This is just my opinion but I think the Horsemen were booked badly in 97and were made to look weak. First I think Curt Hennig should of been a long term member. It was one of the greatest Horsemen promos ever when Arn Anderson gave Hennig his spot. At that point they had momentum. The NWO was already stacked with talent and I think Hennig would of been better off as a Horsemen. Flair and Hennig would have worked great together as Horsemen. Instead of Malenko and Benoit, I think I would of put Lex Luger and a different version of Jeff Jarrett to fill out the group. Malenko and Benoit were great technical wrestlers but I just didn't think they had the charisma to be Horsemen. Arn could of taken over the JJ Dillion role, that way we still would of gotten his great promos. With Flair, Hennig, Luger and Jarrett, you have big names, awesome promos ,ability, talent, strength, egos, and that heelish factor. I think this version would of posed a greater threat to the NWO. Any thoughts?
4 Horsemen of 97
- Thread starter spaldoni
- Start date
relentless1
G.O.A.T.
totally agreed that the horsemen were booked badly in that period, and i agree that henning should have been in the horsemen, he did after all have some WWF history with flair...i dont agree with luger and jarrett being in because a) luger was better on his own at that point and b) jarrett sucks...and he was gone by that point.... prime roster for the horsemen at that time would have been; flair, henning, benoit and mongo ( i know he sucked as a wrestler but he fit decent into the 4 horsemen structure and hed have three great workers to cover his flaws) with double A as the manager.
I wouldn't be surprised if the whole Hennig involvement was just so the NWO could do the promo mocking the Horsemen. To tell you the truth I wouldn't be surprised if the Horsemen were brought back together in the first place just so they could be mocked. When Nash and company along with Hennig mocked Arn and the other Horsemen I was actually pissed off. I knew it was wrestling and that stuff happens, but I think there was a lot of shooting going on there. Management at that time was not to hot on Flair so I saw this as another way to stick it to him. Hennig would have been "perfect" in the 4 Horsemen, and I never really understood why they had to add him to the NWO. My ideal four though would have been Flair, Hennig, Benoit, and Malenko with Arn being the manager. So yes, they were booked horribly and I wonder if others here think the same way I do about management and the NWO just wanting to stick it to the Horsemen.
justtxyank
Championship Contender
Hennig would have made a great Horseman for sure, BUT, his heel turn and slamming the cage on Flair was outstanding.
The only reason it didn't work the way it should have is because Flair got hurt shortly after and then had issues with WCW management and was gone. Otherwise that would have been a great program.
Still, it did all lead to one of the best Horsemen moments ever when Flair returned in 98 to reform the Horsemen.
The only reason it didn't work the way it should have is because Flair got hurt shortly after and then had issues with WCW management and was gone. Otherwise that would have been a great program.
Still, it did all lead to one of the best Horsemen moments ever when Flair returned in 98 to reform the Horsemen.
JoeyJoeJoe
Championship Contender
I hated Mongo and Jarrett as Horsemen. Neither guy worked for me..the Horsemen were always "supposed" to be elite, and represent the best in wrestling, Paul Roma notwithstanding. 
Benoit and Malenko were always naturals for the Horsemen. I think they should've gone on to win the tag team titles for an extended run with Anderson as their manager. Hennig as the fourth would've worked fine but I liked the heel turn too. Personally, I think Flair and Hennig's personalities were the kind to never really mesh believably as a team. At that point in time, I would've thrown Scott Steiner in there as their power man. Flair, Steiner, Benoit and Malenko would've been a powerful team that would've been legit threats to the NWO and the faces.
Benoit and Malenko were always naturals for the Horsemen. I think they should've gone on to win the tag team titles for an extended run with Anderson as their manager. Hennig as the fourth would've worked fine but I liked the heel turn too. Personally, I think Flair and Hennig's personalities were the kind to never really mesh believably as a team. At that point in time, I would've thrown Scott Steiner in there as their power man. Flair, Steiner, Benoit and Malenko would've been a powerful team that would've been legit threats to the NWO and the faces.
16timestheman
Dark Match Jobber
Yeah they could have been booked way better. Henning would have made a great horsemen then or even back in the 80's in their prime. But Bischoff was only worried about his guys, Hogan and the NWO.
FlairFan2003
Mid-Card Championship Winner
Basically everyone was booked weak except the NwO... How about how badly Randy Savage was booked in this period...Brett Hart circa 1998 ?? Eddie Guerrero ?? The fact Bischoff-Hogan had backstage heat with Flair and were constantly maneuvering to cut his popularity with fans made it worse.
Flair did break his ankle in a PPV match vs Henning in Nov 97 (one poster alluded to the Flair=Henning feud actually gaining steam until his injury cut it short) which robbed fans of the rubber match between them, the No Holds Barred Steel Cage Match at Starrcade 97 that would have been a potentially great No.2 match behind Hogan-Sting, kind of like HHH-Taker was for Rock-Cena at WM. Im still not sure how well this would have been booked however since rumor has it WWE contacted Flair about jumping ship during this time (late 97) forcing WCW to lay out their "Letter Of Intent" spelling out basic contractual obligations they would meet in a final deal with Flair if he stayed. This of course lead to the prolonged contract stand-off after Flair left complaining the final contract offers didnt meet the Letter Of Intent deal, etc.
However, they were a ton of potentially great angles, matches, etc that WCW left on the table in this period...They destroyed any interest in Goldberg-Nash II and never even had a follow up between Goldberg-Hogan, never did Hart-Hogan and immediately short circuited Flair-Hart when the ratings came in for the Souled Out PPV and the numbers were really good despite no Hogan or Sting on the show and very little NwO presence (Cant have a non NwO angle getting heat), they totally failed to capitalize on Benoit, Jericho, & Misterio, all of whom were used better in WWE, totaly derailed Guerrero's 1997 heel push because he was getting too much heat for a Non NwO bad guy, booked Savage and Hart all over the place in almost non sensical fashion half the time, the list goes on...
Flair did break his ankle in a PPV match vs Henning in Nov 97 (one poster alluded to the Flair=Henning feud actually gaining steam until his injury cut it short) which robbed fans of the rubber match between them, the No Holds Barred Steel Cage Match at Starrcade 97 that would have been a potentially great No.2 match behind Hogan-Sting, kind of like HHH-Taker was for Rock-Cena at WM. Im still not sure how well this would have been booked however since rumor has it WWE contacted Flair about jumping ship during this time (late 97) forcing WCW to lay out their "Letter Of Intent" spelling out basic contractual obligations they would meet in a final deal with Flair if he stayed. This of course lead to the prolonged contract stand-off after Flair left complaining the final contract offers didnt meet the Letter Of Intent deal, etc.
However, they were a ton of potentially great angles, matches, etc that WCW left on the table in this period...They destroyed any interest in Goldberg-Nash II and never even had a follow up between Goldberg-Hogan, never did Hart-Hogan and immediately short circuited Flair-Hart when the ratings came in for the Souled Out PPV and the numbers were really good despite no Hogan or Sting on the show and very little NwO presence (Cant have a non NwO angle getting heat), they totally failed to capitalize on Benoit, Jericho, & Misterio, all of whom were used better in WWE, totaly derailed Guerrero's 1997 heel push because he was getting too much heat for a Non NwO bad guy, booked Savage and Hart all over the place in almost non sensical fashion half the time, the list goes on...
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