Symbolically!
They are going to
become members of the Hall of Fame symbolically this is the term I am using for
certain members of the Four Horsemen,
Paul Roma will never be inducted as a singles competitor, and Chris
Benoit career is no longer part of the history of the WWE. So this is the
closet they we ever get to HOF.
Sting (1989–1990)
Sting joined the group
when Arn Anderson made his returned from the WWF. He was picked for an angle,
during this time Sting was the hottest babyface and he was going to face the
World Champion, Ric Flair. So the group picked him as their fourth member in
order to keep him away from the title. The fact that he was a member of the
Horsemen didn’t stop him from wanting to become the World Champion,
so he was
made an example, to all who opposed the Horsemen. Sting wasn’t a Horseman for a long period of
time, but they did have an epic feud, Sting vs. Ric Flair. Sting is an icon in
the world of pro-wrestling; he will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame based
on all of his accomplishments. Sting is a thirteen time World Champion, with
the NWA, WCW, and TNA. The Question is, when will this happen? Some say when he
joins the WWE and faces the Undertaker for the streak. I say he will sign a WWE
Legends Contract, and then he will become a Hall of Famer.
Sid Vicious (1990–1991)
Sid Vicious was one of
the larger members of the faction. He became a member after Sting was kicked
out, but all of the members didn’t see him as a perfect fit to the group. Sid’s
style of wrestling was unorthodox, and he was better as a single competitor.
There is a story that was motion in the Horsemen DVD, about an incident
concerning an actual fight between Sid and Arn, which landed both of them in
the hospital with stab wounds. The DVD does not go in to details about the
incident, but I have search the internet and came up with this explanation,
from Wikipedia. I know that Wikipedia is not a reliable reference, but this is
the only written story about this incident.
“During their United Kingdom tour on October 27, 1993, Sid was involved
in a hotel room scuffle with Arn Anderson that resulted in both wrestlers
stabbing each other with scissors. Both were rushed to the hospital, as
Anderson suffered scissor stab wounds to the chest and stomach. Vicious stabbed
Anderson twenty times, while being stabbed four times himself.” Sid was later
released from WCW after several wrestlers threatened to walk out because of his
actions. The reason that Anderson had this fight was because “he overheard Sid
insulting his best friend Ric Flair”. The four times World Champion may become
a Hall of Famer, because he actually did wrestle for the WWE. Sid had feuds
with the Undertaker, Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage and Shawn Michaels.
Paul Roma (1993)
Ric Flair left WCW due
to the fact that WCW and he did not come to terms for a new contract. He left
WCW with the WCW World Heavyweight Championship title, and headed to the WWF.
After a few months at the WWF, he made his return to the place he called home.
The creative team wanted to reunite the Four Horsemen, and they needed a fourth
member, and they came up with Paul Roma????? This guy was a jobber for
superstars back in the early 80’s. Roma’s greatest accomplishment was teaming
up with Hercules to form “Power and Glory”. Roma in my opinion was the worsts
member of the faction. The only championship title he ever won was the WCW Tag
Team Championship with Arn Anderson.
Brian Pillman
(1995–1996)
Brian Pillman was
picked by Arn Anderson & Ric Flair. Pillman was a former student of the
Hart family “Dungeon” and began his wrestling career at Stampede Wrestling. He
started his career as Flying Brian Pillman; he was a true high flyer. I can
recall one of my favorite matches between Jushin Liger & himself in “Clash
of the Champion” back in the late 80’s. They had so many high spots; it was an
amazing match and if you can find it on YouTube watch the match. Pillman was a
former two times WCW World Light Heavyweight Champion and NWA US Tag Team
Champion, with Tom Zenk. Brain Pillman and Steve Austin became a successful tag
team called the “Hollywood Blondes”. They captured NWA & WCW Tag Team
Championship titles. The co-founders of the great’s faction in wrestling
history handpicked Pillman to join the Four Horsemen, because they saw
something in him. His time with the
group was short, because he was fired after he outed Kevin Sullivan as the
“Booker” of WCW. Some say that this was an angle that Eric Bischoff and Pillman
came up with to create heat to his “Loose Cannon” character. The plan was for
Pillman to go to ECW and then return to WCW, but that back fired because he
signed a contract with the WWE.
Chris Benoit
(1995–1997; 1998–1999)
Disclaimer: I am not
condoling anything Chris Benoit did outside the ring, but I will speak about
what he accomplished in the ring.
