WrestleMania IV WrestleMania IV was the fourth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay - per - view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation ( WWF ) . It took place on March 27 , 1988 at the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City , New Jersey . The main event was the finals of a 14 - man tournament for the WWF Championship where Randy Savage defeated Ted DiBiase to win the vacant title . The main matches on the undercard were 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 , Brutus Beefcake versus The Honky Tonk Man for the WWF Intercontinental Championship and a 14 - man tournament for the vacated WWF Championship . Event . The event began with Gladys Knight singing a rendition of " " America the Beautiful " " . The first match was a 20 - man battle royal and the winner would receive a large trophy . The participants were Bad News Brown , The Bolsheviks ( Nikolai Volkoff and Boris Zhukov ) , The Hart Foundation ( Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart ) , The Killer Bees ( B . Brian Blair and Jim Brunzell ) , Danny Davis , George Steele , Harley Race , Hillbilly Jim , The Fabulous Rougeaus ( Jacques and Raymond ) , The Young Stallions ( Paul Roma and Jim Powers ) , Junkyard Dog , Ken Patera , Ron Bass , Sam Houston , and Sika . After fourteen eliminations , the final six participants were Brown , Bret Hart , Roma , Race , Jacques Rougeau and JYD . Race hit a back body drop on Rougeau sending him over the top rope before JYD punched him over the top rope . Brown dumped out Roma as JYD was left to battle Hart and Brown . The duo double - teamed him and Hart caught JYD as Brown clotheslined JYD but JYD sidestepped and Hart was hit with the clothesline . JYD hit both men with several headbutts before they both decided to cooperate and they eliminated JYD . Hart decided that he and Brown would share the trophy but Brown betrayed him and hit him a Ghetto Blaster and pounded on him before eliminating him over the top rope to win the battle royal . Brown was presented with the trophy , but Hart attacked him from behind and broke the trophy , thus turning babyface . The 14 - man tournament for the WWF Championship began . In the first round , Ted DiBiase defeated Jim Duggan , Don Muraco defeated Dino Bravo , Randy Savage defeated Butch Reed , Greg Valentine defeated Ricky Steamboat , One Man Gang defeated Bam Bam Bigelow and Rick Rude fought Jake Roberts to a time limit draw . The winners advanced to the quarterfinals while Rude and Roberts were both eliminated from the tournament . As former champions , Andre The Giant and Hulk Hogan were given a bye and directly qualified for the quarters . In his pay - per - view ( PPV ) debut , The Ultimate Warrior faced Bobby Heenan ' s client Hercules . Warrior snapped Hercules ' chain and chopped him in the corner . Hercules tried to fight back and he hit three clotheslines on Warrior , who no - sold Hercules ' clothesline . Hercules fell to the mat each time during his unsuccessful clothesline attempts . The powerhouse Warrior countered a Hercules clothesline and hit a clothesline of his own . He pounded on Hercules outside the ring before reentering the ring where Warrior hit a forearm club . In the corner , Warrior hit him ten - count punches but Hercules made a comeback with an inverted atomic drop . He hit a half nelson suplex on Warrior who got his shoulder up first , as the referee counted , giving Warrior the win . The quarterfinals started as Hulk Hogan took on André the Giant . During the match , Hogan hit André in front of referee Joey Marella while André hit Hogan with the chair . After both men hit each other with the chair , they both were disqualified by Marella and as a result , they both were eliminated from the tournament . In the following matches , Ted DiBiase defeated Don Muraco and Randy Savage defeated Greg Valentine while One Man Gang received a bye in the quarter - finals , due to Rick Rude and Jake Roberts wreslting to a time limit draw in the first round . Brutus Beefcake took on Jimmy Hart ' s client WWF Intercontinental Champion The Honky Tonk Man for the title . The challenger connected with an atomic drop in the starting of the matchup . Beefcake hit Honky with a high knee . He missed an elbow drop on Honky , who took control with a second turnbuckle fist drop . He went for a Shake , Rattle & Roll on Beefcake but kneed him in the face . He went to the top rope to do some high - flying but