WrestleMania 4 thoughts
After the success of WrestleMania III, WWF/E had expectations the moment that PPV ended for the 4th annual to be as good or bigger. Taking place in Atlantic City, New Jersey in front 19,199 people in attendance. The biggest storyline at the time was the WWE Championship being vacated after controversial ending (kayfabe wise) with Andre the Giant winning the WWE Championship and selling it straight to Ted Dibiase (the million dollar man) but the on-screen president of the WWE decided to vacate the championship and hold a 14 man tournament at the biggest show of the year to crown a new champ. Sounds good on paper but did it live up to the hype? Also featuring in the show was the 20-Man Battle Royal and 2 title matches in the mid card and tag division respectively.
The Good - In terms of build up based on the storylines recap before the show, a tournament crowning was a spectacular idea. It was the first time in history of the company where a vacant title would be the prize. Randy Savage won the WWE Championship for the first time in history was a special moment for the legend and honestly Savage himself was the hardest working star of the night. Being so over to with the crowd after a spectacular match the previous year made perfect sense to put him over as the top star in the business (although original plans had Ted Dibiase win the belt). Bob Uecker also was a memorable host across the show as I got a lot of laughs of him through the PPV. A little minor storyline involving him wanting to see Vanna White was a little entertaining as well.
The Meh - Crowd wasn't bad. It was decent but they definitely were no where near as good as the previous years. At the same time I couldn't blame it all on them as the show did go on for far too long and the biggest pop was obviously going to go to Hulk Hogan and putting him out in the middle of the show was a risky thing to do as it would be nearly impossible for anything following Hogan to still feel energy. Also as good as the main event was and the excellent moment of Randy winning the title, Savage's big night did feel a little overshadowed by Hulk Hogan intervening. But it still went on good. Battle Royal was okay.
The Bad - The show was waaay too long. A tournament was a great idea but 14 men wasn't necessary. 8 men would have been much more acceptable but 14 men put too much on to one show. Like I said earlier the crowd was drained by the second half and who could blame them? Most of the matches were starting to feel repeated with screw ups by distracted referees and manager interfering. Half of the matches also were very bad due to the length of them ending very quickly with nothing barely being available to review as a highlight. By this point WWE would change this for the future though. The title matches were both overshadowed by the tournament. Demolition winning the championship titles didn't barley get a pop and Honky Tonk Man vs. Breefcake was just a simple match for comedy.
Overall - Sadly show did not deliver. It honestly is a great show compared to WrestleMania 2 but a dragged compared to 3. If only reduced length of tournament with better booking of the matches were there, it would have been a success. But the show did have a few pros such as Savage's win, Ricky Steamboat vs. Greg Valentine, and Bob Uecker.
Score 4 out of 10
0 = Terrible 1 = Bad/Lackluster 2 = Decent 3 = Good 4 = Awesome 5 = One of the best of all time
1. 20-Man Invitational Battle Royal - 1.5/5
2. Ted DiBiase vs. Jim Duggan - 2/5
3. Dino Bravo vs. Don Muraco - 1.5/5
4. Greg Valentine vs. Ricky Steamboat - 3/5
5. Randy Savage vs. Butch - 2/5
6. One Man Gang vs. Bam Bam Bigalow - 0/5
7. Jake Roberts vs. Rick Rude - 3/5
8. Hercules vs. Ultimate Warrior - 1/5
9. Andre the Giant vs. Hulk Hogan - 1.5/5
10. Don Muraco vs. Ted DiBiase - 2/5
11. Greg Valentine vs. Randy Savage - 1/5
12. Brutus Breefcake vs. Honky Tonk Man: Intercontinental Championship - 1/5
13. The Islanders & Bobby Heenan vs. British Bulldogs and Koko B. Ware - 0/5
14. One Man Gang vs. Randy Savage - 0/5
15. Strike Force vs. Demolition: World Tag Team Championship - 2/5
16. Randy Savage vs. Ted DiBiase: WWE Championship - 2/5
Best Match - Greg Valentine vs. Ricky Steamboat
Worst Match - One Man Gang vs. Bam Bam Bigalow
Most Memorable Moment - Randy Savage title victory
Top 5 Performers 1. Randy Savage: 2. Ted DiBiase: 3. Hulk Hogan: 4. Greg Valentine: 5. Ricky Steamboat:
After the success of WrestleMania III, WWF/E had expectations the moment that PPV ended for the 4th annual to be as good or bigger. Taking place in Atlantic City, New Jersey in front 19,199 people in attendance. The biggest storyline at the time was the WWE Championship being vacated after controversial ending (kayfabe wise) with Andre the Giant winning the WWE Championship and selling it straight to Ted Dibiase (the million dollar man) but the on-screen president of the WWE decided to vacate the championship and hold a 14 man tournament at the biggest show of the year to crown a new champ. Sounds good on paper but did it live up to the hype? Also featuring in the show was the 20-Man Battle Royal and 2 title matches in the mid card and tag division respectively.
