101 Shocking Wrestling Plans You Won't Believe Almost Happened
56. The Four Horseman Rule SmackDown
"Perhaps if hell freezes over".
That's what ex-WWE writer George Rutherford was told about his mapped out plot to have The Four Horsemen take over SmackDown in 2007. To Rutherford, it made total logical sense. After all, a new Horsemen DVD was just about to drop chronicling the history of a beloved wrestling faction, so bringing the group back in some fashion seemed like a neat way to promote that set.
Rutherford told Ric Flair what he had in mind, and the 'Nature Boy' adored it. According to the brief, he'd lead a revived version of the group (alongside old pals like Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Dean Malenko and Barry Windham who were on legends deals or easily accessible to WWE) on the blue brand and use their knowledge to coax wrestlers under his wing.
That, rather predictably, would lead to a power struggle between Flair and Mr. McMahon. Chris Benoit, who was mere months away from one of the darkest moments in industry history, would've been involved in this narrative too. If anything, he could've been a centrepiece star for WWE's new ('and improved') Four Horsemen.
There's no word on who else might've been involved here, but the writing team could've had a party picking out younger stars who'd fit into the Horsemen role. Or, they would've had the edict not come from the top to file this under 'rainy day' and leave it at that.
Ever the worker, Flair still sneaked in a Four Horsemen hand gesture on Raw soon thereafter, which George got a kick out of.