Be My Valentine: How Greg ‘The Hammer’ Valentine Was Almost a Member of the Four Horsemen

Posted on July 17, 2019 by bdamage1

Brian Damage

In professional wrestling, there are a lot of could’ve, would’ve and should’ve that takes place behind the scenes. Sometimes plans are made and then suddenly and inexplicably are changed or never happen at all. One such instance occurred with the elite of the elite: the Four Horsemen. Oh sure, we have all known about the corner stones of the group like Ric Flair, Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard. We all know of the rotating members like Ole Anderson, Lex Luger and Barry Windham. We even heard about members that didn’t quite fit in with the group.

Still, all in all, the Four Horsemen were one of the greatest factions of all time. In their history, there have been a few could’ve, would’ve and should’ve moments. We once talked about how Kendall Windham was chosen to be a member, only for the group to dissolve a little while later and become the Yamazaki Corporation. During the group’s heyday, probably around 1988/1989, there were plans to add another member of the Horsemen, but it never came together.

Greg ‘The Hammer’ Valentine was a veteran of the squared circle who, at the time, was employed by the World Wrestling Federation. Valentine was not the happiest of WWF employees during this period. His partnership with friend Brutus Beefcake of the The Dream Team broke up and Valentine was partnered with Dino Bravo. The Hammer and Bravo formed ‘The New Dream Team,’ but was not as successful as the first incarnation. According to Valentine, there simply wasn’t any chemistry between the two of them.

The new Dream Team lost a few matches and Greg Valentine became miserable. After a loss to the Killer Bees at a house show, Valentine gathered his belongings and quit the WWF. Valentine got on the earliest flight he could and headed home. Word soon got out that Valentine had quit the company and a little while later, Jim Ross called. At the time, Ross was working for the NWA/WCW and made Valentine an offer to sign with them.

Valentine headed to Dallas, Texas to personally meet with Ross and the two talked about what plans the company had for him. According to Valentine, the offer was made for him to join the Four Horsemen. The idea was for the current Horsemen at that point Barry Windham to turn babyface and get kicked out of the group. Valentine would then be slotted into the faction to take Windham’s place.

Ric Flair and Valentine were good friends for years behind the scenes and upon the group’s suggestion, Greg was the perfect fit. Valentine insists that this angle was going to happen, but word got back to Vince McMahon. Vince personally called Valentine and the two talked for over five hours. McMahon convinced Valentine to stick with the WWF and turn down Jim Ross’ offer.

Years later, Valentine said that staying with the WWF was one of the worst business decisions he ever made. Valentine could’ve been a member of the Four Horsemen and would’ve become a bigger star in the process. It should’ve happened. Instead, according to Valentine himself, McMahon never lived up to the promises he had planned for him in the WWF. The rest is history.