COINS! CASINO! Do I have to mention Donald Trump?
WrestleMania IV was held live from the Historic Atlantic City Convention Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, across the street from the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino. Trump sponsored the show, so the WWF and Trump just said they were at Trump Plaza. We should’ve seen ALL this coming, right?
This was the follow-up to WrestleMania III, then and sometimes now looked at as the biggest WrestleMania there ever was. It was never going to match the attendance or buyrate and it didn’t, but a lead-in event called The Main Event that aired on NBC was the most watched WWF show ever – so there is that.
All of this featured the rivalry between Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant, Andre now funded by newcomer “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase who came to the WWF with an agenda: prove that everybody has a price. He tried to buy the WWF Title from Hulk, then orchestrated a twin referee scam so he could buy it from Andre. When the scam was revealed, the title was vacated, setting up a tournament for it at Mania.
This roster was huge but unfortunately a 16-man tournament meant this show was overstuffed and all over the place, with nothing getting appropriate time but also everything feeling too long. The thought behind removing Hogan and Andre early and giving the spotlight to Randy Savage is nice, but the overall presentation hampered him more than anything. A lot of buzzkill finishes ensured stuff that was getting over didn’t end up satisfying, either. Such a weird show!
The crowd is 20,000-strong but I was struck by how quiet they were at times, like there was this big wrestling boom and when they got to their seats they realized it wasn’t as good as they had heard.
“Mr. Baseball” Bob Uecker is a return guest from Mania III with a more prominent role because he crushed that so hard, and him interviewing Demolition, getting choked by Andre, and searching in vain for Vanna White are some of the best parts of the show. His sell of the eventual kiss from Vanna is better than his legendary sell of Andre’s choke!
1. 20-Man Battle Royal (Featuring: Junkyard Dog, George “The Animal” Steele, Hillbilly Jim, Ken Patera, B. Brian Blair, Jim Brunzell, Jacques Rougeau, Raymond Rougeau, Paul Roma, Jim Powers, Sam Houston, Harley Race, Bret Hart, Jim Neidhart, Danny Davis, Nikolai Volkoff, Boris Zhukov, Bad News Brown, Outlaw Ron Bass and Sika)
Everybody goes to the center of the ring one-by-one as they are introduced, a nice bit I wish was used more. Junkyard Dog looks like he doesn’t want to be there, while Harley Race should’ve absolutely been in the tournament. Poor Sam Houston and Sika get tossed quick then the eliminations are more spread out, with a lot of aimless brawling in the middle of occasional pops. Uecker is on commentary for this one and is awesome going WHOAA for everything. Most of the tag teams just act as filler before it comes down to JYD, Bad News, Bret Hart, and Paul Roma. Bad News tosses Roma, then teams up with Bret and tosses JYD to everyone’s general disappointment. Hart is excited before Bad News does a very obvious turn on him, nailing a sweet Ghetto Blaster enzuigiri and throwing him out.
Bad News is presented the very tall trophy before a frustrated Bret picks it up and smashes it, kind of turning face even if no one was over enough to sell it – JYD’s babyface heat had waned, Bad News was new and unknown, and at this point Bret was still the low key heel Hitman. Bad News Brown and Bret Hart both getting the push makes this vaguely memorable, but it’s a weak open to the show. *3/4
Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous host Robin Leach runs down the rules – it is TOURNAMENT TIME!!!