Chris Benoit was also a
student of the Hart family “Dungeon” and he wrestled for Stu Hart’s Stampede
Wrestling promotion as well. Benoit idolized the Dynamite Kid, and followed in
his footsteps and wrestled in Japan under a mask just like the Dynamite kid
did. Benoit’s name was the Pegasus Kid while he wrestled overseas. He returned
to the States and joined WCW for a short period of time and then wrestled for
Paul Heyman in ECW. While in ECW Benoit became known as the “Crippler”, because
during a match he Suplex Sabu and actually broke his neck. He later returns to
WCW in 1995 and became a “mid-carder”. He became a member of the Four Horsemen
because Flair and the creative team enjoyed his in-ring performance. While in the faction he captured the WCW Tag
Team titles with his partner Dean Malenko. They both left the group and joined
another faction known as the Revolution lead by Shane Douglas. Benoit finally
received the opportunity he hungered for, he wrestled former member of the
Horsemen, Sid Vicious for the WCW World title, and he won it. WCW put the title
on him because they didn’t want him to jump ship and signed a contract with the
WWE. This back fired on WCW, because Benoit did in fact sign with the WWE and
he became the only man to leave a wrestling organization as champion to join
another. Benoit went on to capture many titles in the WWE and WCW. He was a
five time US champion (WCW/WWE), a two time TV Champion for WCW, a four time IC
Champion in WWE, a six time Tag Team champion (WWE/WCW), a Royal Rumble Winner
and a Two Time World Champion (WCW/WWE). In my opinion Chris Benoit was a
perfect fit for the group, wrestling style was intense and he clearly made me
believe he can take out any opponent place in front of him no matter their size.
Steve "Mongo"
McMichael (1996–1999)
Here we go again, with
another member that didn’t make any sense, to me. Steve McMichael was a former
defensive lineman for the 1985 Super Bowl champion, the Chicago Bear. McMichael
joined the broadcast team for WCW, during this time Ric Flair began to hit on
his wife, Debra. McMichael challenged
him to a wrestling match. Flair accepted the challenge, but requested the bout
to become a tag team match, of course Anderson will be Flair’s partner.
McMichael recruited former Carolina Panthers Kevin Green as his partner. The
match was set for The Great American Bash. McMichael hit Green with a brief
case and there you had it another goof becomes a member of the greatest faction
in wrestling history. He captured the WCW United States Championship Title
while a Horsemen.
Curt Hennig (1997)
Mr. Perfect was the
perfect fit for the Four Horsemen, but they only used Curt Hennig to humiliate
the group. In 1997 Hennig signed with WCW, he was the mystery partner for
Diamond Dallas Page, and like the great heel he is, Hennig turned on DDP.
Hennig took over the “Enforce Spot” that was previously held by Arn Anderson,
in the Horsemen. A match between the NOW & the Four Horsemen was booked for
War Games. During the PPV we witnessed a hideous attack on Hennig which left
his arm in a sling. This was all a part of the NOW’s master plan, Hennig turned
on his fellow Horsemen members and joined the NWO. Hennig was a two time IC
Champion for the WWF, he also held the US title while in WCW and he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in
2007.
Jeff Jarrett (1997)
Jeff Jarrett is the
founder of TNA, but most people don’t recall that he was once a member of the
Four Horsemen. Jeff Jarrett became a member of the Four Horsemen after
defeating Chris Benoit, in 1997. While still a member of the Horsemen, Jarrett
captured the US Championship title. He then began a feud with Steve
"Mongo" McMichael, who also was a member of the Horsemen. He
eventually lost the US title to Mongo, and left WCW for the WWE because his
contract was done. He is a second generation wrestler and has achieved success
in every promotion he has worked in. Jarrett is recognized as an 11 time world
champion. He has held the (1)NWA title six times, the WCW title four times, and
the AAA title once. Even thou, he has never captured the WWE World title; he
has held various Championships in the WWE, including the Intercontinental
Championship title and the European Championship title. In order for Jarrett to
become a member of the WWE Hall of Fame he has to leave the company he helped
built, TNA, but I can’t see him leaving anytime soon; this will be a symbolical
induction in my eyes.
(1)The TNA World Title
was known as the NWA World title.
Dean Malenko
(1998–1999)
Dean Malenko was a
member of another faction that was a favorite of mine, the Triple Threat; alone
side Chris Benoit and Shane Douglas. Malenko earned the nickname (2)“The Man of
1,000 Holds” because of his technical skills in the ring. He was a perfect fit
for the group, in my opinion, but he became a member in the later years of the
Four Horsemen legacy. He became a WCW Tag Team Champion, with his friend
Benoit, while a member of the group. They both left the group and joined their
old friend Shane Douglas, in a group called the “Revolution”. Eventually Chris
Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Perry Saturn & himself left WCW and joined the WWE,
as the “Radicalz”. Malenko captured the
WWF Light Heavyweight Championship title, from Essa Rios; he went on to hold
this title on two separate occasions. He will eventually enter the WWE Hall of
Fame, because of the work he has done for company behind the sense. But when
they induct the Horsemen on March 31, 2012, I will invasion all of the Horsemen
on stage holding up their Four Fingers. Diamonds are forever and so are the
Horsemen, Wooooooooooo!
(2) Chris Jericho stole
that nickname and changed it to The Man of 1004 Holds.
 |
| Harrington Bayas |
