Over 62,000 fans packed into what was the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana for WrestleMania in 1992.
Wrestling at that stage was enjoying a boom in the UK – as evidenced by the SummerSlam spectacle at Wembley Stadium just months later – but interest was generally on the wane in the US.
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WrestleMania 8 at the Hoosier Dome marked the end of a wrestling era
Hulk Hogan was on his way through the exit door as the cartoonish era he dominated began to lose its shine – making WrestleMania 8 hugely significant.
Under its uniquely designed fiberglass roof, held up by the arena’s air pressure, a total of 62,167 jammed into the then home of the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts to see the last WrestleMania of an era.
Within 12 months, Hogan, Macho Man Randy Savage, Sid Justice, Ric Flair, Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts, and Roddy Piper – all of whom stared at the Hoosier Dome – had vanished from in-ring WWE action, and the company barely scraped in a 16,000 crowd for WrestleMania 9 in Ceaser’s Palace, Las Vegas.
In fact, it took the Attitude Era and WrestleMania 17 in 2001 for WWE to land another WrestleMania crowd as big as the one it enjoyed in 1992, 67,000 watching as The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin did battle.
So, for many a WWE fan – and a Colts follower, too – the towering former arena will hold many a precious memory.
It is, of course, now long gone.
In its place? Convention halls, loading bays, and the back end of one of the most expensive stadiums in NFL history.
Opened in 1984 and originally known as the Indianapolis Hoosier Dome, the venue was built at a cost of $77 million and opened its doors as the new home of the Colts.
With its all-purpose adaptability, the dome quickly became the go-to venue for major events in the Midwest – sports, concerts.
Basketball found a home there, with NBA, NCAA and Basketball World Cup action staged at the venue between 1984 and 2002, while music legends including Metallica, The Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd all shone under that unmistakable roof.
But for wrestling fans, its legacy is firmly anchored in the spectacle that unfolded on April 5, 1992: WrestleMania VIII. It netted one of the biggest gates in WWE history at the time as Hogan and Justice faced off in the main event.
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16 years after that epic WrestleMania, the RCA Dome’s short life came to an endCredit: YouTube: IndyStar Sports
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The Dome’s unique roof was deflated when work beganCredit: YouTube: IndyStar Sports
The real main event, in the hearts of many, came earlier on the card: a barnstorming Intercontinental Championship clash between Bret Hart and Piper, followed by the emotionally charged showdown between Savage and Flair.
The Hoosier Dome gave the event a sense of scale it desperately needed. WWE’s star power may have been fading slightly from the neon-drenched heights of the late ‘80s, but in Indianapolis, at least for one night, it still felt enormous.
In 1994, the dome was renamed the RCA Dome. It hosted more big games, more Super Bowls, and even Olympic wrestling, though none ever again reached the pomp of WrestleMania VIII.
And then, in 2008, it was gone.
The dome was deflated – literally – and demolished to make way for a $275 million expansion of the Indiana Convention Center, a project that paved the way for a sleeker, shinier neighbour: Lucas Oil Stadium, which now looms over the site.
Built at a cost of a further $720 million, Lucas Oil Stadium became the Colts’ new home in 2008 and hosted the 2025 WWE Royal Rumble. It features a retractable roof, a five-level seating bowl, and one of the largest HD video boards in the NFL.
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The RCA stood in the shadow of the new Lucas Oil Stadium for a short timeCredit: IndyStar
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The Colts now reside feet away at the Lucas Oil Stadium, which also hosted WWE’s Royal Rumble in 2025Credit: Facebook: Indiana Convention Center
WrestleMania IIX: Historic show’s card in full
WrestleMania IIX: April 5, 1992 – The Hoosier Dome
The Bushwhackers def. The Beverley Brothers (Untelevised match)Shawn Michaels def. Tito Santana The Undertaker def. Jake ‘The Snake’ RobertsIntercontinental title match: Bret Hart def. Roddy PiperBig Boss Man, Virgil, Sgt. Slaughter and Hacksaw Jim Duggan def. The Mountie, Repo Man and The Nasty BoysWWE World title match: Randy Savage def. Ric FlairTatanka def. Rick MartelTag team title match: The Natural Disasters def. Money IncOwen Hart def. SkinnerHulk Hogan def. Sid Justice
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The former Hoosier Dome site was imploded and a glistening convention center stands in its placeCredit: YouTube:WTHR/Facebook:Indiana Convention Center
The stadium links directly to the convention center via a network of glass walkways and tunnels, effectively consuming the footprint of the old Hoosier Dome and then some, the overall cost of redevelopment and building across the two edging perilously close to $1 billion at $995 million.
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Today, where 62,000 once roared for Hogan and Savage, you’ll find corporate exhibit space, back-end service tunnels, and the mechanical guts of a venue built for the Super Bowl and national broadcasts.
For a generation of wrestling fans, though, there will always be echoes of that WrestleMania.