Review of WWF WrestleMania IV

This is a sentimental one for me, as this was the first WrestleMania I
saw live. However, this was FOUR hours long, which totally burned out
the crowd and is going to make it tough to get through in one sitting.
We'll give it a shot though.

Of course this is the World Title tournament, brought about after Andre
the Giant defeated Hulk Hogan after the referee was bought by Ted
DiBiase. DiBiase immediately bought the title from Andre, and Jack
Tunney decided a tournament needed to be held to crown the "undisputed"
World Champion.

Gladys Knight sings "America the Beautiful", and I don't know if she's
covered in advertisements or just has really bad fashion sense.

20-man Battle Royal
Winner of this gets a big trophy, and they don't bother to do
introductions for everyone, so I'll just name them as they get tossed.

Bob Uecker joins the announce team to Jesse's annoyance, and he's all
excited and stuff for the battle royal.

There's the Hart Foundation (still heels), the Young Stallions (Paul
Roma and Jim Powers), Sika, Danny Davis, the Killer Bees, Bad News
Brown, Sam Houston, the Rougeau Brothers, Ken Patera, the Junkyard Dog,
the Bolsheviks, Hillbilly Jim, Harley Race, "Outlaw" Ron Bass, and
George Steele (who is still out on the floor and refuses to get in the
ring).

Brawl to start, and I know, I'm shocked too. Sam Houston gets tossed
first, 'cause he's a loser, and Sika follows soon after. Bret is busy
trying to toss Harley, while everyone just punches each other. Steele
is still standing at ringside, punching at ankles wherever he can.
Steele grabs Neidhart and drags him over the top, pissing him off
royal. It's just too hard to follow this stuff with people getting
tossed off of camera. One of the Rougeaus and Killer Bees get thrown
out, and the other Killer Bee follows. The Outlaw gets thrown out, and
the Bolsheviks double-team the JYD. Hillbilly Jim gets thrown out by
Nikolai, and Danny Davis gets thrown out to the delight of the crowd.
Jim Powers is thrown out, leaving 9. Harley and JYD square off in a
rematch from WrestleMania III, as Ken Patera throws both Bolsheviks
out, but is quickly tossed by Bad News. JYD punches Harley Race over
the top, and Paul Roma is thrown out by Bad News. That leaves just JYD,
Bret Hart, and Bad News Brown. Bret and Bad News try to double team
JYD, but get headbutted down. Bret and Bad News finally regroup and
pound away on JYD. Bret and Bad News hug in the corner to celebrate
their new lifelong friendship, and they jump JYD from both sides.
Boring heat segment, and JYD is finally tossed and Bret believes they
are going to split the trophy. Stupid, stupid Canadians. Bad News gives
him the Ghetto Buster (enzuiguri) and runs Bret hard into the corner.
He tosses Bret over the top rope to win the thing for real.
Winner: Bad News Brown

No rating for battle royals, but this one was pretty bad. This was
actually supposed to begin Bret's singles push, but those plans were
derailed. Since this is professional wrestling, Bret destroys the
trophy.

Bob Uecker goes off to find Vanna White, starting the running joke for
the rest of the show.

All of the next matches are first-round matches. Hulk and Andre get an
automatic bye to the 2nd round.

WWE Title Tournament - First Round
"Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase vs. "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan
DiBiase brings Andre to ringside with him, just to ensure that Hacksaw
is a dead man walking. I have a comp tape somewhere with this match
being a freaking BRUTAL brawl in Mid-South, and I don't think I'm gonna
get the same here.

