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Click Here To Buy Ric Flair and The Four Horsemen on DVD

The year was 1986.  Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) was at the height of its promotional war with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) with JCP offering a traditional approach to pro wrestling with emphasis on realistic characters and in-ring ability as opposed to the WWF’s larger than life booking of cartoon characters. 

Ric Flair put Jim Crockett Promotions on the map in the southern U.S.

Nothing showcased the difference in booking styles like the way the Horsemen were booked compared to the WWF’s rogues gallery.  The WWF’s heels were certainly colorful but with few exceptions (“Rowdy” Roddy Piper and Jake “The Snake” Roberts being the best examples), they were simple one dimensional menaces such as King Kong Bundy, the Iron Sheik, Kamala, and Andre the Giant.  Talented wrestlers in their own right but nothing more than wrestling’s version of cartoon badman Snidely Whiplash.

The Horsemen by comparison were believable heels who you couldn’t help but envy at times.  Sure, they cheated to win when necessary and they were cocky S.O.B.’s but they also paraded around in fancy clothes, partied around the country, and romanced gorgeous women.  With all that going for them, it was only a matter of time before they started developing a fan base of their own; something still unusual at the time as fans still routinely cheered for the faces and booed the heels.

Still, the Horsemen knew how to play the role of the heel to perfection.  Despite some fans’ appreciation for their styling and profiling, the majority of JCP fans hated the Horsemen for their cocky attitudes and more importantly, the evil deeds perpetrated on the territory’s babyfaces.  They cheated, ambushed opponents, and did whatever was necessary to thwart the babyfaces.  In fact, their activities often bordered on the criminal such as the infamous angle where the Horsemen followed Dusty Rhodes into a parking lot and broke his hand in retaliation for Rhodes putting Tully Blanchard out of action with a leg injury.  The angle so infuriated fans that some people wondered why Jim Crockett Promotions hadn’t turned the matter over to law enforcement.

The team of Arn and Ole Anderson helped lay the foundation for the Horsemen

The DVD traces the Horsemen back from their beginning when the Minnesota Wrecking Crew (this particular version being Ole Anderson and his storyline nephew Arn Anderson) aligned themselves with Ric Flair and nearly ended Dusty Rhodes’ career in a steel cage.  It follows them through their many incarnations, interviewing many of the wrestlers who rode to villainy as a Horseman including Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Chris Benoit, Barry Windham, and even “Pretty” Paul Roma, jobber turned Horseman during one of WCW’s darkest days.

Arn Anderson talks about the origins of the Horsemen

Ric Flair and the Four Horsemen examines the roots of wrestling’s supergroup of heels, answering the often-asked question “How were the Horsemen formed?”  While the idea of the Horsemen seemed like a no-brainer, they arised not by design but by chance.  Ric Flair, Tully Blanchard, and the Minnesota Wrecking Crew (Arn and Ole Anderson) were all thrown together because there wasn’t enough time for them to cut individual promos during a television taping.  “Enforcer” Arn Anderson quipped that never in the history of wrestling had so few wreaked so much havoc.  Double A went on to say that not since the days of the Bible had there been so much devastation by four individuals, likening the group of heels to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. 

Barry Windham talks about his days as a Horseman as well as his rivalry with Ric Flair

Once again, WWE Home Video has put together a great retrospective on an important part of professional wrestling’s legacy.  Ric Flair and the Four Horsemen recounts the Horsemen’s history with stories from many of the key figures involved such as the Horsemen themselves (Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, and Barry Windham) as well as their contemporaries (Dusty Rhodes and Michael Hayes).  It also features comments from today’s stars like Hunter Hearst Helmsley and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin as they share their opinions on the Four Horsemen’s influence on their careers.

To its credit, the DVD shows the Horsemen’s hits and their misses.  Like their leader Ric Flair, the Four Horsemen’s popularity with fans and the ease of which they could be used to bolster ratings wasn’t always used to full effectiveness.  After the sale of Jim Crockett Promotions to Ted Turner and its evolution into World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the Horsemen were revived and recycled by promoters who didn’t always know how to use them correctly.  The best example of this was when perennial jobber Paul Roma was brought in as a Horsemen, the equivalent of adding Eugene to DX.

The original incarnation of the Four Horsemen

While the Horsemen would bounce back from the Paul Roma debacle, they never reached the heights of success they enjoyed during the late 1980’s.  Like many other WCW mainstays, they became second bananas to Hulk Hogan and his cronies under the booking regime of Eric Bischoff.  Despite several weak attempts to revive the Four Horsemen to their former glory, WCW fumbled the ball on its way into financial insolvency.

Going out somewhere between a whimper and a bang, the Four Horsemen nonetheless made their impact on professional wrestling and Ric Flair and the Four Horsemen does an admirable job of telling their story from start to finish.  Although there are key figures missing from the DVD to tell their side of the story (Original Horsemen Ole Anderson and Lex Luger being the two biggest), most of the major players are present to share their perspectives.

While this wasn't the original lineup, it was arguably the best- four wrestlers; four championships

In the end, Ric Flair & the Four Horsemen provides a good overview of wrestling’s “original gang” with a fairly thorough look back at their career, a decent selection of matches, and a slew of snippets on the Horsemen’s activities outside of the ring (Ric Flair’s account of some of the Horsemen’s parties and the unbelievable marketing of Four Horsemen Vitamins being two of the best on this DVD set).  Like The Spectacular Legacy of the AWA, the lack of a third disc makes this collection more a sampling than a thorough retrospective of its subject.  For example, there are no matches featuring all of the original Horsemen, the second War Games is shown instead of the legendary first War Games Match, and there’s nothing to be seen of the Horsemen’s work past the Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, and Barry Windham era.  Given the WWE’s deep library of wrestling footage, the DVD’s selection of matches and the short list of them keep it from being a must-have.  While you’ll want to watch it, only Horsemen fans will want to own it. 

The Horsemen's interviews always entertained

GRADE:  89 out of 100.  A good documentary feature on the Horsemen for sure but the lack of matches and the selection of matches keep it from being a full-blown success.

MATCHES:

Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, & Ric Flair vs. Pez Whatley, The Italian Stallion, & Rocky King

Steel Cage Match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship:  Ric Flair vs. Ricky Morton

First Blood Match:  Tully Blanchard vs. Dusty Rhodes

War Games:  The Four Horsemen vs. Dusty Rhodes, Steve “Dr. Death” Williams, Lex Luger, Nikita Koloff, and Paul Ellering.