History Wrestling / TheFourHorsemen

[[caption-width-right:350:The Originals (l-r): Ole Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Manager [[Wrestling/JamesJDillon J.J. Dillon]], Wrestling/ArnAnderson and Wrestling/RicFlair]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ivhorsemen.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:The Originals (l-r): Ole Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Manager [[Wrestling/JamesJDillon J.J. Dillon]], Wrestling/ArnAnderson and Wrestling/RicFlair]]

** [[Wrestling/{{WWENXT}} NXT]]'s Wrestling/TheUndisputedEra seems to be the most recent. They share the [[TrueCompanions real-life brotherhood]] and [[BadassInANiceSuit penchant for nice suits]] as the Horsemen.

** Wrestling/AllEliteWrestling has The Pinnacle, further enforced with Tully Blanchard's endorsement.

*** '''The Enforcer:''' [[Wrestling/TheRevival FTR]]

*** '''The Centerpiece:''' [[Wrestling/MJF]]

*** '''The Centerpiece:''' Wrestling/MJF

*** '''The Manager:''' Wrestling/TullyBlanchard

** AllEliteWrestling has The Pinnacle, further enforced with Tully Blanchard's endorsement.
*** '''The Centerpiece:''' MJF
*** '''The Enforcer:''' FTR

*** '''The Manager:''' Tully Blanchard

** Wrestling/{{NXT}}'s Wrestling/TheUndisputedEra seems to be the most recent. They share the [[TrueCompanions real-life brotherhood]] and [[BadassInANiceSuit penchant for nice suits]] as the Horsemen.

* JapanTakesOverTheWorld: Even professional wrestling stables were susceptible to the late-80s craze. During the time of the Flair/Blanchard/Arn Anderson/Barry Windham, the group suffered two huge blows: Not only did Anderson and Blanchard jump to the WWF, but their manager James J. Dillon did the same afterwards (albeit for an office job). NWA's solution? Bring in Hiro Matsuda (known for being a trainer of many, ''many'' wrestlers) as their new manager and rename them "The Yamazaki Corporation" after a fictional company represented by Matsuda that, in storyline, brought their contracts up, clearly as a send-up of Japanese companies buying U.S. interests around the same time. Other members included Barry's brother Kendall and, very briefly, Butch Reed and Michael Hayes. It wasn't a success and it didn't last long.

** For a time Wrestling/{{Sting}} replaced Tully Blanchard, but was excommunicated for accepting a World Title match against Ric Flair.

** Another group of "Four Horsewomen" taking their name from the original stable formed in [[UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts MMA]] around 2014, consisting of Creator/RondaRousey, Shayna Baszler, Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir. All four women were subsequently contracted by WWE, and it seems that an epic confrontation with NXT's Four Horsewomen is an inevitability.[[note]]Although it may take some time until WWE's Four Horsewomen manage to all get on the same side of the heel/face alignment at the same time since, being the core of WWE's women's division on both brands, their primary opponents almost always tend to be each other. Plus, given that WWE had ''years'' worth of opportunities to do Wrestling/TheShield vs Wrestling/BulletClub and completely missed the boat, it's far from inconceivable that they'll drop the ball on WWE Horsewomen vs MMA Horsewomen as well.[[/note]]

* InformedAbility: The War Games match was supposed to be the Horsemen's "specialty match". Career Record: 1-15. Then again, this is par for the course for "specialty matches" in wrestling.

* UnPerson: Done a lot by WWE after they acquired WCW's library and started making documentary [=DVDs=] about WCW's past. Not only is Wrestling/ChrisBenoit's time with the group glossed over, if not omitted, but so is Ole Anderson, due to Anderson not being very well-liked by just about anyone (and, truth be told, the feeling was mutual). The WWE recognized the Flair/Arn/Blanchard/Windham version along with manager Dillon as the version inducted into the Hall of Fame and all five were on hand to accept. Arn would later reveal on his podcast ''The Arn Show'' that Ole Anderson has been invited to be indicted in the WWE Hall of Fame as a single and as a member of the Horsemen, but refused both offers.

** Another group of "Four Horsewomen" taking their name from the original stable formed in [[UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts MMA]] around 2014, consisting of Creator/RondaRousey, Shayna Baszler, Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir. All four women were subsequently contracted by WWE, and it seems that an epic confrontation with NXT's Four Horsewomen is an inevitability.[[note]]Although it may take some time until WWE's Four Horsewomen manage to all get on the same side of the heel/face alignment at the same time since, being the core of WWE's women's division on both brands, their primary opponents almost always tend to be each other.[[/note]]

* EnemyMine: When the [=nWo=] was finally established as a legitimate threat, Arn and Ric teamed up with old enemies Sting and Lex Luger to take them on in the 1996 War Games match.

* UnPerson: Done a lot by WWE after they acquired WCW's library and started making documentary [=DVDs=] about WCW's past. Not only is Wrestling/ChrisBenoit's time with the group glossed over, if not omitted, but so is Ole Anderson, due to Anderson not being very well-liked by just about anyone (and, truth be told, the feeling was mutual). The WWE recognized the Flair/Arn/Blanchard/Windham version along with manager Dillon as the version inducted into the Hall of Fame and all five were on hand to accept.
** Arn revealed on his podcast ''The Arn Show'' that Ole Anderson has been invited to be indicted in the WWE Hall of Fame as a single and as a member of the Horsemen, but refused both offers.

