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The Four Horsemen (professional wrestling)

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Four Horsemen
File:4Horsemen.jpg
The Original Four Horsemen (from left to right): Ole Anderson, Ric Flair, Tully Blanchard, and Arn Anderson. Not shown: manager James J. Dillon.
Stable
MembersSee Horsemen Members
Name(s)Four Horsemen
Debut1986
Disbanded1999

The Four Horsemen (also spelled IV Horsemen) were a popular professional wrestling stable in the National Wrestling Alliance and later World Championship Wrestling. The original group featured Ric Flair, Arn and Ole Anderson, and Tully Blanchard. Ric Flair and Arn Anderson have been constant members in each incarnation of the group.

History

The original Four Horsemen

The Four Horsemen formed in January 1986 with Flair, the Minnesota Wrecking Crew consisting of Arn and Ole Anderson, and Blanchard, with James J. Dillon as their manager. They feuded with Dusty Rhodes (breaking his arm), The Rock 'N Roll Express (breaking Ricky Morton's nose), Nikita Koloff, and The Road Warriors; Hawk once fought Ric Flair for the title as well. They always had most of the titles in the NWA, and they often bragged about their success (in the ring and with women) in their interviews.

The Four Horsemen moniker was not planned from the start. Due to time-constraints at a TV taping, production threw together an impromptu tag team interview of Flair, the Andersons, Blanchard and Dillon; each person now united after Ole Anderson returned and tried to break Dusty's leg. It was during this interview that Arn said something to the effect of "The only time this much havoc had been wreaked by this few a number of people, you need to go all the way back to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse!" Nevertheless, Arn has said in an RF Video shoot interview that he, Flair and Blanchard were as close as anybody could be away from the ring while they were together. They lived the gimmick outside of the arena, as they took limos and jets to the cities they wrestled in. Baby Doll was Flair's valet for a couple of months in 1986.

Luger and Windham

In February 1987, WCW newcomer Lex Luger was made an associate member of the group after he expressed his desire to become a Horseman. The others started to leave Ole out of things and eventually he was kicked out in favor of Luger. The fact that Ole missed a show to watch his son Brian wrestle was used against Ole in the split as Blanchard and Dillon questioned Ole's loyalty and Tully called Brian a "snot-nosed kid."

During this time, they wrestled Rhodes, Nikita Koloff, the Road Warriors and Paul Ellering in a series of War Games matches. These matches were brutal and ended up with all 5 members of each team in the cage at the end trying to make somebody submit. During the first match, Dillon suffered a separated shoulder from a botched attempt at the Warriors' finishing move, the Doomsday Device. Dillon landed directly on his right arm and shoulder, and was replaced for the series of matches by the masked War Machine.

Luger was kicked out for first blaming Horseman manager J.J. Dillon for costing him the U.S. title, when his attempt to help him win by cheating backfired, and subsequently, not allowing Dillon to win a Bunkhouse Stampede match as the Horsemen had agreed to among themselves. In January 1988 he teamed with Barry Windham to feud with the Horsemen. The pair even defeated Anderson and Blanchard for the NWA World Tag Team Championship at the inaugural Clash of the Champions. In April 1988, Windham turned on Luger and took his spot in the Horsemen during a title defense against Anderson and Blanchard. This group of Horsemen has been called the greatest as far as technical wrestlers goes. It was also in this year when the Horsemen held all of the major NWA titles at once, with Flair as the World Champion, Windham as the United States Champion, and Arn and Tully as the Tag Team Champions. This feat would not be duplicated until the 2000 reformation of the nWo, which had 7 rather than 4 members: World Champion Bret Hart, United States Champion Jeff Jarrett, and Tag Team Champions the Outsiders Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, along with the belt-less Scott Steiner and Harris twins (Don and Ron). Only the Triple H-led Evolution would come close with 4 members with their success at Armageddon 2003.

In September 1988, Arn Anderson and Blanchard left to join the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) dropping the tag titles at the very last minute to the Midnight Express (Lane and Eaton). Flair, Windham, and Dillon continued to refer to themselves as "the Horsemen" and the NWA even flirted with the idea of bringing in new members. Butch Reed was signed to wrestle solo matches with Dillon as his manager. Then in February 1989, Barry's brother Kendall Windham appeared to have joined them and even held up the 4 fingers after turning on Eddie Gilbert during a tag team match. Then Dillon left to take a front office job with the WWF, and they dropped the Horsemen name, hiring Hiro Matsuda as their new manager. Shortly thereafter, Windham would lose the US Title to Lex Luger and he too would depart for the WWF.

The Horsemen concept helped define the NWA in the mid to late 1980's. The departure of Anderson and Blanchard was huge at the time and despite numerous revivals over the coming decade, things would never quite be the same.

