7 Classic Wrestling Storylines WWE Should Recycle
3. Barry Windham Vs. Lex Luger - “I Told You He Wouldn’t Be There.”
One of the best slow-build angles of the '80s was Barry Windham's heel turn en route to replacing Lex Luger as a member of the Four Horsemen. In late 1987, Luger began to question the leadership of the group and its manager, J.J. Dillon. This got him ejected from the group, and Luger vowed to learn from his mistakes.
As Luger left the group, Ric Flair announced that he and Dillon had an eye on Windham as a possible replacement for Luger. Windham and Luger joined forces, beating Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson for the NWA World Tag Team titles in April 1988.
During his promos, Dillon told Windham that Luger could not be relied upon, and that eventually Luger wouldn't be there when Windham needed him. Shortly after Windham and Luger won the belts, a rematch was held, during which Luger was incapacitated outside the ring, Windham took a beating, getting to his corner to make a tag several times to find Luger not there and hearing Dillon repeatedly yell, "I told you he wouldn't be there!" (around the 7:30 mark in the video.)
When Luger finally made it back to the corner, Windham tagged him, threw him into the ring, then hit his Lariat finisher on his partner, allowing Anderson and Blanchard to regain the titles and officially join the Horsemen
The angle was brilliant because it teased the eventual conclusion in a subtle manner, so that afterward, Dillon could tell everyone that everything had gone as the Horsemen planned. This could work well with DIY, who have teased a split before. Should the team lose the NXT Tag Team Titles to the Authors of Pain, AOP manager Paul Ellering could tell Tommaso Ciampa that partner Johnny Gargano was the weak link and the reason the team lost.