** Wrestling/{{WWENXT}} had the "Four Horsewomen" featuring Ric's daughter Wrestling/CharlotteFlair, Wrestling/SashaBanks, Wrestling/BeckyLynch, and Wrestling/{{Bayley}}. A downplayed example as the four of them have never actually been a PowerStable- they were given the name as they were the four best women in NXT at one time, credited with revolutionising women's wrestling within the WWE and they spend more time feuding with each other than teaming up. Still, the connection between them remains firmly lodged in the minds of fans, and they still recognise the connection between themselves, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfTemI8_Sb4 even exchanging the "Four Horsewomen" hand sign]] of four raised fingers.

* UnPerson: Done a lot by WWE after they acquired WCW's library and started making documentary [=DVDs=] about WCW's past. Not only is Wrestling/ChrisBenoit's time with the group glossed over, if not omitted, but so is Ole Anderson, due to Anderson not being very well liked by just about anyone (and, truth be told, the feeling was mutual). In fact, Anderson was not invited when the group was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. The WWE recognized the Flair/Arn/Blanchard/Windham version along with manager Dillon as the version inducted into the Hall of Fame and all five were on hand to accept.

* CannotTellFictionFromReality: At ''NWA/WCW Capital Combat'' in 1990, the Horsemen locked Sting in a cage, only for Franchise/RoboCop to come down to make the save. No, not some wrestler in a costume. It was billed and sold as '''the actual, honest-to-God [=RoboCop=]''' (part of a stunt to promote the theatrical release of ''Film/RoboCop2''). He plodded down to the ring, "broke" the cage to free Sting, and while Sting celebrated, the Horsemen, rather than wonder why the heck is a fictional character from a movie doing there, backed down in fear as if they already assumed that [=RoboCop=] existed in real life.

* DistaffCounterpart: Wrestling/{{WWENXT}} had the "Four Horsewomen" featuring Ric's daughter Wrestling/{{Charlotte}}, Wrestling/SashaBanks, Wrestling/BeckyLynch, and Wrestling/{{Bayley}}. A downplayed example as the four of them have never actually been a PowerStable- they were given the name as they were the four best women in NXT at one time, credited with revolutionising women's wrestling within the WWE and they spend more time feuding with each other than teaming up. Still, the connection between them remains firmly lodged in the minds of fans, and they still recognise the connection between themselves, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfTemI8_Sb4 even exchanging the "Four Horsewomen" hand sign]] of four raised fingers.

** Over the nearly 20 years of the stable's history various wrestlers rotated through the ranks, usually with Arn and Ric being the constants. Wrestling/ChrisBenoit, Steve [=McMichael=], Paul Roma, Wrestling/BrianPillman, Wrestling/DeanMalenko, [[Wrestling/SidEudy Sid Vicious]], Butch Reed and Wrestling/CurtHennig all tried to fill in with varying degrees of success.

** Another group of "Four Horsewomen" taking their name from the original stable formed in [[UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts MMA]] around 2014, consisting of Creator/RondaRousey, Shayna Baszler, Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir. All four women were subsequently contracted by WWE, and it seems that an epic confrontation with NXT's Four Horsewomen is an inevitability.

[[caption-width-right:350:The Originals (l-r): Ole Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Manager J.J. Dillon, Wrestling/ArnAnderson and Wrestling/RicFlair]]

** Wrestling/TheDangerousAlliance was conceived and assembled deliberately as a new version of the Horsemen.
*** '''The Centerpiece:''' Rick Rude
*** '''The Heir Apparent:''' Wrestling/SteveAustin

*** '''TheChick:''' Madusa

** The Wrestling/DangerousAlliance was conceived and assembled deliberately as a new version of the Horsemen.

** Wrestling/{{TNA}}'s Fourtune, which eventually became Wrestling/{{Fortune}} as it couldn't shake its [[OneExtraMember two extra members]]. A group mainly consisting of company "originals" Wrestling/AJStyles, [[Wrestling/JamesStorm Beer]] [[Wrestling/BobbyRoode Money]], Wrestling/FrankieKazarian, and then Wrestling/ChristopherDaniels following the leadership of Ric Flair.
** The DangerousAlliance was conceived and assembled deliberately as a new version of the Horsemen.

* {{Unperson}}: Done a lot by WWE after they acquired WCW's library and started making documentary [=DVDs=] about WCW's past. Not only is Wrestling/ChrisBenoit's time with the group glossed over, if not omitted, but so is Ole Anderson, due to Anderson not being very well liked by just about anyone (and, truth be told, the feeling was mutual). In fact, Anderson was not invited when the group was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. The WWE recognized the Flair/Arn/Blanchard/Windham version along with manager Dillon as the version inducted into the Hall of Fame and all five were on hand to accept.

The Four Horsemen formed in November 1985 with Flair and his storyline cousins Ole Anderson and Arn Anderson, and Tully Blanchard, with James J. Dillon as their manager. They feuded with Wrestling/DustyRhodes (breaking his ankle and hand), Wrestling/{{MagnumTA}}, Wrestling/BarryWindham, Wrestling/TheRockNRollExpress (breaking Ricky Morton's nose), Wrestling/NikitaKoloff (injuring his neck), and Wrestling/TheRoadWarriors. Animal, Hawk, Ronnie Garvin and many others fought Ric Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship during that time period. They usually had most of the titles in the NWA, and they often bragged about their success (in the ring and with women) in their interviews.