Wrestlemania 3

In 1987, Wrestlemania 3 was held at the Pontiac Silverdome in Michigan. This event holds the world record for largest attendance for a live indoor sporting event. 93,173 people came to watch the next chapter in the Rise of Hulkamania, the emergence of the importance of the Intercontinental Championship, and what celebrities would be on hand. One celebrity was Aretha Franklin who sang the National Anthem for the start of the show. This event saw the first professional wrestling midget match and the return of a familiar ring announcer Howard Finkel. Let me now go into more details about Wrestlemania 3.

During a segment on The Snake Pit The Honky Tonk Man Smashed an acoustic guitar over the head of Jake “ The Snake “ Roberts. Roberts was always considered a heel (bad guy) up until this point, with being smashed in the head by a guitar and challenging The Honky Tonk Man to a match at Wrestlemania, Jake became a face (good guy). At Wrestlemania 3, WWE did not let down with celebrities; shock rock singer Alice Cooper accompanied Roberts to the ring. Roberts was known for bringing a Python snake down to the ring with him and after Honky Tonk got a dirty win, Alice Cooper let Damien loose (Jake’s snake). This match continued the importance of entertaining the WWE universe.



Next we have WWE’s first midget wrestling match. King Kong Bundy, who one year ago headlined Wrestlemania 2 in a steel cage with Hulk Hogan, was teamed up with Lord Little Brook and Little Tokyo in a mixed tag team match against Hillbilly Jim and his team of Haiti kid and Little Beaver. This match is a perfect example of how a professional wrestlers career can become a gimmick. Showing his aggressiveness, Bundy interfered in the match while the midgets were wrestling and got himself disqualified; because he was only to fight Hillbilly Jim. This match also featured baseball legend Bob “Mr. Baseball” Uecker on commentary, another one of the many humorous moments in the history of Wrestlemania.



This had been the third Wrestlemania and until this match the Intercontinental Championship match was just another match on the card. The champion; The Macho Man Randy Savage VS. Ricky “ The Dragon “ Steamboat engulfed the WWE universe into a technical masterpiece. With top rope, high flying action and brute force submission moves, this match is highly considered one of the greatest matches in all of WWE history. The Macho Man was on his way to the WWE title; which meant Steamboat would become new Intercontinental Champion. From this match on the Intercontinental Championship was no longer looked at as an afterthought, it became one of the most anticipated matches on the card and would lead to the rise of many WWE superstars.


Last we have our main event; the slam heard around the world. Andre the Giant had shown his massive dominance for two Wrestlemanias; the first winning the 15,000 body slam match, the second winning the 20 man over the top rope battle royal. For Wrestlemania 3, Andre decided that he wanted to be heavyweight champion; only there’s one problem, Hulk Hogan is champion. After years of being known as a face, Andre turns on Hulk Hogan and teams up with The Heenan Family; which he had fought against for two years previous. This would lead to the main event match for the WWE title between the two. This match was considered to be Andre passing the torch to Hulk Hogan. Finally after many failed attempts by weaker wrestlers; Hulk Hogan body slammed Andre The Giant for the first time in his career in front of more than 93,000 people. This match would put a seal on Andre’s wrestling career; but not his legacy and Hulk Hogan would prove again why Hulkamania was running wild!