While it appeared that the show had fallen through, Ring of Honor is set to run Madison Square Garden in 2019 after all.
ROH and New Japan Pro Wrestling announced today that “G1 Supercard,” a co-branded show from the two companies, will take place at MSG on April 6, 2019. That’s on the Saturday of WrestleMania weekend in New York/New Jersey.
NJPW’s Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Tetsuya Naito are already advertised, along with “all of the top ROH stars.”
“This is destined to join a long list of historical wrestling moments and where better to hold it than at Madison Square Garden,” ROH chief operating officer Joe Koff said in a press release. “I am extremely proud of what we have been able to achieve as a company and am very appreciative of how great our relationship with New Japan Pro-Wrestling has become. However, none of this would be possible without our fans, who are truly the best in the world. Madison Square Garden would not be possible without them and for that I am most grateful.”
New NJPW president Harold Meij was also quoted, “This is a historic initiative for ROH and New Japan Pro-Wrestling. This gives us a great chance to expose fans to NJPW in the building which housed so many memorable and compelling matches.”
After ROH’s plans to hold a show at Madison Square Garden next year were made public, Dave Meltzer reported in June that WWE was doing everything possible to block it from happening. Koff then did an interview with PWInsider where he said that MSG informed ROH that they were backing out of the event after “communications from the WWE.” Koff said he expected that ROH’s lawyers would be contacting all of the involved parties in hopes of finding a resolution.
“We are thrilled to welcome Ring of Honor Wrestling and New Japan Pro-Wrestling to Madison Square Garden for the much anticipated G1 Supercard,” Joel Fisher, MSG’s executive vice president of marquee events, said today. “We expect April 6th to be another memorable night of wrestling at The World’s Most Famous Arena.”
Tickets will go on sale to HonorClub members on Wednesday, August 8 at 10 a.m. Eastern time before being made available to the general public on August 10.
– Bobby Lashley defeated Jinder Mahal (w/ Sunil Singh)
This was a fairly basic, nothing happening match. Singh was cheered initially before getting booed as he started introducing Mahal. At one point, Singh attacked Lashley at the ropes when the referee wasn’t looking. The crowd was fairly loudly behind Lashley, though they got quieter as the match went on.
Lashley won with the delayed suplex.
– WWE Cruiserweight Champion Cedric Alexander defeated Buddy Murphy to retain his title
A very good match. It had a good amount of heat for a cruiserweight match, especially after the halfway point. The crowd chanted heavily for Alexander. By the time the finish came, they were more into it than the opener.
They did lots of great near falls. Alexander won with a Lumbar Check and got a big pop.
– Raw Tag Team Champions Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt defeated Titus Worldwide (Titus O’Neil & Apollo Crews) and The B-Team (Curtis Axel & Bo Dallas) in a triple threat match to retain their titles
The B-Team got a big pop coming out. It seemed to be a bit louder than the reaction for Hardy and Wyatt, but I wasn’t certain. All three teams got pops, though.
Even if The B-Team had the bigger reaction, Hardy and Wyatt were the clear crowd favorites once the match got going. Each team did their usual spots. Axel had the heat on O’Neil at the end, but Hardy tagged him, then hit the Twist of Fate on O’Neil for the win. Average match overall, but each team made it fun.
– Bayley, Ember Moon & Natalya defeated Alicia Fox, Liv Morgan & Sarah Logan
Bayley was clearly playing babyface, and Fox got a decent pop despite being a heel. This match had the least heat so far. After Natalya started, most of it was built around Moon trying to get the hot tag to Bayley. Bayley pinned Morgan with the Bayley-to-Belly.
– Baron Corbin cut a promo in between matches, introducing himself as the Constable of Raw, talking about being in the main event, and declaring that he would deliver the End of Days.
– Mojo Rawley defeated Bobby Roode
Rawley got little reaction, but Roode got a big pop. A lot of people sang along with his song. As the second chorus began, Rawley attacked Roode from behind, getting a lot of heat.
Rawley actually got lots of heat throughout the match — the most I noticed up to this point (the only other person to get any real heat was Mahal). Rawley surprisingly won after Roode’s knees buckled coming off the top rope. His win didn’t get much reaction. Roode sold the knee after Rawley left and got cheered on his way out.
– Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler (w/ Drew McIntyre) defeated Seth Rollins and Finn Balor in a triple threat match to retain his title
Rollins got the biggest reaction coming out, with a big “Burn it Down” chant at his entrance. McIntyre is super imposing in person, especially when next to Ziggler. Rollins and Balor got big pops for their introductions, while Ziggler got decently loud boos.
After a lot of roll-up attempts by all three, Rollins got Ziggler out of the ring and faced off with Balor, but Ziggler and McIntyre continually interrupted them. McIntyre got ejected, but he threw Rollins into the barricade on the way out, leaving Balor and Ziggler alone in the ring for a while. As Rollins tried to get back in, Ziggler threw Balor at him, keeping him out a bit longer. Rollins then dodged the same spot, though Ziggler soon got a sleeper hold on him.
Rollins got out of that before Balor ran wild on both, chopping each in opposite corners and eventually throwing Ziggler out before getting thrown out by Rollins, who then hit separate suicide dives on each. With all three in the ring, Rollins hit the falcon arrow on Ziggler for a huge near fall. Balor and Rollins traded strikes after a Curb Stomp attempt, but Ziggler came in and hit the Zig-Zag on Rollins for an even bigger near fall. “This is awesome” chants started after that.
Ziggler stopped Balor attempting the Coup de Grace. He tried a superplex before getting buckle bombed by Rollins, who tried to superplex Balor but got kicked down. Rollins rolled out to avoid the Coup de Grace attempt, after which Balor got hit with a Zig-Zag for another gigantic near fall.
A bit later, Rollins hit a superkick on each and was signaling for the Curb Stomp before a distraction from McIntyre allowed Ziggler to get the pin. After celebrating, McIntyre and Ziggler beat down Rollins. They seemed to be about to hit their tag team finisher before Balor made the save, hitting the Coup de Grace on McIntyre and allowing Rollins to Curb Stomp Ziggler. Rollins and Balor shook hands afterwards. Awesome match with a ton of heat.
– The Lucha House Party (Kalisto, Gran Metalik & Lince Dorado) defeated Drew Gulak, Brian Kendrick & Jack Gallagher
They had a good match, but it was nothing you wouldn’t see as a 205 Live opener. The crowd was in and out of this, but they were still louder than most cruiserweight matches.
– Ronda Rousey defeated Nia Jax
Alexa Bliss was introduced as the special guest referee. She cut a promo, admitting that there was mutual disrespect between her and the two wrestlers in the match, and thus she was adding a second guest referee, Mickie James. Jax got little reaction, but Rousey got a huge pop. Like in Philadelphia on Friday, she was again announced as the first woman to enter the UFC Hall of Fame.
Rousey started off on fire, but she got cut off by James, who pulled her away from Jax after she beat on her too long in the corner. Bliss also attacked Rousey while James attended to Jax. After that, Jax got the heat for much of the match. Rousey countered the bear hug into a sleeper hold, but Jax was able to again counter into a vertical suplex.
After recovering, Rousey got a big kick on Jax and got her into a sleeper hold, eventually putting her in an armbar over the ropes before James forced the break. Rousey fired up into a striking combination and followed with a big knee, but James counted slow for a two count. Jax then bumped into Bliss, giving Rousey another chance to take Jax down, but James pretended her arm couldn’t make the three count. Rousey put her into an armbar, which she tapped out to before Jax broke it up with a leg drop.
Jax went for the pin, and Bliss counted to one before stomping on Jax. Both referees were eventually taken out, with Rousey then hitting a crossbody on Jax. She got about a 12 count on her as a referee ran down, finally getting to the ring for a two count.
Rousey finally got the armbar and submitted Jax clean, getting a big pop and having probably the most genuine celebration with the crowd of anyone on the show. The match was a lot of fun despite everything with the referees, and it was helped a lot by the heat it had.
– AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe for the WWE Championship and Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz were announced for SmackDown’s house show at MSG on December 26, with the pre-sale password “HOLIDAY.”
