BIGGER! BETTER! BADDER!

How did WrestleMania III legitimize wrestling as entertainment and reshape the industry? Greenberg lays it bare and offers insights into WWE’s evolution and WrestleMania’s lasting impact

On an overcast day in 1987, the pro wrestling landscape was altered forever when a reported 93,173 fans converged on the Pontiac Silverdome outside Detroit to see Hulk Hogan defend his championship against André the Giant. For several years, Vincent Kennedy McMahon had been transforming old-time rasslin’ into mainstream “sports entertainment,” incorporating A-list celebrities into storylines and forcing even cynics to follow the proceedings. But the massive turnout for WrestleMania III convinced sponsors, licensees, and media conglomerates that the company that would become World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) was no longer a fringe diversion for the unwashed masses; it was now legitimate physical theater worthy of global attention. From this point forward, it would be acceptable for devotees to make the annual pilgrimage to WrestleMania from the far corners of the Earth, the way others journeyed to the World Cup or Super Bowl.

BIGGER! BETTER! BADDER! is the story behind the seminal event, told from the perspective of company executives, wrestlers who appeared on the card, fans who attended the show, and other wrestling personalities. But wrestling author and historian Keith Elliot Greenberg also examines the entire industry at the time, including insights from representatives from the rival promotions McMahon was putting out of business as pro wrestling transitioned from a regional phenomenon into an international juggernaut.