Flair disbands Horsemen, is Hogan feud next?WCW working toward another Flair vs. Hogan climax… Is it Hogan’s way of downplaying Sting?
Ric Flair officially disbanded the Four Horsemen live on the Sept. 29 Nitro. Flair expressed a rejuvenated approach to his career, thanking the NWO for a “wake up call” in recent weeks. There is a lot more than meets the eye regarding all of Flair’s comments, including hints at the latest political maneuverings behind the scenes by Hulk Hogan and how Flair has used the NWO spoof as a point of inspiration for himself.
“Arn Anderson, my best friend, is down, never to return,” Flair said during the phone interview on Nitro. “I want to take this opportunity to thank two of the greatest athletes I’ve ever crossed paths with, Chris Benoit and Steve McMichael.” He told Benoit to go his own way because he deserves it. He said he and Mongo have become close friends and recounted his football achievements, but said in wrestling he has only just begun. “In other words, Tony, I am asking those guys to allow me to break up the Horsemen because I have personal business to take care of and I don’t want them to have to worry about me and my future any longer.”
Tony Schiavone reacted in disbelief that Flair was, in essence, breaking up the Horsemen. Flair called it a “grace period” for the Horsemen and said that no matter what, four fingers will be held up for decades to come. He then turned his attention to Hogan and the NWO.
Flair told Schiavone he respected that he took a stand by walking out on Nitro the day after War Games. He also thanked the NWO. “I want to thank Curt Hennig for giving me the wake-up call that sometimes athletes need if they are to go to another level or if they are to succeed in the future,” Flair said. “Whether I am guilty of complacency or taking day to day situations lightly, I really don’t know at this point. I am guilty of being caught off guard and in this sport when you are caught off guard you pay the price.”
He talked about the NWO beating him up. He said the stitches will be out next week and he will return to Nitro to get back at Hennig as soon as possible. “I can promise you, Tony, what is going to take place in the future will be not only immoral, but also illegal,” he said. “When and where I can’t promise you. I hate to get wound up. It hurts my head to talk this fast, but I will never be ‘too sweet,’ pal, because I am too good. I am going to prove that point. I once again thank you Curt Hennig and the entire NWO for giving me the wake up call. Now, guys, I’m serving you notice. I’m coming back, I’m going nowhere, don’t dust off any shelves for me.” He then wished luck in the mean time to those who were fighting on the side of WCW against the NWO.
Perhaps the most significant part of his interview from a political standpoint was that he further established that when he returns to the ring, WCW plans to give the Flair vs. Hulk Hogan feud one more run. He said when Hogan wore his robe, he said the NWO might just as well have driven a truck that said NWO through his home. “Our careers, Hogan, have paralleled each other,” he said. “We have wrestled against each other, we have drawn huge gates, we have been on a tier very few athletes in any sport ever arrive at. Let me assure you of this, I never heard one time in the past 20 years anybody say you can wear my shoes, fill my shoes. You damn sure can’t wear my robe, pal. And that goes right to you. I will come back to get that robe. That is a promise. You will regret the day you stuck your nose into my business.”
Originally Flair was going to feud with mainly Curt Hennig when he returned to the ring, but now the focus has switched to Hogan, with Hennig being secondary. Hennig originally was going to wear Flair’s robe every week until Flair’s return, but after one week Hogan ended up wearing the robe, sans the sleeves. That lends credibility to sources who say that Hogan is concerned about the way the Sting storyline is progressing.
A lot of information circulating in recent months — including rumors first spread by WCW through their 900 line and web site — has said Hogan will be breaking away from the NWO after losing to Sting at Starrcade and that Hogan will end up feuding with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall early next year. Don’t bet on it.
Sources tell the TORCH that Hogan’s eventual break from the NWO and his turning from a heel back to a babyface are not even on the horizon. In other words WCW is going to ride the wave of the NWO — in its current state — as long as possible, until there are signs of diminishing returns. Yet Hogan is still said to be concerned with the power Sting may have in WCW when he returns to the ring, presumably full-time, starting at Starrcade. The pops Sting has been getting from crowds lately have been thunderous.
Politically, behind the scenes, Sting is seen as his own man, aligned with Lex Luger but not really with any of the Flair, Nash, or Hogan factions. There is tremendous underlying tension, suspicion, and jealousy between Hogan and his allies and the Wolf Pack (Hall, Nash, Syxx) and its allies. If Hogan can align himself, even at arms length, with Flair, it increases his power over the Wolf Pack. Even though Flair and Hogan have always been rivals behind the scenes, the tension between them is no where near the level of the current overt tension between Flair and the Wolf Pack nor anywhere near the level of underlying tension between Hogan and the Wolf Pack.
Because of the much praised and criticized NWO spoof skit and the angle at WarGames, Flair is as over as he’s been in years. Flair, in real life, has also been rejuvenated by the impact of the NWO spoof, most specifically Syxx’s parody of his mannerisms and catch phrases. Hogan sees how over Flair is and sees the chance to feud with him as a way of distracting from the Sting feud. In the midst of contract negotiations, if he has two “money feuds” in progress, he has more leverage than if he has just one big match brewing with Sting — a match he is expected to lose.
If the only “money match” he had on the table was the Sting match at Starrcade, and if he were to lose the belt and the match, even if he did turn babyface immediately afterward, Sting would likely be the hotter babyface. Hogan would also be in jeopardy of being seen like Flair has been the last year or so — as a diminished commodity, past his prime. Obviously Hogan would still be WCW’s top star, but with the build up for Sting the past year and if Sting were to pin Hogan and hold the WCW Title, it would be reasonable for Hogan to fear Sting’s power beginning to cut into his.
Hogan’s official explanation to others on why he is trying to downplay the Sting storyline apparently is that he fears Sting won’t be able to live up to his build up when he actually starts talking and wrestling again, therefore for the good of WCW, it’s to their advantage to have backup plans and to take some of the weight off of Sting’s shoulders. Some buy that argument. Others see it as merely Hogan maneuvering Sting into a less prominent position in order to protect himself. Critics of Hogan believe he wants to feud with Flair, only to eventually turn babyface and team with him. One reason Hogan would want that is because if he were to turn against the NWO and team with Sting, he fears getting the second loudest babyface reaction. With Flair, Hogan has little doubt he, not Flair, would be the most popular member of the team anywhere outside of the Mid-Atlantic area.
Flair, meanwhile, may feel so rejuvenated because he sees that by entering into a feud with Hogan, it not only adds to his leverage in contract talks, but it puts the Wolf Pack in a secondary position, which would be his sweet revenge.