They trade shots to start, before Hacksaw catches DiBiase with an
atomic drop that sends Ted through the ropes and to the floor. DiBiase
comes back in and chops away, but gets caught with a clothesline from
Duggan. Into the corner, Duggan hammers away with a 10-punch and whips
him into the opposite corner. Duggan's charge hits foot, and DiBiase
clotheslines him down. DiBiase gets an elbow from the second rope, and
hits his AWESOME fistdrop for two. Someone needs to bring that back.
Duggan is up and fighting back, but DiBiase goes to the eyes to slow
him down. DiBiase gets caught with his head down, and Duggan gets a
sunset flip (?!?!) for two. DiBiase keeps control with a knee to the
gut, but Duggan reverses a suplex and takes DiBiase down. DiBiase goes
to the second ropes again, but gets caught coming down and DiBiase
works in the 360 sell. Duggan clotheslines him down, and then slams
him. Duggan sets up for the Three-Point Clothesline, but does it right
in front of Andre like an idiot and of course gets tripped up. Duggan
goes after Andre, which allows DiBiase to knee him from behind, drop a
fist, and get the pin.
Winner: Ted DiBiase

Duggan clears the ring with his 2x4, but DiBiase moves on. This match
was pretty much what I expected, *1/2.

"Mean" Gene is with Brutus Beefcake, and he disturbs me by motioning
towards Brutus's pants and saying "what a package". I can't make stuff
like that up.

WWE Title Tournament - First Round
Dino Bravo vs. "The Rock" Don Muraco (w/ "Superstar" Billy Graham)
This is Billy's comeback attempt, as Muraco was "The Rock" before being
The Rock was cool. Winner of this one gets DiBiase, so take a guess who
is going to win.

Rock slams Dino out of the corner, and goes up but miscalculates some
sort of splash that was supposed to get two. Dino counters an armdrag
attempt, and drops a pair of elbows. Gutwrench suplex from Bravo, and
he runs Muraco into the corner. Dino misses a knee lift in the corner,
and Muraco goes to work on the knee. He snaps the leg back a couple of
times, before locking on a spinning toehold, Terry Funk would be proud.
Bravo kicks out of it, but Muraco takes him down and locks the hold in
again. Dino kicks out again and this time Muraco's head gets caught in
the top and middle rope. Bravo gets a nasty looking piledriver, but it
only gets two. Dino decides to try it again, but Muraco reverses it and
they clothesline each other for the double KO. Muraco is up first and
gets a flying forearm followed by a body slam. Muraco tries the forearm
again, but Bravo pulls the referee in front of him and the ref takes
the shot. Dino gets his finishing side suplex and he taps Bravo on the
back three times, as Bravo thinks he's won it. However, the Fink
announces a DQ win for Muraco. Bad, bad, bad.
Winner by DQ: "The Rock" Don Muraco

This was as bad as I remember, with no flow and all punchy-kicky crap.
* and move along please.

Mr. Baseball claims to have found Vanna White, as the Honky Tonk Man
comes in playing his gee-tar. He promises to beat up the Barber, OWW
HAVE MERCY!

WWE Title Tournament - First Round
Greg "The Hammer" Valentine vs. Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat
Common wisdom has Steamboat winning this match, and Savage winning his
to setup the rematch from last year that stole the show. Ricky brings
his newborn son to ringside with him, and then hands him to his HOT
wife. Wow, good job Ricky.

Headlock from Ricky to start, and Steamboat goes to his deep armdrags,
just beautiful to watch. Ricky works the arm and then chops the Hammer
down for two. Ricky gets a shoulderblock for two, and then another one
for another two count. Valentine tosses Steamboat over the top, but he
skins the cat back inside and dropkicks Valentine into the ropes for
two. Jesse drops the name of Barry Blaustein, future creator of Beyond
the Mat. Hammer takes over and hammers (sorry) away on Steamboat.
Valentine chokes Ricky against the ropes, and drives Steamboat into the
mat. Valentine drops an elbow for two, but Ricky reverses an atomic
drop and rams Valentine into the corner. Steamboat goes back to the arm
with an armbar, but Valentine reverses into an inverted atomic drop.
Valentine clotheslines him down, and then chops away at Ricky's throat.
Ricky comes back and chops Valentine down for two, but Valentine falls
on top on a slam attempt for a close two count. Hammer gets a
gutbuster, and drops a headbutt into Steamboat's stomach. Ricky fights
off the Figure Four attempt, as they chop the hell out of each other,
which would have today's fans rabid. Steamboat gets one final chop that
triggers a Flair Flop from Valentine and Ricky gets two.

