10 Best Ever Wrestling Tournaments

10. WWE Championship Tournament (WrestleMania IV, 1988)

You’ll find many “better” wrestling matches within this list’s other tournaments than those that took place at WrestleMania IV, but WWE have prioritised showmanship over workrate for decades. This tournament wasn’t a night of blow-away matches, but it’s still one of the most important tourneys in WWE history for a number of reasons.

This is the only time WWE have held a one-night WWE championship tournament on their biggest show of the year, WrestleMania. The second round featured the rematch to Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant’s iconic WrestleMania III main event, and with those two compliment by the likes of Randy Savage and Ricky Steamboat, the tournament featured some of the biggest stars in wrestling history.

In terms of pageantry and pure spectacle, it’s hard to top this tournament. The lack of awesome matches prevents it from finishing higher, but that’s not to say there wasn’t good wrestling on display. Savage had fun matches with Greg Valentine and Ted DiBiase, and Valentine vs. Steamboat helped eclipse the drudgery of Dino Bravo vs. Don Muraco and One Man Gang vs. Bam Bam Bigelow.

With Hogan by his side, Macho Man defeated DiBiase to win his first World Championship in the finals. This effectively set-off the paranoia and jealousy that would consume the Mega Powers over the coming year, leading to their big match at the following WrestleMania. If anything, this tournament deserves special mention for setting one of the biggest storylines in WWE history into motion.