WrestleMania III was held on March 29, 1987, at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan. Besides some amazing matches, the event is known for its 13 year hold on the largest indoor attendance record of 93,178
In the opener, The Can Am Connection of Rick Martel and Tom Zenk defeated Don Muraco and Cowboy Bob Orton. Sadly Martel and Zenk would disband a short time later.
In a battle of Full Nelsons, Billy Jack Hayes defeated Hercules.
In a mixed midget tag match, Hillybilly Jim teamed with The Hati Kid and Little Beaver to defeat King King Bundy, Lord Littlebrook, and little Tokyo by DQ. The match is remembered for Bundy slamming and splashing Little Beaver.
In a surprise, “King” Harley Race defeated The Junkyard Dog in a match where the loser bowed to the winner.
In a tag team match, the Dream Team defeated The Rougeau brothers. The matched is known for what happened after it, when Greg Valentine and Dino Bravo left Brutus Beefcake at ringside and formed The New Dream Team.
In what was billed as his retirement match, Rowdy Roddy Piper defeated Adorable Adrian Adonis in a hair vs. hair match. Brutus Beefcake, who had his hair cut by Adonis joined Piper in shaving Adonis’s head. Piper would be gone for 2 years, and Adonis would depart the WWF. Beefcake would become The Barber.
In a 6 man tag, new WWF tag champs The Hart Foundation teamed with biased ref turned wrestler Danny Davis to defeat The British Bulldogs and Tito Santana.
Butch Reed defeated Koko B. Ware.
In what many consider the greatest Wrestlemania match ever, Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat returned from having his throat crushed on WWF Superstars, to win the Intercontinental Championship from Randy “Macho Man” Savage. 28 years later the match still holds up to the test of time.
In a prelude of the upset he would pull later in the spring, The Honkey Tonk Man upset Jake “The Snake” Roberts. Roberts turned face after HTM attacked him in The Snake Pit.
The Iron Sheik and Nikoli Volkoff defeated the Killer Bees by DQ when Hacksaw Jim Duggan attacked Sheik and Volkoff.
In the Main Event, WWF Champion Hulk Hogan defeated Andre The Giant. Andre was undefeated and Hogan’s run was in its 3rd year. The match was set up in a series of Pipers Pit segments between Piper and Jesse Ventura. The match is considered Andre passing the torch to Hogan.
