Evolution of A Stable
(Note this entry is written entirely from a fan perspective, merely for nostalgia and entertainment purposes)
“What’s causing all of this”? “The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse”, “To Be the man, you’ve got to be the man” sound familiar? How about this “OH YOU DIDN’T KNOW” “If you’re not down wit that we got two words for ya”? How about “Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages…
And my most favorite spoken by Double A himself…”We are four men acting singular but thinking collectively”…this my friends is the Evolution of A Stable From the Horsemen to DX.
While some in the 80’s early 90’s up north were only privy to Saturday Morning wrestling with then WWF, others watched the Memphis Territory, Some AWA and others Mid-Atlantic. During the course of all of these the then NWA later WCW was on Saturday evening from 6:05-8:05 on the superstation TBS. Back before “Billionaire Ted” wrestlers sometimes had to share the spotlight by sharing the interview stage with Tony Shiavone… One evening 4 men plus JJ Dillon graced the mic and MADE HISTORY… The Original Four Horsemen were Born; The Minnesota Wrecking Crew (Ole and Arn Anderson), Tully Blanchard (The master of the slingshot suplex) and the infamous; double hall of fame ring wearing, kid stealing, wheeling and dealing limo riding, jet flying, son of a gun the Nature Boy Whoooooooooo Ric Flair, Let me not forget the 16 time World Heavyweight Champion (Master of the Figure-Four) (Master of Space Mountain).
This was the original and in my opinion the best version of the Four Horsemen, Legacy, Fortune, etc etc etc. At one point they had all the belts. They also had the best manager in wrestling. JJ was the perfect complement to their style of wrestling “Cerebral” This does not take away from the other great managers in that era ( Fugi, Cornette, Hart, Heenan, Ellering, et al. JJ Dillon and the Horseman styles and persona gelled completely. Not to mention JJ was a mic aficionado as they all were.
It was good to see this year, the induction of the Horsemen in the WWE Hall of Fame. Now, they never NEVER wrestled as the horsemen in WWE, as a matter of fact The Four Horsemen were never “duplicated” in the WWE. Legacy came close, but there were big differences in the two. Arn and Tully wrestled under the name “Brain Busters” with Heenan for a spell, and Ric came and wrestled on different occasions. There will never and should never be another faction of four men put together to resemble the horsemen….name them something else, give them an edge…Make them up to go against the “establishment; hell give them an attitude…HMMMMMM; OH YOU DIDN’T KNOW, YOUR AZZ BETTER CALL somebodyyyyyyyy.
Enter Degeneration-X the flag bearing faction of the WWE Era of Attitude, call it the Era that aided in the week to week battle with WCW and aided in the long run, with support of Stone Cold, The Rock and others, of the now Famous Attitude Era in the WWE. Now, even though the NWO came about a year before DX, I still believe the CLIQ; independent of the direction backstage or in the front offices are responsible for both factions bottom-line(Google the “Curtain call At MSG” if you don’t believe me). DX is compared to the Horsemen because they stayed a small group, there was never a foundation for many guys unlike the NWO; As DX got stronger with the fans and in the Monday Night Wars, the powers that be lost sight of the original plan of the NWO; even though I did like the Wolfpac. Back to DX, the Original members….Chyna, Triple H and Shawn Michaels…Someone was ingenious and added the Road Dogg and Billy Gunn during the Steal Cage tag team match with Cactus Jack and Chain Saw Charlie (Terry Funk). DX was formed, they weren’t Cerebral like the Horsemen, They were Brash, they were Bold, and they were an Army. They stormed the Arena where WCW was performing live as on April 28, 1998 both entities had live shows in the state of Virginia. One can only imagine what might have happen if the Jeep they rode in on would have made it, in the Scope Arena in Norfolk. That would have made more history than when years later Shane McMahon showed up live in Florida on the Last Monday Nitro.
DX will always be Shawn Michaels, and Triple H; However the Legacy of DX will always be those two along with Sean Waltman, Chyna, Billy Gunn and Road Dogg Jesse James…And If you’re not down wit that…I got Two Words for Ya…
See you Next Time…The Evolution of Women in Wrestling
Martin Bryant- Wrestling’s Laymen Historian and Fan