Sting and Sid Vicious

The Horsemen reformed in December 1989 in the NWA. Flair, Arn & Ole Anderson, and long standing rival Sting formed the group in a shocker. They were faces and feuded with Gary Hart's J-Tex Corporation of Terry Funk, Great Muta, Buzz Sawyer and The Dragonmaster. At the culmination of this feud the group returned to being heels, kicking Sting out for daring to challenge Ric Flair for the World Title. Woman soon became Flair's valet. They feuded with Luger, Sting, Rick Steiner, Scott Steiner and El Gigante during this time.

In May 1990, Ole became the manager and they added Barry Windham and Sid Vicious to fill out the group. They feuded with the Dudes With Attitudes which consisted of Sting, Luger, the Steiner Brothers, Paul Orndorff and Junkyard Dog. By the end of 1990, Ole and Woman left the NWA. Ted Turner had bought Jim Crockett Promotions, the largest faction of the NWA, and turned it into World Championship Wrestling.

In October 1990, another Horsemen legend occurred. Barry Windham dressed up as Sting and attempted to get pinned by Sid Vicious for the WCW World Heavyweight Title. It completely backfired as Sting ended up winning the match.

The Horsemen line-up of Flair, Anderson, Windham and Vicious eventually broke up and went their own ways. In May 1991, Sid left for the WWF. Flair would also join the WWF in August of that year. Windham turned face during a feud with soon-to-be WCW Champion Lex Luger. Anderson started teaming with Larry Zbyszko; the duo soon joined Paul E. Dangerously's Dangerous Alliance.

Three Horsemen

The next incarnation was from March 1993 to December 1993. Flair returned from the WWF to WCW to rejoin Arn and they promised a Horsemen reunion at the Slamboree PPV. WWF superstar Paul Roma replaced Blanchard who could not work out a contract to show up. Ole was on hand as the adviser but made only one appearance on A Flair for the Gold. This group of Horsemen is considered the weakest group. They were good guys again and feuded with Barry Windham, Steve Austin and Brian Pillman. This group ended with Roma turning on Arn to join Paul Orndorff as the tag team of Pretty Wonderful.

The 1995-1997 incarnation

In 1995, Flair and Arn (back to being heels) were teaming with Vader to torment Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage. After Vader lost to Hogan in a steel cage match at Bash at the Beach, Flair entered the cage and lambasted him. Vader snapped and attacked Flair, and Arn came to his rescue. This led to a handicap match at Clash of the Champions XXXI, in which Vader defeated the team of Flair and Arn. Flair and Arn began to bicker, as Arn always felt he was doing Flair's dirty work; a feud developed that led to a match at the Fall Brawl PPV on September 19, 1995 in Asheville, North Carolina. Arn defeated Flair with the help of Brian Pillman. Flair begged Sting to help him against them but he did not trust Flair. After weeks, Sting agreed and Flair ended up turning on him at the Halloween Havoc PPV to reform the Horsemen with Arn and Pillman. They quickly added Chris Benoit to fill out the group. This version of the Horsemen feuded with Hogan, Savage, Sting, and Lex Luger. Flair eventually took Miss Elizabeth and Woman from Hogan and Savage, and they were his valets for the next six months.

In early 1996, Pillman started his infamous "Loose Cannon" storyline and started a feud with Kevin Sullivan. He ended up leaving WCW for the WWF in February and Benoit took over to create one of the most talked about feuds of all time. In this feud, Woman, who was really married to Sullivan, left him for Benoit. However, life imitated art, and Woman actually left Sullivan for Benoit. This feud got heated and it is a common belief that some of the matches were shoot fights rather than the pre-planned matches.

In June 1996 at the Great American Bash, former football player Steve "Mongo" McMichael turned on Kevin Greene in a "gimmick match" and joined them. During this match, McMichael's then-wife Debra was chased to the back by Woman and Elizabeth, but later came back with them and a steel briefcase, which she handed to her husband. Mongo opened it to reveal a Horsemen t-shirt and money; after thiking it over, he closed the briefcase and hit Greene with it, allowing Flair to score the pin on Greene. McMichael was officially inducted as the fourth Horseman, and in the process gave the group another ringside valet in Debra. The online rumors pages said that Debra and Woman did not get along behind the scenes. This quickly played out on TV too, as they constantly bickered and Benoit and Mongo would have to step in.

When the nWo was founded the next month, the Horsemen became de facto babyfaces along with the rest of the WCW roster. In September, Flair and Anderson teamed with their bitter rivals, Sting and Luger, to lose to the nWo (Hogan, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and an impostor Sting) in the WarGames match at Fall Brawl when Luger submitted to the impostor Sting's Scorpion Deathlock. This angered Anderson, and he would feud with Luger for the next month. In October, two developments occurred that affected the group. Firstly, Jeff Jarrett came over to WCW from the WWF, and expressed his desire to join the Horsemen. He immediately gained a fan in Ric Flair, much to the chagrin of the other Horsemen. The next week, Miss Elizabeth officially announced that she had joined the nWo.

