This marked the first WrestleMania that did not feature Hulk Hogan - regarded as the WWF's biggest star in the 1980s - as a participant in the main event (though he was at ringside in Savage's corner).

The undercard featured 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, and Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake versus The Honky Tonk Man for the WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship.

WrestleMania is considered the World Wrestling Federation's (WWF, now WWE) flagship pay-per-view (PPV) event, having first been held in 1985.

[3][4] This event was advertised as being held at the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino,[5] but taking place across the road at Convention Hall.

[9] The most heavily promoted feud heading into the event was between Hulk Hogan and André the Giant, similar to the year before when the two met at WrestleMania III.

In February, on an episode of Piper's Pit, André announced his new manager, Bobby Heenan, Hogan's longtime on-screen rival.

[11] At the first Survivor Series in November 1987, André along with team members One Man Gang, King Kong Bundy, Butch Reed, and Rick Rude defeated Hogan, Paul Orndorff, Don Muraco, Ken Patera, and Bam Bam Bigelow in a traditional Survivor Series match.

At the first Royal Rumble in January 1988, Hogan and André had an official contract signing for a WWF World Heavyweight Championship rematch.

Plotwise, WWF President Jack Tunney vacated the title due to it having not been won in a sanctioned match and ordered it to be decided in a single elimination 14-man tournament at WrestleMania IV.

[16] Hogan formed an unlikely alliance with a former enemy and top challenger to his WWF World Heavyweight Championship, Randy "Macho Man" Savage (which was later known as the Mega Powers).

Savage had been portrayed as an egomaniacal heel during most of his first two years in the WWF, but in the late summer of 1987, began to slowly turn face.

[17][18] Brutus Beefcake had become one of the most popular WWF superstars after turning face at WrestleMania III (after several years of playing a self-absored heel), and after feuding with former tag-team partner Greg Valentine, was receiving his first huge push toward the WWF Intercontinental Championship, held by The Honky Tonk Man.

[17] After being left off the WrestleMania III card, The Islanders were in the middle of their second major feud since turning heel in the spring of 1987, going up against The British Bulldogs.

Following a brief suspension in connection with the dog-napping incident, Islanders members Haku and Tama began bringing dog collars tied to a chain to ringside to taunt the Bulldogs.

[18][17] Demolition, a leather-outfitted tag team who had their faces painted in a combination of black, white, red and silver colors, received their first major push in the fall of 1987, where they began aggressively dominating and overwhelming their opponents.

After fourteen eliminations, the final six participants were Bad News Brown, Bret Hart, Paul Roma, Harley Race, Jacques Rougeau, and Junkyard Dog.

In the first round, "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase (with bodyguard Virgil and André the Giant) defeated "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan by pinfall.

[21][19] "Macho Man" Randy Savage (with Miss Elizabeth) defeated "The Natural" Butch Reed (with Slick), Greg "The Hammer" Valentine (with "The Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart) defeated Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, the One Man Gang (with Slick) defeated Bam Bam Bigelow (with Oliver Humperdink),[23] and "Ravishing" Rick Rude (with Bobby "The Brain" Heenan) fought Jake "The Snake" Roberts to a time limit draw.

[b][20] Post-match, with Honky Tonk apparently knocked out in the ring, Beefcake cut the hair of Hart with his barber shears.

[21] The Islanders (Haku and Tama) and manager Bobby Heenan took on The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid) and Koko B. Ware in a six-man tag team match.

Ted DiBiase had already received a bye in the semi-finals due to the double disqualification of Hulk Hogan and André the Giant and met the victor.

[22] Before the final round, Strike Force (Tito Santana and Rick Martel) defended the WWF World Tag Team Championship against Demolition (Ax and Smash), with their manager Mr. Fuji in their corner.

Hogan, meanwhile, took a leave of absence from the WWF during the late spring and part of the summer to film the movie No Holds Barred.

[30] André the Giant was shortly placed in a feud with "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, however, the DiBiase-André alliance was renewed when the two attacked Savage during a television taping for the WWF's syndicated show Superstars of Wrestling.

[7] Demolition defended the tag team championships against former champions Strike Force, The Young Stallions, and occasionally the Rougeau Brothers.

The Powers substituted for Strike Force in their remaining scheduled return title matches, after which The British Bulldogs and The Rockers became Demolition's primary challengers.

Aside from guest appearances in the USWA in 1993 as a heel WWF invader, the babyface run Bret began at this show would last until his double turn with Steve Austin at WrestleMania XIII in 1997.

Bigelow, along with manager Sir Oliver Humperdink, left the WWF for Jim Crockett Promotions in September 1988, just before Ted Turner's purchase of JCP to form WCW.

Harley Race had competed in the battle royal at WrestleMania IV, despite suffering a legitimate injury during a match against Hulk Hogan taped for a Saturday Night's Main Event program aired earlier in March 1988.

Race returned for a short run at the end of 1988, including the 1988 Survivor Series and 1989 Royal Rumble, his final major in-ring wrestling matches for the WWF in his lifetime.