Four Horsemen The Four Horsemen ( also spelled IV Horsemen ) was a popular stable in the National Wrestling Alliance and later World Championship Wrestling that was disbanded in 1999 . The original group featured Ric Flair , Arn and Ole Anderson , and Tully Blanchard . Ric Flair and Arn Anderson have been constant members in each incarnation of the group except once following Arn Anderson ' s back injury where Curt Hennig was given Arn ' s ' spot ' in the Horsemen . History . The original Four Horsemen ( 1986 – 1987 ) . The Four Horsemen formed in January 1986 with Ric Flair , with Flair ' s storyline cousins Arn Anderson and Ole Anderson , and Tully Blanchard , with James J . Dillon as their manager . They feuded with Dusty Rhodes ( breaking his ankle and hand ) , Magnum TA , Barry Windham , The Rock ' n ' Roll Express ( breaking Ricky Morton ' s nose ) , Nikita Koloff ( injuring his neck ) , and The Road Warriors . Dusty Rhodes , Animal , Hawk , Ronnie Garvin and many others fought Ric Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Title 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 . The Four Horsemen moniker was not planned from the start . Due to time constraints at a television taping , production threw together an impromptu tag team interview of Flair , the Andersons , Tully Blanchard and Dillon ; all were now united after Ole Anderson returned and , along with Flair and Arn , tried to break Dusty ' s leg during a wrestling event at the Omni in Atlanta during the fall of 1985 . It was during this interview that Arn said something to the effect of " The only time this much havoc had been wreaked by this few a number of people , you need to go all the way back to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse ! " The comparison and the name stuck . Nevertheless , Arn has said in an RF Video shoot interview that he , Flair and Blanchard were as close as anybody could be away from the ring while they were together . They lived the gimmick outside of the arena , as they took limos and jets to the cities in which they wrestled . Baby Doll was Flair ' s valet for a couple of months in 1986 , after previously managing Tully Blanchard during 1985 . Lex Luger and Barry Windham ( 1987 – 1989 ) . In February 1987 , WCW newcomer Lex Luger was made an associate member of the group after he expressed his desire to become a Horseman . The others started to leave Ole out of things , after he cost him and Arn Anderson the NWA Tag Team Title at Starrcade in 1986 , and eventually he was kicked out in favor of Luger that March . The fact that Ole missed a show to watch his son Brian wrestle was used against Ole in the split as Blanchard and Dillon questioned Ole ' s loyalty and Blanchard called Brian a " snot - nosed kid . " During this time , they wrestled Rhodes , Nikita Koloff , the Road Warriors and Paul Ellering in a series of WarGames match es . These matches were brutal and ended up with all five members of each team in the cage at the end trying to make somebody submit . During the first match , Dillon suffered a separated shoulder from a botched attempt at the Warriors ' finishing move , the Doomsday Device . Dillon landed directly on his right arm and shoulder , and was replaced for the series of matches by the masked War Machine , later known as the Big Bossman . Luger was kicked out for first blaming Horseman manager J . J . Dillon for costing him the U . S . Title , when his attempt to help him win by cheating backfired , and subsequently , not allowing Dillon to win a Bunkhouse Stampede match as the Horsemen had agreed to among themselves . In January 1988 , he teamed with Barry Windham to feud with the Horsemen . The pair even defeated Anderson and Tully Blanchard for the NWA World Tag Team Championship at the inaugural Clash of the Champions . In April 1988 , Windham turned on Luger and took his spot in the Horsemen during a title defense against Anderson and Tully Blanchard . This group of Horsemen has been called the greatest as far as technical wrestlers goes . It was also in this year when the Horsemen held all of the major NWA titles at once , with Flair as the World Heavyweight Champion , Windham as the United States Heavyweight Champion , and Arn and Tully as the World Tag Team Champions . In September 1988 , Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard left to join the World Wrestling Federation ( WWF ) , dropping the tag titles at the very last minute to the Midnight Express ( Stan Lane and Bobby Eaton ) . Anderson and Blanchard were known as " The Brain Busters " in the WWF , and they were managed by Bobby " the Brain " Heenan . Flair , Windham , and Dillon continued to refer to themselves as " the Horsemen " and the NWA even flirted with the idea of bringing in new members . Butch Reed was signed to wrestle solo matches with Dillon as his manager . Then in February 1989 , Barry ' s brother Kendall Windham appeared to have joined them and even held up the four fingers after turning on Eddie Gilbert during a tag team match . Then Dillon left to take a front office job with the WWF , and they dropped the Horsemen name , hiring Hiro Matsuda as their new manager and changing their name to Yamazaki Corporation . Their major feuds were with Lex Luger , Eddie Gilbert , Ricky Steamboat and Sting and they did everything they could to get rid of these opponents . After losing the U . S . title