I remember any WCW Nitro show having crowds throwing the four fingers in the air whenever Flair came out. He was always over, and had some of the most memorable promos.
Tell that to Hall Nash and Steve Austin.. What did they say?? They couldn’t get booked early in WCW because banana nose only wanted to book his friends and their sons.
I'm confused by your statement. The Four Horsemen were always part of Mid-Atlantic/NWA/WCW. There was no time "before they came to WCW." Unless you're talking pre-WCW days, in which case WCW came to them, not the other way around.
@@martyklestadt6766 They would disappear at times, such as when Arn and Tully went to WWF and the same for Flair. Flair went to WWF about the time Arn and Tully left. So there was a brief spell in the late 80's to early 90's where there was no faction of the Horsemen in WCW. I watched, like yourself, when the Horsemen were formed in Mid-Atlantic/JCP/NWA that was where they started at around '84-'85 and Arn named them referring to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in the Bible.
@@pauljoyner4338 Right. But Dee Men above said he knew about them "before they came to WCW," implying that they were somewhere else before they first appeared in WCW, which wasn't the case. Everything you said was of course correct, though.
Well to be honest this “feud” isn’t that interesting, in the sense of how a wrestling work would be. People who listen to these podcasts I don’t think listen to them in hopes of drama, they just want to learn more about the behind the scenes content. This could just be a topic that doesn’t generate much interest, but wrestling podcasts as a whole do seem to be drawing well.
I'm from Cincinnati and the Horsemen have always been popular here. They were better in the 80's but when I was a kid in the mid nineties, they were still an attraction. The writing, the creativity wasn't behind them in their later incarnations.
Yep, Four Horsemen and especially Flair were just massive draws here. They sold the Arena out quite a few times with Flair and Harley Race headlining. Amazing to watch
The Four Horseman as a little kid I hated them and rooted for Dusty and Magnum TA to finally get them but as a got older I realized that was their brilliance and I loved them as a teenager. Ric, Tully, Arn and Barry Windham were fantastic then against Luger and Sting. You can’t go anywhere without hearing wooo when someone gets slapped even today.
Same here,but as I got older and wiser I could see just how good Ric was.Bischoff was obviously a Hogan mark growing up otherwise he would've been able to see how well the Horsemen drew
Eric Bischoff couldn't lace Ric Flairs boots. Hes a TV guy. That's all he knows. Flair is a legend, and will be remembered as such. Bischoff will be a footnote on Ric's coattails.
They both deserve their dues. Flair was huge in the 80s, but bischoff brought wcw into the modern era with his creative tv production skills. Simply put one was a wrestler and the other was a tv producer the ran a wrestling company. As for who made wcw a success, it wasn't flair, bischoff or even hogan, it was hall and nash. When they came back to wcw, they brought the cool factor to the product, which then lead to the hottest thing in wrestling. Without hall and nash there probably wouldnt have been an nwo or at least the nwo as we knew it.
@@RhinoXpress sure. It was a soup that made wcw great not just one element. Bischoff is not dumb by any means. But flairs name will go down in history as "legend"... Bischoff will always be "TVguy".
English guy here , I had never heard of the Horsemen until years after they were relevant, Everyone had heard of Hogan, WCW was not on the radar until Bischoff took over, move on Ric, it's not 1980
I LOVED THE FOUR HORSEMAN!! I grew up in Virginia during the 80s. The HORSEMAN were who we all wanted to be especially RICK FLAIR. Thanks Rick for all the great memories👍👍
I am in Arizona (Far from North Carolina)....The 4 Horsemen transcends generations; I cannot think of another stable that will continue to impact future generations of wrestling fans.
I have never in my life over here in Scotland seen someone wear a Four Horsemen t-shirt, but I'm going in town today to do some Christmas shopping and I guarantee you I'll see an nWo shirt I see it literally, and I mean LITERALLY every day, and that's in Scotland, God knows how many they (still) sell in America
Four Horsemen was an amazing stable!! Only local interest?? I’m from fckin Romania and I listen to the 4H entrance themes even now!! I was tackling pillows on the couch like Steve McMichael back then!! I think Bischoff is a worm.
You are right. Eric has lost his mind. Every time I wear a four horsemen t-shirt anywhere, people always hold up four fingers. No other group or individual wrestler gets that kind of attention and they don’t even have to speak for Ric and the other horsemen, all they do is hold up 4 fingers, Woooooo.
No one was making money in the early 90s. Bringing in hulk hogan in didn’t suddenly make wcw money either. It might have got a bump but it wasn’t till hall and nash got to wcw that it started making money and then the Austin vs hart match at wrestle mania was the starting point for an exciting but tumultuous year in wwf that would lead directly to both wcw and wwf basically getting a license to print money. The only real difference by the end of 1998 was wwf had built up the likes of kane, rock, hhh. Where as wcw was still cycling through yesterdays heroes, giving out nash vs sting hulk vs Luger, savage vs hart. There was nothing new.
The MOST/BIGGEST profitable year for, WCW was the year, Goldberg debuted. It was the combination of the, NWO and Goldberg and Sting being at the top all together for a year.
@@username-zj9id That's probably true, but I have no dog in that fight, I was just saying goldberg and ddp were still technically new stars they created. Either way I guess the networks were at least happy, they were making money.
Hogan going to WCW made a lot of money. In 94 and 95 WWF was doing pathetic business. No doubt WCW started drawing more money after 1996. Bret hart never drew money for WWF. Until Austin became the champion WWF was only loosing money with flops like Bret hart and Shawn Michaels.
I can see that Ric is just a humble guy, considering his extreme success. I really enjoy his podcast. Shit, I'm old too at 57! I'd love to have some beers with him if I ever had the chance. I'm a lifelong Minnesotan, Skol Vikings!
I'm not saying that the Mid-Atlantic and the South wasn't the stronghold, it was, but because of Turner's TV, lots of viewers outside of that region saw the Four Horsemen every week on TBS and they had great ratings, especially with the first Clash.
Flair was made a million times over before Bischoff was even in the business. That being said, the Horsemen of the Bischoff era were Horsemen in name only and didn't compare to the original. The original Horsemen were over to the point that it's been 33 years since their demise and wrestling fans still talk about them regularly.
Eric has admitted that he met Hogan through Ric. I believe, Eric asked Ric to set up a introduction. Negotiations and contacts came down to Eric deciding if Hogan was worth it. Eric has also admitted that he knew very little about Hogan at the time, apart from as a fan and spectator. It's dumb of Eric to say he made Ric Flair. I'd take a guess that Eric was looking for cheap heat with that comment and probably never really meant it and wanted to stir that pot.
"Why would Hulk Hogan know a pissant?" Good question, Ric. Hogan would even looked at Eric Jackoff as a jabroni in AWA (if they ever met in Verne's company).
Bobby Hennan said he tried to give Eric advice and Eric told him to stick to announcing. Eric is someone that got a lucky break. Knew nothing about wrestling
I don’t want to ever hear that Ric Flair was not a draw because in the 80’s and 90’ he was why anybody watched wrestling back then. Best talker in the business bar none! GOAT
Eric is right about the FH not drawing in the 90s in WCW. But, that is because the group was watered down and had different members than they did in their prime in the 80s. That's like somebody saying the NWO was never a draw because they flopped in WWE. If a faction is booked to look silly and lose all the time, they obviously won't be successful. I think a FH comprised of Flair, Arn, Curt Hennig, and Chris Benoit would have been very successful during the NWO era if they were booked properly.
Once they started adding guys like Paul Roma, it was over. For every Benoit & Malenko, there was a Jarrett & McMichaels. The thing about what Bischoff said though is also trying to change history. Because the nWo's first official feud involved The Horsemen heading into '96 WarGames. So clearly they were over enough to pair off with The nWo.
True. The Four Horsemen could have been a huge draw if booked to their potential as an equal foil to the NWO. For what I can gather, Eric for some reason never liked the regional loyalty of WCW's fanbase. We were WCW's bread and butter, but he didn't see it that way. While it is true the Horseman were big in the Carolina's, Eric is greatly underestimating its appeal in other markets.
No one was drawing in the early 90s because american wrestling was in a coma. The early 90s was one of the worst eras in american wrestling history. It was just flat out garbage in both the wwe and wcw. I stopped watching after 92 and didnt watch wrestling again until the nwo in 96.
When I was young I did not like the 4 horsemen. Later I realized it was a cool faction. They should have put them over better with the NWO feud. It would have made the clashes more exciting. It seemed like there was no one to oppose the NWO except Sting and one guy couldn't take on everyone at once. Just impressions from memories of watching it happen in the 90s.
@@WaldoBagelTopper the documentary will be on the Peacock Network I think. Let me double check for you. I just wanted to respond back to you right away, that way you know I'm not ignoring your question.
I remember Ric, wahoo, a very young Jay Youngblood , and Ricky Steamboat in a match at Collett street Rec Morganton NC when I was a kid. I was completely Star struck. I was on the end of a row & Ric walked right past me with this beautiful Blue & Silver sequined robe. My mom took a picture; it’s blurry but the look on my face is priceless 😅
Ric still got the drip. Lol. All you gotta do is look at the subs for both their pod casts. Rics numbers speak for themselves and he shouldn’t even give Eric the time of day.
Let’s set the record straight, the reason WCW lost money was because they overpaid a lot of wrestlers and gave them contracts to guarantee it as well. A lot those wrestlers could not work well either and they had egos to boot. Ric Flair is the GOAT of professional wrestling and he was underpaid by Eric. Ric is a living legend and worked harder and longer than any wrestler I have ever seen and I have watched him since the early seventies.
Well those huge contracts also had much fewer appearances than what WWF was requiring their talent also which you can easily understand how that would necessitate hiring more talent to fill in the gaps. I also find this back and forth with Ric to be pretty childish. It definitely seems like Ric is drinking and almost seems like he's drunk texting/posting to twitter...
@@shoeplayisbad1 1. Assuming that Flair actually doesn't wrestle another match, it is true that Funk wrestled longer than Flair. But only by a few months, as Flair wrestled his last match ALMOST 50 years after his first match, and Funk wrestled his last match just a little OVER 50 years after his first. So, we could easily say that they both had a 50 year in-ring career. 2. Sorry, but Hogan isn't "the greatest as well." Even Hogan says that Flair is the G.O.A.T. Hogan was more famous, and a bigger influence on the direction that pro wrestling took. But, as a wrestler (in ring and on the mic) Flair is far better than Hogan.
Terry funk worked harder than anyone and longer still doing moonsaults into his 60s he's the real goat flair was good on the mic and promos but his wrestling was predictable chop chop chop turnbuckle figure 4 and blood that's it funk way way more skilled even into his 60s and a true hardcore icon
I liked the 4-Horsemen! I liked them the most when It was Flair,Benoit,Anderson and Mongo(even though he sucked) Then Malenko joined later on and I still liked the horsemen. Hell at least they weren’t shoved down our throats constantly like the nWo. Go back and watch Nitro or Thunder or a PPV after BATB ‘96. Heard the damn nWo theme at least 3-5 times a show!
Are you too young to remember earlier versions of the Horsemen?? Because even though I liked the Flair-Arn-Benoit-Malenko version of the Horsemen it is maybe only the 4th or 5th best version. The BEST version was the Flair-Arn-Tully-Barry Windham version (with J.J. Dillon as manager). How can it get any better than Flair as WHC, BW as USHC and Tully and ARN as the World Tag team Champs?? Deciding the 2nd best version isn't as easy. The Ric-Tully-Arn-Ole (with JJ) version gets points for being the Original group. But the version with Ric-Tully-Arn-Lex Luger (w/JJ) was good because Luger was just so damn muscular (for the era) that it gave them something no other version had.
