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WrestleMania IV

WrestleMania IV was a 1988 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It was the fourth annual WrestleMania and took place on March 27, 1988, at the Atlantic City Convention Hall (advertised as Trump Plaza) in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The announced attendance of the event was 19,199.

The main event featured the finals of a one-night, 14-man single-elimination tournament for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship, in which Macho Man Randy Savage defeated "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase to win the vacant title. This marked the first WrestleMania that did not feature Hulk Hogan—regarded as the WWF's biggest star in the 1980s—as a participant in the main event (though he was at ringside in Savage's corner).

The undercard featured a 20-man battle royal won by Bad News Brown, Demolition (Ax and Smash) versus Strike Force (Tito Santana and Rick Martel) for the WWF Tag Team Championship, and Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake versus The Honky Tonk Man for the WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship.

Contemporary critics gave the event a lukewarm reception, noting its extended length.

WrestleMania is considered the World Wrestling Federation's (WWF, now WWE) flagship professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event, having first been held in 1985. It is held annually between mid-March to mid-April. WrestleMania IV was scheduled to be held on March 27, 1988, at the Historic Atlantic City Convention Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. This event was advertised as being held at the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino, but actually took place across the road at Convention Hall. Donald Trump used the event to promote his properties and was highlighted in the broadcast.

Much of the promotion of the event featured the continued rivalry of André the Giant and Hulk Hogan, who had faced off in the previous edition's main event. This took place inside of a single elimination fourteen-man tournament for the vacant WWF World Heavyweight Championship. The event was broadcast on closed-circuit television to various venues with a combined audience of 175,000 attendees, and also on PPV.

The most heavily promoted feud heading into the event was between Hulk Hogan and André the Giant, similar to the year before when the two met at WrestleMania III. In January 1987, Hogan was awarded a trophy for his third year as WWF World Heavyweight Champion, while Hogan's on-screen friend André was awarded a smaller trophy than Hogan's for being undefeated in the WWF for the previous fifteen years. Hogan congratulated André over winning the award, but André exited the arena before Hogan's speech was finished. In February, on an episode of Piper's Pit, André announced his new manager, Bobby Heenan, Hogan's longtime on-screen rival. Hogan asked André to leave Heenan, which André refused. André then challenged Hogan to a WWF World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania III, before ripping off Hogan's Hulkamania shirt and golden cross necklace, turning from an on-screen hero to villain (heel). At WrestleMania III, Hogan defeated André to retain the title.

At the first Survivor Series in November 1987, André along with team members One Man Gang, King Kong Bundy, Butch Reed, and Rick Rude defeated Hogan, Paul Orndorff, Don Muraco, Ken Patera, and Bam Bam Bigelow in a traditional Survivor Series match. Shortly after Survivor Series, during Hogan's WWF World Heavyweight Championship defense against Bundy, André sneak-attacked Hogan, applying a chokehold. Heel character Ted DiBiase, who was portrayed as "The Million Dollar Man", an evil millionaire, offered Hogan a large sum of money to sell DiBiase the WWF World Heavyweight Championship, which Hogan refused. At the first Royal Rumble in January 1988, Hogan and André had an official contract signing for a WWF World Heavyweight Championship rematch. Their rematch took place on The Main Event I in February, where André defeated Hogan with a dusty finish. André won the match when referee Dave Hebner's identical twin Earl Hebner made the decision.

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