remember a lady writing to a wrestling magazine that, follwing this match, she gained new respect for King Haku for, despite being a rule breaker and a heel in Bobby Heenan's stable, he may have resorted to using dirty tricks, but by cleanly defeating Harley Race, that earned him points with her.

[alanst18]

dam harley race looks about  80

[MRobert21]

@alanst18 Race started wrestling in the 1950's, so sure he was old here. Actually ,Race looks pretty good here considering his age and he still had unhealed internal injuries from his bad table bump. By the way, the bad table bump was IN NO WAY Hogan's fault as he just moved out of the way as he was scripted to. The table bump was a bump Race had done just like that 100 times starting in the 1970's, but just the table did not break right this time. Further proof ECW did NOT invent table bumps

[alanst18]

@MRobert21 lol sounds like you need to get yourself a girlfriend buddy

[MRobert21]

@alanst18 You really needed to take the time to type that dribble, you flaming, smark, troll. The stupid crap you goofs take time to type on You Tube is laughable. I would tell you to get a girlfriend, but I know your sexual interest only lies in boys and sheep. Now, I have had a good laugh at your expense while mocking you, punked out and corrected you, and I am going to just ignore you on this video here after this final comment as you rate no further wast of my time or energy.

[frothydrink]

This is the first time I have ever seen this match. Why the hell was it not on the original release?  Thanks for finally posting this damn thing!

[MRobert21]

@frothydrink I was pissed as a kid when I bought this tape and this match was not on there. Buy the Royal Rumble DVD box set (or at least the first section of it if you do not want to spend $100) and this match is on there (great box set that was worth the $100). Coliseum Video (NOT WWF) used to clip the hell out of matches and omit whole matches in the 1980's before McMahon got smart and took video production in house. They did this to save $ on tape and use VCR SP mode for quality on tapes.

[AllisterCooper2008]

@frothydrink Same here! I read about it, though. Finally, eh!

[ylwapple45]

As a kid I used to loooove watching 2 "bad guys" in a match! No matter who was being beaten I was cheering anyway.

[fivebearrugs]

Okay, I know that Hogan put Harley through a table (albeit the table didn't break) that ended his career; I'm assuming Heenan put the crown on Haku and dismissed Race, thus turning him face?

[RickJ32]

@fivebearrugs that was the truth



[fivebearrugs]

@RickJ32 Was their footage of Heenan actually dismissing and badmouthing Race on TV after Haku was coronated? In the video on YouTube, Heenan is still pro-Race in his comments before Haku sits on the throne.

[RickJ32]

@fivebearrugs I remember that when Harley Race wrestled Danny Davis in a match that Race called Heenan a weasel, and got into it with him.

[MRobert21]

@fivebearrugs There was never an official face turn on Race. In this match, Heenan is clearly managing both guys and Jesse and Gorilla make it clear both guys are heels and Heenan is just going with the winner. Race just came back to do this 1 shot (he was still injured from the bad table bump) because he is old school and he wanted to put over Haku since they were both legit bad asses. Race's final match was in WCW when he was managing there years after this, so the table didn't end his career

[JonathanVonErich]

Harley Race's last big match in the WWE, before leaving for the AWA for a short stint.

I hope the WWE will make a DVD about the career of Harley Race.

[MRobert21]

@JonathanVonErich Actually, Race was out of wrestling for over a year after this match because he was still messed up internally from the table bump. Race only did this 1 shot because he wanted to put Haku over and he wanted to finish up. Race just went to the AWA in its dying days for a few matches almost 2 years after this as a favor to Verne since Verne gave Race his first big break. WWF has put out tons of Race stuff on DVD, but he will never get his own release because it would not sell.

[lhwchamp]

never heard Gorilla ripping on the robe for smelling before... awesome

[styx4ever1963]

what would be cool to see Harley Race&Haku taking on Hacksaw Jim Duggan&Bret Hart

[davidvandayscousin]

This match isn't on my vhs :(

[Vipered]

Haku and Harley Race where considered two of the toughest men ever in the wrestling business.

[DukeofColumbia]

@Vipered hmm . . . if this match had turned stiff, who do you see coming out on top.

[Vipered]

@DukeofColumbia

Both Haku and Harley Race where said to be absolute professionals inside the wrestling ring. Who knows who would win if they got into a legit fight?

[DukeofColumbia]

@Vipered oh I know there were pros in the ring . . and that they were tough. Supposedly, Haku either knocked someone's teeth out or bit someone's nose in a bar fight once.

[fivebearrugs]

@DukeofColumbia Haku bit someone's nose off... although I wouldn't put it past him to knock out someone's teeth. According to WWE.com, Haku is now one of the managers at a Toyota dealership in Florida.

[MRobert21]

@DukeofColumbia Actually, Haku pulled Jimmy Jerk Funk's (Jesse Barr's) eye out of its socket, while breaking Jimmy Jerk's arm and beating the crap out of him simultaneously. If Haku bit off somebody's nose too, I would not doubt it, but I have net heard that story. Haku is the legit toughest guy in wrestling history (even fellow famed legit bad ass the Barbarian says so). Race was tough, but could be beat in a fight, though Race would go after you with his gun if you did beat him in a fight.

[DaneFalco]

@DukeofColumbia Haku is famed in the backstage to be a legit Tough guy if it was Harley Race of the 70s maybe it would be neck and neck, but the 80s wwf version of Race, think Haku would have get the upper hand.

[brnleague99]

Hope he appreciated Harley putting him over.

[Reg197844]

@brnleague99 Sadly this was a common occurrence in the WWF back then. Vince would bring in top name talent from other organizations, push them hard; and when their time in the WWF was nearing it's end, would have them job to inferior wrestlers. He also did it to Dusty Rhodes, Kerry Von Erich and Terry Taylor.

[lhwchamp]

@Reg197844 ... read in Race's book that he was really happy to put Haku over since Race had trained Haku... a cool forgotten match, wonder the real reason it was removed from the vhs...

[MRobert21]

@Reg197844 You do not know what you are talking about. In EVERY territory in the old days guys would do jobs and put over others on the way out when they were leaving. Race WANTED to do this job for Haku and Race WANTED to finish up in the WWF because he was injured and needed time off. Dusty Rhodes WANTED to finish up in the WWF and do business the right way on the way back to WCW because WCW was going to give Rhodes the booker job again. Terry Taylor was a WCW jobber for years after WWF.

[MrMolmem]

@Reg197844

I always thought Von Erich was supposed to get a major push but he ended up passing away.