Wrestlemania III was the culmination of wrestling's Golden Era. Hulk Hogan and Vince McMahon had turned the WWF from a northeastern territory into the largest and most successful promotion in North America. Hulkamania was running wild, every night was a sell out, and TV ratings records were being broken. When longtime smiling babyface Andre the Giant turned on Hogan and joined the evil Bobby Heenan, a match was set for the biggest show in the company's history at the Pontiac Silverdome in Detroit, Michigan. Prior to the match, color commentator Jesse Ventura called Hulk vs. Andre "the biggest match in the history of professional wrestling." Fans may have thought he was exaggerating but no, Jesse was right on the money. This was truly the biggest match in the history of wrestling and drew a claimed 93.000 fans to the arena. While the match was not exactly a technical masterpiece, it didn't have to be. People paid money to see if the mighty Hulk Hogan could topple the "undefeated" Andre the Giant. They didn't pay to see a 45-minute mat classic or a high-flying stunt show, they paid to see a spectacle. As we all know, Hogan slammed Andre the Giant to the delight of everyone in attendance and dropped the leg, defeating the unbeatable Giant and claiming a victory for all the Hulkamaniacs. What followed was a celebration that was really the apex of the World Wrestling Federation of the 1980s. Hogan was the clear superstar and the WWF would never be bigger than it was at that very moment. The WWF had just put on the largest event that North America had ever seen and it was a massive success. It would be all downhill from there but, for one night, the WWF was at its peak.
