WrestleMania 23

WrestleMania 23
Promotional poster featuring various WWE wrestlers and Donald Trump
PromotionWorld Wrestling Entertainment
Brand(s)Raw
SmackDown!
ECW
DateApril 1, 2007 (2007-04-01)
CityDetroit, Michigan
VenueFord Field
Attendance74,287[1]
Buy rate1,250,000[2]
Tagline(s)All Grown Up[3]
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WrestleMania 23 was the 23rd annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw, SmackDown!, and ECW brand divisions. The event took place on April 1, 2007, at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. It was the second WrestleMania to take place in the Detroit metropolitan area (following WrestleMania III, which was held at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan). It was also the first WrestleMania to feature the ECW brand following its establishment as WWE's third brand in May 2006. It is the highest grossing PPV event in professional wrestling history.[4]

Eight professional wrestling matches were scheduled for the event, which featured a supercard, a scheduling of more than one main event. The main event of the show, which was the main match on the Raw brand, was John Cena versus Shawn Michaels for the WWE Championship, in which Cena won. The predominant match on the SmackDown! brand was Batista versus The Undertaker for the World Heavyweight Championship, in which The Undertaker was victorious. The primary match on the ECW brand saw ECW World Champion Bobby Lashley (representing Donald Trump) defeat Raw's Intercontinental Champion Umaga (representing Vince McMahon) in a match where either Trump or McMahon would be shaved bald if their wrestler lost. The match was billed as the "Battle of the Billionaires". Other featured matches included an eight-man tag team match between The ECW Originals and The New Breed and an eight-man interpromotional Money in the Bank ladder match.

Tickets for the event went on sale on November 11, 2006. The event set the all-time Ford Field attendance record of 80,103 people; people from all fifty U.S. states, twenty-four countries, and nine Canadian provinces attended the event. WrestleMania 23 grossed $5.38 million in ticket sales, breaking the previous record of $3.9 million held by WrestleMania X8.[5][6] WWE estimated that $25 million was pumped into the Detroit economy. With about 1.2 million buys, the event, at the time, was the most bought WWE pay-per-view in history. 2012's WrestleMania XXVIII surpassed the event as the most bought WWE pay-per-view, receiving 1.21 million buys. WrestleMania 23 was also the fifth highest attended WrestleMania in history behind only WrestleMania 29 (which drew 80,676 fans), WrestleMania 35 (which drew 82,265 fans) WrestleMania III (which drew 93,173 fans), and WrestleMania 32 (which drew 101,763 fans).[7][8]

  1. ^ Observer Staff (April 14, 2014). "Apr 14 2014 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Most newsworthy week in years, WrestleMania, Hall of Fame, post-Mania Raw, death of Ultimate Warrior, so much more". f4wonline.com. Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Archived from the original on July 13, 2020. Retrieved April 5, 2020. 93,173 (WrestleMania III), 80,676 (WM 29), 80,355 (SummerSlam 1992 at Wembley Stadium) and 80,103 (WM 23). The real numbers for those shows were 78,000, 72,000, 78,927 and 74,287.
  2. ^ "WWF Pay-Per-View Buys (1993-2015)". Wrestlenomics. March 25, 2020. Archived from the original on October 21, 2021. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
  3. ^ "WWE WrestleMania 23 - "All Grown Up" « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Archived from the original on August 1, 2020. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  4. ^ "WWE/WWF Pay-Per-View (PPV) Buys (Buyrates)". Wrestlenomics. 2020-03-25. Archived from the original on 2021-10-21. Retrieved 2024-04-06.
  5. ^ "WrestleMania Blows Away Attendance Record At Ford Fields". Archived from the original on April 18, 2007. Retrieved April 2, 2007.
  6. ^ "WrestleMania X8 Sets Revenue, Attendance Records". WWE. Archived from the original on February 3, 2007. Retrieved January 16, 2007.
  7. ^ "Q2007Presentation" (PDF). WWE. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 10, 2007. Retrieved January 16, 2007.
  8. ^ "WrestleMania breaks more records". WWE. Archived from the original on April 6, 2022. Retrieved April 10, 2016.