Austin101

Sorry it's taken me this long to review, busy weekend and the event itself is 10 hours in length....(joking, but it feels that way)



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Austin101's "WWF Macho Ma...errr Wrestlemania 4: What The WORLD is Watching!" Review:




- This WrestleMania featured 16 matches, that is more than any other WrestleMania. (And while I'm not sure but I'd guess it's up there for any PPV period.)


- Wrestlemania IV and V are the only two WrestleManias to be held at the same venue for two consecutive years.


- This event featured, among other things, a Tournament for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship which was vacated after a controversial match between Hulk Hogan and André the Giant.The event featured, among other things, a Tournament for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship which was vacated after a controversial match between Hulk Hogan and André the Giant.


- Gladys Knight sang a rendition of "America the Beautiful" before the show. The other celebrity guests in attendance included Bob Uecker, Vanna White, Robin Leach, Donald Trump, Ivana Trump, and Sugar Ray Leonard.


- Live on PPV from the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The Donald himself enjoyed the show with the best seats in the house. (along with Ivana and a friend)


- Jesse THE BODY Ventura (who is just tremendous as always) does the show with Gorilla Monsoon. (Once again this is my favourite broadcast tandem of all time.)


Now onto the matches!.....




1) Opening Contest: Bad News Brown defeated Boris Zhukov, Bret Hart, Brian Blair, Danny Davis, George Steele, Harley Race, Hillbilly Jim, Jacques Rougeau, Jim Brunzell, Jim Neidhart, Jim Powers, Junkyard Dog, Ken Patera, Nikolai Volkoff, Paul Roma, Raymond Rougeau, Ron Bass, Sam Houston, and Sika in a 20 man Battle Royal


This happened just two months after the first ever ROYAL RUMBLE so they probably wanted to feed off of that success and as an excuse to get more guys on the show probably. Much like they do before Mania's as of late with the SD vs Raw Battle Royal's before WrestleMania begins.

The winner of this Battle Royal got a trophy and bragging rights I guess.

Slow action to start but bodies were thrown left and right once it got going.

The final three were the JYD, Bad News Brown and Bret "The Hitman" Hart.

Bad News Brown and The Hitman cooperated to eliminate The Junkyard Dog. However after that The Bad News then eliminated Hart to win the battle royal at 10:40 after attacking Bret Hart from behind with a ghetto blaster.

Bret "The Hitman" Hart then attacked Bad News Brown and broke the trophy that was awarded to him. A "FACE" turn for the Hitman in what was a decent Battle Royal at best. Interesting way to open the show.


* 3/4





2) Tournament First Round: "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase (w/Virgil and André the Giant) vs "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan

I once read somebody tell me that a few years earlier, this was a main event match for Mid-South. He said "In fact, you could make the argument based on ratings and attendance that these two were bigger draws than Hulk Hogan at that point." Very interesting and just another reason Dibiase was so wonderful.

This match wasn't anything great but it wasn't bad either and especially for the amount of time it recieved.


Ted DiBiase pinned Duggan following a Fist Drop after Andre tripped up Duggan and then clocked him at 4:54.


* 1/4




3) Tournament First Round: Don "The Rock" Muraco (w/Billy Graham) vs "Canada's Strongest Man" Dino Bravo (w/Frenchy Martin)

Just an average 1st round tournament match with nothing really significant at all to report.


Bravo was disqualified for pulling the referee in front of him to avoid a forearm from Muraco at 4:53 to move on. Muraco advances...



*





4) Tournament First Round: "Macho Man" Randy Savage (w/Miss Elizabeth) vs "The Natural" Butch Reed (w/Slick)

I've always thought that "The Natural" Butch Reed was underrated. I said that in my last review when he took on Koko B. Ware but like that match, this one wasn't all that great which is surprising because he went up against a great worker like Savage but the match wasn't bad by any means either.


Savage pinned Reed after a Flying Elbow Drop at 5:07 to move on. His entrance music would play a total of 8 times on the night both before his matches and after. Who cares though, it's a great theme.


*




5) Tournament First Round: Greg "The Hammer" Valentine vs Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat


THIS is one of the most underrated matches in the history of "Wrestlemania.

