WWE's Biggest Booking DISASTER Every Year (1986-2026)

If there's one thing Vince McMahon tried to do during the early years of WrestleMania, it was make each one stand out as totally unique. The first obviously did that by default, 'Mania II beamed from multiple locations, III was the biggest yet in a cavernous stadium, then IV...well, IV had the dreary 14-man WWF Title tournament.

Of course, nobody knew it'd be crap going in; and it wasn't exactly supposed to be rubbish.

Top stars like Hulk Hogan, Andre The Giant, Randy Savage, Ted DiBiase, Jake Roberts and more were going to be involved, so how could it fail? Sadly, most of the bouts sagged. Fans watching along from home might as well have hit the snooze button on alarm clocks (if such a thing existed in 1988!) before waking up for select moments throughout the pay-per-view.

For an example of how tedious the whole thing was, one need only analyse Roberts vs. Rick Rude. These hated rivals met in the first round, but what should've been a feisty brawl turned out to be a rest hold-heavy 15-minute draw that eliminated both from the tourney and sapped energy from a largely bored live crowd.

Seeing Donald Trump's hangers-on pretend to enjoy no less than 16 bouts of WWF action from ringside is perversely enjoyable, to be fair. Those smiles were painted on.

Worse, the much-touted Hogan vs. Andre rematch went to a double DQ after just over 5 minutes, which ousted both from the runnings too. This tournament wasn't as well thought out or executed as McMahon wanted it to be.