I’ve always liked a tournament based event, when its big and done right, and it doesn’t get any bigger than WrestleMania IV. This has been my favorite WrestleMania for the longest time, over III, X-7, and X-8 (which I actually attended). Anyway, it was WWE’s first attempt to push somebody other than Hogan. Plus, unlike many WrestleMania’s, it actually felt like WrestleMania. I purchased a copy of this in 1997, but found that too much was cut out, so I ended up buying the original Coliseum Video release. Anyway, I thought that with 21 right around the corner, it would make for a good review. And it’s not like I need an excuse to watch it anyway.
And as always, we will be using the Kamala Rating System.
We get an opening package with the wrestlers getting ready, and we go to our hosts, Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura.
Greg DeGeorge runs over the events for the weekend. Its funny cause he lost his voice. Events include a 5K run, autograph sessions, and parties. Odd to start the show off like that, but we here go.
We get the opening, "What the World is Watching video", with the added WrestleMania IV Trump Plaza slot machine graphic.
Mean Gene welcomes us to WrestleMania IV and Gladys Knight sings the national anthem.
We’re back with Gorilla and Jesse, who are joined by Mr. Baseball, Bob Uecker. They run down tonight’s matches including the tournament and the other championship matches.
Battle Royal
Participants: Hart Foundation, Young Stallions, Sika, Danny Davis, Killer Bees, Bad News Brown, Sam Houston, Rougeaus, Ken Patera, Outlaw Ron Bass, Junkyard Dog, Bolsheviks, Hillbilly Jim, Harley Race, and George Steele.
Way too much action to start off, so I’ll start with the final three, JYD, Bret Hart and Bad News Brown. I like Uecker’s commentary, as not only does he have good chemistry with Jesse and Gorilla, but he seems to have some knowledge of the participants. Hart and Brown attempt to double team JYD, but he reverses and lands some classic headbutts. Hart and Brown regain control , overpowering JYD, before dumping him out of the ring. Hart and Brown celebrate leading one to believe that this thing is over, and Bad News lands the ghetto blaster out of nowhere! Its all Bad News and he dumps Hart out for the win. The suits bring the HUGE trophy into the ring. Sadly, Bret cowardly ambushes Brown and destroys the trophy. Kinda reminds me of his temper tantrum in Montreal. I like Battle Royals, so I’ll give this 2.5 Kamala.
Greg DeGeorge is in the luxury suite of the Million Dollar Man. He goes over how he will win the tournament, and completely overlooks Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Yeah, I probably would too.
Robin Leach of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous reads a special proclamation of the tournament.
Opening Round Match - Hacksaw Jim Duggan vs. The Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase w/ Virgil
Andre the Giant accompanies DiBiase and Virgil to the ring. Its funny, because I never considered Duggan as a viable contender, even though at this point he’s just won the first ever Royal Rumble. They trade punches to start, and DiBiase gets dumped out of the ring. Back and forth between the to and Duggan lands a sunset flip, surprising both myself and Jesse Ventura. Its all Duggan, and he calls for the three point stance, leading Andre to trip him. Duggan turns around and gets clocked by Andre, just as DiBiase lands a knee to the back, and the pin. Mostly a brawl, but nothing offensive. 1.75 Kamala
Mean Gene is backstage with Brutus Beefcake. He makes some rhymes about winning the title and giving Jimmy Hart a haircut.
Opening Round Match - Dino Bravo w/Frenchy Martin vs. "The Rock" Don Muraco w/Superstar Billy Graham
The Rock is somebody that I’d actually like to see more of. I’ll have to pick up that Hall of Fame DVD at some point. Muraco in charge to start, but gets waffled by Dino. Nice gutwrench suplex by Bravo, but misses a knee in the corner. Muraco goes to work on the knee as Superstay gets in Frenchy’s face. Back to the leg lock, and Dino kicks him out of the ring, hanging him between the two ropes. Bravo lands the piledriver and a two count and Muraco reverses a second piledriver. Muraco goes for a forearm and Dino pulls the ref in front of him. Dino lands the side suplex, but the ref calls for the bell. The Rock is awarded the victory by DQ. I’ve seen worse battles of the bulls, and this wasn’t that bad. 1.5 Kamala
Ricky Steamboat tells us that 1988 is the year of the dragon. He introduces us to his wife and son, and dedicates his career to them.
