Forming in 1985 and most commonly featuring Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, and various friends, The Four Horsemen are considered one of the greatest heel stables of all time. They were the top bad guys of the National Wrestling Alliance and World Championship Wrestling as they feuded with babyfaces like Dusty Rhodes and Sting.

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Over the years, however, the Horsemen would break up and reform, sometimes working as heels and sometimes surprisingly working as faces -- even if oftentimes their face-runs would lead to a severe betrayal. They’ve racked up quite a history of treachery, but they’ve done some heroic stuff, too, so let’s take a look at both.

10 Heroic: Reforming With Sting To Fight J-Tex

Four Horsemen and Sting

The Four Horsemen broke up for the first time in 1989 but ended up reforming later in the year under surprising circumstances. Composed of Flair, the Andersons, and -- shockingly -- Sting, the Horsemen were now babyfaces and were engaged in a feud with the J-Tex Corporation, a heel stable headlined by Terry Funk and The Great Muta and managed by Gary Hart. It was a great feud, too, as Flair would put on classic matches with Funk, and Sting would do the same with Muta.

9 Treacherous: Breaking Dusty’s Ankle

Four Horsemen break Dusty Rhodes' ankle

As stated, The Four Horsemen live for treachery, so it should be no surprise that their very founding was the result of betrayal. It happened in late 1985, in the aftermath of a cage match where Dusty Rhodes would try to save Ric Flair from a beatdown at the hands of the Koloffs. Ric Flair would immediately turn on Dusty, and The American Dream would receive a beatdown from Flair as well as Arn and Ole Anderson, breaking Dusty’s leg in the process. Soon after, Arn Anderson would compare his new group to The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and their name was set.

8 Heroic: Taking On The nWo

nWo mock Four Horsemen

World Championship Wrestling in the mid-to-late 1990s was a tumultuous time, as the New World Order was staging an invasion of the promotion and regularly beating down the stars of WCW. With the nWo as the new dominant heel faction, there needed to be a strong babyface team to effectively challenge Hollywood Hogan and his gang.

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This situation resulted in The Four Horsemen -- then composed of Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Steve “Mongo” McMichael, and Chris Benoit -- having a face turn. It was a great idea, too. After all, WCW, was their place to beat up whoever they pleased, not Hulk Hogan and his flunkies.

7 Treacherous: Breaking Dusty’s Arm

Four Horsemen break Dusty Rhodes' arm

In 1986, Dusty Rhodes -- not satisfied just having his ankle broken by the Horsemen -- decided to stage an attack on Tully Blanchard, kicking off a feud leading to a Starrcade ‘86 match for Rhodes’ TV Title. In the process, Dusty performed Ric Flair’s own signature move, the Figure Four Leglock, on Tully, which Flair did not take kindly to. In response, the Four Horsemen tracked down Dusty and beat him up in a parking lot, breaking his arm and filming the attack with a video camera the whole time.

6 Heroic: Fall Brawl ‘96

Four Horsemen vs. nWo at Fall Brawl 1996

The Four Horsemen’s feud with the nWo led to one of their most valiant efforts. At 1996’s Fall Brawl, Ric Flair and Arn Anderson teamed with Sting and Lex Luger against the New World Order in a WarGames match. What’s surprising is that the Horsemen-centric team quickly became outnumbered underdogs once Sting ditched the group, sick of having his loyalties questioned. The heroes would lose when Luger would tap out to nWo Sting, of all people, but it was a solid effort.

5 Treacherous: Kicking Out Ole Anderson

Four Horsemen

At the aforementioned Starrcade ‘86, Ole Anderson got on the rest of the group’s bad side for his part in the Andersons' Tag Title loss. What’s worse, Lex Luger was hanging around the boys, hoping to get a spot in the group. After a few months, they got fed up and kicked Ole out, replacing him with Luger. If that weren’t insulting enough, eventually they’d kick out Luger, too. However, his replacement would be Barry Windham, an addition to the group that would become the best incarnation of the Four Horsemen in many fans’ eyes.

4 Heroic: Letting Jeff Jarrett Into The Group

Jeff Jarrett joins Four Horsemen

The Four Horsemen had made such an impact during the late 1980s in NWA/WCW that by the late 1990s, the name had prestige to it. It could count in its ranks not only top heels but objectively great wrestlers and performers, amidst some duds.

RELATED: The 10 Worst Wrestlers To Be Part Of Great Stables

Speaking of duds, Jeff Jarrett moseyed into WCW and started eying a spot in The Four Horsemen. Ric Flair was cool with it and let him in, even though the other guys in the group were decidedly against it. Being nice to Jeff Jarrett is decidedly a babyface move.

3 Treacherous: Betraying Sting The First Time

Four Horsemen betray Sting at Clash of the Champions X

As babyfaces, Sting and The Horsemen were going strong in their feud with J-Tex Corporation, putting on great matches and getting set for a six-man cage match against the group at 1990’s Clash of the Champions X. However, The Horsemen turned on Sting for a reason possibly even pettier than “Dusty Rhodes used my move”: Sting simply expressed a desire to challenge Ric Flair for the NWA World Title. The boys turned heel once more, kicking Sting out, and defeated J-Tex themselves.

2 Heroic: Not Beating Up Jeff Jarrett On His Way Out

Jeff Jarrett vs. Chris Benoit

While he was in the group, Jeff Jarrett spent much of his time feuding with fellow Horseman Steve “Mongo” McMichael over Mongo’s own wife, Debra. The result is a storyline that felt like it lasted forever as in-ring miscommunications and overt attempts at wife-stealing eventually come to a head and the Horsemen finally kicked Jarrett out. What’s surprising about this development is that they just banished the dude. They didn’t beat him up on his way out the way they had pretty much everyone else who went through the group. Maybe it would have been different if he was wearing colorful surfboard-inspired face paint.

1 Treacherous: Betraying Sting To Reform

Halloween Havoc 1995

In the aftermath of a feud with Big Van Vader in 1995, Arn Anderson got sick of doing all the heavy lifting for Ric Flair, and the two Horsemen found themselves feuding with one another. Flair asked Sting for his help in fighting off Anderson and Brian Pillman, but at the ensuing tag match at Halloween Havoc in 1995, Flair once again turned on Sting. From there, with the addition of Chris Benoit, a new incarnation of The Four Horsemen was born.

NEXT: Four Horsemen: The 5 Best (& 5 Worst) Members