WrestleMania IV

Legacy Review

WrestleMania IV

March 27, 1988 from the Trump Plaza and Casino (AKA The Historic Atlantic City Convention Hall) in Atlantic City, NJ

Commentary: Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura

The WWF Championship match between Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant at Wrestlemania III propelled WWF into the stratosphere, so it was only natural that the feud would continue. Hogan and Andre renewed acquaintances by captaining opposing teams at the first ever Survivor Series, then had their contract signing for a title rematch at the first ever Royal Rumble (which was just a regular TV special, not a PPV). The match took place on the first ever (did I mention the WWF boom period?) episode of The Main Event, which was just like Saturday Night's Main Event except it was on Friday night, and this initial one was broadcast live. In the background of all this was WWF newcomer "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase, who had initially attempted to buy the title from Hogan and had now allied himself with Andre. Incidentally, that match would also be the debut of the greatest wrestling title belt of all time, the Winged Eagle. The match ended in controversy, as referee Earl Hebner counted Hogan down even though his shoulder was clearly up. We soon discovered that it wasn't Earl Hebner at all, but his evil twin brother Dave, who had been bought off by DiBiase. The match result stood as called, making Andre an official champion. But Andre was more interested in finally beating Hogan than being champion, so he immediately gave the title away to DiBiase, who presumably paid him handsomely for it. Later on weekly TV, President Jack Tunney interjected, saying "You can't just give a title away to someone else! What do you think this is, 1999 WCW?". Tunney declared the title officially vacant and said there would be a one night, single elimination tournament at Wrestlemania IV to determine the undisputed champion. In deference to their status as former champions, Hogan and Andre would be automatically advanced to the second round. But, they would then have to face each other again one last time. Wonder if DiBiase got his money back?

Side fact, due to the shenanigans Andre holds by far the record for the shortest WWF/E Title reign in history, at least up until the Money in the Bank era, at right around 5 minutes.

Trump Plaza is one of the more visually interesting venues to host a show. The ceiling is pretty cool looking. The downside, however, is that ugly ass yellow carpet that's all over the floor. When I was a kid whenever I thought about this show all I could picture was the ugly yellow carpet.

20 Man Invitational Battle Royale- This is your typical "get everyone not booked on the rest of the card a payday" battle royale, filled with tag teams and midcarders going mostly nowhere. Bob Uecker is also on commentary for this one. Two referees carry the trophy that'll be awarded to the winner ahead of the wrestler entrances. That's a nice trophy. Be a shame if something happened to it. Everyone gets introduced by Fink in the ring. George "The Animal" Steele stays outside and refuses to get in after the match starts. Typical battle royale brawling here. Sam Houston and Sika get eliminated quickly. Uecker: "This is like cutdown day at the end of spring training!". Hah! Steele keeps messing with Neidhart. He finally reaches up and grabs Anvil's beard and pulls him out by it. The Rougeaus and Killer Bees eliminate 3 of their 4 team members in one go. Steele kind of wanders off and is quickly forgotten about, never having gotten into the ring. The final four are JYD, Paul Roma (part of the Young Stallions tag team at the time), Bret Hart and WWF newcomer Bad News Brown. Brown dumps Roma in short order. JYD initially fights the heels off, but they soon take control and team up to dump him out. Bret and Brown celebrate while commentary wonders if they'll just split the purse. Brown, however, isn't interested in sharing with anyone and nails Bret from behind with the Ghetto Blaster. Bret takes a Bret Bump and Brown tosses him out to win. Once Bret recovers he jumps Brown back from behind and in grand wrestling tradition destroys the trophy to a huge ovation. This was the first of many attempts to transition Bret into singles wrestling. Though it would be a few more years before it stuck, this was the start of the Hart Foundation's face turn. Brown would also be positioned as a top heel, getting house show loop title feuds with both Savage and Hogan the following couple of years. * 

First Round Match: "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase (w/Virgil and Andre the Giant) def "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan in 4:54- These guys had one of the biggest feuds in Mid-South history before coming to WWF and knew each other very well. Commentary is surprised Andre is out with DiBiase. DiBiase tries to brawl with Duggan but loses badly. The referee for this match is shouting *everything* at the top of his lungs. He's like an actor trying to reach the cheap seats. Why? Duggan hits a sunset flip, which stuns Ventura solid that he actually performed a wrestling move. DiBiase is selling like a champ on everything. Duggan goes for the football tackle but Andre grabs his ankle and pulls him down. While Duggan is jawjacking with him DiBiase hits him from behind and gets the pin. Not bad for the time they got. They kept the pace up nicely. *3/4 

