WWF Wrestlemania 4 Review
Wrestlemania 4 takes place in Trump Plaza, Atlantic City and has a whopping 16 matches in the card with the majority of those being a tournament for the WWF Championship.
Battle Royal
The match starts with many legendary fighters in the ring such as Harley Race, the Hart Foundation and Junkyard Dog but the packed ring quickly opens up with superstars being eliminated relatively quickly including George ‘The Animal’ Steele eliminating Jim Neidhart by pulling his beard from outside the room. The match was nothing special but it did the job to open up the show as Badnews wins by eliminating Bret Hart just for The Hitman to return to the ring to destroy the trophy.
Ted Dibiase Vs. Jim Duggan
Ted Dibiase wins after Andre the Giant intervenes and swipes Duggans legs leaving Duggan angry and arguing with Andre however this plays right into the hands of Dibiase who capitalises and seals the win. Pretty poor match in which the majority was the two punching each other with no real purpose.
Dino Bravo Vs. Don Muraco
This was a much better match due to the pace of the fight and the drama of the ending when Dino Bravo thought he had won the match when in fact he had been disqualified for using the referee to protect himself from Maruco hitting him. Decent match, both men worked well and put on a good enough fight.
Greg Valentine Vs. Ricky Steamboat
Valentine wins after reversing Steamboats crossbody. Disappointing result considering Steamboat is clearly the better wrestler and in this fight he looks so ahead of his time. Decent match but was heavily carried by Steamboat.
‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage Vs. Butch Reed
Super quick match which Butch Reed dominated until Savage throws him from the top rope before and Elbow drop seals the win for the Macho Man.
Bam Bam Bigelow Vs. One Man Gang
One Man Gang wins via count out even though no one knew what actually happened which really makes you question the referees volume when counting or if he was even counting at all. However, One Man Gang progresses.
Rick Rude Vs. Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts
This was up there with the worst match I have ever seen, most of it was spent on the ground. It ended in a draw which means One Man Gang gets a bye.
Hercules Vs. The Ultimate Warrior
Decent match but more refereeing controversy, this time I don’t even know who won - it looked like a draw to me but I’m not sure to say the least.
Hulk Hogan Vs. Andre The Giant
This match was a rematch from their famous Wrestlemania 3 match. Another match which ends controversially this time in a double disqualification for some reason as Hogan hits Andre with a chair and the referee waits until Andre hits Hogan back with the same chair to disqualify both despite Hogan clearly breaking the rules first.
Don Muraco Vs. Ted Dibiase
Ted Dibiase wins in what was actually a decent fight, definitely one of the better matches of the show and books his place in the semi-final of the tournament.
‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage Vs. Greg Valentine
Randy Savage wins after being dominated for most of the match again but he shows heart and wins by rolling up Valentine to progress.
Honky Tonk Man (C) Vs. Brutus Beefcake (WWF Intercontinental Championship)
Just in case a barber vs a singer wasn’t bizarre enough then I’ll explain how it got even more bizarre. Beefcake has Honkeytonk Man in a sleeper and just as he is about to fade Jimmy Hart hits the referee with his megaphone leaving the referee unconscious however Beefcake doesn’t realise and thinks he has won the match until he notices the referee is out cold so he the proceeds to cut Jimmy Harts hair before being made aware he has won by disqualification meaning Honkeytonk Man retains the title. Unbelievable.
The Islanders & Bobby Heeman Vs. The British Bulldogs & Koko B. Ware
The Islanders & Bobby Heenan won after Heenan pins Koko B. Ware, yet again another strange match with yet another strange ending.
‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage Vs. One Man Gang
Macho Man wins by disqualification after One Man Gang is caught with a cane in his hands.
Strike Force (C) Vs. Demolition (WWF Tag Team Championships)
Demolition win after one member is hit with Mr. Fujis cain and is then pinned. Almost every match has ended controversially.
‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage Vs. Ted Dibiase (WWF Championship)
Randy Savage wins thanks to Andre distracting the referee for some reason before Hulk Hogan running in and hitting Dibiase in the back with a chair so that Savage wins via elbow drop. Hulk Hogan kind of ruins the moment by staying in the ring rather than letting Savage and Miss Elizabeth celebrate on their own.
In all honesty, this was a tough watch due to the pace of the fights and the endings of the majority being unnecessarily dramatic. The only thing that made it more bearable was the fact that most matches were short.
Rating: 2/10
In all honesty, this was a tough watch due to the pace of the fights and the endings of the majority being unnecessarily dramatic. The only thing that made it more bearable was the fact that most matches were short.
Rating: 2/10
