But this is what Donald Trump’s Atlantic City was: gilded and schlocky. Professional wrestling is a great American art form, but it isn’t exactly high-brow. “Thank God Donald Trump’s a Hulkamaniac,” then-hero Hulk Hogan said in a truly bizarre promo. Trump cavorted with the heel DiBiasi in 1989, but the year before he was a full-fledged good guy.

Trump Plaza was the title host for WrestleMania IV as well as V, each installment of the sport’s annual pay-per-view extravaganza was held next door at what’s now called Boardwalk Hall. This was actually the second time Donald Trump attended a WrestleMania. He hasn’t shoved $100 bills down anyone’s throat (that we know of), but Trump’s presidential speeches often sound a lot like classic bad guy wrestling promos. It’s a fitting pair, actually, as Trump shares many of the DiBiase character’s traits. Before the match, the Million Dollar Man greets America’s billion dollar man: Donald Trump. This being WrestleMania, there’s a very wealthy celebrity in the front row. He shoves $100 bills down the throats of defeated opponents and just over a year ago he actually bought the WWF championship after cheating Hogan out of the belt when that was nullified, he created his own “Million Dollar Belt” with diamond-encrusted dollar signs on the front. DiBiase is an ostentatious character who flouts his wealth. Right now Ted DiBiase, aka “The Million Dollar Man,” is about to wrestle Brutus Beefcake in an early undercard matchup. After a year of buildup, Hulk Hogan will attempt to win back the World Wrestling Federation championship from his former friend and tag-team partner, “Macho Man” Randy Savage.īut that’ll be in a few hours. The setting: WrestleMania V, the fifth in a series of professional wrestling super-shows. Though it’s early spring, the boardwalk is packed outside Trump Plaza and the convention hall next door. It’s an April Sunday in Atlantic City in 1989. Trump Plaza in its last month of operation.

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