to Luger , Barry Windham left the group due to an injury ( a broken hand which occurred in his match against Luger at Chi - Town Rumble and required surgery ; this enabled him to leave the promotion and show up in the WWF as " The Widowmaker " ) and Kendall was not used as much more than a jobber and the group seemed like a shell of the unit it looked like on paper when it formed . They added Michael Hayes after Barry ' s injury and he feuded with Luger but the group disbanded when Hayes reformed The Fabulous Freebirds in May and Matsuda left the promotion . The Horsemen concept helped define the NWA in the mid to late 1980s . The departure of Anderson and Blanchard was huge at the time , Dillon and Windham ' s departure made it worse , and despite numerous revivals over the coming decade , things were never quite the same . Reformation ; Sting and Sid Vicious ( 1989 – 1991 ) . The Horsemen reformed in December 1989 in the NWA . Flair , Arn and Ole Anderson , and long standing rival Sting formed the group in a shocker . Tully Blanchard was set to return as well , but failed a drug test while still with the WWF . WCW heard of this , and decided not to rehire him . They were faces and feuded with Gary Hart ' s J - Tex Corporation of Terry Funk , Great Muta , Buzz Sawyer and The Dragonmaster . At the culmination of this feud the group returned to being heels , kicking Sting out for daring to challenge Ric Flair for the World Title . " Sting , you never were a Horseman " Ric Flair would say afterwards in a TV spot . Woman soon became Flair ' s valet . They feuded with Luger , Sting , Rick Steiner , Scott Steiner and El Gigante during this time . In May 1990 , Ole became the manager , Barry Windham returned to WCW and the Horsemen , and Sid Vicious was added to fill out the group . They feuded with the Dudes With Attitudes which consisted of Sting , Luger , the Steiner Brothers , Paul Orndorff and Junkyard Dog . By the end of 1990 , Ole and Woman left the NWA . Ted Turner had bought Jim Crockett Promotions , the largest faction of the NWA , and turned it into World Championship Wrestling . In October 19 90 , another Horsemen legend occurred . WCW World Champion Sting was defending his title against the Horsemen ' s Sid Vicious at the Halloween Havoc pay - per - view . During the match , Sting and Vicious brawled backstage . A few moments later , they returned to the ring . Sting attempted to slam Sid , but lost his balance and fell to the mat with Sid on top of him . Vicious got the pin and became the new World Heavyweight Champion . It was revealed , however , that the Horsemen had attacked Sting after the brawl into the backstage area . It was then that Barry Windham ( in matching Sting gear and face paint ) inserted himself into the match and let Vicious pin him . The real Sting showed up after the three count , which caused the match to be restarted . The real Sting was able to defeat Sid and retain the title . The Horsemen line - up of Flair , Anderson , Windham and Vicious eventually broke up and went their own ways . In April 1991 , Sid left for the WWF . Flair was fired from WCW in late May and was in the WWF by August . Windham was part of a double turn at " The Great American Bash " shortly after Flair ' s firing , where he lost to Lex Luger in a match for the vacant WCW world championship ( Windham became a face , Luger a heel ) . Anderson went on to form a tag team with Larry Zbyszko called The Enforcers and later became part of the Paul E . Dangerously - led Dangerous Alliance with Zbyszko , Rick Rude , Madusa , Bobby Eaton , and Steve Austin . Three Horsemen ( 1993 ) . The next incarnation was from May 1993 to December 1993 . Flair returned from the WWF to WCW to rejoin Arn and they promised a Horsemen reunion at the Slamboree pay - per - view . Pretty Paul Roma became the third horsemen after Tully Blanchard and WCW could not come to terms on a deal for him to return . Ole Anderson was on hand as the adviser but made only one appearance on " A Flair for the Gold " . This group of Horsemen is considered by many wrestling fans to be the weakest incarnation of the group . They were faces again and feuded with Barry Windham and the Hollywood Blondes ( Steve Austin and Brian Pillman ) . This group ended , due to Arn Anderson ' s stabbing incident with Sid Vicious during a tour of England in October , and Paul Roma turning on Erik Watts during a tag team match to join Paul Orndorff as the tag team of Pretty Wonderful . Reformation and feud with the nWo ( 1995 – 1997 ) . In 1995 , Flair and Arn ( back to being heels ) were teaming with Vader to torment Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage . After Vader lost to Hogan in a steel cage match at Bash at the Beach , Flair entered the cage and lambasted him . Vader snapped and attacked Flair , and Arn came to his rescue . This led to a handicap match at Clash of the Champions XXXI , in which Vader defeated the team of Flair and Arn . Flair and Arn began to bicker , as Arn always felt he was doing Flair ' s dirty work ; a feud developed that led to a match at Fall Brawl on September 17 , 1995 in Asheville , North Carolina . Arn defeated Flair with the help of Brian Pillman . Flair begged Sting to help him against them and though Sting did not trust Flair he eventually agreed . Flair ended up turning on him at Halloween Havoc to reform the Horsemen with Arn and