Elsewhere, Bob Uecker claims he’s found Vanna White, but instead here’s the Honky Tonk Man. Uecker makes a few comments about Brutus Beefcake cutting Jimmy Hart’s hair, and Honky responds, "yeah you wanna talk jokes, lets talk about somebody’s lifetime batting average!" Man he rules. I’m am also very jealous of Jimmy’s piano keys tie. Anyway, Honky seems ready.
Opening Round Match - Greg "The Hammer" Valentine vs. Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat w/ The Little Dragon
Ricky seems so proud of his son, bringing him into the ring, before handing him off to the wife. Steamboat showcases his speed, which Gorilla refers to as Excellence of Execution. Uh-oh, don’t let Bret Hart hear that. Steamboat goes for a number of pins, before skinning the cat and going for another pin. He continues to work on Valentine’s arm. Valentine gains control, but he can’t hold down Steamboat. Valentine gets him with an inverted atomic drop, and starts dropping elbows. They exchange chops, and the Hammer goes down. Valentine goes for the figure four, but the Dragon reverses. Back to the chops, and valentine goes down again. Timberrrr! Steamboat continues to ram valentine’s head into the mat, several times. Steamboat goes to the top and lands a huge chop, but the Hammer kicks out. Steamboat gets the crossbody off the top rope, but Hammer reverses and gets the three count. That’s hard to believe, even today. I guess anything can happen in the WWE. Pretty good stuff back and forth. I enjoyed it. 2.5 Kamala
We get a close up of Donald and Ivana Trump. He’s still wearing that pink tie.
Mean Gene is back with the British Bulldogs and Koko B. Ware. Apparently Matilda has been given some special training, and is the only certified "weasel hunting" dog. Koko is all fired up, and he smells weasels as well. I guess he didn’t hear Davey JUST SAY that Matilda was the weasel hunter. Trying to take the spotlight from the dog? Thats sad.
Greg DeGeorge is back in the Trump Plaza hotel following a courier, who is delivering a package to Bobby Heenan. Surprisingly he tips. Anyway, he wants the camera turned off and won’t tell what’s in the package. Man, I could listen to him all day long!
Opening Round Match - "The Natural" Butch Reed w/ Slick vs. "Macho Man" Randy Savage w/ Miss Elizabeth
Slick gets down with his bad self in the ring while Randy and Elizabeth come to the ring in blue. Reed dominates to start, but Macho battles back. Reed reverses a suplex, and goes back to work with the fists. Jesse admits that the Hammer victory may have been an upset. There’s an understatement. Reed continues to dominate landing a flying clothesline. Reed starts jawing to Elizabeth as he climbs up to the top rope. He takes waaaay too long and Macho bodyslams him off and lands the top rope elbow out of nowhere for the in. Jesse speculates that Elizabeth is around just to distract people, which is probably the biggest compliment he’d ever give her. 1.5 Kamala
Back with Bob Uecker, and he’s talking about Vanna White. Pretty funny stuff. The Islanders and Bobby Heenan come in. He has a surprise for the Bulldogs and Koko tonight. I wonder if it has anything to do with that mysterious package?
Opening Round Match - One Man Gang w/ Slick vs. Bam Bam Bigelow w/ Oliver Humperdink
The Gang ambushes Bigelow to start, and lands some clubbing blows. Bigelow lands a shoulderblock and gives the crowd a cartwheel. I always liked it when he did that. Bigelow is in control with some headbutts and punches. Bigelow signals for something, but gets low bridged by Slick. The referee continues to count even though Bigelow is on the apron and getting punched by the Gang. Right. Bigelow just makes it in, but the referee counts him out anyway. Utter bullshit! Still pisses me off. Kamala too. 1.25 Kamala
Mean Gene is back with the Hulkster. When he slams the Giant tonight, it’ll destroy Trump Plaza, and damage the fault line itself. Donald Trump will be holding on with one hand, and its a good thing that he’s a Hulkmaniac, so Hulk will dog paddle them back to safety. If it was anybody else, it probably wouldn’t be as good a promo.