Yeah man nWo was was great for about the first two years until they bleed it to death. Like I said when you hear the theme song three or four times a show I got old pretty quick. Scott Hall was my Favorite nWo Member
I'm from Ohio. We all walked around high school showing the 4 fingers (they were heels if you don't know), and I personally was at games leading the "whhoooooooo"'s. To say the horsemen were only a draw in North Carolina is disingenuous at best. People loved Hogan, loved to hate Piper, but everyone respected Ric Flair. They paid him a lot of money for a guy who never drew money (Eric). Bischoff had one good idea. A great idea at that with the NWO and the Hogan heel turn, done perfectly btw. But ultimately they were the Four Horsemen on steroids because the boss wanted to play cool guy with Hall, Nash and Hogan.
Whether the 4H didn't draw as much as Bischoff wanted or expected, there was no need for him to tweet that out of the blue in response to a question asking why the 4H wasn't pushed more in WCW.
With respect to Flair, the point isn't who literally WENT to get Hogan, it's about who's idea it was to get Hogan in, which Flair confirmed in his book was Bischoff
I was a Bischoff guy for years but ever since he goes out of his way to take shots at Tony Khan in order to try to make himself relevant and try to get a job with Bruce Prichard. I tuned him out and I was a fan......83 weeks was always on my Playlist but I stopped listening to him a year ago...he has lost alot of listeners so his money is dwindling to oblivion...the only people that like Bischoff nowadays are AEW haters that need their weekly fix....so Flair burying him is my weekly fix and Bischoff deserves every second of it.
@@thedogwoods5716 Professional wrestlers...doing work shoot shooting works? That's impossible, and has never happened, said Jerry Lawler after he slapped Andy Kaufman as David Letterman looked on in completely natural shock. You marks really gotta learn to separate reality from fiction, and actually enjoy the show because of the work put into it. Be happy Flair is spending the time to do it so you can see it. Learn to enjoy the subtleties of the fast-hand 3 card monte from a dude so well known for pulling them, nobody can ever actually tell if it's real, fake, or really fake.
@@thedogwoods5716 You don't think it is? Flair, Ross, and Bischoff - three people who do podcasts with Conrad - are feuding. You don't think it's a work.
I can tell you in Philadelphia the 4H and NWA drew money like no one dreams today. And when the NWA and WWF began going head to head in Philly, the NWA won month after month after month after month. The wrestling fans went to the Civic Center to see wrestling, while the 6 year olds had to have someone take them to the Spectrum to see “entertainment”
As a kid living in NJ and watching TBS- the horseman (original managed by JJ) were over huge with me. I could have done without the mid 90s reincarnations of the horseman with Benoit, Malenko, etc
I am from Austria and watched WCW every week on German TV (DSF). Even without any connection to US culture, I was always of the opinion that the Four Horsemen are a big deal.
Seriously, are Ric, Eric, and Conrad trying to build another “Last Match” between Flair and Bischoff? With maybe JR in Eric’s corner or on “heel” commentary (as the “aggrieved” Flair is portrayed as the face in the program)? Or maybe just a work in the podcast world in a bid to get more traffic on the shows? 🙄
Kayfabe is gone. Podcast have interviews wherein the talent criticize each other about old issues. The current product is meaningless and the magic is gone. I am beginning to lose interests in any of it anymore.
Buffalo ny guy 4 Hoursemen that's why in 1995 -1996Ric Flair and Macho Man Randy Savage made me and The Four Horsemen made me a WCW fan at that time Ric Flair iron Anderson Chris Benoit and Brian pillman Jr and Mongo McMichaels
I'm a huge Flair and Horsemen fan, but Bischoff is 100% right: the Horsemen at their peak (85 to 88) were super over mostly on a regional level, since Crockett Promotion wasn't nearly as huge or as global as the WWF, their popularity was on a small scale compared to Hogan and the stars of the WWF. Then later, every incarnation of the Horsemen during the 90's made no impact whatsoever and always flopped, incapable of recreating the magic, the popularity and the importance that the group had from 85 to 88. So sorry, but Bischoff is absolutely right in this case, sadly.
To be fair, Bischoff was right to not sit down with a group of people that includes Bret Hart. I mean, if I was invited I would, but Bret doesn’t hate my guts.
It's almost like Bischoff was jelly of Flair who had natural charisma and a very entertaining over the top personality which is pretty much exactly what you need to make it in the world of "Pro wrestling" and I'm the only person that I know of that's been saying this and I've been saying it for years, in "pro wrestling" your wrestling ability doesn't get you "over", your personality does, your size helps but it doesn't account for much, see Great Khali, Giant Gonzalez "The Big Show" and others, all great men in terms of size and stature but didn't really draw a dime in the long run.
@@goodday2760 False, he had a title run in 1999 that flopped, what has he done special? When did he ever really have the main event, he was in the WWE for 20 years and he never really made it? He didn't get over as a "Giant" as a "monster heel" and he didn't get over trying to be goofy and silly, in short his personality was just meh, probably a nice enough guy but that doesn't make a successful pro wrestler. However I'm sure you'll tell me different.......
@@Rick-si1re Of course I'm not talking about 1999. It was from the time of his feuds with the Undertaker, Brock Lesnar and others a few years later that he became a mainstay of wrestling. WWE still uses the footage of his SmackDown match with Lesnar today, on occasion. His prominence continued to rise as his look changed and he had a match with a celebrity in 2008. Just ask anyone acquainted with the Ruthless Aggression era of WWE and they'll tell you he was respected and well-known. Championships have nothing to do with it.
