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It's that time again. The grandest stage of them all is at our feet, and we look once again to witness a fascinating and exciting event that is recognised the world over. There is probably not many countries that can claim there will be nobody watching the awe-inspiring show, and even more impressive is the number of nationalities that will be attending the show, will be well into the multiple dozens.
It is the WWE’s duty to sell the show and sell big. It has the most widely sought-after entertainment event tickets in the world, so it makes sense for them to literally put on the biggest show they possibly can.
With that said, what are the top 5 most attended WrestleManias of all time?
#5 WrestleMania 28 - 78,363
April 1st, 2012 - Miami Gardens, Florida - Sun Life Stadium
One of the more well-known WrestleManias of recent years, WrestleMania 28 offered amazing matches like Triple H vs The Undertaker, CM Punk vs Chris Jericho, and the laughable 18-second title match between Daniel Bryan and Sheamus.
But the biggest draw was the first of the ‘Once in a lifetime’ matches between The Rock and John Cena. The setting was Miami, Florida in the Sun Life Stadium, and the décor was exotic with a summer vibe, most notably with the Palm tree stands to hold up the equipment-clad gazebo-like ring cover.
Home to the Miami Dolphins, the more recently named Hard Rock Stadium has a capacity of an estimated 65,000, but without the need of the pitch, Wrestlemania was able to take a good portion of extra space for seating, putting the show at 5 on the all-time WrestleMania attendance list.
#4 WrestleMania 23 - 80,103
April 1st, 2007 - Detroit, Michigan - Ford Field
An event that seems all too far from the mind, yet still holds itself up with some of the best matches at a WrestleMania. It had the death-defying Money in the Bank ladder match, The Undertaker vs Batista, The outstanding battle between Shawn Michaels and John Cena for the WWE championship, and who can forget Hair vs Hair match? Vince McMahon vs Donald Trump, or should I say Umaga vs Bobby Lashley. It easily puts itself at 4th on the list with over 80,000 fans packing out the Field.
It wouldn’t be the first time the Detroit area sold out phenomenal crowds for a WrestleMania show, so it only seemed right that the WWE returned to a place that saw one of the largest WrestleManias of all time.
#3 Wrestlemania 29 - 80,676
April 7th, 2013 – East Rutherford, New Jersey – Met Life Stadium
A year after number 5 on this list, WrestleMania 29 was criticized for feeling too similar to the previous event. Apart from the match between the Paul Heyman guy, CM Punk, and The Deadman, the card was sedated. Of course, once again the main draw was the 2nd ‘once in a lifetime’ match between John Cena and The Rock. Nevertheless, the show garnered enough attention and exposition to gain on the attendance of its chronological predecessor on this list.
The Met Life Stadium is in a prime location on the eastern seaboard, and especially for overseas ticket holders travelling from Europe or further afield. With that said it seems the WWE is once again hoping to capitalize on this with the announcement that WrestleMania 35 will be returning to the home of the Giants and Jets.
#2 WrestleMania III - 93,173
March 29th, 1987 – Pontiac, Michigan – Pontiac Silverdome
Somewhat dwarfing considerably the previous on this list, WrestleMania III is said to have the world record for the highest indoor sports or entertainment attendance, only being trumped by the Mass with Pope John Paul II’s later that year which I assume WWE don’t consider as entertainment. But the acclaim is still in place. The iconic Hulk Hogan faced off against Andre the Giant in probably one of the most recognisable WrestleMania matches of all time.
Equally impressive is how an indoor crowd can be so large. At the time the Pontiac Superdome was a state of the art multipurpose stadium which was covered with a fibreglass fabric panels that were supported by air pressure. The 3rd iteration of WrestleMania helped to cement its namesake as the grandest stage of them all, along with a record attendance that stood for almost 30 years.
#1 WrestleMania 32 - 101,763
April 3rd, 2016 - Arlington, Texas – AT & T Stadium
Not widely known is the highly contentious fact that the 101,763 is not exactly genuine. It turned out that the figure included ushers and other stadium staff. Nevertheless, whatever actual figure the attendance may actually be for the paying audience, it is still the highest WrestleMania attendance of all time.
There is no surprise why either. The matches on offer were a fine return to form. An exciting ladder match for the Intercontinental title, a superb advert for women’s wrestling with a triple threat title match, Shane McMahon returning for the match of his life against The Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell Match, and of course the main event involving Triple H and Roman Reigns for the WWE Title.
The AT & T Stadium also offered the perfect venue to do this. Home to the Dallas Cowboys, the Arlington Stadium has on several occasions passed the 100,000 attendance mark for sporting events.
So WrestleMania 34 is upon us in the Mercedes Benz Superdome in New Orleans. Will it break the record? Probably not. But it doesn’t dim the fact that WrestleMania continues year after year to pull incredible crowds unfathomable for Wrestling events.