Pillman . They added Chris Benoit to complete the group . This version of the Horsemen feuded with Hogan , Savage , Sting , and Lex Luger . Flair eventually took Miss Elizabeth and Woman from Hogan and Savage , and they were his valets for the next six months . In early 1996 , Pillman started his infamous " Loose Cannon " storyline and started a feud with Kevin Sullivan . He ended up leaving WCW , going to ECW , and eventually the WWF in February and Benoit took over to create one of the most talked about feuds of all time . In this feud , Woman , who was really married to Sullivan , left him for Benoit . However , life imitated art , and Woman " actually " left Sullivan for Benoit . This feud got heated and some of the matches were shoot - style with the performers using stiff or even full contact moves , rather than the typical North American style of softening maneuvers . In June 1996 at the Great American Bash , former football player Steve " Mongo " McMichael turned on Kevin Greene in a " gimmick match " and joined them . During this match , McMichael ' s then - wife Debra was chased to the back by Woman and Elizabeth , but later came back with them and a steel briefcase , which she handed to her husband . Mongo opened it to reveal a Horsemen T - shirt and money ; after thinking it over , he closed the briefcase and hit Greene with it , allowing Flair to score the pin on Greene . McMichael was officially inducted as the fourth Horseman , and in the process gave the group another ringside valet in Debra . The rumors said that Debra and Woman did not get along behind the scenes . This played out on TV , as they constantly bickered , and Benoit and Mongo had to step in . When the New World Order ( nWo ) was founded the next month , the Horsemen became de facto babyfaces along with the rest of the WCW roster . In September , Flair and Anderson teamed with their bitter rivals , Sting and Lex Luger , to lose to the nWo ( Hogan , Scott Hall , Kevin Nash , and an impostor Sting ) in the WarGames match at Fall Brawl when Luger submitted to the impostor Sting ' s Scorpion Deathlock . This angered Anderson , and he feuded with Luger for the next month . In October , two developments occurred that affected the group . First , Jeff Jarrett came over to WCW from the WWF , and expressed his desire to join the Horsemen . He immediately gained a fan in Ric Flair , much to the chagrin of the other Horsemen . The next week , Miss Elizabeth officially announced that she had joined the nWo . Flair finally let Jarrett join the group in February 1997 but the others did not want him . Jarrett began bickering with Mongo over Debra ' s attention , and in June won the U . S . Title from Dean Malenko , with the help of Eddie Guerrero ; in July he was kicked out of the stable by Flair , who had enough of the instability Jarrett ' s presence caused the Horsemen . In a move uncharacteristic of the Horsemen , however , Jarrett was allowed to literally walk away , instead of receiving a classic Horsemen beatdown as was expected . He eventually took Debra from Mongo , but Mongo took Jarrett ' s U . S . Title . To this date , amongst fans and members of the Four Horsemen , there is still debate whether to include Jarrett as a Horsemen . In his biography , Arn Anderson states that " Jeff Jarrett was never a Horseman . " His " membership " and his easy departure leave the situation ambiguous . The Four Horsemen usually pick their own members , but at the time , WCW held extreme control over storylines and this may have forced them to accept a member for those purposes only and not by choice . In August 1997 , Arn Anderson retired due to a neck / back injury that did not allow him to wrestle . Curt Hennig took his spot as " The Enforcer " . The next month , Hennig turned on the Horsemen and joined the nWo . Flair disbanded the group and they went their separate ways . The final incarnation ( 1998 – 1999 ) . The last incarnation came in September 1998 . On the September 14 edition of " WCW Monday Nitro " in Greenville , South Carolina when Ric Flair returned after a hiatus from the ring after a disagreement with WCW president Eric Bischoff . Dean Malenko and Chris Benoit kept going to Arn about reforming the Horsemen . He kept saying no . James J . Dillon , back in WCW ' s front office , even made a request . Arn eventually gave in and they reformed the Horsemen with Mongo , Flair , and Arn who was the manager . They feuded with the nWo and Eric Bischoff . In early 1999 , the Horsemen turned heel again . Mongo had recently departed the wrestling world and they were down to Benoit , Malenko , Flair and Arn as the manager . They also had a referee biased to them , Charles Robinson , whom members of the Horsemen even referred to as " Little Nature Boy " ( due to his resemblance to Flair ) . Flair ' s personal nurse , Double D ( aka Asya ) , acted as an enforcer for the group and Ric Flair ' s son David Flair , who wrestled with them and wore Horsemen shirts though never an official member . Ric Flair , the ( onscreen ) President of WCW at this time , had awarded him with the U . S . Title and had the Horsemen help David to keep it . Eventually , Benoit and Malenko left him in May in protest over Flair ' s selfishness , and joined Shane Douglas and Perry Saturn to form the Revolution , thereby effectively ending the Four Horsemen . Legacy . The original Four Horsemen