Wrestlemania IV (Written By: Maurice D. Proffit)

Wrestlemania 4

 
Date: March 27th, 1988
Cities: Atlantic City, New Jersey
Venue: Trump Plaza
Combined Attendance: 18,165
Sub-Theme: “What The World Is Watching”
Celebrities: Bob Uecker; Vanna White, Donald Trump, Gladys Knight and Robin Leach
 
 
 Riding the white hot story that the world has been captivated on, Wrestlemania 4 is built on the controversy surrounding the World Wrestling Federation Championship. At the 1988 Royal Rumble (First Royal Rumble) in January, then world champion Hulk Hogan signed a contract to face Andre The Giant in what was to be the rematch of the century, taking place at the first ever “The Main Event” which would take place the next month. The match ended in a screw job finish involving a twin referee who was not an official WWF ref. Andre won the WWF Championship, but only held the belt for a little over 40 seconds as he sold the championship to The Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase. Due to the confusion and controversy, then “President” Jack Tunney vacated the title and declared a 14 man tournament to take place at Wrestlemania 4.
 
Wrestlemania 4 was a loaded PPV card. From the make of the card, you saw just about everything happen in this one event. The PPV started off with a 20 man battle royal. Usually the wrestlemania battle royal is common, but when you have a full 14 man single elimination tournament  in the same night, quite an eyebrow raiser. Bad News Brown went on to win the battle royal, but Bret “The Hitman” Hart smashing the winning trophy awarded to Bad News, was the highlight of this match and the beginning of a strong and prosperous face run for both The Hitman and his partner Jim The Anvil Neidhart (The Hart Foundation).
 
Wrestlemania also saw some isolated matches (from the tournament) one of them being Demolition vs Strike Force (champions) for the WWF Tag Team Championship, and Demolitions wins.
 
One thing that was painfully noticeable was the pack of Donald Trump and his associates encompassing the first 3-4 rows at ringside. Makes sense, of course, it’s your building, you should be at ringside. But, for the wrestling fan sitting at home watching this (wishing he/she was there). Kind of annoying when you see them either not paying attention to the show or just leaving their seats for an obscene amount of time. I know it’s not first world problems, but just wanted to say that.
 
The tournament involved Hulk Hogan, Andre “The Giant”, “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan, “The Million Dollar” Man Ted DiBiase, “The Rock” Don Muraco, Dino Bravo, Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, Greg “The Hammer” Valentine, Randy “Macho Man” Savage, “The Natural” Butch Reed, Bam Bam Bigelow, The One Man Gang, Jake “The Snake” Roberts and “Ravishing” Rick Rude.
 
The tournament’s finals was “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase vs “Macho Man” Randy Savage. This was Savage’s 4th match, and due to a bye in the 2nd round, this was Dibiase’s 3rd match of the night. Due to their recent “business relationship” DiBiase has Andre The Giant at ringside in his corner, and realizing that Savage couldn’t do much with Elizabeth in his, Savage ordered Liz to get the equalizaer for this match…Hulk Hogan. Evening out the odds, Hogan made sure that the outcome would be clear and clean, and with one flying elbow drop later, the world witnessed The Macho Man Randy Savage as the new and undisputed World Wrestling Federation Champion.

 
 
Match Card
 
– Bad News Brown defeated nineteen other participants by last eliminating Bret Hart in the 20 man over the top rope battle royal.
 
– Ted DiBiase (with Virgil and André the Giant) defeated Jim Duggan
 
– Don Muraco (with Billy Graham) defeated Dino Bravo (with Frenchy Martin) by disqualification
 
– Greg Valentine (with Jimmy Hart) defeated Ricky Steamboat (with Little Dragon).
 
– Randy Savage (with Miss Elizabeth) defeated Butch Reed (with Slick).
 
– One Man Gang (with Slick) defeated Bam Bam Bigelow (with Oliver Humperdink) by countout
 
– Rick Rude (with Bobby Heenan) and Jake Roberts fought to a time-limit draw
 
– The Ultimate Warrior defeated Hercules (with Bobby Heenan)
 
– Hulk Hogan and André the Giant (with Ted DiBiase and Virgil) fought to a double disqualification
 
– Ted DiBiase defeated Don Muraco (with Billy Graham).[
 
 
– Randy Savage (with Miss Elizabeth) defeated Greg Valentine (with Jimmy Hart).
 
– Brutus Beefcake defeated The Honky Tonk Man (c) (with Jimmy Hart and Peggy Sue) by disqualification
 
– The Islanders (Haku and Tama) and Bobby Heenan defeated The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith and The Dynamite Kid) and Koko B. Ware
 
– Randy Savage (with Miss Elizabeth) defeated One Man Gang (with Slick) by disqualification.[
 
– Demolition (Ax and Smash) (with Mr. Fuji) defeated Strike Force (c) (Rick Martel and Tito Santana).
 
– Randy Savage (with Miss Elizabeth and Hulk Hogan) defeated Ted DiBiase (with André the Giant).