Evolution of Excellence: The ever-changing line up of the Four Horsemen

Luger's out, Barry's in

The Horsemen with Barry Windham. Was this their strongest lineup?

Egos often get in the way of wrestling factions, and this was no exception.

Because Dillon's cheating attempts to help Luger win backfired, and caused Lex the US title, he had heat with the Horsemen's manager. That heat got even worse when Luger didn't allow JJ Dillon to win the Bunkhouse Stampede, a precursor to the Royal Rumble match.

Luger would split from the Horsemen, and team up with a young second-generation star named Barry Whindam. Luger and Windham even won the tag gold off of Tully and Arn, and all seemed well.

Then Barry turned on Lex and joined the Horsemen as his replacement. It was a swerve no one saw coming and enraged the fans so much that Tully Blanchard would be threatened by a knife-wielding fan at a tavern later that evening.

With the addition of Windham, the Horsemen were once again one and all master technical wrestlers. During this era, they held every major title in the NWA save the TV strap, which was around the waist of Mike Rotunda.

Many call this the strongest Horsemen line up, and the most iconic even though they were not the first.