– The Undertaker, Roman Reigns & Braun Strowman defeated Kevin Owens, Baron Corbin & Elias
Elias started this with a performance, saying he thought about not doing a concert but had to since he was in the main event at MSG. He was super over until he got mega heat for burying New York, though the first few comments got laughs. He complained about the crowd not appreciating him, then brought out Owens and Corbin by saying that he had two partners who do.
Strowman was the first babyface out and got a big pop. Reigns got a 50/50 reaction when he first entered, but after that initial pop it was overwhelmingly negative. Undertaker’s pop was absolutely ear shattering when he first came out and when Jojo announced his name. From the beginning of Elias’ concert to the ring of the bell was about 22 minutes.
The noise from Undertaker’s entrance never left, and the entire match was extremely hot. None of the heels wanted to start, with Owens finally going against Strowman. The heels kept tagging out until Strowman tagged in Reigns to huge boos. As expected, the tag to Undertaker was constantly teased throughout the match, with a huge pop coming when he entered the ring without being tagged when Owens knocked into him.
Undertaker finally tagged in after Reigns hit a Superman Punch. He set up Owens and Elias for a double chokeslam but got interrupted by Corbin. After Strowman and Reigns took out Corbin and Elias, Undertaker hit the tombstone on Owens for the pin and got another ear-shattering pop.
Undertaker shook hands with Strowman, then had a staredown with Reigns before shaking his hand to another huge reaction.
This was my favorite of the three Undertaker matches this year. It was a lot of fun, though that was probably helped by having the experience of being in the crowd. The Cruiserweight and Intercontinental title matches provided great in-ring action, and the two main events had unbelievable atmospheres.
While the card is always subject to change, it looks like The Undertaker’s match has been revealed for next month’s house show at Madison Square Garden.
Undertaker, Roman Reigns & Braun Strowman vs. Kevin Owens, Baron Corbin & Elias in a six-man tag is advertised to headline the July 7 event. Undertaker and Reigns are teaming together after their WrestleMania 33 main event, where Undertaker indicated that he was retiring before returning this year.
Undertaker last wrestled this past April, defeating John Cena at WrestleMania 34 and Rusev at the Greatest Royal Rumble. He’s also scheduled for a match against Triple H at WWE Super Show-Down in Melbourne, Australia this October, which is being billed as the final time they’ll face each other.
Ronda Rousey vs. Nia Jax for the Raw Women’s Championship had originally been announced for the Madison Square Garden house show. She’ll still be facing Jax, but now it’s a non-title match with champion Alexa Bliss as the special guest referee.
Dolph Ziggler vs. Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor for the Intercontinental Championship is also listed for Madison Square Garden, and Bobby Lashley, Jinder Mahal, Bobby Roode, Natalya, Bayley, Matt Hardy, and Bray Wyatt are advertised.
While Ring of Honor planned to run a show at Madison Square Garden next year, it looks like that won’t be happening.
ROH COO Joe Koff did an interview with PWInsider today where he noted that Madison Square Garden said they were backing out of the show after “communications from WWE.” Dave Meltzer reported last Thursday that WWE was doing everything they could to stop the event from happening and that it was possible they would succeed in doing so.
“I’m not going to discuss beyond this statement because I am not going to litigate this in the press,” Koff told PWInsider. “We had a deal with [Madison Square] Garden and they then told us they were backing out after communications from the WWE. We are not able to get any other dates in any kind of discussion.
“I’m expecting that our lawyers will be contacting all the parties involved and the best we can hope is that we can find a resolution, so we can bring the kind of energy and excitement that ROH and our partner New Japan to a bigger audience and to bigger arenas and to the fans of New York City.”
Sinclair Broadcast Group CEO Chris Ripley first mentioned the show while speaking with the Baltimore Business Journal. It was planned to take place during the Saturday of next year’s WrestleMania weekend, with WWE’s Hall of Fame ceremony, NXT TakeOver special, and post-Mania Raw and SmackDown scheduled for the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
AAA has also been planning to run Madison Square Garden. It’s been several decades since anyone other than the McMahon family has promoted a pro wrestling show at the venue.
It was announced last night that WWE would be returning to Madison Square Garden for a house show on July 7th, with it being advertised that Rousey will be in action as she makes her MSG debut at the event.
