The tournament will go on all summer and will feature the 21 U.S. champions from the Crockett era competing in single elimination bracketing.
See the introduction for more information on participants and tournament set up.
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The first round of the tournament is underway with an incredible match-up to kick things off.
HARLEY RACE VS. TULLY BLANCHARD
What a first round pairing! And I'm torn between these two, because Harley Race is in my top 5 for all-time greatest NWA World champions but Tully Blanchard would probably crack my all-time top five as a U.S. heavyweight champion. In my mind, as an all around performer, Blanchard is one of the most underrated of all time. His intensity and believability during the mid-80s heyday of Crockett wrestling couldn't be matched.
But Harley Race is Harley Race.
So it's an interesting and test early on in the first match of the first round of Mike's tournament and no matter which way he sees it going, the result is bound to be controversial. Go to the match-up.
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PREVIOUSLY:
Introducing the Mike Rickard Greatest U.S. Champion of All Time Tournament
by Mike Rickard, Canadian Bulldog's World
Mike Rickard is the author of "Wrestling's Greatest Moments", as well as the autobiographical "Laughing All the Way to the Bank (Robbery): How An Attorney Survived Prison" and the new novel "Flunky: Pawns and Kings." His website is located at MichaelRickard.com.
Mike recently wrote a nice review of our book on the history of the United States Championship. We appreciate that very much and are happy that the book was perhaps a part of inspiring this tournament.
Read Mike's review here.
You can order the full color book on Amazon.com here.
