DCP100 Limited Edition – Tommy Young – Ric Flair – Harley Race – 11″ x 14″ Special Fanfest Print

Tommy Young

Thomas M. Machlay, born July 9, 1947, and known professionally by the ring name Tommy Young, is an American retired professional wrestling referee and former wrestler best known for his work with Jim Crockett Promotions. He began his career as a wrestler in 1971 under Ed Farhat in Michigan before transitioning to officiating with Pedro Martínez's National Wrestling Federation, which later evolved into the International Wrestling Association. WikipediaWikipedia

In 1976, Jim Crockett Promotions lured Young away from the IWA, and he began refereeing for both JCP and the National Wrestling Alliance. By the 1980s, he was the Senior Referee for Jim Crockett Promotions and officiated most of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship matches, including several classic bouts between Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat. He was the man who presided over hundreds of Ric Flair's title defenses during the Nature Boy's reign atop the NWA. WikipediaLast Word On Pro Wrestling

What set Young apart was his unmistakable in-ring presence. He had a distinctive style of sliding into position while starting the three count, making it look like he was giving his all to be in the right place at the right time for a timely pinfall. He often used facial expressions to sell his pain when knocked down or his frustration when villains cheated—an unspoken chemistry with the wrestlers that helped make the matches feel more real. Young was named Referee of the Year in 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, and 1986. FandomFandom

In 1989, Young suffered a neck injury while officiating a match involving Mike Rotundo and Tommy Rich—a typical bump he had taken thousands of times over the years, but one that effectively ended his in-ring career. He later appeared briefly in 1998 in the World Wrestling Federation as part of the "NWA" storyline and has continued to attend wrestling reunion shows, occasionally refereeing special matches such as Rock and Roll Express vs. Midnight Express bouts. He has been married to his wife Pam for over forty years, and the couple has six children. Last Word On Pro Wrestling + 2

Harley Race is one of the most revered and influential professional wrestlers of the 20th century — an eight-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion widely regarded as the measuring stick for what it meant to be a true world champion. Born Harley Leland Race on April 11, 1943, in Quitman, Missouri, he dropped out of high school as a teenager to pursue wrestling, training under former world champions Stanislaus and Wladek Zbyszko on their Missouri farm. He broke through in the 1960s as half of a feared AWA tag team with Larry Hennig, capturing three AWA World Tag Team Championships before pursuing a singles run in the NWA. On May 24, 1973, Race defeated Dory Funk Jr. in Kansas City to capture his first NWA World Heavyweight Championship — and on July 20 of that same year, NWA President Sam Muchnick presented him with the iconic "Ten Pounds of Gold" belt, the domed globe championship that would come to define an era. Race was also the first NWA United States Heavyweight Champion, a title that survives today as the WWE United States Championship.

Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, Race was the NWA's most dominant traveling champion, defending the title in arenas across the United States, Japan, Australia, and beyond — with reportedly more than 60 tours of Japan alone. His title-versus-title bouts against WWF champions Superstar Billy Graham and Bob Backlund and AWA champion Nick Bockwinkel were historic firsts in the territory era. On October 13, 1978, Race did what almost no man on earth was billed as capable of doing — he body-slammed Andre the Giant. His final NWA World Title loss came on November 24, 1983, at Starrcade, where Ric Flair pinned him for the championship in what is universally regarded as the torch-passing moment from one generation of NWA champion to the next. Flair has credited Race throughout his career as the man who taught him how to be a champion.

Race joined the WWF in 1986 as "The King" Harley Race, managed by Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, winning the 1986 King of the Ring tournament and facing Junkyard Dog at WrestleMania III in front of more than 93,000 fans at the Pontiac Silverdome. After retiring from the ring, he managed Lex Luger and Big Van Vader to WCW World Heavyweight Championships, and later founded Harley Race's Wrestling Academy, training the next generation of grapplers including Trevor Murdoch. Race is one of only six men inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, the NWA Hall of Fame, the WCW Hall of Fame, the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame, and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame. He passed away on August 1, 2019, in Lake Saint Louis, Missouri, at the age of 76.