One of the most legendary factions of all time is The Four Horsemen, a group of dominant heels (usually) who were a going concern in WCW in the 1980s and 1990s. With Ric Flair and Arn Anderson as staples of pretty much every iteration, the Horsemen included legends like Tully Blanchard, Brian Pillman, Dean Malenko, Curt Hennig, and even Sting at one point.
The Four Horsemen weren’t just successful in the ring — the group also had some gifted talkers, and so some really great promos ensued when the Horsemen were together. Let’s take a look at 10 of their best promos ever, ranking them appropriately.
10 Tully Blanchard Reacts To Being Booked In A Lumberjack Match
In 1987, Horsemen member Tully Blanchard was in a feud with The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express’s Ricky Morton — even after Blanchard lost his Television Title. On one episode of World Championship Wrestling, while Blanchard and Arn Anderson were talking smack about Morton in an interview, promoter Jim Crockett Jr. interrupted to drop a bombshell: Blanchard and Morton would clash at Atlanta’s Omni in a Lumberjack Match where all the lumberjacks were armed with belts. From there, Arn and Tully’s incredulity is priceless, as Blanchard urges Crockett to be one of the lumberjacks so he can throw Morton in his direction.
9 The Horsemen Reform In ‘95
After over a year of inactivity, the Four Horsemen was born again at 1995’s Halloween Havoc after Ric Flair betrayed Sting in a tag team match against Arn Anderson and Brian Pillman. The following night on Monday Nitro, the new Horsemen cut a promo to elaborate on their reformation. While there aren’t necessarily any hot lines in the promo, the energy was great, with Anderson telling fans to be careful what they wished for when it came to a Horsemen reunion while Pillman pretended to be Sting begging for Flair to tag him in.
8 The Four Horsemen Address Their Enemies
On a late July 1988 episode of World Championship Wrestling, the Four Horsemen cut a promo addressing a variety of topics. Flair went first, promoting the nation-spanning Great American Bash tour, trashing his rival Lex Luger, and bragging about all the sex he has with random women.
The rest of this ridiculously entertaining promo mostly concerns Arn and Tully’s Tag Team Title feud with The Midnight Express. After JJ Dillon used the word “catechism” and threatened to put a tennis racket up Jim Cornette’s butt in a colorful manner, Arn Anderson also did the latter, but in a more straightforward manner — classic Arn.
7 Brad Armstrong Runs Afoul Of The Four Horsemen
In pro wrestling, promo interruptions are all too common, but it’s tough to imagine one funnier than this 1987 promo where Ric Flair just takes over interview time granted to Brad Armstrong. But rather than yield the floor, Armstrong attempts to argue with Flair, who just ignores the midcarder in order to cut a promo of his own. From there, it’s not long before it descends into a classic Four Horsemen beatdown.
6 Arn Quotes The Untouchables
In 1996, The Four Horsemen were babyfaces again, representing WCW in a feud with the invading New World Order faction. Speaking about the invasion, Anderson points out that the nWo didn’t “finish the job”, neglecting to take out the Horsemen for good. Arn ends the promo by (slightly mis)quoting the 1987 film The Untouchables, saying “They send one of yours to the hospital, you send one of theirs to the morgue” — which will remind modern fans of his AEW promo about shooting a carjacker.
5 The Horsemen Run Down Paul Orndroff & Then Piledrive Him
On a mid-December 1995 episode of Monday Nitro, Mean Gene Okerlund interviewed the Four Horsemen, with the increasingly unhinged Brian Pillman starting out by talking a load of smack about Paul Orndorff. Once Pillman wrote off Orndorff as someone who once could have been Horseman material (but no longer), Mr. Wonderful came out to defend himself. It didn’t take long for a brawl to ensue out of this fiery promo, which ended with a one-sided beatdown of Orndorff followed by a Spike Piledriver on the concrete floor.
4 The Horsemen Kick Out Sting
In the aftermath of Starrcade ‘89, Sting was first in line for a shot at Ric Flair’s World Title, which proved to be a problem, as Sting was a member of the Four Horsemen at the time. As a result, an incredible promo ensued at Clash of the Champions 10, starting with Ole Anderson explaining to Sting that the only reason he’s still standing is because Flair was kind enough to call off the other Horsemen.
Things were already tense, but it all exploded once Flair punched Sting mid-rebuttal. That’s when things got really intense — with the Horsemen holding Sting captive, Flair began screaming at his rival about how Sting could “smarten up” and quit the wrestling business.
Given that the Four Horsemen established so much of what fans associate with factions, it’s amazing to realize that the group came together by accident. All it took was a promo — WCW had Flair, Blanchard, and the Andersons cut a (great) group promo one night just because they were dominant heels, and during their segment Anderson compared this quartet of heels to the biblical Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. After the promo was finished, it was generally agreed backstage that “Four Horsemen” was a pretty awesome name for a group, and so it stuck.
2 Arn’s Retirement Speech
The Horsemen promos on this list are pretty Arn Anderson heavy, so it’s only natural that his retirement speech makes the list as well. By 1997, Anderson had to step away from the ring due to neck issues, which ultimately became permanent. What resulted was an emotional promo from “The Enforcer,” and one that saw Arn passing the torch to newly signed WCW talent Curt Hennig to take his place in the group, which he did by basically saying that he won’t giving the former Mr. Perfect just any spot, but his spot.
1 The Horsemen Subtly Throw Shade At Lex Luger
The aforementioned Lex Luger was the first addition to the Four Horsemen, but by late 1987 Luger was en route to a face turn and a feud with the Horsemen. Fans can see it in this promo cut in the aftermath of Starrcade ‘87. After everyone but Lex came out on top in Starrcade, the entire Horsemen seem to be throwing shade at Luger as they speak, trashing wrestlers who spend too much time on their physiques and noting that most of the Horsemen ended the night as champions — all while Luger looks increasingly annoyed in the background.