@@goodday2760 He was a mainstay but he was never a box office attraction for WWE, he was never a huge draw, that's my point. I grew up watching all of that that you named, AE, Ruthless aggression, and Golden/New Generation eras before that. You're right Championships doesn't mean someone is a draw, like if you put the belt on them, and the big show was never a huge draw for the WWE, that's why he got so silly as they didn't know what else to do with him. No offense but I'm speaking objectively I think you may be a fan and that's fine. I'm simply saying he didn't fair too well in the WWE, you can't name me one stretch of time in WWE where he was consistently in the main event. He's faced almost all of the big names, Brock, H, Rock, Taker, Kane and others, still doesn't make him a main eventer, that's my point
I have too agree with that letting wrestlers 1st book their own matches and then pay them more than some were actual worth. Eric Bishoff AWE promo commentator who some how was given the opportunity too head what was the biggest Threat Compention too WWF / WWE screw it up. Ric Flair Dusty Rhodes Ricky Steamboat Arn Anderson Tully Blanchard Barry Windham Sting Vader the Steiners didn't draw? Well they certainly were popular across North America. Bishoff signs Brett Hart but doesn't utilize him or screwed him over because he actually knew how too wrestle ! Didn't need a gimmick
It was alot of bitterness behind the scenes in the entire wrestling industry. I'm surprised with all the politics, backstabbing, drug usage throughout etc...that we got any great matches during, especially the 80's, 90's. Another childhood thing I grew up believing was all lies. But I'm glad I didn't have the internet back then to expose all we know now. Not just about wrestling but all other forms of entertainment as well.
The Horsemen didn’t draw money on a national level, but that was true of anyone who was not in WWF because WWF was the first national US promotion. Before that, anyone who ever drew money did so in a specific region. In Flair’s case, I believe he was in a draw in various territories across the US. Bischoff’s comparison is solely based on WCW’s bottom line from 1988 to 1995; however, if you were to add up the gross revenue from the territories he popped during the Crockett years, the comparison would probably look much different. As to why Flair didn’t draw from ‘88 to ‘94, that was for the same reason that Hogan didn’t draw from ‘99 to ‘01. Bad booking.
I remember any WCW Nitro show having crowds throwing the four fingers in the air whenever Flair came out. He was always over, and had some of the most memorable promos.
best thing about flair is he was never scared to put someone over cause he knew he could always get his heat back. absolute living legend
Lol is this sarcasm...?
Tell that to Hall Nash and Steve Austin.. What did they say?? They couldn’t get booked early in WCW because banana nose only wanted to book his friends and their sons.
@@mtabby8791 Steve has always called Flair the greatest of all time
@@bustersales6921 is this? Flair is a legend, hard to deny that.
@@bustersales6921 is this? Flair is a legend, hard to deny that.
I knew about the 4 Horsemen before they came to WCW, they were awesome
I'm confused by your statement. The Four Horsemen were always part of Mid-Atlantic/NWA/WCW. There was no time "before they came to WCW." Unless you're talking pre-WCW days, in which case WCW came to them, not the other way around.
@@martyklestadt6766 They would disappear at times, such as when Arn and Tully went to WWF and the same for Flair. Flair went to WWF about the time Arn and Tully left. So there was a brief spell in the late 80's to early 90's where there was no faction of the Horsemen in WCW. I watched, like yourself, when the Horsemen were formed in Mid-Atlantic/JCP/NWA that was where they started at around '84-'85 and Arn named them referring to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in the Bible.
@@pauljoyner4338 Right. But Dee Men above said he knew about them "before they came to WCW," implying that they were somewhere else before they first appeared in WCW, which wasn't the case.
Everything you said was of course correct, though.
These guys are still drawing more on podcasts than whatever wrestling draws today lol
Lol FACT! And also, sad. Lol
Baron Corbin singing happy birthday would get more than 2500 views in an hour
I mean when something happens on wrestling today it usually gets millions of UA-cam views all the same
Well to be honest this “feud” isn’t that interesting, in the sense of how a wrestling work would be. People who listen to these podcasts I don’t think listen to them in hopes of drama, they just want to learn more about the behind the scenes content. This could just be a topic that doesn’t generate much interest, but wrestling podcasts as a whole do seem to be drawing well.
Lol no. I mean, I'm still here for it, but no one actually cares about a couple old geezers dragging up the golden years
I was a WWE fanboy as a kid, I barely knew any other wrestling company at the time. And even I knew who the Four Horsemen were.
I'm from ST.Louis MO and a big 4 Horsemen fan. Ric Flair will always be my favorite wrestler. Love yea Ric. Wooooo
I'm from Cincinnati and the Horsemen have always been popular here. They were better in the 80's but when I was a kid in the mid nineties, they were still an attraction. The writing, the creativity wasn't behind them in their later incarnations.
Also from STL and you nailed it 🎯 I'm with you 💯
Yep, Four Horsemen and especially Flair were just massive draws here. They sold the Arena out quite a few times with Flair and Harley Race headlining. Amazing to watch
The Four Horseman as a little kid I hated them and rooted for Dusty and Magnum TA to finally get them but as a got older I realized that was their brilliance and I loved them as a teenager. Ric, Tully, Arn and Barry Windham were fantastic then against Luger and Sting. You can’t go anywhere without hearing wooo when someone gets slapped even today.
Same here,but as I got older and wiser I could see just how good Ric was.Bischoff was obviously a Hogan mark growing up otherwise he would've been able to see how well the Horsemen drew
Eric Bischoff couldn't lace Ric Flairs boots. Hes a TV guy. That's all he knows. Flair is a legend, and will be remembered as such. Bischoff will be a footnote on Ric's coattails.
He doesn't even know tv
Woooooo! That's right! The Nature Boy!
They both deserve their dues. Flair was huge in the 80s, but bischoff brought wcw into the modern era with his creative tv production skills. Simply put one was a wrestler and the other was a tv producer the ran a wrestling company. As for who made wcw a success, it wasn't flair, bischoff or even hogan, it was hall and nash. When they came back to wcw, they brought the cool factor to the product, which then lead to the hottest thing in wrestling. Without hall and nash there probably wouldnt have been an nwo or at least the nwo as we knew it.
@@RhinoXpress sure. It was a soup that made wcw great not just one element. Bischoff is not dumb by any means. But flairs name will go down in history as "legend"...
Bischoff will always be "TVguy".
