WWE’s WrestleMania has been the biggest wrestling event every year for the last four decades, with it becoming a global phenomenon, bringing wrestling fans from all over the world to one place to witness the event. Even in the early days of WrestleMania, the show felt huge, with it incorporating pop culture icons and some of the biggest names in professional wrestling, coming together to create a spectacle. At WrestleMania 4, WWE decided to do something unique with the show, as the vast majority of that year’s edition was made up of a tournament to crown a brand-new WWE Champion.
WWE Wanted To Make WrestleMania Unique Every Year
Back when WrestleMania was only in its infancy, Vince McMahon wanted to ensure that every show was as big as the last – or bigger in many cases. The first show emanated from Madison Square Garden, with the uniqueness of the event making it stand out. However, that wasn’t enough for WrestleMania 2, as the scope looked to be widened with three different locations hosting a selection of different matches over the course of the night, to try and make it feel bigger.
When WrestleMania 3 rolled around, WWE heightened the scale of the event more, as it took place in the Pontiac Silverdome in front of their largest crowd yet. With an announced attendance of 93,000, this was the biggest event in the company’s history, with over a million watching around the world too. This show was pivotal to the huge growth of stars such as Hulk Hogan and in the growth of WWE as a whole. WrestleMania 4 showcased a step down in terms of scale, with the show taking place at the Historic Atlantic City Convention Hall, with an attendance of less than 20,000. To differentiate this event once again, the crux of the card was a tournament. It wasn't the worst tournament in wrestling history, but it wasn't great either.
The WWE Championship Was Vacated After Ted DiBiase Bought The Title
Following their huge match at WrestleMania 3, Andre The Giant and Hulk Hogan continued their feud over the course of the next year. At WWE’s The Main Event show, Andre and Hogan battled over the WWE Championship once again. During the match, Andre went to pin Hogan, but as the referee was counting, Hogan kicked out of the pinfall. Instead of acknowledging this, the referee continued counting and awarded Andre the victory. It was later revealed that instead of the scheduled referee, Dave Hebner, his twin brother Earl Hebner was put in his place and paid off by “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase, to screw over Hogan.
After failing to buy the WWE Championship from Hogan during the months prior, he managed to buy off Andre. Shortly following the culmination of the match, Andre handed over the WWE Championship to DiBiase, in what was a huge heel move. On paper, this looked to be the start of a very enjoyable heel reign for DiBiase, but it was almost immediately cut short by kayfabe WWE President, Jack Tunney. He announced that due to WWE’s official rules, with titles needing to be changed only by pinfall or submission, that DiBiase’s reign was nullified with the title vacated. This set up a single elimination tournament for WrestleMania 4, with the winner being crowned as the new WWE Champion.
The WrestleMania 4 Tournament Was A Mess
This led to six first-round matches (as Hogan and Andre received a bye to the quarterfinals), before the quarterfinals, semi-finals, and the final itself took place, all within the confines of one singular event. It was a bold move and could have provided some very strong matches, moments, and upsets, but the tournament ultimately led to this event becoming one of the worst received WrestleManias of all time, with the concept for the show not being booked well in the slightest. A large part of this was due to the sheer length of the card, which recorded 16 different matches on the night, which was far too much for fans to take in.
Due to the number of matches on the card, many of the tournament matches were quick, uninspired, and poor, with the only real standout bouts being Greg Valentine vs Ricky Steamboat, and a 15-minute time limit draw between Rick Rude and Jake Roberts, although this caused them to both be eliminated from the tournament. The final itself was fun, with Randy Savage overcoming Ted DiBiase, but the interference from Hogan took much of the spotlight away from the newly crowned champion. The tournament didn’t need to be this long, and whilst Andre giving DiBiase the title was a good moment, it was a quick yet lazy way to create the need for a tournament at WrestleMania 4.