Wrestlemania 4 Review

I have developed a scoring card to give the most accurate star rating for my reviews. For the most part I think they are pretty accurate:


5 Star Match= A 3.0 star IMDB rating
4 1/2 Stars Match= A 2.5 star IMDB rating
4 stars Match= A 2.0 star IMDB rating
3 1/2 stars Match= A 1.5 star IMDB rating
3 stars Match= A 1.0 star IMDB rating
2 1/2 stars Match= A .7 star IMDB rating
2 star match= A .5 star IMDB rating
1 1/2 star match= A .3 star IMDB rating
1 star match = A .2 star IMDB rating
1/2 star match = A .1 star IMDB rating
Dud= A O IMDB rating



Here we go Wrestlemania 4 from Trump Plaza. A 14 man tournament to declare an undisputed champion. This was the biggest Wrestlemania to date. Not as big a crowd as 3 but there are 16 matches on the card. Lets get to the review.

Match 1: 20 Man Battle Royal: The refs bring out a huge trophy and introduce the 20 participants. Alot of tag and lower midcard wrestlers. Standard battle royale. George Steele is in this but never gets in the ring. He pulls out Jim Neidhart from outside the ring. Eventually the refs tell him to get lost. Nothing interesting happens until the end. Final three. Bret Hart, Junkyard Dog, and Bad News Brown. Bret and Brown doubleteam JYD until they dump him. They act like they will split the winnings but Bad News suckers Bret with the ghetto blaster then throws him sturnom first into the turnbuckle that makes the crowd oooh. Bad News tosses him over and wins the battle royale and the 6 foot tall trophy at 9:43. He doesn't have long to enjoy it a pissed off Hitman comes back in knocks him out of the ring and destroys the trophy. This is the start of the Hart Foundation face turn. Typical battle royal. I give it 2 stars.

Robin Leech does the proclimation, and we start the tournament.

Match 2: Ted Dibiasie Vs Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Wrestler Vs Brawler, Hacksaw does a sunset flip midmatch that surprises Jesse Ventura. Hacksaw gains control and tries his football tackle clothesline but Andre grabs his leg to distract him. Dibiasie catches him with a knee to the back at the same time Andre punches Duggan. Dibiasie gets the pin at 4:58. Short match nothing special 1 star.

Match 3: Don Muracco Vs Dino Bravo. Muracco owns early he tries a push off splash in the corner but slips. This was before the you fkd up chant was invented so nobody in the crowd can be heard complaining. Muracco has Bravo down on the mat but Dino kicks him off and the Rock gets his head caught in the ropes and almost choked out. Muracco makes the comeback and tries for a running clothesline but Dino pulls the Ref in drawing the DQ. Short match nothing special again 1 star.

Match 4: Greg The Hammer Valentine Vs Ricky The Dragon Steamboat. Should be a good match. Hammer and Steamboat get into a chopping match that Steamboat wins. Hammer takes a header into the mat. Back and forth for a while until Steamboat goes up top and does his flying cross body. But Hammer rolls it over and gets the win. A shocked audience. 2 1/2 stars best match so far.

Match 5: Machoman Randy Savage Vs Butch Reed. Savage takes over early then Reed controls for awhile, but he tries going up top for something while yakking at Elizabeth Savage catches him and slams him off the top rope. Savage runs to the corner and jumps off with the flying elbow for the pin at 4:02. Crowd erupts. 1 1/2 star.

Match 6: One Man Gang Vs Bam Bam Bigelow. Two big guys clubbing each other nothing special. Slick pulls down the top rope and Bigelow falls outside. He tries getting back into the ring but Gang is pounding on him while he's in the ropes and the ref keeps going with the 10 count. Hey ref your supposed to stop the count if the guy is being beat on while getting back into the ring!!! Gang wins by countout in a crappy finish at 2:51. Boring 1/2 star.

Match 7: Jake The Snake Roberts Vs Ravishing Rick Rude. Rick Rude debuts his kickass wrestling tights. Nothing special this match was before they got into their big feud over the summer both guys use reverse chinlocks and armbar weardowns. Rude gets knocked into the corner and freaks when he realizes he's in the same corner as Damion. Jake tries for a DDT on numerous occassions but Rude counters each try. Eventually the time limit expires and both men are eliminated at the 15:00 mark. 2 stars.

Match 8: Hercules Vs Ultimate Warrior. A grudge match. Warrior isn't uber popular yet but just as crazy and great. Hercules hits Warrior with three clotheslines to knock him down. Hercules goes for the Full Nelson but Warrior pushes off from the corner and both mens shoulders are down for the count. Warrior gets his shoulder up at the last second and the win at 4:27. Nothing spectacular. 1 star.

Match 9: Hulk Hogan Vs Andre The Giant. Andre wins the title earlier in the year in a paid off match. Andre makes a cover and the ref counts three when Hogans shoulder was clearly up. Earl Hebner I believe makes the count then Dave Hebner comes in and argues with him. They were trying to do an evil twin angle that was corny. The title change stands but Andre gives the belt to Dibiasie. Jack Tunney says the titles change stands but you can't forfit the title to another wrestler. A rule that changes whenever the bookers need an easier story to write. So the title is vacated for the tournament. Hogan and Andre get special treatment and don't have to wrestle to the second round. Match felt like it was over before it started. Hogan controls most of the match until Dibiasie comes in with a chair and nails him Hogan gets pissed grabs the chair and pops Andre. They fight for the chair, Andre gets the chair and clangs it off Hogans head. Both men are disqualified at 5:50. Hogan takes out Virgil postmatch with a vertical suplex drop. 1 star match.