The Good - In terms of build up based on the storylines recap before the show, a tournament crowning was a spectacular idea. It was the first time in history of the company where a vacant title would be the prize. Randy Savage won the WWE Championship for the first time in history was a special moment for the legend and honestly Savage himself was the hardest working star of the night. Being so over to with the crowd after a spectacular match the previous year made perfect sense to put him over as the top star in the business (although original plans had Ted Dibiase win the belt). Bob Uecker also was a memorable host across the show as I got a lot of laughs of him through the PPV. A little minor storyline involving him wanting to see Vanna White was a little entertaining as well.
The Meh - Crowd wasn't bad. It was decent but they definitely were no where near as good as the previous years. At the same time I couldn't blame it all on them as the show did go on for far too long and the biggest pop was obviously going to go to Hulk Hogan and putting him out in the middle of the show was a risky thing to do as it would be nearly impossible for anything following Hogan to still feel energy. Also as good as the main event was and the excellent moment of Randy winning the title, Savage's big night did feel a little overshadowed by Hulk Hogan intervening. But it still went on good. Battle Royal was okay.
The Bad - The show was waaay too long. A tournament was a great idea but 14 men wasn't necessary. 8 men would have been much more acceptable but 14 men put too much on to one show. Like I said earlier the crowd was drained by the second half and who could blame them? Most of the matches were starting to feel repeated with screw ups by distracted referees and manager interfering. Half of the matches also were very bad due to the length of them ending very quickly with nothing barely being available to review as a highlight. By this point WWE would change this for the future though. The title matches were both overshadowed by the tournament. Demolition winning the championship titles didn't barley get a pop and Honky Tonk Man vs. Breefcake was just a simple match for comedy.
Overall - Sadly show did not deliver. It honestly is a great show compared to WrestleMania 2 but a dragged compared to 3. If only reduced length of tournament with better booking of the matches were there, it would have been a success. But the show did have a few pros such as Savage's win, Ricky Steamboat vs. Greg Valentine, and Bob Uecker.
Score 4 out of 10
0 = Terrible 1 = Bad/Lackluster 2 = Decent 3 = Good 4 = Awesome 5 = One of the best of all time
1. 20-Man Invitational Battle Royal - 1.5/5
2. Ted DiBiase vs. Jim Duggan - 2/5
3. Dino Bravo vs. Don Muraco - 1.5/5
4. Greg Valentine vs. Ricky Steamboat - 3/5
5. Randy Savage vs. Butch - 2/5
6. One Man Gang vs. Bam Bam Bigalow - 0/5
7. Jake Roberts vs. Rick Rude - 3/5
8. Hercules vs. Ultimate Warrior - 1/5
9. Andre the Giant vs. Hulk Hogan - 1.5/5
10. Don Muraco vs. Ted DiBiase - 2/5
11. Greg Valentine vs. Randy Savage - 1/5
12. Brutus Breefcake vs. Honky Tonk Man: Intercontinental Championship - 1/5
13. The Islanders & Bobby Heenan vs. British Bulldogs and Koko B. Ware - 0/5
14. One Man Gang vs. Randy Savage - 0/5
15. Strike Force vs. Demolition: World Tag Team Championship - 2/5
16. Randy Savage vs. Ted DiBiase: WWE Championship - 2/5
Best Match - Greg Valentine vs. Ricky Steamboat
Worst Match - One Man Gang vs. Bam Bam Bigalow
Most Memorable Moment - Randy Savage title victory
Top 5 Performers 1. Randy Savage: 2. Ted DiBiase: 3. Hulk Hogan: 4. Greg Valentine: 5. Ricky Steamboat: