WWE WrestleMania IV (1988)

Best movie of this year hands down!

Simply Perfect

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Well, not quite. But this certainly was a very impressive night in the career of "The Macho Man" as he won four matches, including the final three tournament matches of the night to win his first WWE Championship in a 14 man tournament.This is a true PPV with literally everything built around, and leading to, the Main Event. As a huge Macho Man fan I loved every second of this show, and while he did need help from Hulkster to defeat DiBiase in the tournament final, he'd been in three matches earlier in the night so few could deny he'd earned his luck. And it kicked off the Megapowers storyline that would prove so entertaining over the next 12 months.The first match of the night was a twenty man Battle Royal. Battle Royals are always fun and this one is won by Bad News Brown after evil shenanigans. He and Bret Hart had teamed together near the end of the match and they both eliminated Junk Yard Dog. Hart wanted to share the honours with Brown, but Brown betrayed Hart and threw him out of the ring. And so Brown was awarded a trophy, but Hart was having none of it, knocking Brown out with the trophy and with that one act going from a bad guy to a good guy. Important moment in WWE history right there.Now, the story behind the tournament was that evil heel manager Bobby Heenan had been trying to get the WWE Title off Hogan for years without success. He did come close though when he turned Hogan's former friend Andre the Giant against him and managed Andre in a match with Hogan at Wrestlemania 3. Heenan then joined forces with the rich and evil Ted DiBiase and using Heenan's human resources and DiBIase's money they were finally able to get the title off Hogan and onto Andre. But Ted went too far arranging with Andre to forfeit the title to him. WWE President Jack Tunney stepped in and vacated the title putting it up for grabs in a 14 man tournament. Hogan and Andre drew a first round bye.Now comes the first round of the tournament to determine new WWE Champion. Ted DiBIase defeated Hacksaw Jim Duggan with help from Andre the Giant, Dino Bravo got himself disqualified to lose to Don Maruco, Greg Valentine defeated Ricky Steamboat in the best of the first round matches, Randy Savage took care of Butch Reed and One Man Gang defeated Bam Bam Bigelow by countout due to shenanigans with evil managers, and in an important result Jake Roberts and Rick RUde battled to a ten minute draw, eliminating both.In our next, short, match The Ultimate Warrior made his Wrestlemania debut, and squeaked past Hercules. In the time honoured spot of the ref counting with both wrestlers shoulder on the mat, but the hero having the strength to lift his shoulder just in time. Hercules manager Heenan was not happy.Next came the Quarterfinals, the first of which saw Hogan taking on the man who'd beaten him for the title a couple of months earlier Andre the Giant, and they were both disqualified after hitting each other with chairs. Hulkamania was dead and he was out of the title race. Eliminated by the perfect plan between evil manager Bobby Heenan and the maniacal Million Dollar man Ted DiBiase. Dibiase defeated Dan Muraco, despite Muraco having the help of Superstar Billy Graham and so earned a bye straight into the tournament final. Randy Savage defeated Greg Valentine in a decent match and would face One Man Gang for a spot in the final after the Roberts/ Rude count out had given OMG a bye.The night stalled with Honky Tonk Man getting himself disqualified against Brutus Beefcake to retain the Intercontionental Title and THe Islanders and Bobby Heenan winning a six man tag match against the British Bulldogs and Koko B Ware.One Man Gang got himself disqualified in the tournament semi final after hitting Savage with a cane. Could Randy Possibly beat a rested DIBIase after that beating? First we had to see Demolition Axe and Smash defeat Strike Force Rick Martel and Tito Santana to win the WWE Tag Team Championships.And finally came the moment everyone had waited all night for as Randy Savage capitalised on a chair shot from Hulk Hogan to hit the Flying Elbow on Ted DiBIase and win the WWE Championship. Hogan and Savage celebrated the victory together. The Mega powers had beaten the MIllion Dollar Plan and saved the WWE from the evil DiBiase.Don't try to rate this, Just strap yourself in and enjoy the ride. Awesome PPV.

