Booking the Four Horsemen In Non-Horsemen Times

   To many wrestling fans, the most storied and legendary stables of all time is the Four Horsemen.  Over the years, there were several incarnations and a total of 15 members.  There were even times when the Horsemen flat out did not exist.  The group came together in 1985 during a promo containing Ric Flair, Ole Anderson, Arn Anderson, and Tulley Blanchard, along with manager J.J. Dillon, not long after the group attempted to break the leg of "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes.  In an unplanned moment in the interview, Arn Anderson likened themselves to the "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" and the name stuck.  Weeks later, fans in attendance started wearing suits, much like Flair and company did.

   For well over a year and a half, the Four Horsemen laid waste to the NWA roster, including Dusty Rhodes, the Rock n' Roll Express, Magnum TA, Nikita Koloff, and the Road Warriors.  By mid-1987, they kicked Ole out of the group in favor of Lex Lugar.  The experiment ended before the year was up, as Lugar was kicked out of the group.  In 1988, Lugar befriended Barry Windham and defeated Arn and Tulley for the NWA Tag Team Titles.  In a rematch for the Titles, Windham turned on Lugar and joined the Four Horsemen, creating what some perceive to be the best incarnation of the group ever.  I certainly do!  However, after dropping the belts to the Midnight Express in September of that year, Arn and Tulley left for the WWF.  

  

   For the first time, the Four Horsemen were no more.  Without important elements of the Horsemen who had been there since the beginning, it would have been difficult to continue.  However, Flair and Windham did associate with people such as Butch Reed and Barry's brother Kendall.  After Dillon left to go to the WWF in early 1989, his management services were replaced by Hiro Matsuda.  Together, they were known as the Yamazaki Corporation but never formally called themselves the Four Horsemen.  However, Barry Windham and Kendall Windham left the company soon after.  Here's where I want to jump back in time and figure out a way to preserve the Four Horsemen.  I suppose without anyone else, it didn't make sense for the Horsemen to continue.  

   If I were to continue the Four Horsemen after the departure of Arn Anderson and Tulley Blanchard, this is what I would have done.  At first, I'd have them bring Ole back into the group to replace Arn as their "Enforcer."  After all, he was an original Horseman.  For a brief time, I'd bring in Kendall Windham as well.  After Barry Windham's US Title loss, I'd put the brothers together as the tag team of the group.  Flair was the leader and for a majority of the time, he was the World Champion.  So now, the Horsemen would be Ric Flair, Barry Windham, Ole Anderson, and Kendall Windham.  I'd have to change gears when the Windhams leave the NWA in the middle of 1989, which really makes things harder.

   Around this time, after winning the NWA World Heavyweight Title back from Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, Ric Flair turned babyface when he was attacked by Terry Funk.  The Four Horsemen as babyfaces at any time is generally not great but these were the circumstances.  People say that Sting was a bad choice to join the Four Horsemen because he did not fit in.  While I wholeheartedly agree with that, I believe it was still necessary because it facilitated his impending feud with Flair, eventually winning the NWA World Heavyweight Title.  Therefore, since Flair was now a "good guy," Ole would be with him.  In fending off Terry Funk, Sting would save them and join, as well as Lex Lugar coming back into the fold.  My Four Horsemen from June, 1989 are Flair, Ole, Sting, and Lugar.

   I'd have Lugar turn on Sting and quit the Horsemen in the Fall, just in time for Arn Anderson to return to the company at the end of the year to fill the void. That creates the 1990 version of the Horsemen that was around until they kicked Sting out for wanting a shot at Flair's Title.  The Horsemen are heels again and after Sting was kicked out, Barry Windham returned to the NWA and rejoined the Horsemen.  Ole soon retired from active competition and took the role JJ Dillon once had.  They then brought in Sid Vicious to round out the team.  I was fine with Sid as a member.  In May of 1991, Sid went to the WWF and just months later, Ric Flair did the same.  Here's where the problem lies.  How can you have the Four Horsemen without Ric Flair?  No one on the roster at the time could match his charisma and the clear leadership he exuded.

   Replacing Arn Anderson and Tulley Blanchard is a harrowing enough task, but now that I think about it, it was probably a good idea to disband the Horsemen after Flair left.  Let's face it, without Ric Flair, there are no Four Horsemen!  Arn joined Paul (Heyman) E. Dangerously's Dangerous Alliance along with Rick Rude, Steve Austin, Bobby Eaton, & Larry Zbysko.  The Dangerous Alliance was a great stable and pretty much filled the Horsemen void while Flair was gone.  Arn did well with the group, winning the Tag Team Titles with both Eaton and Zbysko.  The atmosphere was completely different when Flair returned.  If you were positioned with the task of replacing Flair and continuing the Horsemen until his return, who would your other members be?

If you have any further thoughts on this topic, let me know in comments.  Heck, let us all know on The WAR Report podcast, every Tuesday at 7PM EST, brought to you by tagmeadate.com, the first and only dating site for wrestling fans.  Go to askthewarreport@gmail.com or #askthewarreport.  For TagMeADate members, our Android and Apple apps are vastly approaching so stay tuned!
https://tagmeadate.com/