Valentine takes control with a Greco-Roman thumb to the eye, and gets a
shoulder breaker for two. Hammer goes up top, and gets a chop as
Valentine tries for the figure four, but Steamboat punches out of it.
Steamboat rams Valentine's head into the mat, and gets a stiff elbow to
the jaw. Steamboat decides to head up to the top rope now, and gets
some HEIGHT on his chop, and it gets a close two count. Steamboat rams
Valentine's head 10 times into the corner, and Ricky's trademark temper
is starting to come out again as he shoves the referee out of the way.
Steamboat goes back up top, and gets a high cross body, but Valentine
rolls through, grabs the tights, and gets the three count.
Winner: Greg "The Hammer" Valentine

So much for the rematch with Savage, but this was actually Ricky's
farewell match, as he headed back to the NWA. He put Valentine over on
the way out, and guess what, it was a good match too. **1/2

"Mean" Gene is with the British Bulldogs and Koko B. Ware, as Matilda
(the stupid dog) is back. They promise Matilda is now a weasel dog, and
Bobby Heenan is in trouble.

WWE Title Tournament - First Round
"The Natural" Butch Reed vs. "Macho Man" Randy Savage
Slick and Reed are getting funky in the ring, before getting
interrupted by Macho's music.... and ELIZABETH of course!! WHOOO HOO!
Words cannot describe how hot she is looking tonight. Macho and Liz
have the matching blue outfits on.

Winner of this match gets Valentine in the second round. Reed and Macho
take their time getting started, and Reed finally drives Macho into the
corner and gets a snap mare. Macho blocks the next attempt however, and
sends Reed into the buckle. Reed comes back with a suplex, and he drops
an elbow for two. Reed snaps Savage's neck on the top rope, sending him
to the floor, as Liz offers advice to Savage. Back in, Reed stomps away
and catches Savage with an elbow off the ropes. Reed gets a fistdrop
off the second rope, but gets caught with his head down and takes a
kick to the face. Reed comes back with a clothesline, and now decides
to go up top. He jaws at Elizabeth on the way up... hey! I'll kick your
ass if you touch my woman. Anyway, Savage makes the recovery in the
meantime and slams Reed off of the top rope. He climbs to the top,
drops the Flying Elbow and that's all she wrote.
Winner: "Macho Man" Randy Savage

Typical Savage match for the time, as Savage got his ass handed to him,
before getting a big move and hitting the elbow. * for the first match
for the Macho Man... OH YEAH!

Backstage, Bob Uecker is ranting about Vanna and this time the
Islanders and Bobby Heenan interrupt. Heenan rants and raves as usual,
and the Islanders stand there and growl.

WWE Title Tournament - First Round
One Man Gang vs. Bam Bam Bigelow
Bigelow was in the middle of a MONSTER push, which makes the result of
this match make even less sense in retrospect.

OMG attacks before the bell and works over Bigelow in the corner.
Bigelow is sent hard into the corner, but OMG misses a blind charge and
Bigelow gets a weak splash for two. Bigelow gets a sloppy crossbody for
two, and Bigelow drops a headbutt on the OMG. Bigelow hammers away and
drops the Gang, as this is just punching for 5 minutes. Wake me when
it's over. Bam Bam headbutts him down, and tries to bounce off the
rope, but Slick pulls the top rope down and Bigelow tumbles to the
outside. OMG hammers away at Bigelow on the apron, until Bam Bam fights
his way back in and the bell rings??? They announce a countout win for
OMG, which is total BS cause Bigelow was standing on the apron the
ENTIRE TIME. I hate stupid finishes like that.
Winner: One Man Gang

Total car wreck, DUD.