Here are the (many) matches...20 man battle royal: After what feels like a catalogue of eliminations, JYD gets thrown out by both Bret and Brown after forming a pact. From there, Brown betrays Bret, hits him with the ghetto blaster and throws him over the top to win the trophy which seconds later gets destroyed by Bret and he turns face. Should have given this match more time to develop. 3/10 Tournament: The WWF title was put on hold because of a controversial match featuring Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant prior to Wrestlemania.First round - 'Hacksaw' Jim Duggan v 'Million Dollar Man' Ted Dibiase: Andre the Giant shows his usage as a bodyguard and Duggan performs a sunset flip! Ted gets the roll up for the pin and goes through to the next round. 3/10 Don 'The Rock' Muraco v Dino Bravo: For me, Dino gives move of the night with a stunning pile-driver. Muraco looks ravaged by steroids and his left arm looks grizzly. The match ends when Dino gets disqualified for pushing the referee into Muraco. 4/10 Ricky Steamboat v Greg Valentine: It was a stiff match between two NWA veterans but Greg goes through to the next round due to reversing a flying body-cross. This would be Steamboat's last WWF PPV until Summerslam 1991. 5/10'Machoman' Randy Savage v Butch Reed: The end comes when Reed gets too distracted by Elizabeth, taking what seems like forever to get to the top turnbuckle. Reed gets lifted from the turnbuckle by Savage and then hits the elbow and gets the pin. 2/10Bam Bam Bigelow v One Man Gang: A terrible match but the cartwheel and clap combo by Bam Bam always cracks me up. The booking is off too as the count-out decision seemed forced as Bam Bam was on the ring apron way before the 10 count. 1/10 Jake 'The Snake' Roberts v 'Ravashing' Rick Rude: This may have introduced their feud later in the month. Too many rest-holds and wear- down moves tell us immediately this is going to go the distance and finishes at the time-limit draw. Everything is paced out and finishes, as expected, with the clichéd controversial did he/didn't he pin him conclusion at the end. Predictable. 4/10 Ultimate Warrior v Hercules: The match ends when the Warrior has the presence of mind to get out of the full nelson by kicking away from the turnbuckle as leverage to form a pinning bridge. Despite it's sloppy execution, it was quite unique. 4/10 Quarter final: Hulk Hogan v Andre the Giant: A very scrappy match. This ended when Hulk and Andre traded chair shots. Interesting that the referee saw Hogan's shot before Andre's but only made a decision when Andre retaliated. Very disappointing but this does guarantee that a new WWF champion will be crowned. 3/10 Don Muraco v 'Million' Dollar Man Ted Dibiase: Ted hit Muraco with a nice hotshot/stun gun move to pin Muraco and go through to the next round. 3/10 'Machoman' Randy Savage v Greg 'The Hammer' Valentine: Solid stuff here as Greg gives Savage a beating throughout most of it and is only won when Savage cradles Valentine up for the pin while he tries to do his figure-four leg-lock. Valentine is probably the most consistent worker of the night. 5/10 One Man Gang gets a bye to the next round as a result of the double elimination between Jake Roberts and Rick Rude. Brutus 'The Barber' Beefcake v Honky Tonk Man for the Intercontinental title: Another match that went nowhere. The wrestling in itself was quite boring and choppy and ended when Honky Tonk Man got disqualified when Jimmy Hart hit the ref over the head with the megaphone. 3/10 British Bulldogs and Koko B Ware v Islanders and Bobby Heenan: The match is okay but not really on par with a typical British Bulldogs match. Koko performs the best move of his career with a double leg-scissors/headlock rollover combination. The match ends when both The Islanders drop Heenan onto Koko for the pin. 5/10 We get news that Ted Dibiase received a bye due to the Andre/Hogan double disqualification.'Machoman' Randy Savage v One Man Gang: Truly awful. Gang spends most of the time beating up Savage and then gets himself disqualified for trying to hit Savage with Slick's cane in full view of the referee like he actually wanted to get eliminated. 1/10 Strike Force v Demolition for the tag team titles: The crowd is pretty dead at this point and the only time they cheer is for Demolition. The match ends when Ax hits Martel over the head with Fuji's cane so Smash gets the pin. What is funny is the referee involved oversells Santana pushing him away but then realises he has to follow his script and make the count. 5/10 The tournament final: 'Machoman' Randy Savage v 'Million dollar man' Ted Dibiase: Savage gets concerned with Andre's interference so sends Elizabeth to the back. She ends up bringing Hulk Hogan out to ringside. Dibiase slaps the sleeper-hold on Savage and finally Hulk Hogan uses a chair to smack Dibiase in the back allowing Savage to get the pinfall after the flying elbow to win the tournament and become the new WWF champion. 5/10 Considering Savage is portrayed as a survivor, the sum of his matches only amount to 25 minutes and he didn't win the final on his own. I understand why Hogan was out there but he taints Savage's victory by directly getting involved. Hogan forms 'The Megapowers' with Savage. This means Savage holds the fort as Hulk Hogan collects his main event PPV bonus money while filming 'No Holds Barred' at the same time. 'Quantity over quality' springs to mind.

I remember them hyping the Hogan/Andre match BIG TIME prior to this show,only to see them fight to a lame no contest. If that wasn't bad enough,they botched the chance to have Savage/Steamboat in the second round (though semi-final's would have been more fitting),instead we were witness to Savage/Valentine and Savage/OMG. Even though Savage was obviously winning the tournament,the focus was still ALL about Hogan,which angered me then as it does now,being Macho was one of my all time favorites. If your a Macho fan,this is worth a watch,as he could really go back then. If your not,you probably wouldn't get as much out of it.

March 27th 1988 - Atlantic City, New Jersey, Trump PlazaMatch #1 20 Man Invitational Battle Royal Winner: Bad News BrownWWF Title Tournament Round 1 Matches 1. "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase Vs "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan 2. "The Rock" Don Muraco Vs Dino Bravo 3. Greg "The Hammer" Valentine Vs Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat 4. "Macho Man" Randy Savage Vs "The Natural" Butch Reed 5. One Man Gang Vs Bam Bam Bigelow 6. "Ravishing" Rick Rude Vs Jake "The Snake" RobertsMatch #8 Ultimate Warrior Vs Hercules Winner: Warrior By PinfallWWF Title Tournament Round 2 Matches 9. Hulk Hogan Vs Andre The Giant 10. "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase Vs "The Rock" Don Muraco 11. "Macho Man" Randy Savage Vs Greg "The Hammer" ValentineMatch #12 WWF Intercontinental Championship Champ: Honky Tonk Man Vs Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake Winner: Beefcake By DQMatch #13 Bobby "The Brain" Heenan & The Islanders Vs Koko B.Ware & The British Bulldogs Winner: Heenan & The Islanders By PinfallWWF Title Tournament Round 3 Match 14. "Macho Man" Randy Savage Vs One Man GangMatch #15 Tag Team Championship Champs: Strike Force Vs Demolition Winner: Demolition By Pinfall - New ChampionsMAIN EVENT WWF Championship Tournament Final "Macho Man" Randy Savage Vs "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase Winner: Savage By Pinfall - New Champion