WWE’s stops at Madison Square Garden are among their biggest house shows of the year. Brock Lesnar retained his Universal Championship against Kane and Braun Strowman in a triple threat match at MSG last night, John Cena & Nikki Bella defeated Elias & Sonya Deville, and AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, and The New Day appeared.
Tickets are currently available on a pre-sale (using the code “WWELIVE”) and will go on sale to the general public on April 13th at 10 a.m. Eastern time.
Rousey will make her in-ring debut at WrestleMania 34 on April 8th as she teams with Kurt Angle against Stephanie McMahon & Triple H in a mixed tag match. Angle posted a photo with Rousey on Instagram earlier this week as they were training together.
The opening match was supposed to be AJ Styles & Nakamura vs. Owens & Sami Zayn. The babyfaces were introduced and entered, but the heels appeared out of nowhere and attacked.
After Nakamura was thrown out, they double-teamed Styles and attacked his leg with chairs. Styles was helped out, it was announced that he couldn’t compete, and it was made a one-on-one match.
The disqualification came when Zayn interfered. The heels were beating down Nakamura two-on-one, then Styles ran back in with a chair, hit Owens and Zayn, and the faces cleared the ring.
– Cedric Alexander defeated Drew Gulak
Alexander won with a Lumbar Check. The crowd was mildly interested.
– Asuka defeated Mandy Rose (w/ Paige)
Asuka won by submission with the Asuka Lock. This was fine for what it was.
– Bray Wyatt defeated Matt Hardy
Wyatt hit Sister Abigail on Hardy before getting the pin. They worked a standard back-and-forth match, though it was well done.
– Raw Tag Team Champions Cesaro & Sheamus defeated The New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston), Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson, and Titus O’Neil & Apollo (w/ Dana Brooke) in a fatal four-way match to retain their titles
Very good match with loads of action. The Bar double-teamed Kingston near the end and pinned him for the finish.
Gallows and Anderson chastised Kingston for coming to New York and losing, then The New Day cleared them out.
– Universal Champion Brock Lesnar (w/ Paul Heyman) defeated Kane and Braun Strowman in a triple threat match to retain his title
This went about five and a half minutes and was the best match on the show. Lesnar got the biggest reaction of the night coming out. At the bell, he suplexed Strowman and then Kane. Much of the crowd stayed on their feet for the match.
Strowman tried to attack Lesnar with the steel steps outside of the ring, but he missed and Lesnar took him out with two chair shots. Lesnar used the F-5 on Kane back in the ring to retain.
Strowman then put Cesaro through a table when The Bar tried to attack him.
– Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss (w/ Mickie James) defeated Sasha Banks and Bayley in a triple threat match to retain her title
Bliss rolled up Banks after a distraction from James.
Nia Jax came down after the match. Bliss tried to explain that it wasn’t really her talking on Raw and must have been a Photoshop. They hugged, but Jax attacked her. Jax then took out James as well.
– John Cena & Nikki Bella defeated Elias & Sonya Deville
Elias was supposed to team with Bayley, who was his partner in Mixed Match Challenge, but Deville took her place. Bella pinned her after hitting an Attitude Adjustment, with Cena doing it on Elias at the same time.
Cena and Elias were in the ring for most of the match and Elias did a performance before it started. This was Bella’s first match since the Royal Rumble in January. Before that, she hadn’t wrestled since last year’s WrestleMania.
– Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins & Finn Balor defeated The Miz, Curtis Axel & Bo Dallas
Reigns connected with a Superman Punch on Miz to pick up the win. The much weaker heel team dominated for a good part of the match.
Reigns was booed when coming in for the most part, though the reaction was subdued. The fans happily counted at one point as Miz repeatedly kicked him.
– A return date was announced for July 7th. It’s a Raw house show, and Ronda Rousey will make her MSG debut for WWE.
Image: MSG. Report submitted by reader Denis Gorman.
For their usual post-Christmas date, WWE was at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night for one of their biggest house shows of the year.
Roman Reigns defending his Intercontinental Championship against John Cena headlined the event, and it was announced that Brock Lesnar would be on the show when WWE returns to MSG on March 16th.
