The Pontiac Silverdome, the stadium that hosted NBA’s Detroit Pistons, NFL’s Detroit Lions, NCAA Basketball tournaments, concerts, Monster Trucks, The Pope, and the iconic Wrestlemania 3 event in 1987 was finally brought down today after a failed attempt to demolish the arena yesterday.
The arena was first completed in 1975, the Silverdome seated 80,311. It contained 102 luxury suites and 7,384 club seats and hosted events before the building was sold in 2009. There was an attempt to revigorate interest in the building in 2010, but lack of events being held in the building and a partial collapse of the cloth roof lead to it being largely abandoned. There had been plans to demolish the building between 2015 and now, but money issues in the area around Detroit put those plans off until this week. There was an attempt to bring the building down yesterday morning, but due to a wiring issue, it proved not to be effective. The demolition process was attempted again today and 4 pm local time and proved to be more effective.
Although the building held wrestling for many years, its most famous moment came on March 29, 1987, with Wrestlemania 3. The massive event was announced to be attended by 93,173 people, but that number has been cast in doubt for many years, with some claiming the event’s attendance closer to 78,000. Either way, the massive crowd that day saw Hulk Hogan defend the WWF Title against Andre The Giant, Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat face “Macho Man” Randy Savage over the Intercontinental title in what many see as the greatest Wrestlemania match ever, and 10 other matches in one of the most iconic cards of the Hulkamania era of the 80s
While the building may now be gone, the WWE has released many versions of the Wrestlemania 3 event over the years, including a version on the WWE network, it will never be forgotten.