First Round Match: "The Rock" Don Muraco (w/Superstar Billy Graham) def Dino Bravo (w/Frenchy Martin) by DQ in 4:53- My hopes are not high here. Power game to start. Muraco goes for a springboard splash off the 2nd rope but slips and drops down into a pin attempt. Ugly. Bravo is the weirdest seller I've ever seen. Every time he's on his back all I see is a turtle trying to get back up. Bravo misses a kneelift in the corner and Muraco goes to work on it. Bravo pushes Muraco out of a spinning toe hold and Muraco gets hung by his neck in the ropes. Double clothesline. Ref bump! Bravo hits his side suplex finisher ("SIDEWALK SLAM!" ....Shut up Tony, you're not even on this show!) but the ref refuses to count and calls for the bell. He DQ's Bravo for pulling him into Muraco's way. Dumb finish, but the match was about as good as you could expect from these guys. * 

First Round Match: Greg "The Hammer" Valentine (w/Jimmy Hart) def Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat in 9:12- Steamboat brings a six month old Richie Steamboat to the ring with him. Ventura: "If he gets in trouble will he tag out to the kid?". Steamboat turns on the jets early and Valentine can't keep up. DEEP armdrag and a nice hook kick. Steamboat starts going for quick pins Wrestlemania 3 style. Valentine weathers the storm, takes over and slows things back down. Monsoon gets his "external occipital protuberance" line in, which drives Ventura nuts. Steamboat fights out of a couple of figure four attempts. Chop fest! These guys could bring the stiff hands. Valentine was so good at that slow "tree timber" like fall, and just about every bump he takes in this match is that. Steamboat goes for the crossbody off the top but Valentine reverses it and grabs a handful of tights to win. Word on the street is Steamboat wanted to win this match and have a rematch with Savage in the second round, both to put on another classic and to give Savage his win back. WWF management was worried that the fans would get behind Steamboat when this was supposed to be Savage's big night and nixed the idea. Steamboat would be out of WWF almost immediately after this and take some time off before rejoining NWA/Crockett/WCW in early '89 to have his legendary trilogy of matches with Ric Flair. **1/2 

First Round Match: "Macho Man" Randy Savage (w/Elizabeth) def "The Natural" Butch Reed (w/Slick) in 5:07- Your Ring Gearhead crew will be keeping track of Savage's gear changes all night long. For match one we have a blue robe, purple trunks and yellow boots, with a blue dress for Elizabeth. They both play to the crowd a bit before diving in. Reed's power game quickly takes over, cutting off all of Savage's comeback attempts. Reed goes up top but starts jawing at Elizabeth, allowing Savage to throw him off the top, run to the other corner, and hit the elbow to win. Paint by numbers face Savage match, with too much Reed to be any good. Savage was warming up for a long night. 3/4* 

First Round Match: One Man Gang (w/Slick) def Bam Bam Bigelow (w/Oliver Humperdink) by countout in 2:56- Hometownish pop for Bigelow. OMG attacks from behind right at the bell. We'll call it a .5 Suzuki-Gun. Shouty Ref is back, but fortunately not saying as much as his last match. It's superheavyweight vs superheavyweight so they do a lot of superheavyweight things. Bigelow gets to show off a bit of his agility but not a lot. Bigelow was an impressively agile big guy but he's not quite peak Big Boss Man or Vader agile. Slick pulls the top rope down to send Bigelow crashing to the floor. Bigelow gets back up on the apron, knocks OMG out of the way and gets back in, but Shouty Ref says it was 10 anyway and rings the bell. Next. 1/4*

Hogan promo time. It starts out normal but soon goes completely off the rails as Hogan talks about bodyslamming Andre causing a fault line break from New York to Tampa and everything is going to fall into the ocean. This is a mass casualty event we're talking about here. He also talks about Donald Trump being a Hulkamaniac and giving up his material possessions while he's hanging on for dear life from the top of Trump Plaza with his family dangling under his arm so Hogan can save him and four years ago I probably could have made a pretty good joke out of all that but now I'm not touching it with a 24 inch python pole. 