2. WWF World Heavyweight Title Tournament – Round 1: Hacksaw Jim Duggan vs. Ted DiBiase w/ Andre the Giant and Virgil
Cowboy Bill Watts weeps as his boys play to the crowd in their over-the-top gimmicks working for VINCE. DiBiase looks like a wild man as he turns his head upside down for the hard cam as Duggan lifts him up for an atomic drop, and they have a generally fun little match but it goes 5 minutes like pretty much everything else. Andre trips up Hacksaw to setup a knee from behind by DiBiase and a fist drop for 3. **1/4
3. WWF World Heavyweight Title Tournament – Round 1: Magnificent Muraco w/ Superstar Billy Graham vs. Dino Bravo w/ Frenchy Martin
Muraco is going through a gimmick where the old and injured Superstar Billy Graham is endorsing him as the Superstar of the 80s, so they are both sporting tie-dye and entering to this grand entrance music. Graham with his weight belt, bright over-shirt and cane is a DEAL, though it might be the most interesting part of this very questionable match. It goes 5 minutes but feels long and clunky. Muraco decides to work the leg a few minutes in and loses the crowd, then as if he is panicking does his head-trapped-in-the-ropes spot to no reaction before Bravo does a piledriver to the same. Then they pull a screwy finish where Bravo pulls the referee in front of him and gets DQ’d. Shame! 3/4*
4. WWF World Heavyweight Title Tournament – Round 1: Ricky Steamboat vs. Greg Valentine
Steamboat carries an infant Richie Steamboat to the ring, an adorable moment in the midst of all the energy of WWF Ricky Steamboat being completely SAPPED. These two actually get a little time, nine whole minutes, and use it to have a perfectly enjoyable JCP midcard match if not a great Mania match. Valentine throws a WrestleMania-worthy lariat before he reverses a Ricky crossbody to actually win and deny the FOLKS a Savage/Steamboat rematch. Amazing. **3/4
5. WWF World Heavyweight Title Tournament – Round 1: Macho Man Randy Savage w/ Elizabeth vs. Butch Reed w/ Slick
Randy and Liz enter in blue, ready for a long night. Slick shuffles, Butch Reed struts, and Butch works over Savage for a few minutes before Savage throws him off the top rope and delivers a flying elbow drop for the win. Savage was conserving energy and Butch wasn’t picking up the slack. *
6. WWF World Heavyweight Title Tournament – Round 1: Bam Bam Bigelow w/ Oliver Humperdink vs. One Man Gang w/ Slick
For a big hoss fight, these two hit remarkably light. Gang slowly hammers on Bam Bam, then Bam Bam slowly hammers on Gang before a confusing countout finish. A real DUD.
7. WWF World Heavyweight Title Tournament – Round 1: Jake Roberts vs. Rick Rude w/ Bobby Heenan
An insane, tone deaf, boring mess of a match from two of the best ever. What a trip! They have to do a 15-minute draw and the crowd is not exactly eager for all the time-killing. Rick Rude sells like a champion but the charm wears off, and then he works like five separate chinlocks as Jake just lays there and assumes they’ll be into the DDT. His assumption is right, but it doesn’t make this any better. I’m not sure if it’s impressive or not that they are able to go so long without boring chants, but when they come it feels pretty jarring for Mania and they are more than deserved. About half the crowd is still awake for Jake’s comeback before they absolutely limp to the draw. One of the only sure things didn’t just not deliver – it sucked! DUD
8. Ultimate Warrior vs. Hercules w/ Bobby Heenan
Hercules delivers a very, VERY moderate beatdown before Warrior kicks off the turnbuckle to escape a full nelson and pin him. No good, actually kind of bad, but them Warrior pops were getting bigger. *
9. WWF World Heavyweight Title Tournament – Quarter Final: Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant w/ Ted DiBiase and Virgil
Hogan repeatedly dropping elbows and Andre roughly grabbing one to pull him into a choke is way cooler than anything in the WrestleMania III match, but otherwise the spark was missing and nobody bothered to really lay this out. Hogan sells big and the crowd is excited to see him, but it all goes five minutes and has another dumb finish. Andre pops Hogan over the head with a chair, then Hogan knocks him down with it to a mild pop and the referee calls a double DQ to mild disappointment. Hogan returns to the ring for a less impressive bodyslam spot and then does the complete pose down routine, including the camera following him all the way to the back. *1/2
“All the way, YEAH! DOIN’ IT, YEAH!” – Macho Man Randy Savage
10. WWF World Heavyweight Title Tournament – Quarter Final: Magnificent Muraco w/ Superstar Billy Graham vs. Ted DiBiase
Much like Macho Man and Liz, Superstar Billy Graham made sure to bring an extra set of entrance gear and rocks a pink suit here. He watches his boy take heat from a sweaty DiBiase for a few minutes before a comeback gets thwarted by a flapjack on the ropes out of nowhere. Another cool combo of wrestlers doesn’t work. *1/2
Since Jake the Snake and Ravishing Rick went to a draw, they were both eliminated. One Man Gang’s bye to the Semi Finals is announced and nobody seems to particularly care or really know what is going on.
