Looking back at Trump Plaza's relationship with WWE

by Vaughn Johnson

Published Jul. 12, 2014, 6:50 p.m. ET

News broke Saturday that the Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, N.J. will be closing its doors for good by mid-September.

Why is this significant to professional wrestling? The Trump Plaza was the official partner/sponsor of WrestleManias IV and V in 1988 and 1989.

The events emanated from the Boardwalk Hall next door to the casino, but the sponsorship of Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino led to a business partnership between Donald Trump and the WWE as far as the promotion of the event.

The partnership was so fruitful that it was the only time the mega-event was held in the same venue two years in a row.

Something that came from the partnership that still has lasting effects was the number of promotional events that surrounded WrestleMania. Those events were the genesis of what is now WrestleMania Axxess, which is one of the main attractions to WrestleMania today.

Trump himself went on to do numerous ventures with the WWE, including shaving Vince McMahon's head at WrestleMania 23 and accept an induction into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013.

WrestleMania IV will always standout among the the 30 WrestleManias, as there was a one-night tournament for the vacant WWE Championship. Randy Savage won the tournament, as he wrestled three times before triumphing over Ted DiBiase in the finals to win the title.

Savage's title win also began the partnership between himself and Hulk Hogan, who collectively became The Mega Powers.

The story between Savage and Hogan played out over the course of a year and culminated at WrestleMania V, when Hogan defeated Savage to win the WWE Championship in one of the biggest main events in WWE history.

WrestleManias IV and V were the only ones held in the state of New Jersey until 2013, when the Garden State hosted WrestleMania 29 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.