WrestleMania IV
WrestleMania IV | |||
---|---|---|---|
Promotion World Wrestling Federation | | ||
Date | March 27, 1988 | ||
City | Atlantic City, New Jersey | ||
Venue | Boardwalk Hall (Promoted as Trump Plaza)[a] | ||
Attendance | 19,199 | ||
Tagline(s) | What the World is Watching! | ||
Pay-per-view chronology | |||
| |||
WrestleMania chronology | |||
|
WrestleMania IV was the fourth annual
The main event featured the finals of a one-night, 14-man single-elimination tournament for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship, in which Macho Man Randy Savage defeated "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase to win the vacant title. This marked the first WrestleMania that did not feature Hulk Hogan - regarded as the WWF's biggest star in the 1980s - as a participant in the main event (though he was at ringside in Savage's corner).
The
Contemporary critics gave the event a lukewarm reception, noting its extended length. Retrospective analysis, some by sociologists, noted the presentation of wrestler's interpersonal relationships how the event's sponsor, Donald Trump, used the event to craft his public persona.
Production
Background
Much of the promotion of the event featured the continued rivalry of
Storylines
André vs Hogan
The most heavily promoted
At
Shortly after being awarded the championship, André
Hogan formed an unlikely alliance with a former enemy and top challenger to his WWF World Heavyweight Championship,
Undercard
The Ultimate Warrior had debuted in the WWF in the fall of 1987, and his feud with Hercules was his first major angle, the two feuding over who was the stronger, gladiatorial-style superstar in the WWF. To further the angle, the two met in a match on WWF television, wherein Hercules attacked Warrior with his steel chain and beat him down, but Warrior was able to fight back, gain control of the chain and began using it on Hercules until other wrestlers and officials were able to separate the two.[17]
After being left off the WrestleMania III card,
Event
Opening match, 20-man battle-royal
Role: | Name: |
---|---|
Commentator | Gorilla Monsoon |
Jesse Ventura | |
Bob Uecker (Battle Royal) | |
Interviewer | Gene Okerlund |
Craig DeGeorge
| |
Ring announcer | Howard Finkel |
Special Guest Timekeeper | Vanna White (Main Event) |
Supporting | Robin Leach |
Vocalist | Gladys Knight |
WrestleMania IV's coverage began with Gladys Knight singing a rendition of "America the Beautiful". The first match of the pay-per-view event was a twenty-man over the top rope battle royal. The winner of the match would receive a trophy. After fourteen eliminations, the final six participants were Bad News Brown, Bret Hart, Paul Roma, Harley Race, Jacques Rougeau, and Junkyard Dog.[19]
Race hit a
First round
Before the 14-man
"Macho Man" Randy Savage (with Miss Elizabeth) defeated "The Natural" Butch Reed (with Slick), Greg "The Hammer" Valentine (with "The Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart) defeated Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, the One Man Gang (with Slick) defeated Bam Bam Bigelow (with Oliver Humperdink),[23] and "Ravishing" Rick Rude (with Bobby "The Brain" Heenan) fought Jake "The Snake" Roberts to a time limit draw. The winners of these matches advanced to the quarterfinals. As Rude and Roberts tied, they were both eliminated from the tournament, thereby giving the One Man Gang a bye into the semifinals.[21][19]
Tournament intermission one, singles match
In his PPV debut,
Quarter-finals
The first of three quarterfinals saw Hulk Hogan take on André the Giant. During the match, Hogan hit André with a chair in front of referee Joey Marella. André retaliated, grabbing the chair and hitting Hogan. After both men hit each other with the chair, they both were disqualified by Marella and, as a result, were eliminated from the tournament.[24]
The second quarterfinal saw Ted DiBiase (without either André or Virgil after Virgil had been Suplexed in the aisle by Hulk Hogan) defeat Don Muraco by pinfall.[25] With both André and Hogan disqualified, DiBiase got a bye to the final.[26] The third quarterfinal saw Randy Savage defeat Greg Valentine also by pinfall. As One Man Gang had received a bye in the quarter-finals due to Rick Rude and Jake Roberts having wrestled to a time limit draw in the first round Gang faced Savage in the semi-finals.[21][19]
Tournament intermission two, Intercontinental title match and six-man tag team match
Semi-finals
Next, Randy Savage faced One Man Gang for a place in the final of the tournament. Ted DiBiase had already received a bye in the semi-finals due to the double disqualification of Hulk Hogan and André the Giant and met the victor. Savage hit a
Tournament intermission three, Tag-team title match
Before the final round,
Main event, WWF title tournament final
