#3 Randy Savage vs. Ted Dibiase – WrestleMania 4
After the global success of WrestleMania 3, the WWE knew they had their work cut out with WrestleMania 4. The show didn’t have to be as good as its predecessor – some would argue that the company still haven’t quite achieved that yet – but it had to stand out as worthy of being the biggest show of the year itself. And whatever your opinions about the matches, you have to admit that this show does stand the test of time.
The concept going into the show was that for the first time in almost 5 years, the WWF Championship was without a champion. In the WrestleMania 3 rematch between Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant a few months prior, Hogan was defeated thanks to a perfectly worked plot by Ted Dibiase, the Million Dollar Man. Andre would win the belt and hand it over to Dibiase as a sign of respect and devotion. WWF President Jack Tunney would then strip Ted of the belt and issue a tournament to take place at the show of shows.
Having the entire tournament play out on the PPV meant that the show was filled with very short matches that almost ended up blending into one. In fact, as crazy as this sounds, you could probably argue that WrestleMania 4 was a one-match card. After Hogan and Andre eliminated themselves, it was left to Macho Man Randy Savage to ensure the WWF title did not fall into the undeserving hands of Dibiase. The two of them met in the final in what was a relatively short but very memorable match.
Throughout most of the match, Savage had to contend with Andre the Giant and Virgil outside of the ring, as well as his main competitor. His own manager, Miss Elizabeth, was in no position to offer any physical assistance, so ended up going backstage to bring reinforcements. To the delight of the audience, out came Hulk Hogan himself who made sure Andre would not distract Savage too much. The match ended with Hogan hitting Dibiase with a chair behind the referee’s back to allow a new WWF Champion to be crowned.
This match was also responsible for creating The Mega Powers stable, consisting of Hogan, Savage and Miss Elizabeth which paved the way for a WrestleMania 5 dream match between the two a year later.
Teddy Long snaps when Swerve Strickland's race is brought up HERE