Opening Round Match - Ravishing Rick Rude w/ Bobby Heenan vs. Jake the Snake Roberts
Rude starts off with some bodyslams, but Jake reverses and gets a few bodyslams of his own. Rude falls into the corner, not realizing Damien is there, and spring out of the way. Jesse teases that he’ll come out of retirement and face the winner of the tournament. Jake starts in with an armbar, but Rude forces him into the corner. Rude puts his hand on the referee, and gets a high knee from Jake. Jake signals for the DDT, but Rude bails out. Heenan yells at Rude that he’s wasting time, and he continues to pose between moves. Rude puts Jake into a chinlock several times, and the crowd starts to turn on the match. Several boring chants can be heard, and its pretty obvious that they are just wasting time. Jake finally reverse the chinlock, and gets some offensive in. He calls for the DDT again, but Rude backs him into the corner. Double clothesline and both men are down. Rude goes for the pin with his feet on the rope, but the bell sounds at 2. The time limit has expired and both men are out. Lame! Jake brings out Damien, and Rude runs off. There was no reason for them to have gone the full 15. The crowd didn’t enjoy it at all. Way too slow. 1.5 Kamala
Mean Gene is backstage with Vanna White at the WrestleMania IV tournament board. She likes Hulk and Savage, but not DiBiase. Apparently she doesn’t like anybody buying anything or something like that. Well said.
Ultimate Warrior vs. Hercules
They pose at each other to start, and Warrior pound on him in the corner. Hercules tries to clothesline the Warrior, but it takes three to do it. A few botched spots, and they’re fighting on the outside. Hercules goes for the full nelson, but doesn’t have the fingers locked. Ultimate Warrior reverses into a pinning combination, ala Piper/Hart WrestleMania VIII, for the win. Herc goes to choke out Warrior with the chain, but Warrior grabs hold, and Herc bails. Mostly punching, but at least it was short. 1.5 Kamala
Gorilla and Jesse run a video package over the Hulk/Andre feud. Classic Pre-WrestleMania III stuff. We then meet Ted DiBiase who wants to buy the WWF Championship. Hulk says Hell NO! We then cut to Saturday Night’s Main Event with Hulk ambushing Hulk and choking him out. We then see DiBiase cutting a deal with Andre to bring him the championship. Clips of the end of the Hulk/Andre rematch from the Main Event. Hulk’s shoulder is clearly up at 1, but it doesn’t seem to matter. I would have loved to see that live.
Second Round Match - Andre the Giant w/ Ted DiBiase and Virgil vs. Hulk Hogan
Hogan rushes into the ring, but gets ambushed by Andre. It’s all Andre with chops and headbutts, but Hulk rallies back. Andre is tied up in the ropes, and Hogan rips his shirt! DiBiase and Virgil help Andre out as Hulk plays to the crowd. Hulk lands a few elbows, but Andre catches him and starts choking. Andre seems much more vicious this time around, and the match is continued on the second tape. I sit waiting for the tape to rewind and reminisce about how I liked the WrestleMania XIX DVD cause it was on two discs, with the last two matches on the second DVD, and it reminded me of WrestleMania IV. The match continues, and Andre is still in charge. Hulk shows his strength and powers out of the chokehold, and motions to slam the Giant. Virgil distracts the referee and DiBiase comes in and smashes Hulk with a chair. Hulk grabs the chair and uses in on Andre. Andre then grabs the chair and waffles Hogan with it. Hulk gets up and chases DiBiase up the ramp, but Virgil is thrown at him and suplexed onto the ground. Hulk comes back into the ring and slams the Giant. Both men have been disqualified and are out of the tourney. The winner of the DiBiaise/Muraco match will be in the finals. Hulk poses to the fans even though he’s out. This is so well done to further establish DiBiase as a calculated heel, and give him credibility as an actual threat to win the title. Awesome! The match itself was pretty intense, so it gets 2.25 Kamala
Mean Gene is with Macho Man and Eliazbeth. Hulk Hogan is a cheated man, not a defeated man. See, even back then he was a good rapper. Nothings going to stop him tonight!
Second Round Match - The Rock Don Muraco w/ Superstar Billy Graham vs. The Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase
DiBiase yells at the fans and Muraco drags him into the ring. Muraco is all over him early landing a bunch of moves, including a pretty good dropkick. DiBiase uses Muraco’s own momentum to launch him into the turnbuckle. DiBiase lands a clothesline and knee, and starts choking Muraco. Chops by DiBiase, but he misses his cocky back elbow from the top. Muraco is is control, but DiBiase gets the stun gun out of nowhere for the win. Pretty solid stuff. 2.5 Kamala
Back with Bob Uecker, Demolition arrives. These guys were so awesome. They talk about ringing a golden goose’s neck and hitting people with baesball bats. I can’t say I’d want to be Strike Force.
