Of all the moments during the great WCW v nWo war that bugged me, Curt Hennig’s betrayal of the Four Horsemen at Fall Brawl ’97: War Games isn’t the worst one, but it’s one I think about often.
Hennig accepting Arn’s spot in the Four Horsemen was an incredible moment. This was amped up even more as it was due to Arn having to step away from the ring due to a career-ending injury.
The moment above being revealed as just one more way that the nWo got one over on WCW was a waste.
Why did Hennig as a Horsemen appeal to me so much?
He fit the vibe of the group for sure, but more importantly he had a history that intertwined with “Nature Boy” Ric Flair that worked for me.
Flair and Hennig were a pairing in WWE when “Mr. Perfect” managed Flair, and both were trained by legendary AWA owner Verne Gagne. This shared history, and the fact that Hennig was a second generation star as the son of Larry “The Axe” Hennig made him the perfect fit for the Four Horsemen.
Some folks, who I really respect, disagree with this sentiment as they would argue the Horsemen stable had a outlived its usefulness by 1997 or even before that. I respectfully disagree because a) it was still wildly popular especially in the South and b) it continued an interesting dynamic of their previous victims having to align with them for the greater good.
It also gave WCW an opportunity to “fight fire with fire” as “the dirtiest players in the game” would have no qualms about giving the nWo a taste of their own medicine. We did see that the previous year at War Games ’96 when Sting and Lex Luger put aside their differences with Flair and Arn to join forces in War Games, but I think there was still some mileage in that story.
Beyond that, all this turn led to was things like US Champion Curt Hennig standing around in a ring full of 20 guys as part of a bloated nWo. He’d have felt more important as a member of the Horsemen than as an nWo flunky.
I doubt I’ll ever forget my disappointment watching this live as, yet again, WCW took something interesting and made it less than, but such is wrestling.
This moment below feels like a missed opportunity to me, and always will.
#OnThisDayinWWE 25 years ago at Fall Brawl:
Curt Hennig turns on the Four Horsemen, just 2 weeks after joining them, and slams the cage door into Ric Flair’s head
“We’ve been in the midst of the biggest charade of them all!”, declares Schiavone (though everyone foresaw this) pic.twitter.com/bvx0YUaJrd
— On This Day in WWE (@OTD_in_WWE) September 14, 2022
The greater good was the NWO vs WCW storyline, so I didn’t mind Henning turning on the Horsemen. Sting was already going to be who defeated them. They messed that up to but nobody knew that would happen yet. They also messed up Flair’s revenge on Hennig. They should have had Flair beat him one on one in a revenge match.
I think the Horsemen dynamic makes the WCW/nWo dynamic even more compelling, but I appreciate your take on the subject.
As for the rest, it all kind of points to how one-sided the whole thing was ultimately which is even more frustrating when it was never truly paid off correctly.