Background
The main feud heading into WrestleMania was between Hulk Hogan and André the Giant. In January 1987, Hogan was awarded a trophy for his third year as WWF Champion while Hogan's best friend André was awarded a smaller trophy than Hogan's, for being undefeated in WWF for 15 years. Hogan congratulated his friend and said that André was the real champion of superstars all around the world, but André exited the arena before Hogan could even finish. In February, Andre announced his new manager, Bobby Heenan, Hogan's longtime enemy. Hogan begged André to drop Heenan, but Andre refused. André said that he had come to challenge Hogan for the WWF title at WrestleMania. He ripped off Hogan's Hulkamania shirt and tore off Hulk's gold chain, turning heel. This culminated in their historic match at WrestleMania III in March, where Hogan defeated André to retain the title. During the match, he set a record by scoop slamming the 540-pound Frenchman. At the first Survivor Series in November, André, 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 Survivor Series match. At the first Royal Rumble in January 1988, Hogan and André had their official contract signing for a WWF Championship rematch. Their rematch took place on the first-ever edition of The Main Event in February, where André controversially won the title from Hogan in a screwjob involving a fake referee. André became the shortest reigning WWF Champion with a reign of only 47 seconds as he sold the title to Ted DiBiase and received a large sum of money. Andre revealed, in an arena interview with Dibiase a few weeks before the event that he planned to take a year off and go on a cruise with the money Dibiase was paying him once he secured the title for him at WrestleMania 4, further explaining why Andre was sell off the belt he had wanted himself at WrestleMania 3 just a year earlier. WWF President Jack Tunney, however, vacated the title and ordered it to be decided in a 14-man tournament at WrestleMania IV.
Read more about this topic: WrestleMania IV
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