Flair finally let Jarrett join the group in February 1997 but the others did not want him. Jarrett began bickering with Mongo over Debra's attention, and in June won the U.S. title from Dean Malenko; in July he was kicked out of the stable by Flair. In a move uncharacteristic of the Horsemen, however, Jarrett was allowed to literally walk away, instead of receiving a classic Horsemen beatdown as was expected. He eventually took Debra from Mongo, but Mongo took Jarrett's U.S. title. To this date, amongst fans and members of the Four Horsemen, there is still debate whether to include Jeff Jarrett as a Horsemen. In his biography, Arn Anderson clearly states that "Jeff Jarrett was never a Horseman." His "membership" and his easy departure leaves the situation ambiguous. The Four Horsemen usually pick their own members, but at the time, WCW held extreme control over storylines and this may have forced them to accept a member for those purposes only and not by choice.

In August 1997, Arn Anderson retired due to a neck/back injury that would not allow him to wrestle. Curt Hennig took his spot as "The Enforcer." In September, Hennig turned on the Horsemen and joined the nWo. Flair disbanded the group and they went their separate ways.

The final incarnation

The last incarnation came in September 1998. Dean Malenko and Chris Benoit kept going to Arn about reforming the Horsemen. He kept saying no. James J. Dillon, back in WCW's front office, even made a request. Arn eventually gave in and they reformed the Horsemen with Mongo and Flair and Arn was the manager. They feuded with the nWo and Eric Bischoff, who Flair had some real backstage problems with.

In early 1999, the Horsemen turned heel again. Mongo had recently departed the wrestling world and they were down to Benoit, Malenko, Flair and Arn as the manager. They also had a biased referee for them, Charles Robinson. David Flair started hanging around with Torrie Wilson and Flair had the Horsemen help David keep the US Title that Flair had given to him. Flair was the (onscreen) President of WCW at this time, and had stripped Scott Steiner of the title. Flair started being selfish and ignoring Benoit and Malenko in favor of other wrestlers so they left him in May, which effectively ended the Four Horsemen.

Legacy

DVD's

File:Flair.jpg

Several DVDs have been released cover the careers of several Horsemen. In 2003, the WWE released The Ultimate Ric Flair Collection, highlightings the career of Ric Flair. They followed that up with Hard Knocks: The Chris Benoit Story in 2004, The Greatest Wrestling Stars of the 80's (which featured both Ric Flair and Arn Anderson) in 2005, and Brian Pillman: Loose Cannon in 2006.

Ric Flair and the Four Horsemen was released on April 10,2007.

The wrestling video company RF Video has conducted multiple shoot interviews with several former Horsemen. These include: Arn Anderson, Ole Anderson, Tully Blanchard, James J. Dillon, Lex Luger, Sid Vicious and Barry Windham.

Xtreme Horsemen

Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling had a stable called the Xtreme Horsemen with Steve Corino, "The Enforcer" C.W. Anderson (a wrestler with a look and gimmick of Arn Anderson, but of no relation) and Barry Windham as its founding members. The Xtreme Horsemen stable later appeared in Major League Wrestling, and across Japan, during this time Corino and C.W. Anderson were joined by Justin Credible and Simon Diamond. This version was also briefly managed by James J. Dillon before MLW folded.

Apocalypse

Live Action Wrestling had a stable created by then LAW Heavyweight Champion C.W. Anderson, along Ric Flair's son David Flair, and Max.

Evolution

In 2003, rumors began circulating that Ric Flair (now working for World Wrestling Entertainment) was going to reform the Four Horsemen with Triple H, Randy Orton, and Batista. This group was eventually formed, but under the name Evolution instead of the Four Horsemen. They served much the same function as the original heel Horsemen had, dominating the titles on RAW and feuding with that brand's top faces. The group slowly died between August 2004 and October 2005. Orton was kicked out of the group after he won the World Heavyweight Championship. In February 2005, Batista left the group after winning the Royal Rumble, in a storyline where Triple H tried to protect his title from Batista. During a Triple H hiatus, Flair turned face, and at WWE Homecoming, Triple H returned as face, but turned heel by the end of the night, hitting Flair in the face with a sledgehammer and officially ending Evolution.

Horsemen members

Honorary members

During the WWE Hall of Fame 2007 ceremony Dusty Rhodes asked Ric Flair and Arn Anderson to hold up the "sign" and induct he and Harley Race into the Horsemen.

Championships and accomplishments

All titles and awards listed were won while they were Horsemen

National Wrestling Alliance

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

World Championship Wrestling

Wrestling Observer

Books

  • Arn Anderson 4 Ever: A Look Behind the Curtain (1998) by Arn Anderson
  • Inside Out: How Corporate America Destroyed Professional Wrestling (2003) by Ole Anderson
  • Ric Flair: To Be the Man (2004) by Ric Flair
  • Wrestlers Are Like Seagulls: From McMahon To McMahon (2005) by James J. Dillon
  • Sting: the Moment of Truth (2004) by Steve "Sting" Borden
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