"Mean" Gene is with Hulk Hogan, who gives a weird interview where he
promises to slam Andre and make Donald Trump give up all his material
possessions and embrace Hulkamania as his one true savior. Ooooooookay
Hulk.

WWE Title Tournament - First Round
"Ravishing" Rick Rude vs. Jake "The Snake" Roberts
They start off slow, but Rude gets a bodyslam, and Jake comes back with
a few of his own. Rude cowers in the corner, but Jake nails him anyway
and Rude freaks out when he runs into the bag holding Damien. Jake
works the arm with an armbar, and Rude dances around the ring in pain.
Rude comes back with right hands, but Jake holds onto the wristlock and
brings Rude down to the mat with him. Rude backs Jake into the corner,
and Rude drives a shoulder into his gut. Rude charges, but runs into a
knee from Jake, and Rude bails out before Jake can get the DDT. Back
inside, Jake grabs the arm again and rides the armbar.

They are clearly wasting time here, going for the draw. It turns into a
criss-cross, which you never see anymore, and Jake catches Rude with a
body slam. Jake tries a knee lift, but Rude sweeps his legs out from
under him and takes control. Rude catches him with a clothesline off
the ropes and it gets two. Rude goes to the chinlock, just to bore the
crowd a little more. 84 minutes later, Jake is still in the chinlock as
Gorilla and Jesse try to find stuff to talk about. Jake finally breaks
it, but Rude goes to the top rope and gets an elbow. Rude gets a
clothesline for two, and goes back to the chinlock. Jesse gets a good
line about Vanna: "I know where she is, but I don't want to say my room
number on the air." Rude breaks it and goes up top, and Rude hits a
weird looking fistdrop for two. Rude goes back to the chinlock, as the
draw is so incredibly evident. Jake gets a back suplex, but Rude holds
onto the chinlock. He breaks it though, and Rude stomps away, and then
goes right back to the chinlock as the "boring" chants start. I was
always under the impression that you bust your ass at WrestleMania,
especially if you only have 15 minutes to fill of a FOUR HOUR SHOW.
Jake gets a jawbreaker to break the hold, and a back body drop gets the
momentum going. Jake hits the short arm clothesline, and now Jake wants
the DDT. Jake tries it, but Rude drives him into the corner, but Rick
misses a blind charge. Jake gets a gutbuster for two, and he goes to a
headlock. Rude suplexes out of it for two, and Jesse says this match
feels like 45 minutes... I know the feeling. They clothesline each
other for a double KO, and Jake is the first to his feet. Rude takes
him down in the corner and covers with his feet on the ropes, but the
time limit expires before Rude can get the three count.
Decision: Time limit expired, both eliminated from tournament

Total boring crap, = * for nothing much.

Tournament Bracket After Round One (One Man Gang gets a bye):

Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant
Ted DiBiase vs. Don Muraco
Greg Valentine vs. Randy Savage

"Mean" Gene talks to Vanna, who is very hot, but knows nothing about
wrestling.

Hercules vs. Ultimate Warrior
Was this match really necessary considering how many other tournament
matches they have?

Warrior gasses himself running to the ring, as usual. Staredown to
start, and then they trade shoulderblocks to establish they are both on
steroids. Hercules tries a cheap shot, but of course it is no-sold and
he chops away on Hercules. Herc catches him with a clothesline though,
and Warrior goes down. Warrior comes back with his own clothesline, and
then he drops Hercules's throat on the top rope. Herc comes back and
clotheslines (notice a pattern) Warrior over the top, but Warrior lands
on his feet and drags Hercules out with him. Warrior slugs away on the
outside, and sends Hercules back inside. Hercules comes back with right
hands, but Warrior comes back with a clothesline to the back and more
punches in the corner. God, this sucks. Warrior gets a 10-punch in the
corner, but Hercules comes out of the corner with an inverted atomic
drop. Warrior misses a blind charge to the corner, and Hercules locks
on the Full Nelson, but Warrior kicks off the top rope and gets the pin.
Winner: The Ultimate Warrior

This was easily the worst match of the night so far, and that includes
the 15-minute draw. DUD DUD DUD, over and over again.