The main event of WrestleMania IV was the tournament final for the vacant WWF World Heavyweight Championship between "Macho Man" Randy Savage and "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase.[29] DiBiase was accompanied to the ring by Andre The Giant, whilst Savage his regular valet Miss Elizabeth. Savage had wrestled three prior matches, whilst DiBiase had wrestled one fewer, having received a bye from the quarterfinals. DiBiase controlled much of the match, before a fightback from Savage, who attempted a top rope elbow drop on DiBiase but DiBiase moved out of the way. DiBiase applied a Million Dollar Dream submission on Savage.[22] To aid Savage, Elizabeth went backstage to bring Hulk Hogan to ringside to neutralize André being at ringside.[20][30]
André the Giant interfered in the match on behalf of DiBiase, and whilst the referee was distracted, Hogan attacked DiBiase with a
Reception
The attendance for the event was announced as 19,199, with a total of $1,400,000 in admission fees.[9][14] This total was significantly reduced from that of the previous year's event, which sat at 93,173, and was similar to the following year's 20,369.[34] It drew a 6.5 PPV buyrate, which was reduced from 8.0 the previous year.[9]
WrestleMania IV received mixed to poor reviews from critics. Most reviews criticized the show's length as well as the number of matches. Rob McNew from 411Mania.com gave the show a 3.5/10 rating when reviewing the show, claiming the show was "bad".[35] McNew was frustrated by the number of matches on the show, and the size of the tournament, saying "This show could have been so much better had they trimmed the tournament down to eight guys from fourteen. Instead, we got a bunch of short matches, none of which ended up being memorable. The show had its moments and isn't all terrible. Just way too long. Savage-Dibiase provides a great moment, but the rest of the show is a pass."[35] Retoprowrestling.com was also highly critical of the show's length, calling it "a chore to watch",[36] and that "there's probably nothing wrong with a wrestling pay per view running nigh on four hours, but when about three and a half of those hours don't actually feature much in the way of entertainment, it often feels like you've spent your entire weekend just watching this one show."[36]
John Canton of TJR wrestling called the event "a below-average show", citing the event being "a 16 match card. That’s too many matches."[37] Canton also commented on the length of these matches, and primary usage of "rest holds", and bad finishes.[37] Bryan Rose from Voices of Wrestling called the show a "dud", before stating there was a "lot of nothing for 3 1/2 hours." Rose also suggested similarities that the event's length had to watch two Godfather films.[38] Mike Powell of prowrestling.net called the event "really bad", and commented that had the show been less than three hours in length, rather than 4, it would have been an allround better show.[28]
However, John Powell, from SLAM! Wrestling called the event "excellent", saying that the show's greatness comes from its unpredictability.[39] Powell, says that the show was "another tricky venture for Vince McMahon and he hits the jackpot again."[39] Powell was very positive about the show's tournament, stating that it and Savage's title win was the highlights of the night.[39] Bret Mix from Wrestling DVD Network commented on the structure of the event, before calling the event "average", but "underrated" for its high quality of matches throughout the show, despite the number of matches.[40]
As an event in the annual WrestleMania series of events, WrestleMania IV is considered to be one of the weaker events; with reviews commenting that the event was most notable for a year-long feud between Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan that preceded the event, with the two facing off a year later at WrestleMania V.[41] Scott Keith of SmarK rant gave the event a "recommendation to avoid", and commented it was "long, boring (and) dull", and that the event was simply to "serve as a prelude to WrestleMania V"[42]
Aftermath
In the months that followed the event, Savage defended the WWF World Heavyweight Championship on multiple occasions, primarily against DiBiase but also granted title shots to others such as the One Man Gang and Bad News Brown. Hogan, meanwhile, took a leave of absence from the WWF during the late spring and part of the summer to film the movie
In Hogan's absence, André the Giant's main focus for much of the summer of 1988 would be on Hacksaw Jim Duggan. The feud began when Duggan confronted André during a squash match involving the latter, before André suddenly grabbed Duggan and began attacking him violently, only for Duggan to knock him out with his
Having wrestled to a time limit draw in the championship tournament, Jake Roberts and Rick Rude were placed into a feud regarding Rude making kayfabe advances over Robert's real-life wife, Cheryl.[7] For Rude, this was his second high-profile feud after several months of being primarily a mid-card wrestler.