Beefcake hooked the top rope and clotheslined Honky before applying a Sleeper hold on Honky . Honky ' s manager Jimmy Hart hit the referee with the megaphone . The bell didn ' t ring but it was announced that Beefcake won by disqualification , which meant that Honky was still the champion because a title does not change hands by a DQ . The Islanders ( Haku and Tama ) and their manager Bobby Heenan took on British Bulldogs ( Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid ) and Koko B . Ware . Dynamite hit some quick stuff on Tama . Tama tried a handshake with Dynamite but he catapulted Tama over the top rope . Smith tagged in but missed an elbow drop on Tama , allowing Tama to tag Haku . Smith hit a flying crossbody on Haku for a near - fall . Smith went for another near - fall but Haku kicked out again . Haku hit an arm wrench and tagged Tama . Tama grabbed Smith ' s arm who came out of it with a military press slam . Tama tagged in Haku . Haku put Davey in the backbreaker but Smith flipped out of it and tagged in Koko . He hit Haku with a missile dropkick and a frankensteiner on Islanders . Dynamite tagged in and clotheslined Haku before ran into a boot by Haku . Heenan tagged and hit boots on Dynamite before tagging in Tama . Tama hit a back body drop on Dynamite but missed a big splash . Tama tagged Haku and Dynamite tagged Koko . Koko ducked an Irish whip . Heenan tagged in but was dropkick ed by Koko in the corner . Islanders attacked him . This prompted Bulldogs to enter the ring . All the six men brawled in the ring as the referee sent Bulldogs to the corner while Islanders picked up Heenan and threw him on top of Koko , leading to a pinfall win for Islanders and Bobby Heenan . The semi - final match of the WWF Championship tournament began featuring Randy Savage against One Man Gang while Ted DiBiase received a bye in the semi - finals due to the double disqualification ending of Hulk Hogan versus André the Giant . Savage hit a Hotshot on OMG before the big OMG began his powerful moves . He overpowered Savage before he missed a big splash on Savage . He fell to the outside as Savage connected with a diving double axe handle . He went for a scoop slam on OMG . Slick began taunting Miss Elizabeth . She climbed to the apron to stay away from him . Slick jumped on the apron and handed OMG his cane . He nailed Savage with it and jabbed him on the mat several times but Savage kept rolling away . The referee saw OMG using his cane , so he disqualified OMG and awarded the match to Savage . As a result of winning , Savage advanced to the finals to face Ted DiBiase for the vacated WWF title . Before the final round , Strike Force ( Tito Santana and Rick Martel ) defended the WWF Tag Team Championship against Demolition ( Ax and Smash ) . Smash nailed Martel before both teams began brawling in the ring . Strike Force hit Smash with a double back elbow for a near - fall . Santana applied an armbar on Ax . Martel tagged in and applied the armbar but Ax headbutted him and tagged in Smash . Santana tagged in but was caught into a bear hug and was clotheslined by Ax . He hit a big scoop slam on Santana . Smash suplex ed the poor Santana . Ax tagged in but ducked off a low Irish whip . Santana hit a flying forearm smash on an interfering Smash and tagged in Martel . He dropkick ed both Ax and Smash a number of times and applied a Boston crab on Smash . Santana grabbed Fuji up on the apron but Ax got the cane . He nailed Martel with it as Smash covered Martel for the pin . As a result , Demolition became the new WWF Tag Team Champions . The main event was the tournament final for the vacant WWF Championship between Randy Savage and Ted DiBiase . Savage was tired due to his semifinal match against the big One Man Gang while DiBiase took advantage of his freshness as he had received a bye in the semifinals . He dominated most of the match but in the end , Savage made a comeback and tried to hit a Savage Elbow on DiBiase but DiBiase moved out of the way . He applied a Million Dollar Dream on Savage . With the referee distracted due to interference by André the Giant , Hogan took advantage and nailed DiBiase with a steel chair . Savage climbed up the top rope for a second elbow drop attempt and this time , he successfully hit Savage Elbow . He followed it up with a pinfall victory . He won the tournament and vacant WWF Championship . After the match , Hogan , Miss Elizabeth and Savage celebrated Savage ' s WWF Championship win .