First Round Match: Jake "The Snake" Roberts and "Ravishing" Rick Rude (w/Bobby Heenan) go to a 15:00 time limit draw- During his regular prematch routine Rude says that "the odds are in my favorite". New slogan from the Capitol: May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favorite. Bodyslam tradeoff to start. Roberts works the arm and Rude sells it like he's ripping his arm off. We get the usual early DDT tease to get the crowd going. After that Rude takes control, and what follows the next 5 minutes is a series of chinlocks so epic it makes 2006 Randy Orton think it's a little excessive. There's a bit of other stuff between each one, but all total it's four distinct, separate chinlocks. Both Heenan and commentary get antsy that Rude is wasting too much time with the short time limit, and there's audible shouts of "BORING" from the crowd. After getting out of the last one Roberts rolls through his signature stuff, including the shoulder slap punches and the short clothesline. Rude counters another DDT attempt. Double clothesline! Rude goes for a leverage pin with his foot on the ropes, but the bell rings and we have a draw. The match was lacking the time limit countdown that you would get in NWA/WCW back then, or NJPW today, that would have helped build the tension up more. As it is the bell comes out of complete nowhere. But that being said, this viewing I found this match to be better than its reputation. It's not anywhere near great, but I've seen worse draws. If it had been two or three years later a more experienced Rude would have done more with his time. The draw means One Man Gang gets a bye into the semifinals. ** 

The Ultimate Warrior def Hercules (w/Bobby Heenan) in 4:29- This is Warrior's PPV debut. He'd been on WWF TV since the previous fall, mostly squashing jobbers, though he did already have a loss to future rival Rude. This was his first real feud with any kind of story. He and Herc had a match on Wrestling Challenge where Herc got DQ'd for using the chain. Warrior tried to grab the chain from Herc and in the ensuing tug of war the chain broke. They have a shoulderblock standoff to start, then a long, rough lockup. Herc takes three clotheslines to drop Warrior, but Warrior pops back up and clotheslines Herc down. Warrior tries to drop Herc across the top rope but misses. There's a weird spot where Warrior has Herc in the corner and goes up to do the 10 punches spot. After five Herc grabs Warrior like he's going to do an inverted atomic drop counter, but Warrior keeps punching. After the full 10, then Herc picks him up and hits the inverted atomic drop. Herc looks displeased, and not in a selling way. Maybe I'm reading too much into it. Warrior was notoriously difficult to work with early in his career. Herc slaps on the full nelson, but Warrior uses the top turnbuckle to do the flip over. All four shoulders are down, but Warrior gets his up before the 3 to win. Herc celebrates like he won until the announcement, then tries to choke Warrior out with the chain. Not really the best booking. Should have just done another Warrior squash and moved on. 1/2*

Intermission time, which once again has sadly been completely cut from the WWE Network version. The only surviving piece is the video recap of the Hogan/Andre & DiBiase feud.

Second Round Match: Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant (w/Ted DiBiase and Virgil) go to a double DQ in 5:22- The rematch of the rematch of the match of the century. As Hogan runs and slides into the ring Andre attacks him. Hogan manages to fight him off. DiBiase gets on the apron and Hogan gives them the ol' double noggin knocker. Andre does his favorite spot: getting tied up in the ropes. That lets Hogan finally do the shirt tear. Andre takes back over and goes through his punches, chops, sit down squashes and chokes. Wait, it's not a choke, it's the Nerve Pinch of Excruciating Pain +1. Hogan fights out and hits some clotheslines. He goes to slam Andre, but Virgil jumps up to distract the ref and DiBiase nails him in the back with a chair. Hogan no sells it and steals the chair. He and Andre fight over the chair and take turns hitting each other with it, and the ref calls for the bell. Hogan chases DiBiase and Virgil back up the ramp. DiBiase sacrifices Virgil so he can get away. Not exactly a satisfying match or result, but in context of the whole tournament it's fairly smart booking. Most people were expecting Hogan to walk away with the title and restore normalcy. Now, the whole thing has been blown wide open and anyone could win it. 1/2*

After the match Hogan still does his full 5+ minute victory celebration and posedown. Um, Hulk, could you maybe not just this one time? We've got 16 matches to get through here and no WWE Network to let us go until 1 AM if we want. Besides, it's not like you won anything.

