The Chestnut Tree bar and restaurant in downtown Minneapolis was a hangout for wrestlers after cards. On a night in January 1965, Race, Hennig, Rene Goulet and Eddie Sharkey were in there on such a night.
"The story goes that they saw three guys roughing up a woman and Harley jumped into it,'' Schire said. "He took care of a couple of the guys, but then the third one pulled a knife and stabbed him in the side.
"They took him to the hospital with the knife in him and removed it there.''
The altercation was publicized in the Twin Cities newspapers, with Race assigned the hero's role.