Second Round Match - Greg "The Hammer" Valentine w/ Jimmy Hart vs. "Macho Man" Randy Savage w/ Miss Elizabeth
One Man Gang is in the ring, and it is announced that he is already in the semi-finals. Macho and Elizabeth are in pink this time. They trade blows to start, and Savage drops a knee for two. Valentine goes up to the top rope and drives a blow into Savage. Valentine with a series of elbows, and lands a shoulderbreaker. Savage gets dumped over the top rope, and its all Valentine. Valentine starts working on Savage’s legs, but Savage escapes a figure four attempt. Suddenly Savage wakes up and lands an elbow off the top rope. Savage went for the pin, but Jimmy Hart got on the apron, breaking up the count. They battle back and forth, and Valentine goes for the figure four again. Savage reverses into a small package and gets the three count. Pretty Decent if you ask me. 2.5 Kamala
Mean Gene is still backstage with Vanna White. She doesn’t know Bob Uecker is. Funny stuff. They go over the semi-final match and she sings the praises Savage and Elizabeth.
Intercontinental Championship - Honky Tonk Man (ch) w/ Jimmy Hart and Peggy Sue vs. Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake
Peggy Sue is being played by Sensational Sherri. It was nice seeing her on Smackdown this week. Jesse tells us that Prince is watching WrestleMania at his house. Gorilla asks is Prince is Jesse’s dog. Back in the match, Brutus controls early and lands an atomic drop before messing up Honky’s hair, throwing him off balance. Brutus is all over Honky, and lands a high knee. I’m not even going to make any jokes about the Booty man. Anyway, Brutus goes for an elbow drop, but misses, and Honky starts with the boots. Honky continues to work on Brutus, and Jimmy Harts gets a few shots in. Honky looks like he was going for the Shake, Rattle, and Roll, but gives Brutus a knee instead. Honky does go for the move this time, but Brutus reverses. Brutus locks the sleeper in, and just as Honky fades away, Jimmy knocks out the referee with the megophone. Brutus thinks he’s won, but then realizes what Jimmy has done. Brutus goes for his scissors, but Jimmy runs away with them, before getting caught himself. The hair is flying all over Trump Plaza, and Peggy Sue is trying to wake Honky up. She grabs a water bucket, pours it on him, and Honky is up. Honky is disqualified and they skulk off. Fun stuff while it lasted. 2 Kamala
Bob Uecker is back and Andre walks in. he reveals that DiBiase paid him to keep him out of the tournament. He also says that Hulkamania is over. Probably one of the most memorable visuals in WrestleMania history as Andre chokes him out.
Greg DeGeorge is backstage with Honky and company. He doesn’t want Jimmy to show anybody what Brutus to his hair.
The Islanders and Bobby Heenan vs. The British Bulldogs and Koko B. ware w/ Matilda and Frankie
Bobby Heenan’s surprise is a attach dog suit, rendering Malitda’s weasel hunting techniques useless. The Bulldogs start off strong, and the Islanders exchange pretty quick tags. Koko lands a huge dropkick, and it looks like we’ve lost Ivana Trump. Bobby finally gets the tag and puts the boots to Dynamite. Dynamite gets one shot in and Heenan is out of there. He comes back in later in the match and pounds on Koko. Kinda shows you how good Koko’s standing is if Heenan is going toe to toe with him. The Islanders come in to bail Heenan out, and slam him onto Koko for the win. Matilda then chased down Heenan, and attacked, eg, Davey put her on top on Heenan and such. Match never really got started, but seeing Bobby wrestle is good enough for me. 2.25 Kamala
The Fink directs our attention to the Wrestlemania IV banner above which stands Jesse Ventura. He poses for the crowd, and gets a pretty good reaction.
The Fink then announces the Million Dollar Man’s bye into the finals due to the double elimination of Hulk and Andre. I love it when a plan comes together.
Bobby Heenan is backstage. He calls Matilda a rabid infested animal. He shows off the damage to his suit "caused" by Matilda. Nobody can stop him! They should make a DVD about Bobby Heenan, with classic interviews and such. I'd buy that!