11. WWF World Heavyweight Title Tournament – Quarter Final: Macho Man Randy Savage w/ Elizabeth vs. Greg Valentine w/ Jimmy Hart
Randy and Liz enter in pink. Greg the Hammer provides this match the most snug solid offense before Savage catches him with an inside cradle. Fun TV match, weird World Title Quarter Finals match. **1/4
12. WWF Intercontinental Title: Honky Tonk Man [c] w/ Jimmy Hart and Peggy Sue vs. Brutus Beefcake
This being the IC Title match follow-up to Savage/Steamboat is still amazing after all these years. Beefcake is a total ball of gimmicked up nerves coming out for his big match, repeatedly cutting the air with his shears as if he was instructed to do just that. Honky Tonk, flanked by Jimmy Hart and Peggy Sue, is just having another day at the office. They have a quick shticky match with ANOTHER DQ finish. Jimmy Hart got his haircut somewhere in there and that’s all that really matters. *1/2
13. The British Bulldogs & Koko B. Ware vs. The Islanders & Bobby Heenan
Haku and Davey Boy do a shoulderblock stop short spot here that is awesome and everybody can work, but otherwise this reads like a match that would’ve come off a little better without so much bloat surrounding it. Koko takes heat in his tights that have “WWF” stitched on the back before the bad guys actually win. *3/4
With Andre and Hogan eliminated via double DQ, Ted DiBiase’s advancement to the Finals is announced. Everybody just seems OVER IT.
14. WWF World Heavyweight Title Tournament – Semi Final: Macho Man Randy Savage w/ Elizabeth vs. One Man Gang w/ Slick
Randy and Liz enter in black. They get 4 minutes and One Man Gang is just too slow to make anything interesting, though I’m not positive Savage really wanted to. Gang gets in place for the axehandle then gets DQ’d for using Slick’s cane, as if Savage can’t even pin the man to get to the finals. DUD
15. WWF World Tag Team Title: Strike Force [c] vs. Demolition w/ Mr. Fuji
This is a completely solid match that would’ve come off a lot better anywhere else. To give Savage time to rest they get over 10 minutes and deliver some fun stuff, even if everybody feels ready to go home. Demolition was getting over while Santana and Martel provided their usual solid babyface work. Demolition wins the titles, a memorable moment among… two of them? **1/2
16. WWF World Heavyweight Title Tournament – Final: Macho Man Randy Savage w/ Elizabeth vs. Ted DiBiase w/ Andre the Giant
Randy and Liz enter in white, ready to put an end to all this bullshit. It is two of my favorites in the big time main event but in a boring, exhausted package. All the gimmicks are present, Andre looking on as DiBiase controls. It’s Andre doing the cut-offs instead of DiBiase for a bit, before Elizabeth runs to the back and brings out Hulk Hogan. Hogan’s reaction shows the instinct to bring him out was probably correct, but I would’ve liked to see an attempt at the same match without so much bloat. Savage drops the elbow and receives his WWF Title coronation, putting the title on Elizabeth’s shoulder in a tremendous moment even if Hogan’s orange ass is making sure everybody knows just how happy he is. **
Happy Thoughts: One of the stupidest WrestleManias. There was a ton of momentum and a lot of characters in 1988, but like with WrestleMania II the hubris got the best of them as they tried to fit everything on a show that accomplished nothing. Frustrating, boring, counterproductive – all the bad wrestling things! 2/10
