16. The Decision To Make It A Stadium Show - WrestleMania 3
Vince had defined WrestleMania as celebrity filled pay per view attraction, and at WrestleMania 2 he spread the event across New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. On paper, that idea sounded interesting, but in reality it wasn't really conducive to a great show. Vince's next great innovation to Mania had to be bigger, which led to his decision to host WrestleMania 3 in the Pontiac Silverdome, Michigan, in 1987. This was a bold move to say the least. Whether you believe the WWF attendance verdict of 93,000 or not, we are still talking about a stadium Vince needed to fill with at least 72,000 people. Many within in the WWF thought him crazy to attempt this, they believed he was overextending his ambition. Well, they were wrong. WrestleMania 3 filled the Silverdome with a reported attendance of 93,173 (disputed as in fact being 72,000). This set the standard for the WrestleMania tradition we have now, huge stadiums playing host to the extravaganza. McMahon's decision was a risky one, but it ended up making him way more money, he would have had around 50,000 less seats to sell if he had listened to the pessimists in 1987.