Anyone Remember The Auditions?

[TUFFY54]

Last night I was flipping through an old issue of Wrestling Superstars Magazine from 96. In it they had an article about the Four Horsemen holding auditions for a fourth member. As we all know, the Horsemen in early 96 were Flair, Arn, Benoit, and Pillman. However, Pillman left for the WWE leaving only 3. I was completely into wrestling at this time and had no memory of these auditions. Apparently, they auditioned Scott Norton to be their final member. He teamed with Arn and Benoit twice in six man tags against the Dungeon of Doom. Scott got pinned both times and was beaten up by Arn and Pillman while they told him he would never be a Horseman. They dropped the angle and a couple months later Mongo McMichael became the worst Horseman in history, (Yeah, he was a worse choice than Paul Roma) and effectively killed the group.

Here's the question: If they had actually run the audition angle, who should have become that fourth Horseman in 96. I'm NOT asking who should have been a Horseman during any other time period. Just who from the WCW roster should have filled the spot during spring/early summer of 96.

Personally, I think Scott Norton would have made a great Horseman. He could have been a real enforcer and given the group the strength it never really had.

My Pick: Diamond Dallas Page. During this same time DDP was on a role. They just finished an angle where he got his fortune back and he won the Battlebowl PPV around the same time Mongo got inducted. DDP would have fit perfectly with the Horsemen.

 

[realoldskoolfan]

to me, the Horsemen died in 88 when Arn and Tully left. every incarnation after that was subpar at best. without Tully, it just wasn't the Horsemen. 88 was the best group they had. Flair, Arn, Tully, and Barry Windham. i like the original group aswell with Ole. i think a great Horsemen stable around 97-98 would have been Flair, Benoit, Curt Hennig, Dean Malenko with Arn in the JJ Dillon role.

 

[nightmare]

william regal would have been a good fit. good on the mic, fantastic technical wrestler & he can be as dirty as flair\arn. always thought regal & flair would be a great team but that would have been a good idea to team them up in the horsemen.

norton brought power but couldnt get it done & i think ddp would have been kinda out of place.

 

[Mannic]

william regal would have been a good fit. good on the mic, fantastic technical wrestler & he can be as dirty as flair\arn. always thought regal & flair would be a great team but that would have been a good idea to team them up in the horsemen.

norton brought power but couldnt get it done & i think ddp would have been kinda out of place.

only issue with that though is how lame regals character was back then and if i recall back in that time he was already in a tagteam and they were some english guys i know because i HATED him back when he used to come out with the frilly white shirt and the long coat etc cant recall the name of the group or his partner though "lord steven regal" was his name still cant remember his partners lol


i don't believe scott norton would have really helped either he had nothing on the mic i honestly don't think i ever heard the guy say a word.. he was a joke in the nwo and would have been in the horsemen...


I would go with 1 of 3 people

DDP - as someone stated above the guy was on fire at the time won the little brawl ring hated yet loved by everyone would have been a great pick

Canyon - Yes the guy was there and by the end of WcW and some into WWE the guy was actually pretty good on the mic even with such a stupid line as "who better then canyon?... nobody" maybe if they would have given him the cocky gimmick back then it could have made him a bit bigger of a star


"Buff" Bagwell - Always liked buff thought he was funny on mic and his cocky in-ring im greater then everyone demeanor that he showed week in and week out tho if i recall he caused lots of drama and that pretty much cost him his career.

 

[Mr_billy]

Sorry, No matter how bad McMichaels was, I marked out huge for him, being an 85 Bear and all. But seriously, I agree with Tuffy54 on DDP, especially with his AWA gimmick would have been a great fit. I didn't watch wrestling during that time period, but I believe a big man would have bee good, just to round out the group, like a goon. Or Chris Canyon repackaged, since the whole Mortal Combat roster was lame.

