WWE paired Hall of Famer with Vader "to protect the other guys", says Justin Race (Exclusive)

WWE has seen several manager/wrestler duos work well within the promotion. Dutch Mantell was brought in and paired alongside Jake Hager, Paige was used as a manager for The Kabuki Warriors following their debut, and Paul Heyman is arguably the biggest and most famous man in the company when it comes to managers.

Justin Race, son of WWE Hall of Famer Harley Race, recently revealed an interesting tidbit from his father's life. He revealed that after Race retired from in-ring competition, he became a manager and was paired with Vader to protect other guys from him.

Race was talking on the most recent edition of Sportskeeda WrestleBinge's UnSKripted, where he revealed that Vader was hurting people in the ring, which led to his pairing with the former WWE star. He stated that when Harley Race was managing, he would end up doing as much work as the wrestler during matches.

"They put Dad with Vader to protect the other guys. Vader was hurting people. He was nuts and he was hurting people, and they went to my dad and said, "Would you manage this, big, son of a you know what", and dad got in there and got him under control. If you really watch closely in some of the matches when Dad does the manager interference thing, he looks like he's doing something defensive to protect his guy, but he's really doing something offensive to the other guy. Watch him closely when he was a manager, he did about as much work as the guy he was managing. He just does it, he's just sneaking, he's just Harley," Race said.

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Harley Race had as successful a career as a manager as he did as a wrestler. He managed several superstars in his short managerial career after leaving WWE. Under his guidance, both Vader and Lex Luger won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. He remained with Vader till the time he retired from wrestling altogether in 1995, following a car accident.

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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