The Horsemen were known and loved everywhere. Eric, kept them down in the 90s
I wouldn't be surprised if the beef between, Ric and Eric right now is a work and it's all for, Rics new documentary coming out the day after Xmas.
Just like he did with the Dungeon of Doom
Only in the South
@@krillin876 Um no the horsemen were popular everywhere
English guy here , I had never heard of the Horsemen until years after they were relevant, Everyone had heard of Hogan, WCW was not on the radar until Bischoff took over, move on Ric, it's not 1980
I LOVED THE FOUR HORSEMAN!! I grew up in Virginia during the 80s. The HORSEMAN were who we all wanted to be especially RICK FLAIR. Thanks Rick for all the great memories👍👍
I am in Arizona (Far from North Carolina)....The 4 Horsemen transcends generations; I cannot think of another stable that will continue to impact future generations of wrestling fans.
I'm also in, Arizona!!!
The NWO
I have never in my life over here in Scotland seen someone wear a Four Horsemen t-shirt, but I'm going in town today to do some Christmas shopping and I guarantee you I'll see an nWo shirt
I see it literally, and I mean LITERALLY every day, and that's in Scotland, God knows how many they (still) sell in America
@@drexlspivey5828 My hometown has more people than your country
"Why would Hulk Hogan know a pissant?"
🤣
I tweeted Bret Hart about this situation and he replied, "Goldberg ended my career."
Four Horsemen was an amazing stable!! Only local interest?? I’m from fckin Romania and I listen to the 4H entrance themes even now!! I was tackling pillows on the couch like Steve McMichael back then!! I think Bischoff is a worm.
You are right. Eric has lost his mind. Every time I wear a four horsemen t-shirt anywhere, people always hold up four fingers. No other group or individual wrestler gets that kind of attention and they don’t even have to speak for Ric and the other horsemen, all they do is hold up 4 fingers, Woooooo.
I grew up in Memphis and LOVED Memphis wrestling, still do! I LOVED the 4H!!🤘🏻❤️
But I must say, never cared for the Hulkster. Just wasn’t my style, being from Memphis.🤘🏻
I was 10-12 years old in the smallest county in northern Michigan and the horseman were the greatest stable of the era period. Little way from NC
"Why would Hogan know a piss ant" The Nature Boy
Lmao
It’s a wooooork! 😂😂
No one was making money in the early 90s. Bringing in hulk hogan in didn’t suddenly make wcw money either. It might have got a bump but it wasn’t till hall and nash got to wcw that it started making money and then the Austin vs hart match at wrestle mania was the starting point for an exciting but tumultuous year in wwf that would lead directly to both wcw and wwf basically getting a license to print money. The only real difference by the end of 1998 was wwf had built up the likes of kane, rock, hhh. Where as wcw was still cycling through yesterdays heroes, giving out nash vs sting hulk vs Luger, savage vs hart. There was nothing new.
Goldberg was still new, and ddp was still over until they eventually botched him too.
The MOST/BIGGEST profitable year for, WCW was the year, Goldberg debuted. It was the combination of the, NWO and Goldberg and Sting being at the top all together for a year.
@raymkkkk it was never profitable. Even when they drawing people, they were spending more than they were making.
@@username-zj9id That's probably true, but I have no dog in that fight, I was just saying goldberg and ddp were still technically new stars they created. Either way I guess the networks were at least happy, they were making money.
Hogan going to WCW made a lot of money. In 94 and 95 WWF was doing pathetic business. No doubt WCW started drawing more money after 1996. Bret hart never drew money for WWF. Until Austin became the champion WWF was only loosing money with flops like Bret hart and Shawn Michaels.
"Why would hulk Hogan know a pissant" should be a t shirt! 😂
I can see that Ric is just a humble guy, considering his extreme success. I really enjoy his podcast. Shit, I'm old too at 57! I'd love to have some beers with him if I ever had the chance. I'm a lifelong Minnesotan, Skol Vikings!
I'm not saying that the Mid-Atlantic and the South wasn't the stronghold, it was, but because of Turner's TV, lots of viewers outside of that region saw the Four Horsemen every week on TBS and they had great ratings, especially with the first Clash.
Flair was made a million times over before Bischoff was even in the business. That being said, the Horsemen of the Bischoff era were Horsemen in name only and didn't compare to the original. The original Horsemen were over to the point that it's been 33 years since their demise and wrestling fans still talk about them regularly.
I sense a work being developed.
Eric has admitted that he met Hogan through Ric. I believe, Eric asked Ric to set up a introduction. Negotiations and contacts came down to Eric deciding if Hogan was worth it. Eric has also admitted that he knew very little about Hogan at the time, apart from as a fan and spectator.
It's dumb of Eric to say he made Ric Flair. I'd take a guess that Eric was looking for cheap heat with that comment and probably never really meant it and wanted to stir that pot.
"Why would Hulk Hogan know a pissant?"
Good question, Ric. Hogan would even looked at Eric Jackoff as a jabroni in AWA (if they ever met in Verne's company).
By the time Bischoff joined AWA Hogan was long gone
You’re the opposite of clever and original
@@TL2354 you're the opposite of a shitty troll
Bobby Hennan said he tried to give Eric advice and Eric told him to stick to announcing. Eric is someone that got a lucky break. Knew nothing about wrestling
As long as his fans love Ric, that's all it matters.
I thought his tweet referred to the youth organization at first. 4H. They never drew a dime 😂
Bischoff is a master, absolute master at getting under the skin of certain people. Someone as sensitive as flair shouldn't bother with twatter
I don’t want to ever hear that Ric Flair was not a draw because in the 80’s and 90’ he was why anybody watched wrestling back then. Best talker in the business bar none! GOAT
Eric is right about the FH not drawing in the 90s in WCW. But, that is because the group was watered down and had different members than they did in their prime in the 80s. That's like somebody saying the NWO was never a draw because they flopped in WWE. If a faction is booked to look silly and lose all the time, they obviously won't be successful. I think a FH comprised of Flair, Arn, Curt Hennig, and Chris Benoit would have been very successful during the NWO era if they were booked properly.