 

[mral82]

I didnt watch much WCW then in 96 but if you had to go w/ power I would had The Giant audition n get the role or give Luger a shot back w/ the group as that was the nWo birthing period. @Mannic It was the Blue Bloods which featured "Lord" Steven Regal, "Earl" Robert Eaton, "Squire" David Taylor and Dave "Fit" Finlay just to let you know. But back to topic Luger shoulda been the guy as he was like the man w/ no backers other than the Horsemen

 

[Little Stinger At Heart]

I have to say "The Iceman" Dean Malenko...every time I look at him I see Tully Blanchard in a smaller package...he would have been great...I know I'll catch some shit from this...

 

[goldbergdust]

Malenko would have been great, but they needed someone with a bit more personality. Benoit had the quiet fierce character filled in the horsemen. They needed size. DDP might have been a good fit.

 

[marklouis]

I mentioned this in the other thread about the 4 Horsemen-Steven(William)Regal would've been a good Horseman. Good on the mic, good in the ring, could've filled in on the mic & as a leader when Flair & Anderson were not around. And he was getting a decent run in WCW at the time. Regal would've made a lot of sense, much more that McMichael.

 

[JETER123]

Malenko would have been great, but they needed someone with a bit more personality. Benoit had the quiet fierce character filled in the horsemen. They needed size. DDP might have been a good fit.

Malenko was a Horsemen. He entered the group in 1998...

But to answer the thread, I think Chris Jericho would have been a unique addition to the group during that time. He was new to WCW at the time, and it would have been interesting to see where Jericho would be now if he went that route.

 

[Tattooed Jesus]

to me, the Horsemen died in 88 when Arn and Tully left. every incarnation after that was subpar at best. without Tully, it just wasn't the Horsemen. 88 was the best group they had. Flair, Arn, Tully, and Barry Windham. i like the original group aswell with Ole. i think a great Horsemen stable around 97-98 would have been Flair, Benoit, Curt Hennig, Dean Malenko with Arn in the JJ Dillon role.

I sincerly have to agree with this. The real 4 Horsemen to me will always be either the Flair, Arn & Ole Anderson, and Tully Blanchard, or the subsequent versions with Luger replacing Ole, or Windham replacing Luger. All other groupings after that were just piss poor imitations. I also agree with the OP that Mongo was the worst Horseman ever and should be stricken from the record of ever being a member forever!

 

[MSH0017]

The worst horseman was Kendall Windham hands down. As for who would've fit in 96, I'd go with Scott Steiner. He could've provided the muscle of the group and the BPP character he started in 98 would've gone well with the partying atmosphere of the horsemen...

 

[realoldskoolfan]

Kendall was never really a "official" Horsemen. i know in late 88 he turned heel and joined his brother, even flashed the four fingers once or twice...but by that point the group was basically dead, w/ only Flair and Barry left in NWA at that point.

 

[MSH0017]

All I know was one Friday night in 88 we went to the local high school arena were NWA was touring. Before the matches Ivan Koloff, Ron Simmons, Dustin Rhodes, & Stan Lane came out to sign autographs. I asked Dustin who he and Kendall were wrestling that night and he told me that they broke up because Kendall turned on him and joined the horseman. The angle hadn't made it to TV yet, but that night Kendall wrestled as a heel and had "horsemen" on his boots.

As far as I'm concerned he was a horseman!

 

[realoldskoolfan]

LOL if you say so!!

there was plans by the NWA to try and reform the Horsemen after Arn and Tully left, this is where Kendall came into the picture. Butch Reed also came to the NWa at this time and was being managed by JJ Dillon. JJ left for the WWf sometime before Starrcade that year, and Hiro Matsuda started managing the group, calling them the Yamazaki Corporation. Kendall dropped down to low card jobber soon after. Windham left after Chi Town Rumble that february, Reed was gone by the spring and replaced by Michael Hayes for a few weeks before he reformed the Freebirds, and Flair dropped Matsuda altogether, ending there short run as a faction.