What if Barry Windham wasn’t the fourth Horseman in 1988?

Since we’ve covered a lot of content about Barry Windham in 1988, I wondered what if they hadn’t booked Barry to turn on Lex Luger and become the fourth Horseman? While easily being the best in-ring version of the historic stable, what if Barry was allowed to continue as a babyface and someone else joined the group?  Barry and Lex were so over as a tag team in the short amount of time they were together, and putting Lex in that role would have disguised some of the in-ring limitations Lex had during this time. A longer run as the Twin Towers would have made Windham’s eventual heel turn even more meaningful. 

Here is a look at potential members to replace Windham in Spring 1988.

Larry Zbysko 

The addition makes sense on paper, particularly with what we would see from Larry and Arn Anderson as the Entorcers in 1991. Larry was strong in the ring and on the mic, although probably not on the level of the other three members in either area. He was essentially a midcard wrestler since arriving in JCP the previous summer, so I think you probably make him and Arn a team, and have Tully default back to being a singles guy. The problem I see with this scenario is that you’re right back to where the guys were slotted for the same promotion in 1986, except that Larry would be taking Ole’s place. You can argue you’re better off disbanding the group than putting that one back together if you’re essentially just running it back. 

Ron Garvin 

Garvin went heel later in 1988 anyway, and probably did need to be freshened up after the lackluster NWA world title reign. But as a Horseman? He was equally as out of place as Ole in the thirsty nightlife-loving Playboy club, but Ole had the promo skills to cover. As much as I personally love Ronnie Garvin, I’m not sure how believable this would have been, or that Ronnie Garvin could have been the number two singles heel in the company like Windham. If not, you have the same situation as Zbysko, with Tully likely being pushed at the same level again, and it feels too similar to what’s already been done. 

Nikita Koloff 

Nikita is an interesting name because of his history with Flair and the Horsemen, but even with some shock value, there’s no real good reason to do it. This was when Nikita’s first wife was getting very ill with Hodgkin’s Disease, and he was understandably not doing his best work. Hard pass here. 

The Midnight Express

Here is an interesting scenario, but what if Tully Blanchard amicably left with JJ to restart Tully Blanchard Enterprises (bought out of the Horsemen by Jim’s mom), and Cornette and the Midnights come in to unite with Arn and Flair as the new members of the group. It not only gives the group an even fresher coat of paint by changing 50% of the wrestlers, but also replaces JJ as the mouthpiece, giving the group an even better talker in JC. This would also allow Arn to be pushed as a singles wrestler after teaming with Ole and Tully primarily for almost three years. It feels like he still had a chance to break the stereotype of being more of a tag team guy, which he’d later earn. Arn likely wouldn’t have reached Windham’s ceiling, but a Cornette/Midnights act in the Horsemen also sounds like something that had potential to draw money at the house shows in a meaningful way. 

Dusty Rhodes 

This is the most controversial hypothetical of the lot, but probably the best in terms of adding someone to the three original members. While wrestling has changed so much since this time, one of the biggest changes is that big stars turn regularly. It would have been a monumental decision to turn someone at the level of the Dream on a national scale; it may have been the most effective option. Unlike Zbysko or Garvin, Dusty could have been an effective heel US champion, especially with a deep group of babyfaces like Luger, Sting, and Windham (since this would be done to keep him a babyface). They could even get some semi-interesting house show matches with Nikita and Ron Garvin. The promos would have been fire for sure since Dusty seemed more and more irritable as 1988 went along, as he was being cat-called by fans. Plus, there was the potential of a longer-term Flair babyface turn, which was where the company needed to be headed anyway.