And that says a lot. It's always a thrill to watch either Valentine or Steamboat go at it but when they go at it together it's such a treat. This match was a lot longer then a lot of matches on the 16 match card, but it didn't even feel like it because of just how good it actually came off.

A back and forth contest between two great in-ring workers who were both not the greatest on the mic but back then it didn't matter a whole lot as most of what was done, was done in the ring.

Valentine pinned Steamboat with a roll-through on a Flying Crossbody at 9:12 to move on.

Fantastic.

Only bad thing was that Steamboat didn't advance therfore no "Savage vs Steamboat" re-match but you can't have everything and back in the late 80's the WWF didn't want to have a face vs face match for the most part. (That's apart of the reason WM 6's Hogan vs Warrior main event was so special.)


*** 1/2




6) Tournament First Round: The One Man Gang (w/Slick) vs Bam Bam Bigelow (w/Oliver Humperdink)

Big man match and a very poor one at that. It was short but it felt long because of how bad it was, a complete opposite of the last match. Which reminds me that it probably wasn't the best idea to follow that match with this one. Bigelow was such a great worker for his size but this match didn't go over to well.

Not a whole lot to say here....it even had a bad ending.


Bam Bam Bigelow was counted out after being low-bridged by Slick at 2:56.



1/2*





7) Tournament First Round: "Ravishing" Rick Rude (w/Bobby Heenan)vs Jake "The Snake" Roberts

Both guys were pretty over in early 1988.

Rude cuts a heel promo before the start of the match. His tights are always a laugh riot as seen at this Mania and the next one from the Trump Plaza at Wrestlemania 5. He has a ladies face on the back of his tights. (I believe it is Jake the Snake's girlfriend if I remember correctly)

The two had some good moves back and forth but most of this match consisted of Rude slapping a head lock on the Snake while the two waited for time to dissapear. It worked. But not without boo's and chants of "boooooring" from time to time.


This match ended up going to a time limit draw at 15:00 exactly so both men were eliminated from the tournament. The fans weren't to happy after what was a slow match and now both guys were gone. However for some strange reason whenever I watch Wrestlemania 4 I love watching this one. It wasn't THAT bad overall and maybe it's just because I get a kick out of the smile on Trump's face while NOTHING at all is happening inside the ring.



* 3/4




8) The Ultimate Warrior vs Hercules (w/Bobby Heenan)

This was before The Warrior got mega over as a face. However the fans in Atlantic City still gave him a good reaction.

Not a whole lot happened in this match and it was pretty boring to say the least.

Warrior pinned Hernandez when Hernandez applied a half nelson suplex and Warrior got his shoulder up first at 4:29.

After the match, Hercules tries to strangle Warrior with his chain, but Warrior makes his own save.

3/4*





9) Tournament Quarter-Final: Hulk Hogan vs André the Giant (w/Ted DiBiase and Virgil)

It's always a lot of fun when Hogan and Andre hooked up (Especially at the mania following the BIG main event at Wrestlemania 3)

This was the fist 2nd round match as both guys got a bye into the 2nd round.

While Hogan took it to Andre often and early at the start it was Andre who dominated most of this match throwing his weight at the Hulkster quite often. However Hulk got his momentum back at the end like he always does.....

But both Hogan and Andre were disqualified for using chairs on each other at 5:05. (Hulk Hogan used it first which is surprising considering he was a face)

Lame ending to a pretty poor match but at least the Hulkster made the crowd happy by posing for them for I don't know 20 minutes?




*






10) Tournament Quarter-Final: "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase vs Don "The Rock" Muraco (w/Superstar Billy Graham)



Ted DiBiase pinned The Rock following a Hot Shot at 5:40 to move onto the finals in what was a pretty solid contest considering both guys had wrestled already once before on the night.




**




11) Tournament Quarter-Final: "Macho Man" Randy Savage (w/Miss Elizabeth) vs Greg "The Hammer" Valentine


We didn't get Savage vs Steamboat but WE DID get Savage vs Valentine which was just great.

The Hammer puts on his 2nd great match of the night this time with Savage. It's unfortunate that this couldn't go longer but Valentine had already wrestled a 9 minute match, and don't forget this night had 16 Matches! 16!....


Randy Savage pinned Valentine by roll-up after countering his Figure Four leglock at 6:06.