Recap of the Hogan/Andre feud, which I know I don't have to review,
because you all know it.

WWE Title Tournament - Quarter-Finals
Hulk Hogan vs. Andre The Giant
Andre and Hogan get the byes because they were the last two to hold the
belt.

Andre brings down DiBiase and Virgil to the ring with him. Andre jumps
Hogan as he gets into the ring and hammers away with punches and chops.
Andre is beyond useless in the ring at this point, and it definitely
shows. Hulk fights back and DiBiase jumps on the apron, so Hulk rams
Andre and Ted's heads together, and then ties up Andre in the ropes.
DiBiase frees the Giant, but Hulk slugs him down to the mat. He drops
three elbows on Andre, but he catches Hulk on the last one and starts
choking him out. Andre gets up and then just sits on Hogan, drawing
"ohhhhs" from the crowd. Andre grabs a nerve pinch and drives Hulk down
to his knees. Hulk fights out of it and he drives Andre into the
corner, as Virgil grabs the referee. DiBiase comes from behind with a
chair and nails Hogan, but he no-sells it, and DiBiase heads for the
hills. Hulk grabs the chair and nails Andre with it, and now Andre
grabs the chair and hits Hogan with it. Hogan gets the chair again and
floors the Giant and now chases Virgil and DiBiase. DiBiase sacrifices
Virgil to Hogan, who almost KILLS Virgil with a suplex that Hulk
doesn't fall to the ground on with him. Hogan comes back into the ring
to slam Andre, but it's a double DQ to eliminate both men.
Winner: Double DQ

Basically as bad as the first few meetings, as this gets a <* for some
well landed punches. So winner of Muraco-DiBiase goes all the way to
the finals..

-Backstage, "Mean" Gene is with Macho Man and Liz, who have the
matching pink going for them.

WWE Title Tournament - Quarter-Finals
"Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase vs. "The Rock" Don Muraco
Muraco jumps Ted as he gets on the apron, and Muraco slams him into the
ring. Rock gets a big powerslam off the ropes for two, and he hammers
away on DiBiase and catches him with an elbow. Muraco gets a fistdrop
off the second rope and that gets two. DiBiase tries to run away, but
Muraco drags him down with a snap mare and drags DiBiase out of the
corner. Standing dropkick gets two, and DiBiase takes a powder out of
the ring. Billy Graham threatens him, so DiBiase rolls back in and gets
his ass kicked by Muraco. DiBiase counters and slingshots Muraco into
the corner, and then stomps away. Ted rams the Rock into the corner,
and then clotheslines him down. DiBiase runs a knee into Muraco's gut
and drops a fistdrop to stay in control. DiBiase drags him to his feet,
but gets caught with his head down, but DiBiase stays in control with a
body slam. DiBiase tries an elbow from the second rope, but he misses
and Muraco comes back with a clothesline out of the corner. Muraco with
a shoulderblock, but he gets caught coming off the top rope with a
stungun and DiBiase gets the pin and goes all the way to the finals.
Winner: Ted DiBiase

This actually wasn't bad, as it was carried by DiBiase, and that gets
**.