– Matt Hardy defeated Bray Wyatt
Both got good pops when they were introduced, including Hardy getting “Delete” chants when he came out. Wyatt cut a promo before the match and told Hardy to run, but Hardy responded with the “Delete” gesture. Hardy came out to piano music instead of his regular theme.
Hardy won a fun, back-and-forth match with the Twist of Fate.
– Absolution (Paige, Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville) defeated Sasha Banks, Bayley & Mickie James
After a six-way brawl broke out, Paige won with the RamPaige on James.
– Heath Slater, Rhyno, Titus O’Neil, Apollo Crews & Goldust defeated Curtis Axel, Bo Dallas, Curt Hawkins & The Revival
Elias, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson were with the heels and sang “Freebird” to the crowd. The song ended with a verse where Elias sang about how much he hates Madison Square Garden and stupid New Yorkers, which was funny.
Rhyno pinned Hawkins with a spinebuster to win after they had a comedy match.
– WWE Cruiserweight Champion Enzo Amore defeated Kalisto to retain his title
Despite being a heel, Amore was still able to get the MSG crowd to sing along with him. They had a pretty good match despite some Amore wig-based comedy and a botched DDT through the ropes. The finish was Amore retaining with Eat Defeat.
– Samoa Joe defeated Finn Balor
Balor, who wore white boots and trunks, cut a babyface promo until Joe’s music hit. Both got good reactions, along with a slight “Too Sweet, Woop Woop” chant for Balor.
They had a good match, with Joe winning with the choke.
– Asuka & Dana Brooke defeated Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss & Nia Jax
Asuka tapped out Bliss with an armbar to get the win. Most of this was Brooke working as the babyface in peril.
– Braun Strowman defeated Kane by DQ
The crowd popped huge for Strowman. Kane was disqualified for using a chair, but Strowman powerslammed him through a table after. Strowman spent a lot of time posing for pictures and signing autographs for fans at ringside.
– Raw Tag Team Champions Seth Rollins & Jason Jordan defeated Cesaro & Sheamus in a steel cage match to retain their titles
Jordan was booed when he entered, but the crowd was into Rollins. They chanted “Let’s go Rollins, Jordan sucks.”
Both members of a team had to have their feet touch the floor in order to win. Rollins saved Jordan from a double-team with a crossbody off the top of the cage at one point. For the finish, Jordan escaped and then held off Sheamus so Rollins could climb out.
– Intercontinental Champion Roman Reigns defeated John Cena to retain his title
As expected, both got loud reactions. The video screens were off for the match and the only lights that were on were those above the ring.
Both guys had good performances in a terrific back-and-forth match that had the crowd popping. They began brawling after a slow start, then brought the action back to the ring. Reigns eventually hit a spear to retain. Following the match, Cena raised Reigns’ arm up.
Image: @TheGarden. Report submitted by reader Mike Omansky.
– Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Dolph Ziggler
Ziggler got some near falls, but Nakamura followed with a Kinshasa to the chest and pinned him. This was a very good match and Nakamura was over with the crowd.
– R-Truth defeated Goldust
R-Truth won with his finisher.
– WWE Cruiserweight Champion Neville defeated Cedric Alexander to retain his title
The crowd got into this after a while and both wrestlers worked hard. Neville pinned Alexander with his feet on the ropes to retain.
– Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose defeated Intercontinental Champion The Miz (w/ Maryse) & Samoa Joe
The Miz cut a promo before the match saying that he refused to defend the IC title at MSG because this is where the New York Knicks play.
They had an excellent tag match, with Ambrose pinning Miz with Dirty Deeds while Rollins held Joe’s leg to keep him from interfering. The match had non-stop action and both teams used double-teams well.
– AJ Styles defeated Kevin Owens to win the United States Championship
Styles hit the Phenomenal Forearm to get the pin and win the US title. They had a very solid match, with it being the match of the night. Styles got a big ovation for winning the title.
– Sasha Banks, Bayley & Mickie James defeated Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss, Emma & Nia Jax
This didn’t last very long but had good action. Banks submitted Emma with the Banks Statement.
– Finn Balor defeated Karl Anderson (w/ Luke Gallows)
Balor hit the Coup de Grace to get the win in about a minute. There was good action from Balor in the match despite it being brief.