Second Round Match: "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase def "The Rock" Don Muraco (w/Superstar Billy Graham) in 5:44- After the Hogan/Andre double DQ this match is now for a birth in the final. DiBiase is out by himself. Muraco jumps DiBiase on the apron and headbutts him into the turnbuckles. Muraco hits the power moves and beats DiBiase all over the ring. DiBiase finally rolls out to try to recover but Graham threatens him with his cane. DiBiase slinghots Muraco into the buckle to take control. Oh, here's Shouty Ref again. He's not just Shouty, he's Angry too. The way he looks he kind of reminds me of Harry Cooper from Night of the Living Dead. He came out of that basement pissed off and he's going to stay pissed off dammit. (By the way, Night of the Living Dead is one of Rifftrax's most underrated live shows. Check it out if you haven't. Movie's really all about carpentry, don't you know.) DiBiase hits a hot shot and gets a clean pin to advance. *3/4

One Man Gang is in the ring to accept his bye into the semifinals.

Second Round Match: "Macho Man" Randy Savage (w/Elizabeth) def Greg "The Hammer" Valentine (w/Jimmy Hart) in 6:06- Ring Gearhead update: A really spiffy and unique pastel colored robe with white trim, red trunks and yellow boots for Savage. Pink dress for Elizabeth. Some back and forth to start. Valentine takes a Bret Bump. Valentine goes on offense for a long while with his signature elbows. He throws Savage outside, gives him some stiff chops and a guardrail shot. Savage fights off a figure four attempt and finally says enough of this, he's been doing nothing but selling for almost two straight matches, and takes over at about 100 MPH. Hart interferes and Valentine catches Savage off the top rope. Another figure four attempt, but Savage rolls it into a Paul Smackage to win. **1/4 

WWF Intercontinental Championship: Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake def The Honky Tonk Man (c) (w/Jimmy Hart and Peggy Sue) by DQ in 6:30- Peggy Sue is Sensational Sherri in a blonde wig. Ventura: "Honky's not the most talented but he makes up for it in luck". Backhand insults FTW. Beefcake his a yuge atomic drop, musses up Honky's hair and Honky takes a powder. A missed elbow swings things in Honky's favor. He does some basic stuff, then goes for the Shake, Rattle & Roll but Beefcake grabs the rope to block it. Beefcake sleeper! As Honky's going out Hart hits the ref in the back of the head with the megaphone. Beefcake decides screw it, I wanted to cut hair more anyway. He goes for his bag but Hart steals it. Beefcake chases him down and cuts his hair. While this is going on, two refs are in the ring trying to revive the original ref and Peggy Sue is trying to revive Honky. Yup, match is still going on. Peggy Sue dumps a pitcher of water on Honky to wake him up. Beefcake runs in with the TITANIUN STEEL BLADES but the replacement refs stop him. The bell never rang, but the heels are leaving and Fink announces Beefcake wins by DQ. That's some WCW level of organization there. If you've seen one Honky Tonk IC title defense you've seen them all. *1/4

Famous backstage promo where Bob Uecker gurns for the camera while Andre chokes him.

The Islanders & Bobby Heenan def The British Bulldogs & Koko B Ware in 7:30- This was set up by The Islanders and Heenan temporarily dognapping the Bulldogs' mascot Matilda. Koko is in it because Heenan suddenly decided he hated any animals at ringside and had a go at Frankie too. Heenan is dressed up in a dog trainer's outfit, complete with jacket and "bite proof" padded pants. Heenan runs from Matilda during the entrances and makes a pretty impressive leap out of the ring. Heenan was shockingly agile. There's still a huge wet spot in the ring from the previous match. It wasn't Matilda. Dynamite flips Tama in using the top rope to get things going. Davey Boy and Haku do a double crossbody. Koko does a nice rolling headlock/headscissors combo on both Islanders. Kind of a reverse Magic Killer except the guy on top is the one on offense. Haku beats Dynamite down and tags Heenan in. Heenan gets some punches and kicks in but bails as soon as Dynamite hits him once. Heenan gets in again with Koko and he and Koko go 50/50 with each other. Sounds about right. Heenan takes a Bret Bump. DONNYBROOK! The Islanders pick Heenan up and splash him down on Koko to get the win. Hall of Famer Koko B Ware loses yet another TV match. Afterward the Bulldogs try to get Matilda to "attack" Heenan on the ramp but all she wants is to play. Everyone sells it anyway. **

DiBiase is in the ring to accept his bye. I can imagine his exchange with the ref: "How much for the bye?" "Mr. DiBiase, you earned it." "But I haven't paid for it yet." "You don't have to, you earned it." "What do you mean?" "........That'll be $100." "Here you go. Everybody's got a price!" 

Semifinal Match: "Macho Man" Randy Savage (w/Elizabeth) def One Man Gang (w/Slick) in 4:05 by DQ- Ring Gearhead update: black and green robe, purple tights and yellow boots for Savage. Black dress for Elizabeth. Oh look, Harry Cooper is out of the basement again. Someone must have told him there's a TV up here. Savage hits the jumping over the top clothesline but OMG soon takes over big guy style. Savage doges the 747 splash. Slick tries to run down Elizabeth. OMG attacks Savage with Slick's cane and gets DQ'd. That's three wins for Savage, but I wouldn't call any of them Savage showcase matches. 3/4*
 
WWF Tag Team Championship: Demolition (w/Mr. Fuji) def Strike Force (c) in 12:33- Strike Force's music is classic peppy '80s. Smash and Martel start, but it quickly breaks down into all four in the ring. Strike Force work quick tags on both Demos. Ax murders Santana with a double team clothesline and Santana goes face in peril. He gets out by nailing Ax with the flying quesadilla and gets the hot tag to Martel. Martel gets the Boston Crab on Smash, but the ref gets caught up in first Santana and Ax and then Santana and Fuji fighting, allowing Ax to nail Martel with Fuji's cane. Ax drapes Smash over Martel for the win. This was the first of Demolition's then-record 3 title wins. This is also the start of the reign that would last 478 days, a record that would stand for over 25 years before being broken by The New Day. The match was perfectly acceptable tag team wrestling. **3/4

Super special guest celebrity time. Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous host Robin Leach brings the beautiful and still brand new Winged Eagle belt to the ring. Bob Uecker is the guest ring announcer, Vanna White is the guest timekeeper. 

Finals of the Tournament for the Vacant WWF Championship: "Macho Man" Randy Savage (w/Elizabeth) def "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase (w/Andre the Giant) in 9:27-Ring Gearhead update: white and blue robe, red trunks and yellow boots for Savage. White dress for Elizabeth. Wrestling has quick costume changes too. Barely 10 seconds into the match Andre trips Savage. The crowd immediately starts chanting for Hogan. Less than a minute later Andre trips him again. Now the crowd is really chanting for Hogan. Back and forth for a bit. DiBiase confers with Andre. Despite the night's workload both guys are busting their tails. Savage in particular is turning the jets on every chance he gets. A high knee sends DiBiase flying outside. Savage signals Elizabeth to go to the back. The crowd's not fooled about what's going on, they're chanting for Hogan again. Yup, here he is. Hogan grabs a chair and parks it ringside. DiBiase looks psyched out. Andre tries to interfere again but Hogan runs over and punches him out. Savage gives DiBiase the Flair slam from the top rope, then goes for the elbow but misses. DiBiase hooks in the Million Dollar Dream. Andre reaches in to get involved again, and while the ref is busy with him Hogan whacks DiBiase in the back with his chair. Savage hits the elbow, 3 count, and Savage has won his first WWF Championship. Not too shabby considering the overbooking. I would have loved to see what these guys could do with a normal 20-30 minute WM main event without the tournament backdrop and interference. It would have been a classic. Does Hogan outshine Savage or take away from his win here? Maybe. The argument could be made. But they were already planning for Savage's heel turn and Hogan vs Savage at WM 5 so in that context it makes a bit more sense. ***

The Mega Powers celebrate to close the show. One last inside baseball footnote: word on the street (again) is that DiBiase was originally scheduled to win the title here and Savage would take it sometime later in the year (presumably the first Summerslam), but for whatever reason Vince got cold feet. DiBiase would stay a top heel his whole WWF career but would never sniff the title again.

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- One night tournaments never work as good in practice as they look on paper. The first round isn't too bad, but it becomes more and more of a slog as it goes on. The non-tournament part of the card falls into the "not awful, not great" category. Far from the best Wrestlemania, but Savage's coronation is a great moment.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: C-