Semi-Final Match - One Man Gang w/ Slick vs. "Macho Man" Randy Savage w/ Miss Elizabeth
Black is the color this time around for Macho and Elizabeth. Savage uses his speed to stay one step ahead of the Gang. The Gang slows things down and starts with a pound and ground attack. Savage is taking a beating and kicks out several times. The Gang misses a splash, and Savage is all over him. He tries to slam the Gang, but cannot. Slick gets in Elizabeth’s face, which distracts the referee, and the Gang uses Slick’s cane on Savage. The referee turns around, and we have another disqualification. Huge victory for Macho, and he hits a flying elbow on the Gang and Slick. 1.75 Kamala
Mean Gene is with Vanna White. She excuses herself to the ring, and Bob Uecker just misses her. So close!
Tag Team Championship - Strike Force (ch) vs. Demolition w/ Mr. Fuji
Smash and Martel start, and Smash just lands a bunch of double axe handles into Martel’s back. The crowd gets fired up and Smash catches Martel mid-air during a crossbody. Tito comes in and dropkicks Martel’s back, landing him onto Smash. Strike Force work some double team moves, and work on Smash’s arm. Ax gets tagged in, and Martel works on his arm too. Smash catches Tito in a bearhug, backs up, and Ax gets a clothesline in. Demolition works Tito in the corner, and they’re totally in control. Suddenly, Tito lands the flying forearm out of nowhere, and we get a good guy tag/bad guy tag. Martel is a house afire, and goes for the Boston Crab. Tito lands another flying forearm, and goes after Fuji. As the refreeze is tied up with Tito, Ax uses Fuji’s cane on Martel, and Demolition gets their first title victory. Yay! They would hold these belts until August of 1989. Demolition was in it, so that automatically gets a nod from me. 2.5 Kamala
Greg DeGeorge is backstage with Demolition. Strike Force’s first mistake was signing the contract, and their second was showing up. That sounds about right.
The Fink introduces the celebrities, Robin Leach, Vanna White and Bob Uecker. I love that eagle championship belt. Also, Bob Uecker finally meets Vanna White, and gets a kiss.
WWF Championship Tournament Finals - The Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase w/Andre the Giant vs. "Macho Man" Randy Savage w/ Miss Elizabeth
Macho and Elizabeth come decked out in white, and Elizabeth looks so elegant, and totally hot. They lock up and exchange blows in the corner. Andre trips Savage as he comes out and the crowd is chanting for Hogan. Savage is in charge again, but again gets tripped up by Andre. DiBiase is out wrestling DiBiase, but Savage gains control. DiBiase catches Macho with a knee, and goes to work on him. Savage seems out of steam, but fights back, knocking DiBiase to the outside. He gets up to the top rope looking to pounce on DiBiase, but Andre steps right in his path, blocking DiBiase. Savage doesn’t jump, but whispers to Elizabeth and she heads to the back. The crowd gets it, and we’ve all seen this before. DiBiase lands his fist drops on Macho, and the crowd starts chanting for Hogan again. And here he comes! He pulls up a chair, and sits in Savage’s corner. Andre pulls on Savage, but Hulk comes over and knocks him down. DiBiase remains in control, but gets causght going up to the top rope. Savage goes for the top rope elbow, but missed DiBiase. DiBiase pulls the Million Dollar Dream out of nowhere and Hogan hits him with a chair as the referee was distracted with Andre. Savage nails the top rope elbow, and wins the Championship! Solid match with entertaining elements. That’s a 3.5 Kamala easily. The Mega Powers celebrate in the ring and Gorilla and Jesse bid us adieu.
Here’s the thing:
There are a lot of folks that find this show rather long, but I’ve always liked how it really showcased all the talent in the WWF at the time. The tournament really established Macho as a viable Champion, and laid the grounds for his huge match with Hogan at WrestleMania V. I probably would have made a few changes in the matches though, with Steamboat going over Valentine in the first round. Then have Savage/Steamboat 2, which needs no explanation, but would be a great face/face tourney match, not unlike Hart/Perfect at King of the Ring ’93. As well, I would have put Bam Bam over the Gang, cause he was so over at the time, and had Rude cheat to win over Jake in quick match, instead of that long, pointless match, which was obviously going to be a draw. The have Rude go over Bigelow, cheating again, and then Macho goes over him. Still a very entertaining show, and frankly I’ve never seen a better tournament, with as much on the line. It’ll always be my favorite WrestleMania.
Final rating: 4 Kamala