It should have always been a group where the old world champions coached the future ones. That was the strength of the group.
Once they started adding guys like Paul Roma, it was over. For every Benoit & Malenko, there was a Jarrett & McMichaels.
The thing about what Bischoff said though is also trying to change history. Because the nWo's first official feud involved The Horsemen heading into '96 WarGames. So clearly they were over enough to pair off with The nWo.
True. The Four Horsemen could have been a huge draw if booked to their potential as an equal foil to the NWO. For what I can gather, Eric for some reason never liked the regional loyalty of WCW's fanbase. We were WCW's bread and butter, but he didn't see it that way. While it is true the Horseman were big in the Carolina's, Eric is greatly underestimating its appeal in other markets.
No one was drawing in the early 90s because american wrestling was in a coma. The early 90s was one of the worst eras in american wrestling history. It was just flat out garbage in both the wwe and wcw. I stopped watching after 92 and didnt watch wrestling again until the nwo in 96.
My eyes were on Mongo McMichael. I even performed some of his moves on pillows around my home 😆
Eric just had to go there, didn’t he? 😂😂😂
I wouldn't be surprised if the beef between, Ric and Eric right now is a work and it's all for, Rics new documentary coming out the day after Xmas.
Eric is almost as hated as Russo.
Eric HAS to be trolling 😂😂😂😂
He's not exactly wrong though. Minus the I made you part. Did they draw? Yes. 96 97 98 numbers? No.
He’s right look at the numbers in the early 90s and then look at 95 to 99
@@kingleo8048 what numbers? Show me.
Saying the horsemen didn’t draw is a complete joke.
When I was young I did not like the 4 horsemen. Later I realized it was a cool faction. They should have put them over better with the NWO feud. It would have made the clashes more exciting. It seemed like there was no one to oppose the NWO except Sting and one guy couldn't take on everyone at once. Just impressions from memories of watching it happen in the 90s.
I love the no candy coating real stuff
The whole wrestling industry, is a sad shell of what it used to be. Including these podcasts such a shame.
Eric Bischoff has lost his damn mind! 😂🤣
That would imply that he found it at one point.
@@HappyDaddy247 LMFAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Bischoff is wrestlings Donald Trump. He can't remember, nothing was ever his fault, and everyone in WCW was out to get him.
I wouldn't be surprised if the beef between, Ric and Eric right now is a work and it's all for, Rics new documentary coming out the day after Xmas.
that's cool- I didn't know that. where is it streaming??
@@WaldoBagelTopper the documentary will be on the Peacock Network I think. Let me double check for you. I just wanted to respond back to you right away, that way you know I'm not ignoring your question.
@@WaldoBagelTopper yup! I was correct. It's going to be on the Peacock Metwork. Titled, WOOOO Becoming Ric Flair.
Don't wrestle ever again. Please. You have zero to prove.
Shut up
Don’t you want to see a Ric Flair vs Great Khali vs Omos triple threat?
Tell that to CONrad who wanted a payday
@@mackapacka77 yes... Never mind my earlier statement now. We need this but add in Veer.
I remember Ric, wahoo, a very young Jay Youngblood , and Ricky Steamboat in a match at Collett street Rec Morganton NC when I was a kid. I was completely Star struck. I was on the end of a row & Ric walked right past me with this beautiful Blue & Silver sequined robe. My mom took a picture; it’s blurry but the look on my face is priceless 😅
Ric still got the drip. Lol. All you gotta do is look at the subs for both their pod casts. Rics numbers speak for themselves and he shouldn’t even give Eric the time of day.
Its all a work. 💯
Let’s set the record straight, the reason WCW lost money was because they overpaid a lot of wrestlers and gave them contracts to guarantee it as well. A lot those wrestlers could not work well either and they had egos to boot. Ric Flair is the GOAT of professional wrestling and he was underpaid by Eric. Ric is a living legend and worked harder and longer than any wrestler I have ever seen and I have watched him since the early seventies.
Well those huge contracts also had much fewer appearances than what WWF was requiring their talent also which you can easily understand how that would necessitate hiring more talent to fill in the gaps. I also find this back and forth with Ric to be pretty childish. It definitely seems like Ric is drinking and almost seems like he's drunk texting/posting to twitter...
Hogan is the greatest as well
And Terry funk wrestled longer than flair did
Wooooo!
@@shoeplayisbad1
1. Assuming that Flair actually doesn't wrestle another match, it is true that Funk wrestled longer than Flair. But only by a few months, as Flair wrestled his last match ALMOST 50 years after his first match, and Funk wrestled his last match just a little OVER 50 years after his first. So, we could easily say that they both had a 50 year in-ring career.
2. Sorry, but Hogan isn't "the greatest as well." Even Hogan says that Flair is the G.O.A.T.
Hogan was more famous, and a bigger influence on the direction that pro wrestling took. But, as a wrestler (in ring and on the mic) Flair is far better than Hogan.
Terry funk worked harder than anyone and longer still doing moonsaults into his 60s he's the real goat flair was good on the mic and promos but his wrestling was predictable chop chop chop turnbuckle figure 4 and blood that's it funk way way more skilled even into his 60s and a true hardcore icon
I wish NWA was around today
I think that was the greatest time for Ric.
He & Hogan are still the main guys. WOOOOOO
I liked the 4-Horsemen! I liked them the most when It was Flair,Benoit,Anderson and Mongo(even though he sucked)
Then Malenko joined later on and I still liked the horsemen. Hell at least they weren’t shoved down our throats constantly like the nWo. Go back and watch Nitro or Thunder or a PPV after BATB ‘96. Heard the damn nWo theme at least 3-5 times a show!
The nWo was addicting back then man what are you going on about? That theme song slaps to.
Are you too young to remember earlier versions of the Horsemen?? Because even though I liked the Flair-Arn-Benoit-Malenko version of the Horsemen it is maybe only the 4th or 5th best version.