WWE Title Tournament - Quarter-Finals
Greg "The Hammer" Valentine vs. "Macho Man" Randy Savage
Valentine goes to work on Savage to start, running him into the corner
and slugging away. Savage returns the favor, and gets a knee drop for
two. Valentine gets a forearm to the back and drops an elbow for two.
Valentine gets a shoulderbreaker for another two count and then he
tosses Randy over the top rope. Valentine drops an elbow off the apron
and then chops away on the outside. Savage meets the steel barricade,
and Valentine pounds him on the apron. Back inside, Valentine works the
back of Savage's leg and tries the figure four, but Savage crawls to
the ropes. Valentine gets a suplex for a two count, then a backbreaker
for another two. Savage comes back with a kick to the gut and gets a
bodyslam and climbs to the top and nails a double ax handle for two.
Valentine goes to the eyes to reverse, but Savage reverses to a suplex.
Savage goes up top again, but Valentine catches him with a shot to the
body. Valentine drags Macho to the middle of the ring and tries the
figure four, but Macho grabs a quick small package for the pin.
Winner: "Macho Man" Randy Savage

Well, it wasn't so bad, kinda dragged in the middle. But you take what
you can get, **

"Mean" Gene and Vanna White are back to blabber on some more, as Vanna
doesn't know who Bob Uecker is, and her acting sucks.

WWE Intercontinental Championship
Honky Tonk Man vs. Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake
HTM has Peggy Sue (Sherri Martel) with him tonight, and I still think
his theme song is damn catchy.

Lock-up to start, and Brutus catches the foot of the HTM and gets an
atomic drop. Brutus decides to mess up his hair... oh, IT'S ON NOW
BITCH!! HTM goes to the eyes, as Jesse offers a good explanation as to
why the title should only change hands on pin or submission. He says
because you could get a crooked referee who DQ's the champ on purpose.
Brutus gets a high knee, and HTM rolls to the outside to regroup.
Brutus drags Honky back in, but misses an elbow drop. HTM slugs away on
Brutus, and gets a snapmare, and then gets down with his bad self.
Honky stomps away some more, while Jimmy Hart gets a cheap shot in to
rile up the crowd. Honky swings away some more, and now tries the
Shake, Rattle and Roll, but Brutus grabs the rope to send HTM to the
mat. Brutus gets a back body drop and locks on the Sleeper Hold in the
middle of the ring. HTM is fading fast, so Jimmy Hart jumps up on the
apron and nails the referee with the megaphone, pissing off the crowd.
Brutus decides its time to cut some hair, as he chases Jimmy around the
ring and manages to cut some of his hair off. A group of referees has
rushed the ring and holds Brutus back while Jimmy and Peggy Sue drag
HTM to the back. Brutus wins by DQ, but who cares?
Winner by DQ: Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake

Match was all based on heat really, as there wasn't much for workrate.
*3/4 for some decent stuff.

Backstage, Mr. Baseball is with Andre the Giant, who chokes Uecker in a
funny visual. Andre says DiBiase paid him just to eliminate Hogan from
the tournament, and he did his job.

The Islanders and Bobby Heenan vs. The British Bulldogs and Koko B. Ware
Heenan has his dog attack suit on, and Dynamite starts with Tama.
Dynamite gets a back body drop and an armdrag, then follows it with a
slingshot that sends Tama into the post. He tags in Davey Boy, who
misses a body slam and Tama rolls over and tags Haku. Davey Boy gets a
crossbody for two, and then gets a bodyslam for another two count.
Crucifix from Davey Boy gets another close two, and he goes to the chin
lock. Haku reverses to an armbar, and tags in Tama. Tama grabs the arm,
but he is lifted into a press slam from Davey Boy. Tama goes to the
eyes and Haku comes back in with an elbow to the face. Davey flips out
of a slam and tags Koko, who comes in with a dropkick to Haku. Koko
tags in Dynamite, who clotheslines the hell out of Haku, but runs into
a foot in the corner. Haku pounds away, and tags in Heenan. Heenan
stomps away on Dynamite, but as soon as Dynamite gets up he runs over
and tags Tama. Tama gets a bodyslam, but a splash from the second ropes
hits knees. Tag to Koko, who gets a back body drop, and he throws Haku
into Tama. Haku catches Koko with his head down, even though he's not
the legal man, but hey, who's keeping track? Haku works over Koko and
he tags in Tama, and then Heenan comes in and gets his token stomps in.
Koko fights back, Heenan chokes him down. When a manager is
overpowering you, it's time to hang it up. Koko whips Heenan into the
corner and dropkicks him into the post, as Heenan cowers and the
Islanders jump him from behind. All 6 men get in the ring, and the
Islanders double team Koko and slam Heenan on top for the pin. Koko is
such a loser.
Winners: The Islanders and Bobby Heenan

