5 largest WWE WrestleMania attendances
WrestleMania is WWE's biggest show of the year, without question. Beginning in 1985 inside Madison Square Garden, WrestleMania has grown into a week-long festival-type event. The WWE Universe emigrates from across the globe to one location to celebrate everything in the world of WWE.
Due to the size, stature and history of the event, WrestleMania regularly generates the largest crowd attendance for WWE during the calendar year. The WWE Universe often fills huge stadiums to maximum capacity, regularly breaking the indoor attendance record at the hosting venue.
Venues such as Madison Square Garden, MetLife Stadium, Raymond James Stadium, AT&T Stadium and more have all had the distinct honor of hosting WrestleMania for their respective cities.
Despite WWE releasing official attendance numbers for WrestleMania events, the actual attendance numbers are often disputed. WWE has gone on record stating that it's not just paid fans that are included in official attendances. Ushers, ticket takers and stadium personnel are also counted as part of the official attendance.
Let's take a closer look at the five largest WWE WrestleMania attendances.
#5 WWE WrestleMania 23 (80,103)
WWE WrestleMania 23 was a homecoming of sorts for WWE. The event marked 20 years since WWE presented WrestleMania III from the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontaic, Michigan, where Hulk Hogan famously bodyslammed Andre The Giant.
To celebrate the occasion, WWE wanted to bring WrestleMania back to Michigan for the 20th anniversary of the event. So it was announced WrestleMania 23 would emanate from inside Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan.
The event was a monumental success for WWE and the local Detroit area. WrestleMania 23 set an all-time Ford Field attendance record of 80,103 people. WWE also announced this capacity crowd of 80,103 people included members of the WWE Universe from all 50 U.S states, 24 countries around the world and nine Canadian provinces. The huge crowd makes it the 5th highest attendance in WrestleMania history.
The event was main evented by John Cena successfully defending his WWE Championship against Shawn Michaels from Monday Night RAW. The card also featured The Undertaker defeating Batista to successfully capture the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and maintain his WrestleMania undefeated streak.
WrestleMania 23 is also remembered for the Mr. McMahon vs Donald Trump Hair vs. Hair match dubbed "The Battle of the Billionaires." This saw ECW Champion Bobby Lashley defeat Umaga with Stone Cold Steve Austin as the special guest referee. This resulted in Mr. McMahon having his head shaved bald.