The BEST version was the Flair-Arn-Tully-Barry Windham version (with J.J. Dillon as manager). How can it get any better than Flair as WHC, BW as USHC and Tully and ARN as the World Tag team Champs??
Deciding the 2nd best version isn't as easy. The Ric-Tully-Arn-Ole (with JJ) version gets points for being the Original group. But the version with Ric-Tully-Arn-Lex Luger (w/JJ) was good because Luger was just so damn muscular (for the era) that it gave them something no other version had.
No I remember every version of the horsemen I was just stating that the mid 90s was my favorite
Yeah man nWo was was great for about the first two years until they bleed it to death. Like I said when you hear the theme song three or four times a show I got old pretty quick.
Scott Hall was my Favorite nWo
Member
The best horsemen version was the original
Ole
Arn
Tully
And flair
We all know Mike "Never Drew a Dime" Graham brought Hogan in. That man never lied! lol
🤣
I'm from Ohio. We all walked around high school showing the 4 fingers (they were heels if you don't know), and I personally was at games leading the "whhoooooooo"'s.
To say the horsemen were only a draw in North Carolina is disingenuous at best. People loved Hogan, loved to hate Piper, but everyone respected Ric Flair. They paid him a lot of money for a guy who never drew money (Eric). Bischoff had one good idea. A great idea at that with the NWO and the Hogan heel turn, done perfectly btw. But ultimately they were the Four Horsemen on steroids because the boss wanted to play cool guy with Hall, Nash and Hogan.
They came in
Whether the 4H didn't draw as much as Bischoff wanted or expected, there was no need for him to tweet that out of the blue in response to a question asking why the 4H wasn't pushed more in WCW.
I think the 4 horsemen drew money back in the day. But at that time in WCW it didn’t seem like they were much of an attraction.
That's because the booking sucked. There was potential, but Eric was determined to bury the group.
@@bigsnyder01 He buried the Dungeon of Doom too
@XVR MEDIA Well that was the point of the dungeon of doom was to get hogan over
@@bigsnyder01 Bury the group ? FFS ! Arn was injured and Tully was gone. They buried themselves.
Midnight Express never drew any money either.
This has to be a work
I’m from the North and grew up only on wwf, and I knew who the 4h were; and started watching them on tbs.
Tried watching wrestling after 20 years and I find all these podcasts way better.
Ric Flair is the GOAT. I use to watch NWA in LA, last time I checked LA was and still a big market!
With respect to Flair, the point isn't who literally WENT to get Hogan, it's about who's idea it was to get Hogan in, which Flair confirmed in his book was Bischoff
Always loved 4H in wcw flair is the man
I love ❤️ you Ric Flair. Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.
I was a Bischoff guy for years but ever since he goes out of his way to take shots at Tony Khan in order to try to make himself relevant and try to get a job with Bruce Prichard. I tuned him out and I was a fan......83 weeks was always on my Playlist but I stopped listening to him a year ago...he has lost alot of listeners so his money is dwindling to oblivion...the only people that like Bischoff nowadays are AEW haters that need their weekly fix....so Flair burying him is my weekly fix and Bischoff deserves every second of it.
They are clearly working some kind of angle that will not go anywhere.
Is this a work in the Conrad family, Ric fighting with JR and Eric?! Come on.
Someone needs a damn DDT.
smizart
Notice it's the people Conrad does podcasts with who are feuding. This is a work.
People really need to stop with the “this is a work” thing with everything
@@thedogwoods5716 Professional wrestlers...doing work shoot shooting works? That's impossible, and has never happened, said Jerry Lawler after he slapped Andy Kaufman as David Letterman looked on in completely natural shock. You marks really gotta learn to separate reality from fiction, and actually enjoy the show because of the work put into it. Be happy Flair is spending the time to do it so you can see it. Learn to enjoy the subtleties of the fast-hand 3 card monte from a dude so well known for pulling them, nobody can ever actually tell if it's real, fake, or really fake.
@@thedogwoods5716 You don't think it is? Flair, Ross, and Bischoff - three people who do podcasts with Conrad - are feuding. You don't think it's a work.
IT'S STILL REAL TO ME!!!1
@@CactusJacksEar It's very good. These guys are the best at working.
The four horsemen is the best faction in wrestling ever. And I’m from Vermont and we thought it back in 85
I can tell you in Philadelphia the 4H and NWA drew money like no one dreams today. And when the NWA and WWF began going head to head in Philly, the NWA won month after month after month after month. The wrestling fans went to the Civic Center to see wrestling, while the 6 year olds had to have someone take them to the Spectrum to see “entertainment”
This is definitely a work/angle.
I wouldn't be surprised if the beef between, Ric and Eric right now is a work and it's all for, Rics new documentary coming out the day after Xmas.
@@nexpro6118 Agreed!
I’d trust Flair all day over Bischoff. The 4 Horseman were legendary and way over everywhere.
Say what they will about the Horsemen, but the pop they got when they would come out in any arena said everything about them being over.
I like Ric but as someone who went back and watched all the episodes from 96 and on, the 4H was so damn boring imo. I skipped a lot of their stuff.
I’m not a 4H guy but saying only NC loved them is ridiculous.
I'm from horseman country and love Flair and the Horseman, but Bischoff is right. They weren't a national draw.
As a kid living in NJ and watching TBS- the horseman (original managed by JJ) were over huge with me. I could have done without the mid 90s reincarnations of the horseman with Benoit, Malenko, etc
Same here.Grew up in Brooklyn ,NY and I loved the four horseman in the 80s.NWA style was so much grittier than the WWF style.
Their will never be another 4 Horsemen
Great Video Ric Flair
How did Bischoff anger Goldturd?
I am from Austria and watched WCW every week on German TV (DSF). Even without any connection to US culture, I was always of the opinion that the Four Horsemen are a big deal.
Love a good work
This beef between Eric and Ric feels like a work.
There were countless wrestling stables/factions before the IV Horsemen, but The Four Horsemen are the standard barriers of wrestling factions...
