[1997-09-08-WCW-Nitro] Interview: Four Horsemen

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

The Horsemen head to the ring and want the NWO to come out and face them. I like how they slowly build anticipation for Flair to talk in this segment, and it's also funny to see Mongo get booed since they are in Green Bay. Flair does a low key, heartfelt promo in response to the parody that slowly escalates into rage and it's awesome -- the best thing he has done all year. This is the Flair I've been waiting to see in 1997. He makes clear the Horsemen aren't leaving until the NWO are in the ring.

 

After a commercial break, the Horsemen are still in the ring waiting on the NWO. Finally, security comes in and tells them they have to clear the ring. This is such a blatant attempt to make Flair look like a fool that I don't know how anyone can deny it. They let him cut a promo, but no way are they going to let him look good in a segment.

[Kevin Ridge]

Football fans showing their loyalty. Mongo telling the fans to shut up is a major no no as Horsemen are the faces. Immediately clear how much Arn is missed by not adding a promo to start this off. Flair carries things for the team and says Horsemen will not leave the ring until NWO comes down. Flair repeats this many times. Dillinger and two security guys end up clearing the ring of the Horsemen. Ouch! Tony asks where was security last week with the NWO in the ring. A worthy question Tony.

[soup23]

I liked this sit in segments in theory but they usually result in an anticlimatic conclusion. This is what happened here. The promo escalation was very well done and Flair was fantastic in his talking about how embarrassed he was to be a wrestling fan and gradually losing his cool..

[El-P]

Flair does a low key, heartfelt promo in response to the parody that slowly escalates into rage and it's awesome -- the best thing he has done all year. This is the Flair I've been waiting to see in 1997. He makes clear the Horsemen aren't leaving until the NWO are in the ring. After a commercial break, the Horsemen are still in the ring waiting on the NWO. Finally, security comes in and tells them they have to clear the ring. This is such a blatant attempt to make Flair look like a fool that I don't know how anyone can deny it. They let him cut a promo, but no way are they going to let him look good in a segment.

 

Agreed with all of this. It makes me question my position on Flair too, as it's obvious when he has a real serious issue he can still deliver a main event quality promo. Match ? I'm not sure sure, but this is the best mic work he's done since his Savage feud in 96. Getting the Horsemen out of the ring indeed make them look like fools, and even Tony questions the reason why security didn't get the nWo out of the ring during the parody the previous week.

 

One thing, Hennig doesn't really fit in the Horsemen to me, especially in Arn's spot. And he really didn't fit too well in the nWo either actually. He was fine with Rude as somewhat of a separate unit (although he sucked in the ring in 98) and really didn't find his place until he got with the West-Texas Rednecks.

[PeteF3]

Security again fucks the Horsemen over after doing so the previous week--I'm not sure what the specific answer was, but you'd think that Sullivan or Taylor could have come up with an explanation to handwave away why this kept happening, like Bischoff bribed them or something. Hell, Doug Dillinger being an NWO secret agent wouldn't have been the dumbest turn ever. Hennig shows himself to be an inferior talker at this point to Mongo, of all people. Flair says that last week was the first time in his life that he was embarrassed to be a professional wrestler, which regardless of truth or merit is a heavy statement for him to be making. Flair cuts one of his best promos in forever--Flair promises repeatedly that he's not leaving until the NWO arrive, then they leave. Okay then. I like both of these segments--the parody and the response--in a vacuum, but the backstage politics so overwhelm the on-air product that it's impossible to ignore. Yes, this clearly seemed designed to make the Horsemen look weak and ineffective, and it would get worse before it got better.