were innovative in developing and popularizing the concept of heel stables . According to commentator Jim Ross as he appeared on the 2007 Four Horsemen DVD , if not for the Horsemen , there would never have been a DX , a New World Order , a Million Dollar Corporation or an Evolution . Team Package . In 2000 , former Horsemen Ric Flair and Lex Luger reunited as a heel tag team in WCW for the first time in over 12 years as Team Package after having feuded on and off during that time , managed by Elizabeth . They primarily feuded with Hulk Hogan and Sting . This team would only last until May , while Vince Russo was feuding with both of them . Flair and Luger would reunite one more time in early 2001 , with Luger joining Flair ' s Magnificent 7 stable just months before WCW was purchased by the WWF . Xtreme Horsemen . The Xtreme Horsemen was a professional wrestling stable in Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling , and later Major League Wrestling , and also appeared across Japan , that disbanded in 2004 . The groups name was in homage to the Four Horsemen , who in the 1980s were one of professional wrestling ' s top draws worldwide . The group came together in Dusty Rhodes ' Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling promotion , but the group later left Rhodes ' promotion to join Major League Wrestling where Steve Corino and " The Enforcer " C . W . Anderson were joined by former ECW superstars Justin Credible and Simon Diamond . This incarnation was briefly managed by former Four Horsemen manager J . J . Dillon before Major League Wrestling ceased operations . Barry Windham also joined the group for a War Games match for one time only . At WXW - C4 ' s Sportsfest 2009 , Steve Corino reformed the Xtreme Horsemen in the form of Corino , NYWC ' s Papadon , WXW - C4 ' s A . C . Anderson , and Corino ' s student Alex Anthony . They are managed by Corino ' s personal manager , Rob Dimension . Apocalypse . Live Action Wrestling had a stable created by then LAW Heavyweight Champion C . W . Anderson , along Ric Flair ' s son David Flair , and Max . Evolution . In 2003 , rumors began circulating that Ric Flair ( at the time working for the World Wrestling Entertainment ) was going to reform the Four Horsemen with Triple H , Randy Orton , and Batista . This group was eventually formed , but under the name Evolution instead of the Four Horsemen , and with Triple H as the leader instead of Flair . They served much the same function as the original heel Horsemen had , dominating the titles on " Raw " and feuding with that brand ' s top faces . The group slowly died between August 2004 and October 20 05 . Orton was kicked out of the group after he won the World Heavyweight Championship . In February 2005 , Batista left the group after winning the Royal Rumble , in a storyline where Triple H tried to protect his title from Batista . During a Triple H hiatus , Flair turned face , and at RAW Homecoming , Triple H returned as a face , but turned heel by the end of the night , hitting Flair in the face with a sledgehammer and officially ending Evolution . At Raw ' s 15th anniversary , an Evolution reunion as faces took place , though then - heel Randy Orton refused to participate and instead challenged the face versions of Flair , Batista , and Triple H to a match in which he partnered with then - heel , Edge and Umaga , and at the same time reforming Rated - RKO for one night . On the March 31 , 2008 edition of Raw , Flair delivered his farewell address . Afterward , Triple H brought out many current and retired superstars to thank Flair for all he has done , including Four Horsemen members , Arn Anderson , Tully Blanchard , Barry Windham , J . J . Dillon and Dean Malenko . Also , was the night in which Evolution got back together in the ring except for Randy Orton ( who was outside the ring ) . This would mark the last time both groups would be in the ring together . Fortune . Fortune is a professional wrestling face stable in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , announced by Ric Flair on June 17 , 2010 as a " reformed " version of the Four Horsemen . Ric Flair had been loosely associated with A . J . Styles , Desmond Wolfe , Beer Money , Inc . ( James Storm and Robert Roode ) and Kazarian since April 5 , 2010 , and announced that each of them and anyone else who wanted to join Fortune ( originally spelled Fourtune ) would have to earn their place in the stable . On July 11 at Victory Road , Styles and Kazarian became the first official members of Fortune by defeating Samoa Joe and Rob Terry in a tag team match . On the July 29 edition of " Impact ! " , Flair announced that James Storm and Robert Roode had earned the right to become the final two members of Fortune . However , on the August 12 edition of " Impact ! " Douglas Williams , who had helped Flair defeat his nemesis Jay Lethal the previous week , and Matt Morgan were added to Fortune as the stable assaulted EV 2 . 0 , a stable consisting of former Extreme Championship Wrestling performers . Fortune had since merged with Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff ' s Immortal stable , but turned on them months later , splitting them into two feuding factions . Ric Flair would turn on Fortune and remain associated with Immortal . Championships and accomplishments . All titles and awards listed were won while they were Horsemen