By Mark Madden
In terms of gang warfare in wrestling, the torch may have been passed this past Monday Nitro. You saw it. Ric Flair, the former leader of the Four Horsemen, the most glorious group in pro grappling history, laid out in the corner of the ring while four young punks stole his rings, took his watch, swiped his shoes and picked his pockets. With all due respect to Flair, it was a little symbolic. If no one wants to give them an opportunity, the Filthy Animals are going to take it. Konnan, Kidman, Mysterio and Guerrero. It doesn't have the same ring that Flair, Anderson, Blanchard and Luger once did. That's OK. The Filthy Animals aren't your father's wrestling gang.
The Filthy Animals are veterans of the street, not veterans of the ring. They're used to fighting for their lives and for their money, not for title belts. Sure, all four have been champions in WCW, but they'd rather have green in their pockets than gold around their waists. Konnan and Mysterio are bad boys from the barrio. Guerrero grew up in El Paso, Texas, having to fight his famous wrestling brothers for every scrap. Kidman is from the mean streets of Allentown, Pa., where they're pulling all the coke from the ground and closing all the factories down, not that he cares. They don't fight fair. Two-on-one, three-on-one, four-on-one, it doesn't matter. The Filthy Animals operated in the shadows for a while, but now they're stepping to everybody in WCW. In a way, they're similar to the Horsemen. One for all, all for one. They glory in each other's accomplishments - witness the mob scene when Konnan and Rey won the tag belts Monday. They have Torrie Wilson, a woman as hot as any female the Horsemen ever had - probably hotter, to tell the truth.
The Filthy Animals have finally been given the ball to carry. Now let's see if they can run with it. It's easy to stage an assault attack during one Monday Nitro like the Filthy Animals did. Let's see if they can sustain that kind of chaos for a matter of weeks, months and years like the Horsemen. Let's see if the street-gang schtick lasts anywhere near as long as the Horsemen's opulent elegance. The Filthy Animals don't have anybody like Ric Flair. They don't have an individual champion to hang their hat on, an unquestioned leader, one of the sport's all-time greats. Maybe that's bad. But maybe it's good.
The Horsemen all made themselves subservient to Flair over the years. They kept Flair on top, not that he needed much help. But how much did the other Horsemen sacrifice while they aided Flair? How much did the other Horsemen hold their own careers back for the sake of the leader? The Filthy Animals don't seem to be like that. They appear to be true teammates. Or maybe cellmates. That's not to say the Filthy Animals don't have leadership. Konnan has certainly been up and down the wrestling block. Guerrero has wrestled around the globe and won everywhere. The Filthy Animals have talent, too. They have two ex-U.S. champions in Konnan and Guerrero. Guerrero was also a cruiserweight champ. Rey and Kidman were cruiserweight champs and they held the tag straps together, too. There's no denying the wrestling pedigree of these four guys, although they sometimes don't stop partying long enough to use their skills as effectively as possible.
And, as noted earlier, the Filthy Animals have Torrie. I can't believe she came to the ring nearly naked under that fur coat. What a tramp. What a harlot. I think I'm in love. The Filthy Animals, of course, must now deal with the dealer. Flair may have been lying down at the end of Nitro, but he certainly won't take what happened lying down. The Filthy Animals are still feuding with the suddenly short-handed Revolution, too. You saw how they menaced Shane Douglas, a virtual cripple after undergoing surgery to repair a torn biceps, while he did commentary on Nitro. You know what that reminded me of? It reminded me of a street gang terrorizing somebody in a wheelchair. Wait until Shane gets healthy. He'll comes after them with all guns blazing.
Hey, here's a thought: Douglas and Flair hate each other, right? Maybe they'll put that aside and team up to go after the Filthy Animals. Talk about irony. The Filthy Animals have definitely painted a target on themselves. But they don't care, as long as they get to be on TV. And given their choices - TNT Monday Nitro or America's Most Wanted - they're more than happy to do so via wrestling. The war isn't over. Fact is, it's just beginning. But the Filthy Animals are in the middle of it. Which is all they ever wanted.
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