**1/2




12) Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake vs The Honky Tonk Man (w/Jimmy Hart) for the WWF InterContinental Championship

"Bruti" is so gay. Period. Yes, I've said that many times before but my god...he is just so annoying and I can't for the life of me think of why so many people liked him. Oh well moving onto the match.

Peggy Sue at this point was Sherri Martel just to point out.

Honky Tonk Man was disqualified after Hart hit the referee with a Megaphone, as a result he retained the Title as they always do at 6:30.

It's interesting to note that the referee was legitimately injured by the blow from the megaphone and needed to be helped out of the ring.



*




13) The Islanders (Haku and Tama) and Bobby Heenan vs The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith and The Dynamite Kid) and Koko B. Ware

Very entertaining.

We all know the Bulldogs and Islanders can put on good in ring matches but with the addition of Heenan and his suit made it comical as well.

Very good pace to the tag contest also.

Heenan surprisingly pinned Ware after he was picked up by The Islanders and dropped on top of Koko B. Ware at 7:30. Not the best way to end what was a pretty good match.


**3/4




14) Tournament Semi-Final: "Macho Man" Randy Savage (w/Miss Elizabeth) vs The One Man Gang (w/Slick)

Randy Savage comes out with Elizabeth...again. It's almost like watching the movie "Groundhog Day" at this point.

Jesse and Gorilla heavily favored the Gang as he got a bye to the semi's and Savage had already wrestled twice.


One Man Gang was disqualified after attempting to strike Savage with Slick's cane at 4:05 entering Savage to the finals to meet Dibiase.

This was nothing good....however it was to the point at least and now we got a great match set up for the finals!


1/2*




15) Demolition (Ax and Smash) (w/Mr. Fuji) vs Strike Force (Rick Martel and Tito Santana) for the WWF Tag Team Championship

Demolition would really come into there own after this contest.

Which is another reason it's a memorable one. Two great matches to end this long show was probably a good idea.

This tag match went back and forth between two popular teams and it worked out very well.


Ax pinned Martel following a cane shot at 12:33 to become the WWF tag team Champions!



**3/4




16) Main Event- Tournament Final: "Macho Man" Randy Savage (w/Miss Elizabeth and Hulk Hogan) vs "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase (w/André the Giant) for the vacant WWF Championship


This was probably the closest Ted Dibiase got to the WWF title. Unfortunately he'd never win the big one like a lot of other greats but at least he had a solid career and was a very memorable character both in the ring and on the mic over all those years.


Bob Uecker acted as the special guest ring announcer for the main event and was escorted to the ring by Vanna White.


A lot of back and forth wrestling between two of the greatest overall performers in the history of Professional Wrestling. Both these guys had wrestled now a combined 7 matches on the night so if there was a slow spot here or there it was justified.

I really liked the length of this bout and it had that "Main-Event" feel for sure.


Randy Savage pinned DiBiase following a Flying Elbow Drop after DiBiase was struck by a chair swung by Hulk Hogan (as a counter-measure for Andre's repeated interferences in the match) at 9:27 to become the World Wrestling Federatipon champion after defeating four men on the night! Atlantic City pops loud!


Savage wins the title but before the tournament started Robin Leach read a special proclamation "sanctioning" the tournament for the WWF Championship at the start of the event and was scheduled to present the belt to the winner, although it was snatched away by Hulk Hogan in celebration of Randy Savage winning.

And what a celebration this was.....Savage, Hogan, and Elizabeth celebrating the win in the peak of the late 80's wrestling boom. Such a sight to see and one of the best Wrestlemania moments of ALL time.






***





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Final PPV Rating for Wrestlemania 4 = 7/10


Taking into consideration how many matches there were, the event itself is not bad by any means. Not to often to people list this on top of the "Best Mania's ever" list and that's fine. However to say it's one of the worst is wrong also. This event is much better then average with a lot of great matches, and a lot of decent ones as well. Taking also into consideration the time of this event was in the middle of the first big WWF boom and it's star power was evident. Then, finally taking into consideration the events unique "TOURNAMENT" concept it makes the show fun. This Wrestlemania is pretty great but nothing more....7=10 is about right in my books.



Feedback appreciated as always.....




Up Next from Austin101: - "WWF Wrestlemania 5: The Mega Powers Explode!"


(stay tuned.....)




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