The Honky Tonk Man continued to feud with Brutus Beefcake over the Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship during the spring and summer of 1988, with Honky retaining the championship by being intentionally counted out or disqualified on multiple occasions. Beefcake was granted a "final" match at SummerSlam, but was sneak attacked by Ron Bass one week before the event. Honky then lost his championship at Summerslam to The Ultimate Warrior.[7]
Demolition defended the tag team championships against former champions Strike Force, The Young Stallions and occasionally the
Following Bret Hart's elimination from the battle royal, he returned to the ring to challenge Bad News Brown.
Bam Bam Bigelow continued with the WWF through the summer of 1988, wrestling mainly One Man Gang and André the Giant. Bigelow, along with manager Sir Oliver Humperdink, left the WWF for Jim Crockett Promotions in September 1988, just before Ted Turner's purchase of JCP to form WCW.
Harley Race had competed in the battle royal at WrestleMania IV, despite suffering a legitimate injury during a match against Hulk Hogan taped for a Saturday Night's Main Event program aired earlier in March 1988. Following WrestleMania IV, he took several months off, and his robe and crown were given to Haku. Haku thus went on to a major singles push during the rest of 1988 and into 1989 as "King Haku," the push coming after the Islanders were disbanded with the departure of Tama (of The Islanders) and a short-lived teaming with Siva Afi, still as The Islanders. Race returned for a short run at the end of 1988, including the 1988 Survivor Series and 1989 Royal Rumble, his final major in-ring wrestling matches for the WWF in his lifetime.
Several other wrestlers finished their WWF runs at or shortly after WrestleMania IV, including Butch Reed, Sika and Ricky Steamboat, although Steamboat would return to the WWF briefly in 1991.
WrestleMania IV was later released on VHS, and became the only WrestleMania event to be released over two VHS tapes.[49][50] The event was later released in 2014 on the WWE Network.[51]
Results
No. | Results WWF World Heavyweight Championship[33] | 9:27 | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Tournament bracket
Round of 14 | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||||||||||
Hulk Hogan | 5:52 | ||||||||||||||||||
André the Giant | DDQ | ||||||||||||||||||
BYE | |||||||||||||||||||
Ted DiBiase | |||||||||||||||||||
Jim Duggan | 5:02 | ||||||||||||||||||
Ted DiBiase | Pin | ||||||||||||||||||
Ted DiBiase | Pin | ||||||||||||||||||
Don Muraco | 5:35 | ||||||||||||||||||
Don Muraco | DQ | ||||||||||||||||||
Dino Bravo | 4:53 | ||||||||||||||||||
Ted DiBiase | 9:27 | ||||||||||||||||||
Randy Savage | Pin | ||||||||||||||||||
Ricky Steamboat | 9:12 | ||||||||||||||||||
Greg Valentine | Pin | ||||||||||||||||||
Greg Valentine | 6:07 | ||||||||||||||||||
Randy Savage | Pin | ||||||||||||||||||
Randy Savage | Pin | ||||||||||||||||||
Butch Reed | 4:09 | ||||||||||||||||||
Randy Savage | DQ | ||||||||||||||||||
One Man Gang | 4:05 | ||||||||||||||||||
Bam Bam Bigelow | 2:56 | ||||||||||||||||||
One Man Gang | CO | ||||||||||||||||||
One Man Gang | |||||||||||||||||||
BYE | |||||||||||||||||||
Jake Roberts | 15:00 | ||||||||||||||||||
Rick Rude | Draw |
Pin-Pinfall; CO-Countout; DQ-Disqualification; DDQ-Double disqualification
Notes
- ^ a b The venue was referred to as the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino during the broadcast.[1]
- ^ Like other professional wrestling championships, they can only be won or loss by pinfall, submission or knockout unless stated in the stipulations placed before the match.[20]
- George "The Animal" Steele was also supposed to participate in the match however, he spent the whole time ringside and left shorty after Hillbilly Jim was eliminated.[21]
References
- ^ "WrestleMania IV". WWE. Archived from the original on March 17, 2018. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
- ^ "WrestleMania 29 press conference brings WWE to Radio City Music Hall". WWE. Archived from the original on April 7, 2013. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
... WWE's flagship event lights up MetLife Stadium ... WrestleMania
- ^ McNew, Rob. "WrestleMania IV Review | 411MANIA". 411MANIA. Archived from the original on April 13, 2018. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
- ^ Salha, Ibrahim (April 4, 2014). "WWE WrestleMania 30: Catch up on the past 29 WrestleManias here". The Independent. Archived from the original on November 1, 2014. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
- ^ "WrestleMania IV event venue: Trump Plaza". WWE. Archived from the original on February 10, 2018. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
- ISBN 9780692989463.
- ^ a b c d Puckering, Dean (February 5, 2014). "WrestleMania IV". TWM Wrestling News. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
- ^ a b c d e McAvennie, Mike (March 30, 2007). "The Big One". WWE. Archived from the original on October 15, 2007. Retrieved May 27, 2008.
- ^ a b c "WWE WrestleMania". prowrestlinghistory.com. Archived from the original on August 15, 2012. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
- ^ "Andre the Giant loomed large over Wrestlemanias". canoe.com. Archived from the original on July 25, 2017. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
- ^ "André the Giant vs. Hulk Hogan – WWF Championship". WWE. Archived from the original on January 16, 2006. Retrieved May 27, 2008.
- ^ "André the Giant, One Man Gang, King Kong Bundy, "The Natural" Butch Reed & "Ravishing" Rick Rude def. Hulk Hogan, Bam Bam Bigelow, "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff, Don Muraco & Ken Patera". WWE. Archived from the original on March 31, 2008. Retrieved June 1, 2008.
- ^ "2007 Pro Wrestling Illustrated Almanac & Book of Facts". Wrestling’s historical cards. Kappa Publishing. 2007. p. 86.
- ^ a b Criscuolo, Scott & Rozzero, Justin. "Wrestlemania IV". thehistoryofwwe.com. Archived from the original on January 3, 2015. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b "Saturday Night Main Event - Feb. 05, 1988". WWE. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
- ^ a b c "André the Giant's first WWF World Heavyweight Championship reign". WWE. Archived from the original on June 24, 2005. Retrieved June 1, 2008.
- ^ a b c d Greer, Jamie Greer (February 3, 2019). "30 Years Ago Today: The Mega Powers EXPLODE - Last Word on Pro Wrestling". Last Word on Pro Wrestling. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
- ^ a b c d e Burkholder, Denny (August 16, 2018). "The Summer of Savage: Inside the Macho Man's explosive run to the top of WWE, 30 years later". CBSSports.com. Archived from the original on August 17, 2018. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Full WrestleMania IV results". WWE. Archived from the original on August 21, 2018. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g "VIP AUDIO 5/20 – You, Me, and Wrestling with Cameron Hawkins: Guest Colin Richard provides a detailed account of WrestleMania IV, outlining fandom as a kid growing up during late '80s WWF (81 min) -". pwtorch.com. May 20, 2018. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "WrestleMania IV official results". WWE. Archived from the original on August 8, 2017. Retrieved August 6, 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "WrestleMania IV results". Wrestling Supercards and Tournaments. Archived from the original on March 29, 2007. Retrieved May 31, 2008.
- ^ Willis, Matt & Coyle, Sean (November 22, 2017). "Revisiting the Thanksgiving tradition that started at Survivor Series 1987". ESPN. Archived from the original on February 1, 2018. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "PWTorch.com - Nostalgia Review: Wrestlemania 4; Savage vs. DiBiase, Savage vs. Steamboat, Hogan vs. Andre". pwtorch.com. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
- ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Overview « Inside The Cage Classics #6: WrestleMania IV – Die Krönung des Macho Man « Columns « Articles Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". cagematch.net. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
- ISBN 978-1-4165-5890-3.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ "Rick Martel's Wrestlemania memories". canoe.com. Archived from the original on February 3, 2019. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
- ^ a b "Powell's WrestleMania 4 review: 14-man tournament for the vacant WWF Championship, Strike Force vs. Demolition for the WWF Tag Team Championship, 20-man battle royal". prowrestling.net. April 3, 2014. Archived from the original on April 14, 2018. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
- ^ "Daily Pro Wrestling History (03/27): WWF WrestleMania IV". WON/F4W - WWE news, Pro Wrestling News, WWE Results, UFC News, UFC results. March 27, 2017. Archived from the original on March 28, 2017. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
- ^ a b c "WWE WrestleMania Top 10 Performer Series: Randy "Macho Man" Savage". WON/F4W - WWE news, Pro Wrestling News, WWE Results, UFC News, UFC results. Archived from the original on June 20, 2017. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
- ISBN 978-1-4165-5890-3.
