The world of professional wrestling boasts a global fanbase, with events drawing massive crowds. While the United States has its share of well-attended wrestling shows, the record for the largest live audience belongs to an event that took place in North Korea.
Collision in Korea: A Historic Event
Collision in Korea, officially known as the Pyongyang International Sports and Culture Festival for Peace, was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event jointly produced by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW). This historic event featured 15 matches over two evenings, on April 28 and 29, 1995, at May Day Stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea.
May Day Stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea
The second day of the event holds the record for the largest ever attendance for a wrestling event, with a claimed audience of 190,000. Retired boxer Muhammad Ali was the event's guest of honor.
While planning the event, Antonio Inoki wanted to get American wrestlers to participate, and he reached out to Eric Bischoff, president of World Championship Wrestling (WCW), an American promotion with which NJPW had a working relationship. Bischoff was enthusiastic about the event and was even able to convince retired boxer Muhammad Ali to attend the event. At the time, WCW was competing in a ratings war against the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) promotion, and Bischoff believed that a largescale international event could bolster WCW's popularity worldwide.
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As part of the working arrangement, Inoki would compete in the main event against a famous American wrestler from WCW. Bischoff initially approached WCW wrestler Hulk Hogan, but he declined to participate.
Attendance Figures
The event reportedly had a combined crowd of 320,000, with 150,000 and 190,000 attending the first and second nights respectively. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter stated actual attendances were about 150,000 and 165,000. Regardless, the second night of Collision in Korea remains the most attended overall live event of all-time.
Many professional wrestling events are marketed with an inflated attendance figure "for entertainment purposes".
Key Personnel
- Ring Announcer: NJPW's Hidekazu Tanaka
- Referees: Masao Tayama and Tiger Hattori
Matches and Results
The event featured a variety of matches across the two days. Here are some of the results from the event:
Day 1
- Yuji Nagata defeated Tokimitsu Ishizawa by submission in a singles match (4:28)
- Akira Hokuto & Bull Nakano defeated Manami Toyota & Mariko Yoshida by pinfall in a tag team match (8:34)
- Hiroshi Hase defeated Wild Pegasus by pinfall in a singles match (10:10)
- Ookami Gundan (Hiro Saito & Masahiro Chono) defeated El Samurai & Tadao Yasuda by pinfall in a tag team match (8:06)
- Flying Scorpio defeated Shinjiro Otani by Referee's Decision in a singles match (2:37)
- Kensuke Sasaki defeated Masa Saito by pinfall in a singles match (8:34)
Day 2
- Akira Hokuto defeated Bull Nakano by pinfall for the CMLL World Women's Championship in a singles match.
As of 2023, the event is one of the few WCW PPVs not available for streaming on the WWE Network.
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Other Notable Wrestling Attendance Figures
While Collision in Korea holds the record, other wrestling events have also drawn impressive crowds. Here are a few examples:
- WrestleMania 32 (2016): 101,763 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
- WrestleMania III (1987): 93,173 at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan.
- WrestleMania 35 (2019): 82,265 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
- WrestleMania 39 (2023): 81,395 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
These figures demonstrate the enduring popularity of professional wrestling and its ability to draw massive audiences worldwide.
WrestleMania 32 at AT&T Stadium
Here is a table summarizing these events:
| Event | Year | Attendance | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collision in Korea (Day 2) | 1995 | 190,000 | Pyongyang, North Korea |
| WrestleMania 32 | 2016 | 101,763 | Arlington, Texas |
| WrestleMania III | 1987 | 93,173 | Pontiac, Michigan |
| WrestleMania 35 | 2019 | 82,265 | East Rutherford, New Jersey |
| WrestleMania 39 | 2023 | 81,395 | Inglewood, California |
Wrestling’s Most Dangerous Event — Ric Flair in North Korea
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