WWE legend allegedly told Vince McMahon to replace him with Bloodline veteran (Exclusive)

During his time in charge of WWE, Vince McMahon made several decisions that would go on to change the course of a particular wrestler or character. However, he would sometimes also consider the wishes of his roster as well, and would end up doing what they wanted him to do.

Former WWE wrestler Harley Race had achieved a lot before coming to WWE. Upon his arrival, he immediately won the King of the Ring and adopted the moniker of King Harley. His son recently claimed that Vince McMahon allowed Harley to choose his own successor shortly before his WWE departure.

Race had suffered an abdominal injury, which rendered him unable to compete for a while. During a chat with Bill Apter on UnSKripted on Sportskeeda WrestleBinge, Justin Race revealed that Harley personally chose veteran Bloodline wrestler, Haku, to be his successor in the promotion.

Vince came to him and asked, "Who do you want to be King?" and Dad told him Haku. And that's how that happened. People think that Vince was gonna decide everything, and no, he asked my dad, "Who do you want to be King?" Race said.

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Following his injury, Race handpicked Haku to become the next King. He would then be known as King Haku between 1988 and 1989. The veteran wrestler even defended his crown in a match against Race after he made his return from injury, before going on to drop it to the 1989 King of the Ring Winner, Hacksaw Jim Duggan.

Haku spent two different stints in the promotion and was part of the successful tag team, 'The Islanders'. He would also team with Andre the Giant during their time together in the promotion and win the WWF World Tag Team Championships, as they were known back then.

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About the author

Faiz is a WWE writer at Sportskeeda Wrestling. He is a BBA graduate who is passionate about sports and wants to make a career in that field. This passion led to a postgraduate degree in Journalism, which helped him pivot into becoming a sports writer. When writing, he puts the utmost importance on accuracy and thorough research.

Faiz has six years of work experience across four companies. He started his career with Zomato and then moved to Amazon. He shifted to becoming a football writer at TV9 Digital and is now with Sportskeeda. He covered the Wrestling Xtreme Mania event in Gurgaon in 2025, where he had the opportunity to interview Raj The Maharaja, fka Jinder Mahal. At the same event, he also got quick interviews with former WWE Superstar Dijak and Japanese Joshi legend Emi Sakura.

When it comes to his favourite wrestlers, Faiz has two names in mind. He loved to watch Triple H before the current WWE CCO retired, and he is a huge fan of Roman Reigns. Being a loyal fan since the Tribal Chief's SHIELD days, Faiz credits Roman's mic skills and unmatched in-ring storytelling for his mega success. When he was young, one in-ring story left a lasting impression on his mind and eventually got him hooked on WWE. That match was Shawn Michaels vs. Ric Flair at WrestleMania 24. Apart from that, he is also a fan of RAW.

When Faiz is not writing for Sportskeeda, he loves to keep up with other sports. He is an avid cricket and football fan, a huge gamer, and loves playing some RPGs on the PlayStation.

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Edited by Faiz Ahmed