There were 12 matches, with the main event featuring Hulk Hogan successfully defending the WWF World Heavyweight Championship against André the Giant.

The record for the largest indoor event stood until January 27, 1999, when it was surpassed by the papal mass with Pope John Paul II at the TWA Dome in St. Louis, Missouri, which drew an audience of 104,000.

WrestleMania is considered the World Wrestling Federation's (WWF, now WWE) flagship pay-per-view (PPV) event, having first been held in 1985.

A week later on yet another Piper's Pit segment, Jesse Ventura hinted he knew something about André, but wasn't telling.

[1][13][11] Another main feud leading up to the event was between Ricky Steamboat and the Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion "Macho Man" Randy Savage.

[1][9] This resulted in a long, bitter feud that lasted for six months, included several bloody match-ups, and finally culminated at WrestleMania.

When The WWF Wrestling Classic became the King of the Ring tournament, Harley Race went on to win the tournament and began referring to himself as King Harley Race, and coming to the ring in a royal crown and cape to the ceremonial accompaniment of the classical music piece, "Great Gates of Kiev" by Modest Mussorgsky.

Rock singer and Detroit native Alice Cooper was in Jake Roberts' corner during his match with The Honky Tonk Man managed by Jimmy Hart.

After McMahon welcomed the audience, he introduced Aretha Franklin, who opened the show singing a rendition of "America the Beautiful.

"[22] The first match of the night was The Can-Am Connection (Rick Martel and Tom Zenk) versus Bob Orton Jr. and The Magnificent Muraco (with Mr. Fuji).

[1][23] The next match that aired was Hercules (with Bobby Heenan in his corner) against Billy Jack Haynes in the "Full Nelson Challenge."

[25] During the match, the two battled back and forth, with Race even trying unsuccessfully to give the prone Dog a falling headbutt which naturally failed.

Due to the pre-match stipulation, JYD did a little bow and then hit Race from the blindside with a steel chair to a rousing ovation from the crowd.

After attacking Race, Junkyard Dog took the King's royal robe and left the ring with it in hand to a standing ovation.

[1][23] The next match was The Dream Team (Brutus Beefcake and Greg Valentine), with Luscious Johnny V and Canadian strongman Dino Bravo in their corner, against The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers (Jacques and Raymond).

Raymond performed a sleeper hold on Valentine and was followed by Beefcake jumping off the ropes and accidentally hitting The Hammer with a double axe handle.

[27] Up next was a six-man tag team match featuring former referee Danny Davis (in his debut as a WWF wrestler) and the WWF Tag Team Champions, The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart), against The British Bulldogs (Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith) and Tito Santana with Matilda the Bulldog in their corner.

Danny Davis recovered and hit Davey Boy with Jimmy Hart's megaphone and pinned him for the win.

The next contest was a title match involving reigning WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion, Randy Savage (with Miss Elizabeth) and Ricky Steamboat (with George Steele).

[12][14][28] The tenth match of the night was between The Honky Tonk Man (with Jimmy Hart) and Jake Roberts, who along with his pet Python "Damien", had Detroit native Alice Cooper in his corner.

The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff (with Slick) were in action next, against The Killer Bees (Jim Brunzell and B. Brian Blair).

In what has since been billed as the "biggest main event in sports entertainment,"[29] the final match pitted WWF World Heavyweight Champion, Hulk Hogan defending the title against André the Giant.

The fans booed André heavily and pelted him and his manager Bobby Heenan with trash as they rode the cart to the ring.

Hogan then "Hulked up" and scoop slammed the 525 lb (238 kg) Giant before hitting the ropes and executing his leg drop pin to get the win and retain the championship.

"[32] Thomas Golianopoulos of Complex Sports ranked it at number two in his list of the 50 Greatest Matches in WrestleMania History, citing that "Both guys worked lightning fast and everything from Steamboat's aggressiveness to the involvement of George "The Animal" Steele played off their part.

At the time, it received a negative four star rating from Dave Meltzer and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter named it the "Worst Worked Match of the Year.

[12][42] Their feud culminated in a rematch at WrestleMania IV as part of a tournament to crown a new champion (both ended up being disqualified during the match for using a steel chair in front of referee Joey Marella).

Randy Savage continued to challenge Ricky Steamboat for the Intercontinental title in rematches at house shows across the country.

by Franklin was the theme song to WrestleMania III) sing "America the Beautiful", and having Kane scoop slam The Great Khali.