REVIEW: Ric Flair & The Four Horsemen

The original Four Horsemen (from left): Tully Blanchard,
Ole Anderson, manager JJ Dillon, "Nature Boy" Ric Flair and Arn Anderson

BEFORE there was an NWO or DX, The Four Horsemen was the ORIGINAL gang of rasslin’ rule-breakers. Consisting of Ric Flair, Tully Blanchard, Ole and Arn Anderson, the Horsemen dominated the NWA in the mid-80s, winning titles and beating up good guys like Dusty Rhodes, Magnum TA and the Garvins.
They were bullies who ran roughshod over the federation with impunity.
All four were the perfect combination of in-ring talent and out-of-the-ring mike skills. They also partied hard.
The Horsemen seemed unstoppable, but backstage politics eventually killed the group.
With many classic interviews and matches, this entertaining WWE-produced two-disc doco covers the Horsemen’s rise and sad decline (including the many half-arsed reincarnations of the gang that were implemented right up until the late 90s).

Paul Roma...not bitter

OK...this is a great DVD 'cos it's a great subject. And despite its kayfabe nature, there are some surprisingly open comments, the highlights being:
* Paul Roma's bitterness
* Horsemen manager JJ Dillon's accurate statement that Vince McMahon mishandled Flair's WWF debut in 1992 'cos Ric wasn't a VKM creation
* Flair's open hostility towards Sid Vicious, Roma, Jim Herd and Eric Bischoff
* His nice comments about Sting (even though Sting's now a major player in TNA)
* Tully admitting his cocaine usage in the WWF, AND
* The difference of opinion regarding Dillon's importance to the Horsemen - Michael Hayes and Teddy Long say he was of little importance, while Flair said he was majorly important.
Of course, there were aspects of the DVD I didn't like. I was bugged by the spelling errors in the scrolling text describing the Sid Vicious-Arn Anderson stabbing incident in the early 90s. But that's just the journalist in me getting all nitpicky.
And there were perplexing smart comments amidst all the kayfabing - like when Arn and Tully talked about jealousy in the NWA locker room over the Horsemen holding all the belts.
Or when Barry Windham (who looks fucking OLD, man) said he was angry with then-world champ Flair for jumping to the WWF in 1991 when Barry had been told he was in line for the title.
Very schizophrenic.
Anyway, like I said before, this is a very good doco despite the many glaring WWE "history revisions" and, of course, the bizarre need to use kayfabe.
And one can only wonder why WWE didn't bother to seek on-screen comments from the likes of Lex Luger, Sid Vicious and Ole Anderson.

Still, at least we can be thankful they didn't interview Steve bloody Lombardi.

Barry Windham (second from left) made a great addition to the Horsemen
after Arn, Ric and Tully dumped Lex Luger in 1988