2nd Round Tournament

Match 10: Don Muracco Vs Ted Dibiasie. Muracco jumps Million Dollar Man befor the bell rings and Ventura says the ref is incompetent for it. Dibiasie catches Muracco in a brilliant stun gun on the top rope that takes everything out of the Rock for the pin at 5:42. Let's go 2 stars for the nice finisher.

Match 11: Randy Savage Vs Greg Valentine. Pretty good match. Savage comes off the top rope with the double ax handle on Hammer but Valentine catches him in the mush with a forearm shot at the same time. Valentine tries for a figure four but Savage counters with a small package and the win at 6:03. Good match 2 1/2 stars.

Match 12: IC Championship Match: *beep* Tonk Man Vs Brutus Beefcake. *beep* looks great with that IC title. I prefer the old title and never got used to the one they have used from 98 on. Brutus ruffs up Honkys hair to get him mad. Brutus controls most of the match. *beep* takes over and tries for shake rattle and roll but Brutus grabs the rope to block it. Brutus gets a sleeper on and just as *beep* is going out Jimmy Hart nails the ref with the megaphone. Brutus wins by DQ at 6:37 but not the title. He chases Hart around and gives him a hair cut. Fun match 2 stars.

Match 13: Koko B Ware and The British Bulldogs Vs Bobby Heenan and The Islanders. Heenan comes out wearing a attack dog trainers outfit to protect himself from Matilda and even wrestles with it on. Koko and Bulldogs control early. Ventura makes a comments Heenan looks like a Chinaman with that outfit. See nowadays you can't make comments like that because everybody has to be a miserable liberalist about that kinda stuff. Heenan gets plenty of time in the ring. Kicking whenever he can. But things break down when Koko kicks him into the ringpost shoulder first. Everybody is in there. As the ref chases the Bulldogs out the Islanders press slam Heenan onto Koko for the win at 7:35. Entertaining mostly for heenan. 2 stars

We take a little break and Jesse Ventura does some posing and gets a Jesse chant going. Then it's back to the Tournament.

Tournament 3rd Round.

Match 14: Machoman Randy Savage Vs One Man Gang. Gang uses his weight early on. Savage does his trademark clotheline on the top rope. Slick tries helping the gang and throws his cane into the ring. Gang smacks Macho with the cane but tries to take some more shots until the ref finally catches the idiot. Savage wins by DQ at 4:01. Gang bats Savage out of the ring with the cane. Savage climbs up top and hits the double ax handle that knocks Gang down on Slick. Everybody cheers.
1 star.

Match 15: Tag Team Championship Match. Strikeforce Vs Demolition. Strikeforce controls early with doubleteaming. Until Smash catches Tito in a bearhug and Ax gives him a clothesline from the outside. Ax give Tito a powerslam but Tito kicks out. Demolition seems to be getting the cheers more than Strikeforce in this match. They are one of my top three favorite teams of all time. Tito fights back and catches Ax with a flying forarm. He makes a hot tag and Martel goes nuts. Martel puts the boston crab on Smash. Ax comes in but Tito cuts him off Fuji gets up on the apron but gets punched by Tito. Ax grabs Fujis cane and clubs Martel in the back of the head. Smash is on Martel and gets the pin at 7:29 for the win and the belts. Decent. 2 stars.

Match 16: Undisputed Championship Match: Machoman Randy Savage Vs Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiasie. Robin Leech brings the belt to ringside. Bob Euker comes down to ringside, he stops and greets some valet who looks like he's smoking weed, and introduces Vana White as guest time keeper. Then Introduces Dibiasie accompanied by Andre. Savage makes his way down for his fourth match tonight. Andre causes problems early by tripping Savage. Few seconds later he trips Savage again. A Hogan chant starts up. Dibiasie starts the offense. Savage counters and send Dibiasie outside the ring and Savage goes up top for a double ax handle but Andre steps in front of Dibiasie and dares Savage to jump. Savage sends Elizabeth back and Dibiasie jumps Savage. Elizabeth comes back with Hogan and crowd goes nuts. Andre tries another trip but get clobbered by Hogan. Savage goes up top early for a flying elbow but misses it. Dibiasie puts on the million dollar dream. The ref gets distracted and Hogan comes in and pops Dibiasie with the chair. Macho goes up top for the flying elbow and gets it this time. Savage makes the pin in 9:15. Crowd erupts. 3 star match. The best one of the night.



Final Thoughts. If you look at the matches individually they were kinda dissapointing. Alot of them were too short. But if you gauge it based on the whole event it was pretty good. The tournament made the vacant title really feel like something important. Kind of like the 1992 Royal Rumble a prestigous event. Overall, this show gets a pretty high 6.8 star rating from me. It comes in second behind Mania 3. Individually with the exception of the main event, nothing here is exactly WrestleManai history stuff. BUT, you have to look at the show as a whole and as the first 4 hour WWF show the combined score pushes this one up and makes for a pretty good show. Mediocre matches mostly, but the amount of them pushes up the final rating I still like it, maybe a little more than Mania 3. Second best Mania of that time.

Mania 3: 7.1 stars
Mania 4: 6.8 stars
Mania 2: 4.8 stars
Mania 1: 4.1 stars

Best Match: Tournament final Machoman Vs Dibiasie
Worst Match: Tournament first round match One Mang Gang Vs Bam Bam Bigelow