Davey Boy tries to get Matilda to attack Heenan, but all it ends up is
Davey Boy pushing the poor dog against Bobby. ** for the whole mess.

The Fink introduces Jesse Ventura to the crowd, and he gets a bigger
pop (once again) than half the roster.

WWE Title Tournament - Semi-Finals
"Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. One Man Gang
Savage and Liz go with black this time, and Liz is still looking quite
tasty.

Savage hammers away, and clotheslines the Gang on the top rope. Gang
turns the tide though and backs Savage into the corner, then slugs him
down. OMG works in slow motion of course, and slowly hammers on Savage
and rams him into the corners. He chokes Savage with his boot, and gets
a bodyslam for two. OMG drops an elbow and it gets two, OMG gets up and
tries the Big Splash but it misses. Savage jabs away and Savage nails
him as OMG takes a tumble to the outside. Savage goes up top and hits a
double ax down to the floor. Back inside, Savage stupidly tries to slam
OMG and the Gang chokes him down. Slick hits on Liz on the outside and
chases her up the stairs onto the apron. Macho flips out and grabs
Slick, who tosses his cane to the OMG, and the Gang nails Savage with
it. The referee is tied up with Liz as OMG tries to hit Savage with the
cane, but keeps missing. Finally, the referee turns around and
disqualifies OMG.
Winner: "Macho Man" Randy Savage

Total contrast of styles, but they actually would have a decent rematch
on Saturday Night's Main Event a few weeks after this. *

Backstage, "Mean" Gene is back with Vanna (just get naked already).
Vanna leaves and Bob comes in a few seconds too late.

WWE Tag Team Championship
Demolition vs. Strike Force
Smash starts off with Martel, and Smash catches Martel, and Tito comes
it with a dropkick. Martel gets another cross body on Ax, and Strike
Force double-teams Smash. Santana works the arm of Smash, but gets
punched and Ax comes in. Ax gets caught in an armdrag, and Tito tags in
Martel. Ax fights back though, tags in Smash, but he gets hiptosses by
Martel and in comes Tito. Tito gets caught by Smash however, and Ax
nails him from the apron. The Demos double-team Santana and Ax comes in
with a powerslam for two. Tito tries a futile comeback attempt, as he
is playing the whole face in peril here. Smash tags in and chokes out
Santana with his boot, and the match stays quite boring. The crowd is
just gone here, after sitting through that whole tournament and now
having to sit through the slow-paced offense. Smash hits a suplex that
gets two, but he misses an elbow drop, and Ax comes in to stay in
control. The Demolition keeps cheating to keep Tito in their corner,
but Tito gets the Flying Forearm on Ax. Tito gets the hot tag to Martel
and backdrops Smash. Standing dropkicks for everyone, and the crowd
isn't behind him in the least. Martel locks the Boston Crab on Smash,
and the referee is busy trying to get Santana out of the ring after he
nails Mr. Fuji. This allows Ax to crack Martel over the head with
Fuji's cane and get the pin.
Winners and NEW Champions: Demolition

Face pop for the supposedly "heel" Demolition team, as the fans were
sick of the pretty boy tag team. Demolition were on offense the whole
match, and that does not make for a good rating. *1/2

WWE Title Tournament Final
"Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase
Robin Leach brings out the World Title belt to some semi-fruity music.
Bob Uecker is the guest ring announcer, and some drunk hops the barrier
to give him a hug with a cigarette hanging from his mouth. Great
security team Trump. Vanna is of course the guest timekeeper, which I
guess is the same as turning around letters for a living and making
millions. Seriously, how hard is THAT job, and she doesn't even have to
turn the freaking things anymore. She just puts her hand next to them,
at least in the 80s she had to physically turn them. The American
public is so predictable, give them a pretty face and they will drool
all over the show.

