champion. The wily veteran was popular among the young WCW talent, and developed close friendships with Mick Foley and Steve Austin, among others. On June 9, 1993 at a TV taping in Lake Charles, Louisiana, Race began managing The Colossal Kongs, and on July 7 at the WorldWide tapings in Orlando, Florida, Yoshi Kwan joined the stable. Race returned to the ring a final time on a trio of Florida house shows (November 26, 1993 in Davie, Florida, November 27 in Orlando, Florida and November 28 in Jacksonville, Florida), when he substituted for an injured Vader to face Flair. His former rival would come out victorious on each occasion. These would be the last wrestling matches of his career. After losing the title at Starrcade in December 1993, Vader quickly became Race's sole stable member again. Race continued to manage Vader in the following months in rematches against Flair, and on May 22, 1994, he was inducted into the WCW Hall of Fame during the Slamboree PPV. He continued to appear at Vader's side through the rest of the year. As his early wrestling career had been nearly derailed due to a car accident, another car accident in January 1995 forced Race out of the wrestling business altogether. Race required hip replacement surgery, which, along with injuries accumulated after years in the ring, prevented him from even being a manager. Race would make a few independent appearances against Flair, but his inability to work was just too great. Race would make one last return to WCW television in October 1999 as the ring announcer for the Bret Hart vs. Chris Benoit tribute to Owen Hart match in his hometown of Kansas City. Later career (2004–2019) Race returned to WWE television in 2004 shortly after being inducted into their Hall of Fame. On an episode of Raw, Randy Orton confronted Race and spat in his face, to go with Orton's "Legend Killer" persona. Race returned again for Raws WWE Homecoming episode in October 2005, marking the show's return to the USA Network. Race, along with the other legends who were in the ring, gave Rob Conway a lesson in respect. In 2004, Race was recruited to be a part of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as a member of their NWA Championship Committee. Despite reportedly being an authority figure as a member of the committee, he never made any official decisions and