When pro wrestling fans think of the partnerships Ric Flair struck up over his career, the first group they think of is The Four Horsemen. WWE-only, or newer fans, might bring Evolution as well, and Flair also made a splash with The Magnificent Seven and even Team Package in late stage WCW, and some more stalwart fans might feel compelled to bring up The Alliance To End Hulkamania.

Related: The Alliance To End Hulkamania Is One Of WCW's Worst Ideas EverMeanwhile fans of Impact Wrestling might introduce Immortal or Fourtune to the conversation. Hardly anyone talks about The Big Three, though. That’s fair given the group had such a short and ultimately ineffectual run together. Nonetheless, a group involving The Nature Boy, Arn Anderson, and no lesser third man than Big Van Vader is worth recalling.

Big Van Vader Banded Together With Ric Flair And Arn Anderson To Go Up Against The Mega Maniacs

WCW espoused a formula that had worked for WWE from the mid-1980s into the early 1990s of having the main event picture revolve around Hulk Hogan. Ric Flair was the first major heel to drop a title to The Hulkster, then chase him for the months to follow. After a detour to The Butcher and his Three Faces of Fear faction, Hogan shifted his attention for the next of his early WCW feuds to come against former WCW Champion Big Van Vader.

Vader struck up a partnership with Flair, when The Nature Boy returned from kayfabe retirement to target Hogan again and interjected himself in scenarios including a Strap Match between Hogan and Vader at Uncensored. Vader, Flair, and Arn Anderson announced themselves more formally on an episode of WCW Saturday Night, with Anderson in particular selling the idea that they were three stars who’d defined WCW, and who’d pose an insurmountable challenge for Hulkamania to overcome.

The Big Three Did Headline A WCW PPV

Out of the Big Three, Ric Flair and Big Van Vader were set to battle The Mega Maniacs, Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage at the Slamboree 1995 PPV. By that point in time, a tag team matching main eventing a major show felt a little flat for the lack of title stakes, not to mention the clear implication the rivalries that went into this matchup wouldn’t be totally resolved here.

Nonetheless, having all four men in the mix for the PPV main event did offer both star power and what was probably an objectively better match than Hogan vs. either of the heels one-on-one was going to be. Arn Anderson predictably interjected himself in the affair as well, culminating in an entertaining match to close an otherwise lackluster PPV. That’s not to mention that post-match theatrics involving The Macho Man’s father, Angelo Poffo, set up a Flair and Savage to rekindle a heated rivalry from WWE with a bout for the following month’s Great American Bash show.

The Big Three Quietly Dissolved And Were Overshadowed By A Horsemen Reunion

The main reasons The Big Three tends to be forgotten come down to how little time they teamed up and the degree to which their run felt anticlimactic. They were not successful in challenging Hogan, but rather wound up feuding with each other. First Big Van Vader edged toward a babyface turn that included him beating Ric Flair and Arn Anderson in a handicap main event match at Clash of the Champions XXXI that August. That gave way to Anderson and Flair splintering over their repeated failures together, resulting in a feud hardly any fans were clamoring for, but that nonetheless did deliver a very good match at Fall Brawl 1995.

Another reason The Big Three get overlooked is that they were overshadowed by two developments that were ultimately more important to the WCW landscape. Vader abruptly left the company, becoming one of the biggest stars of the era to never actually work a match on Nitro. Meanwhile, the Flair vs. Anderson feud gave way to them teaming back up to betray Sting and relaunch the Four Horsemen with Brian Pillman (later joined by Chris Benoit as well).

Related: Every Version Of The Four Horsemen, Ranked From Worst To BestThe Big Three didn't end up accomplishing much—an unfortunate swan song to Big Van Vader’s peak period in his career as a monster heel who twice reigned as WCW Champion, and more of a detour than a landmark period for Ric Flair and Arn Anderson’s intertwined stories. Just the same, for the caliber of talent involved and their main event ramifications—short-lived as they may have been—the faction is worth remembering.