Nature Boy Ric Flair is considered one of the best wrestlers to ever step into a ring. He is the GOAT in many conversations and is on almost every Mount Rushmore, regardless of who the other three faces might be. Flair also served in two of the best and most successful factions in wrestling history in The Four Horsemen in WCW and Evolution in WWE.
For many years, when people talked about the best factions in wrestling history, everyone mentioned The Four Horsemen as one of the tops. However, with DX and the nWo the LeBron James to the Horsemen's Michael Jordan, Evolution has made its case for inclusion as well. Regardless, Flair can say he was in two of the best factions that ever competed in professional wrestling.
10 Four Horsemen - Building The Babyfaces
The Four Horsemen were a classic territories heel faction. They were thugs and bullies and pushed around the babyfaces continuously. However, they existed for the reason that the best heels exist in professional wrestling. The Four Horsemen were there to put over the babyfaces and turn them into stars.
Magnum T.A., "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, The Rock N Roll Express, Sting, Barry Windham, and Lex Luger are examples of wrestlers who became stars while working with the Four Horsemen.
9 Evolution - Flair Working As A Mentor
By the time that Nature Boy Ric Flair moved on to WWE in the 2000s and joined Evolution, he was far removed from his days as a 16-time world champion. It was time to start building up the stars within Evolution, which was what the name was all about.
Triple H was already a star, who credited his status to learning from Flair. However, the other two members were newcomers in Randy Orton and Batista, and it was here that he helped mentor both men and turn them into stars.
8 Four Horsemen - The Best Feuds
Looking at Evolution, it is hard to think of great feuds until their reunion when they battled The Shield. It was really all about Triple H being world champion and the feuds that resulted when Evolution broke up over time.
However, the Four Horsemen had amazing feuds with Dusty Rhodes, Magnum T.A., Sting, and Hulk Hogan and the nWo. War Games exists because The Four Horsemen had the hottest rivalries in professional wrestling. They are legendary because of their feuds.
7 Evolution - An Updated Better Horsemen
The Four Horsemen were a group that existed to help protect Ric Flair in his long reigns as the NWA World Champion. However, they were also great in the tag team scene, with the Andersons and later Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard also having great solo title reigns with people other than Flair.
When Evolution debuted, it was the same as they protected Triple H, had a great tag team in Ric Flair and Batista, and Randy Orton was the star of the future. It was an updated Horsemen, and while some old school fans might reject this, they were a better updated Four Horsemen with a better lineup of stars.
6 Four Horsemen - It Was All About Flair
When looking at Nature Boy Ric Flair's involvement in both groups, it is glaringly obvious that The Four Horsemen was easily his best stable because he was the star of the show. Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson were great, but they were never there to outshine Flair.
It was his show, and they were the supporting characters. In Evolution, it was all about Triple H, and both Batista and Orton were the young stars. Flair was the least important member of the entire stable.
5 Evolution - It Was All About The Future
The Four Horsemen lived in the day. They were superstars and owned the NWA for many years. They lived the gimmick and were stars like no other. However, Ole Anderson was close to retirement age. Tully was technically sound but was a territories star in the NWA. Arn Anderson was an everyman, and Flair was a champion nearing 40.
Evolution was all about building the future of the sport. Orton and Batista were future champions, and this was a group building for the future of the business, making them more important in the long run.
4 Four Horsemen - They Owned The Titles
When the Four Horsemen were at the top of the NWA, they owned the company. Ric Flair was an NWA World Champion for 3,116 days. He was a WCW World Champion for another 505 days. Tully Blanchard held three mid-card titles and two sets of tag team titles. Arn Anderson was a multi-time tag team champion.
That was complete dominance. As for Evolution, Triple H was the world champion. When Randy Orton won the world title, they kicked him out. When Batista wanted the world title, he quit. Evolution was volatile, but the Four Horsemen worked as a well-oiled unit and owned the titles as a result. Evolution's time where everyone held gold was short-lived for a reason.
3 Evolution - Flair's Work With Batista
Ric Flair didn't do much when he was part of Evolution other than standing around and acting like a legend. He interfered when needed and was a good teammate. However, he had one point of his run with Evolution where he was at his best.
Flair and Batista, the rawest, least experienced member of the group, became a tag team and won the WWE Tag Team Titles. It was fun, with the monster Batista working with a man he clearly idolized in Flair. They covered up each other weaknesses, and Flair served as the perfect mentor, helping turn Batista into a true main event player.
2 Four Horsemen - Flair Was At His Best
There was no one better in the world than Nature Boy Ric Flair when he was in The Four Horsemen. At the time, fans would argue endlessly about who was better between the NWA's Ric Flair and WWE's Hulk Hogan. It was disappointing that Hogan and Flair never had a real feud in WWE, but then again, WWE would have fed Flair to Hogan.
Flair won world titles and dominated the entire NWA in the Four Horsemen, and that was when he became one of the GOATs of professional wrestling. He could put on great matches with anyone he stepped into the ring with.
1 Evolution - 50 World Titles
If someone wants to look at factions and see which was better, look for which one won more world titles. Ric Flair has won 16 world titles in his career. Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, and Ole Anderson never held one. Other Horsemen members were short-lived, so it isn't really fair to count them.
However, on the other hand, when Randy Orton won his most recent world title, the number of world titles for Evolution was at 50. Flair had 16, Triple H and Orton with 14 each, and Batista with six. Every member of Evolution was a multi-time world champion, making them the best of all-time.