WrestleMania IV
Battle Royal: This thing where George Steele never enters the ring, paying off in absolutely nothing, has always baffled me. Again I don't much enjoy battle royals where every participant is in to start out, since it feels like a bit of pointless waiting until the field thins, but as far as traditional battle royals go this one was mildly entertaining. *1/2
First Round: Ted DiBiase vs. Jim Duggan: Apparently these two put on a classic hardcore brawl in their pre-WWF days (I haven't been able to find a copy of it), but no such luck here. Still, this isn't bad. Both wrestlers highly over, DiBiase sold well and did what he could with the match. **1/4
First Round: Don Muraco vs. Dino Bravo: This music that's dubbed over Muraco's Jesus Christ Superstar entrance music sucks. I loved that as an entrance theme. Anyway, sweet piledriver by Bravo here, and while I expected this match to suck upon rewatch it wasn't too bad. *1/2
First Round: Greg Valentine vs. Ricky Steamboat: Decent enough match, hoped for a bit better from it but it was solid. Shame that they didn't let the Dragon go over here to set up Savage-Steamboat II. **1/4
First Round: Randy Savage vs. Butch Reed: I don't really like this match. Surely they could have let Savage look legitimately clearly stronger than at least one of his opponents in this tournament, and this would have been an easy spot to do it in. Instead he just sort of wins on Reed's mistake. Meh. Action was nothing special either. *
First Round: The One Man Gang vs. Bam Bam Bigelow: Only one of these two guys could work. Unfortunately he's the one who lost. This match was short and botchtastic, the ending was dumb and wasn't executed well either. Brutally bad. 0*
Shoutout to the funny promo in this spot that birthed this gif:
First Round: Jake Roberts vs. Rick Rude: This is a historically atrocious match. I have nothing nice to say about it. I put it below Roddy Piper vs. Mr. T, let's put it that way. Pretty amazing considering that it didn't have a silly stipulation or anything. 0*
The first round was going reasonably well until those last two matches. Holy ****.
Ultimate Warrior vs. Hercules: Bad as well. Clotheslinefest with no particular psychology behind it. Decent idea for a final spot. 1/2*
Second Round: Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant: Really stupid match (we're on a bad run here) with a really stupid ending. All it had going for it was a hot crowd. 1/4*
Note: Gorilla Monsoon was really bad about using "literally" in a sentence when he didn't mean something literally.
Second Round: Ted DiBiase vs. Don Muraco: Match is just okay, though I like putting DiBiase over 100% clean here and I liked the finishing spot. *1/4
Second Round: Randy Savage vs. Greg Valentine: I think I've hated on this match's ending before, but I actually think I like it. By a small amount, this might be my favorite match to this point in the tournament. **1/2
IC Title: Honky Tonk Man (c) vs. Brutus Beefcake: It blew my mind years after childhood to find out that Peggy Sue was Sensational Sherri. This match is yet another really bad one. 1/4*
The Islanders & Bobby Heenan vs. The British Bulldogs & Koko B. Ware: I like Heenan's safety outfit. Thought the action here was reasonably enjoyable, some fun spots with both Davey and Koko against the Islanders. Think you have to put the babyfaces over here given the angle involved though. Two years running with the British Bulldogs jobbing to Danny Davis and Bobby Heenan now, and this was the end of Dynamite Kid at WrestleMania. **
Semifinals: Randy Savage vs. The One Man Gang: Not good. Showed flashes of how they could do it optimally, but they didn't follow that pattern for the entirety of the four minutes. I also think you should let Savage pin him here. 3/4*
Tag Team Titles: Strike Force (c) vs. Demolition: Match was meh, but Demolition reaching the top of the mountain (and getting a good pop for it despite being heels) is a fun moment at least. *1/2
WWF Title: Randy Savage vs. Ted DiBiase: Solid match, great and satisfying moment to see Savage complete the tournament win to an insane pop. While the match is no classic, I think that the atmosphere and the importance of the moment make this a default choice for match of the night. **3/4
Overall: This is a really hard show to sit through. It was the longest Mania to date, with the most matches, and not a single great one in the bunch. It sure delivered some awful ones though. Seeing Savage win the title is awesome, but the process of getting there was a pretty painful one. Savage reaching the mountaintop is still probably barely enough to keep it above the first two for me though.
WrestleMania Rankings
1. WrestleMania III
2. WrestleMania IV
3. WrestleMania
4. WrestleMania 2
Last edited by LKJ; 07-14-2014 at 11:22 PM.