One MIND-BLOWING Secret From EVERY WWE WrestleMania

38. WrestleMania 4 | The Revenge Plot Begins…

WrestleMania 3 was significant no matter how many people were in the building. The WWF had established Hulk Hogan as a living superhero capable of pulling off impossible feats, and made wrestling feel massive. The second Hogan Vs. Andre the Giant match, the first primetime network TV main event in 33 years, was another smash. Vince McMahon’s WWF was the hottest promotion in the history of the U.S. to that point. So why was WrestleMania 4 a relative commercial failure? 

The tournament concept is not a huge draw for the U.S. public - King Of The Ring was abandoned by WWE for years for a reason, Survivor Series 1998 was a slight let-down, Vengeance 2001 was a disaster - but there’s more to it than that. 

Survivor Series was launched in 1987 purely to thwart Jim Crockett Promotions’ Starrcade. Using the success of WrestleMania 3 as leverage, Vince told PPV providers that they could not air WrestleMania 4 if they failed to pull Starrcade. Only five pay-per-view companies opted to air Starrcade. On March 27, 1988, seeking retribution, Jim Crockett, Jr. and Ted Turner counter-programmed WrestleMania 4 with Clash of the Champions: a free major card that aired live on TBS. The classic 45 minute draw between Ric Flair and Sting headlined the show without commercial interruption. In a major over-performance measured against regular station viewership, the first Clash drew a 5.8 TV rating. The main event peaked at a TBS record 7.8. 

Despite a huge spike in the availability of pay-per-view - 6.5 million people had the ability to order in March ‘87, where 10 million people did so in ‘88 - WrestleMania 4 didn’t perform that much better (if at all) than 3.

Vince could look past certain things if it was best for business, but Sting kicked his ass in 1988 and 1997 alike, called the WWF morally reprehensible for years after the Attitude Era, and later signed when Vince had run out of stars and leverage.  

Is that why WrestleMania 31 was such a hatchet job?