- FOX Sports. Archivedfrom the original on June 21, 2017. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
- ^ a b "Randy Savage vs. Ted DiBiase WWF Championship Tournament Finals". WWE. Archived from the original on March 29, 2008. Retrieved May 31, 2008.
- ThoughtCo. Archivedfrom the original on January 5, 2019. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
93,173
- ^ a b McNew, Rob (March 10, 2009). "WrestleMania IV Review". March 10, 2009. Archived from the original on April 13, 2018. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
- ^ a b "PPV REVIEW: WWF Wrestlemania 4". retroprowrestling.com. February 25, 2013. Archived from the original on April 13, 2018. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
- ^ a b Canton, John (March 1, 2015). "TJR Retro: WWE WrestleMania 4 Review". TJR Wrestling. Archived from the original on April 14, 2018. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
- ^ Rose, Bryan (November 7, 2014). "Depths of Mania: WWE WrestleMania IV Review". Voices of Wrestling. Archived from the original on November 27, 2017. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
- ^ a b c Powell, John. "SLAM! Sports - Wrestling". slam.canoe.com. Archived from the original on April 13, 2018. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
- ^ "Review: WWF/WWE Wrestlemania 4 DVD". Wrestling DVD Network. May 17, 2010. Archived from the original on April 14, 2018. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
- ^ "WrestleMania V". Pro Wrestling History. Archived from the original on March 29, 2007. Retrieved June 1, 2013.
- ^ Keith, Scott (March 10, 2017). "The SmarK Rant for WWE Wrestlemania 4 | Inside Pulse". insidepulse.com. Archived from the original on April 14, 2018. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
- ^ "Mega Powers Profile". Online World of Wrestling. Archived from the original on June 29, 2009. Retrieved February 8, 2011.
- ^ "The Main Event II results". Wrestling Supercards and Tournaments. Archived from the original on June 19, 2008. Retrieved June 10, 2008.
- ^ a b "Hulk Hogan vs. Randy "Macho Man" Savage – WWF Championship". WWE. Archived from the original on March 27, 2008. Retrieved June 10, 2008.
- ^ Goeman, Robert (March 11, 2014). "WWE WrestleMania IV: What Went Wrong?". Camel Clutch Blog. Archived from the original on March 1, 2016. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
- ^ "WrestleMania IV official results". WWE. Archived from the original on May 25, 2011. Retrieved April 12, 2009.
- ISBN 978-0091932862.
- ^ "WRITTEN PODCAST RECAP: Something To Wrestle With Bruce Prichard on WrestleMania IV - inside the NWA/WWF PPV battle, why the show ran in a casino, why Steamboat-Savage II didn't happen, Bruno's exit, Frenchy Martin's most important contribution to the business and more (Ep. 94) - PWPodcasts". PWPodcasts. April 4, 2018. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
VHS
- ^ "WWE To Release Limited Edition VHS Version of WrestleMania 31 – Full Details!". Wrestling DVD Network. April 2015. Archived from the original on July 17, 2017. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
- ^ Lieberman, David (January 9, 2014). "WWE Sets February 24 Launch Date For Online Network". Deadline. Archived from the original on May 21, 2018. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
- ^ "WWF World Title Tournament 1988". Wrestling Supercards and Tournaments. Archived from the original on June 16, 2008. Retrieved June 10, 2008.
- ^ "THIS DAY IN HISTORY: WRESTLEMANIA IV, THE FIRST CLASH, BRODY WINS HIS LAST MAJOR TITLE, HALL OF FAME AND MORE | PWInsider.com". pwinsider.com. Archived from the original on September 8, 2015. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
- ^ "WWE Title Tournaments". prowrestlinghistory.com. Archived from the original on June 16, 2008. Retrieved March 17, 2019.