Seriously, are Ric, Eric, and Conrad trying to build another “Last Match” between Flair and Bischoff? With maybe JR in Eric’s corner or on “heel” commentary (as the “aggrieved” Flair is portrayed as the face in the program)?
Or maybe just a work in the podcast world in a bid to get more traffic on the shows?
🙄
I knew who Ric Flair was decades before I ever heard of Eric Bischoff.
Horsemen as a whole were boring in the 90s as a whole imo, but Flair himself was ALWAYS entertaining
LOL OK, now we're firmly into "Work" territory.
"I went and got hulk hogan" OK Greg Gagne. Seems everyone has a "I convinced hulk to sign" story.
Kayfabe is gone. Podcast have interviews wherein the talent criticize each other about old issues. The current product is meaningless and the magic is gone. I am beginning to lose interests in any of it anymore.
Literally came here to say this.
Buffalo ny guy 4 Hoursemen that's why in 1995 -1996Ric Flair and Macho Man Randy Savage made me and The Four Horsemen made me a WCW fan at that time Ric Flair iron Anderson Chris Benoit and Brian pillman Jr and Mongo McMichaels
Flair still has his faculties.
really think about it... did the Horsemen draw?
Lol
I'm a huge Flair and Horsemen fan, but Bischoff is 100% right: the Horsemen at their peak (85 to 88) were super over mostly on a regional level, since Crockett Promotion wasn't nearly as huge or as global as the WWF, their popularity was on a small scale compared to Hogan and the stars of the WWF. Then later, every incarnation of the Horsemen during the 90's made no impact whatsoever and always flopped, incapable of recreating the magic, the popularity and the importance that the group had from 85 to 88. So sorry, but Bischoff is absolutely right in this case, sadly.
Love how How Hogan stays out of the whole clusterfuck.
It doesn’t work for him brother
@@antology7hell yea
He is way to big for podcast gossip brother.
To be fair, Bischoff was right to not sit down with a group of people that includes Bret Hart. I mean, if I was invited I would, but Bret doesn’t hate my guts.
It's a fact Flair got Hogan in something that Bischoff has never denied esp when Mike Graham for some reason claimed credit. I
It's almost like Bischoff was jelly of Flair who had natural charisma and a very entertaining over the top personality which is pretty much exactly what you need to make it in the world of "Pro wrestling" and I'm the only person that I know of that's been saying this and I've been saying it for years, in "pro wrestling" your wrestling ability doesn't get you "over", your personality does, your size helps but it doesn't account for much, see Great Khali, Giant Gonzalez "The Big Show" and others, all great men in terms of size and stature but didn't really draw a dime in the long run.
In a sense Pro wrestlers are entertainers/actors before they are wrestlers....
Big Show was one of the top names for a decade in WWE.
@@goodday2760 False, he had a title run in 1999 that flopped, what has he done special? When did he ever really have the main event, he was in the WWE for 20 years and he never really made it? He didn't get over as a "Giant" as a "monster heel" and he didn't get over trying to be goofy and silly, in short his personality was just meh, probably a nice enough guy but that doesn't make a successful pro wrestler.
However I'm sure you'll tell me different.......
@@Rick-si1re Of course I'm not talking about 1999. It was from the time of his feuds with the Undertaker, Brock Lesnar and others a few years later that he became a mainstay of wrestling. WWE still uses the footage of his SmackDown match with Lesnar today, on occasion. His prominence continued to rise as his look changed and he had a match with a celebrity in 2008. Just ask anyone acquainted with the Ruthless Aggression era of WWE and they'll tell you he was respected and well-known. Championships have nothing to do with it.
@@goodday2760 He was a mainstay but he was never a box office attraction for WWE, he was never a huge draw, that's my point. I grew up watching all of that that you named, AE, Ruthless aggression, and Golden/New Generation eras before that.
You're right Championships doesn't mean someone is a draw, like if you put the belt on them, and the big show was never a huge draw for the WWE, that's why he got so silly as they didn't know what else to do with him. No offense but I'm speaking objectively I think you may be a fan and that's fine. I'm simply saying he didn't fair too well in the WWE, you can't name me one stretch of time in WWE where he was consistently in the main event. He's faced almost all of the big names, Brock, H, Rock, Taker, Kane and others, still doesn't make him a main eventer, that's my point
Sid Vicious was one of the big money drawers for WcW and why hes been main eventing so much
I have too agree with that letting wrestlers 1st book their own matches and then pay them more than some were actual worth.
Eric Bishoff AWE promo commentator who some how was given the opportunity too head what was the biggest Threat Compention too WWF / WWE screw it up.
Ric Flair Dusty Rhodes Ricky Steamboat Arn Anderson Tully Blanchard Barry Windham Sting Vader the Steiners didn't draw?
Well they certainly were popular across North America.
Bishoff signs Brett Hart but doesn't utilize him or screwed him over because he actually knew how too wrestle ! Didn't need a gimmick
Seems like Conrad was kinda on the fence and sorta in Eric’s favor at points. 😆 Gotta stick up for your man, the nature boy.
Damn it’s gonna be one hellish Christmas at the Conrad house
It was alot of bitterness behind the scenes in the entire wrestling industry. I'm surprised with all the politics, backstabbing, drug usage throughout etc...that we got any great matches during, especially the 80's, 90's. Another childhood thing I grew up believing was all lies. But I'm glad I didn't have the internet back then to expose all we know now. Not just about wrestling but all other forms of entertainment as well.
The Horsemen didn’t draw money on a national level, but that was true of anyone who was not in WWF because WWF was the first national US promotion. Before that, anyone who ever drew money did so in a specific region. In Flair’s case, I believe he was in a draw in various territories across the US. Bischoff’s comparison is solely based on WCW’s bottom line from 1988 to 1995; however, if you were to add up the gross revenue from the territories he popped during the Crockett years, the comparison would probably look much different.
As to why Flair didn’t draw from ‘88 to ‘94, that was for the same reason that Hogan didn’t draw from ‘99 to ‘01. Bad booking.