Liz and Savage are out in matching white, and no I'm not drooling over
her. Oh, screw it; you know she's hotter than Vanna. Give Savage some
credit for this being his 4th match of the night. Rumor has it that
DiBiase was supposed to win this match and the title, which I just
can't see them doing at this point in time. That was rejected after the
Honky Tonk Man refused to drop the IC Title to Savage, so Savage won
this tournament as a makeup to him. Of course, DiBiase was given the
Million Dollar Belt instead of the World Title, which I'm sure he
considered on the same level. Seriously, you're the freaking HONKY TONK
MAN, and something is seriously wrong when he gets to call the shots on
who wins that title.

Anyway, on with the match, as Savage beats on DiBiase and Andre trips
him right away. Crowd picks up on it right away and starts chanting for
Hogan. They exchange armbars, and Savage bounces off the ropes and
Andre grabs his foot again. Savage goes back to work on the arm, but
DiBiase rams him into the corner. DiBiase chops away and an elbow sends
Savage to the mat, and DiBiase follows with a clothesline that gets
two. DiBiase tries a sunset flip, but Savage punches out of it and then
gets his own clothesline for two. DiBiase confers with Andre, and then
nails Savage with a knee and kicks Randy in the head. DiBiase hits
another elbow, and then sends Savage into the corner. Savage ducks
underneath an elbow and clotheslines DiBiase on the top rope, and then
a high knee sends DiBiase over the top rope to the floor. Savage goes
up top to try to hit the double ax, but Andre stands over DiBiase,
daring Savage to jump into his arms. Savage thinks better of it, and
runs to tell Liz to go to the back for something. Obviously the crowd
knows where she is going. Back inside the ring, DiBiase hammers away on
Savage and hits three fist drops for two. Snap mare and DiBiase locks
on a reveres chinlock as Liz returns with Hulk Hogan to a BIG pop. Hulk
grabs a chair from ringside and takes a seat in Savage's corner to the
protests of DiBiase and Andre.

DiBiase hammers away in the corner, and Andre chokes out Savage behind
the referee's back. This prompts Hulk to run over and nail the Giant,
getting a big pop. DiBiase stays in control with a clothesline for two,
and a suplex gets another near fall. Gutwrench suplex for another two
count, as it is obvious Savage is winded and DiBiase is carrying him.
DiBiase decides to head up top, but Savage catches him and tosses him
off the top, and races up the other corner but misses the Flying Elbow.
That would have been the finish 9 times out of 10, great close call
spot there. Savage staggers to his feet and DiBiase locks on the
Million Dollar Dream. The referee is preoccupied trying to keep Andre
away, allowing Hogan to sneak in the ring and BLAST DiBiase with a
chair. Savage gets up again, goes up top as the crowd is going INSANE.
Savage nails the Flying Elbow and gets the pin as the crowd goes
freaking NUTS.
Winner and NEW champion: "Macho Man" Randy Savage

Fourth match for Savage and third for DiBiase, so you can't expect too
much. It had an emotional ending and was the right end result, as
Savage was given a shot at the big time. **

Final Word
It's not a bad WrestleMania, it's just WAY too long. The crowd died for
the Tag Title match, but came alive for the main event, which brought
it up a bit in my eyes. Of course, irony reared its ugly head, as
Savage would lose that very title to Hogan in the very same building
one year later. Not a bad event, but don't kill yourself trying to find
it.

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