– Raw Tag Team Champions Cesaro & Sheamus defeated The Hardys to retain their titles
The Hardys didn’t see the champions make a tag and double teamed Sheamus (who wasn’t the legal man). Cesaro then ran in and pinned Jeff.
– Roman Reigns defeated Bray Wyatt
Reigns won with a spear. Wyatt dominated the match and was often cheered. Reigns got heavily booed.
After it was over, Braun Strowman ran in to attack Reigns. Cedric Alexander and R-Truth came in and got tossed out. Seth Rollins then came down and was fighting off Strowman until Wyatt popped up and stopped him. Reigns recovered, knocked Wyatt down, and then speared Strowman to end the show.
Chael Sonnen vs. Wanderlei Silva seems to finally be happening, and the fight is scheduled to headline Bellator’s return to pay-per-view and debut at Madison Square Garden.
In a story broken by the Associated Press, Bellator revealed that they would be running MSG for a PPV on June 24th. More match announcements involving Bellator’s top fighters are expected to be made soon.
“We always said that when we come to New York, we’ll bring the biggest and the best fight card we’ve ever had in the history of this company,” Bellator president Scott Coker said. “We’re putting it together, and our roster is robust enough that we feel like it’s time to get into the pay-per-view business, so here we go.”
Bellator 120, which took place under the promotion’s previous regime, is the only other PPV in company history. The AP article noted that Coker doesn’t intend to run PPVs every few weeks, but is open to using it for their biggest shows.
Sonnen and Silva have long been rivals, but the UFC was never able to make the fight happen while both were in the promotion for a variety of reasons. Silva hasn’t fought since 2013, while Sonnen debuted for Bellator in January in a loss against Tito Ortiz.
Image: @MLW. Report submitted by reader Chris Silva.
– Shane McMahon was out first to welcome the crowd. He mentioned his and his family’s history in the building and New York, then introduced his kids in the front row. AJ Styles came out next, telling the crowd to shut up.
He and Shane went back and forth about Styles deserving a title shot at WrestleMania instead of Randy Orton. That led to Shane introducing Styles’ opponent, Randy Orton.
– Randy Orton defeated AJ Styles
This was a good back and forth match that went about 17 minutes. Orton won by countering a springboard attempt by Styles into an RKO.
This got some “boring” chants. Ziggler won with a superkick.
– Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose defeated The Miz (w/ Maryse), Baron Corbin, and Luke Harper in a four-way match to retain his title
Ambrose retained by pinning Miz after hitting Dirty Deeds.
– Brock Lesnar defeated Kevin Owens
Owens attacked Lesnar at the bell as Lesnar was taking off his shirt. Owens got some offense in, including a somersault cannonball into the corner but Lesnar turned it around. Lesnar hit four German suplexes and won with the F-5 in three minutes. The fans then chanted for Goldberg but Lesnar left the ring with nothing else occurring after the match.
Asuka got the win for her team by submitting Carmella with the Asuka Lock.
– SmackDown Tag Team Champions American Alpha defeated The Usos to retain their titles
The crowd was into the Usos way more than American Alpha. There was almost no reaction to Alpha winning.
– WWE Champion Bray Wyatt defeated John Cena to retain his title
About 17 minutes into the match, Wyatt got himself counted out deliberately after Cena kicked out of a Sister Abigail. Shane McMahon immediately came out and ordered the match to restart and said that it was now no disqualification.
Wyatt returned and attacked Cena with a chair. Cena grabbed a table under the ring. Wyatt got control of the table and leaned it into the corner.
They fought outside and into the crowd. Cena grabbed a guardrail and hit Wyatt with it, but Wyatt took control and suplexed Cena onto it. Back in the ring, Wyatt threw Cena through the table and got a two count. Wyatt hit a low blow on Cena to get the win in about 25 minutes.
Wyatt got on the mic and said he wanted to end John Cena’s career. He retrieved another table and attempted a suplex through it, which Cena reversed into an Attitude Adjustment through the table. Cena posed as his music played to end the show.
The show runtime was just short of three hours. They announced their return to MSG on July 7th.
Though the card could always change — especially with the show being over a month away — WWE is advertising that Kevin Owens will soon get a match with Brock Lesnar.
Madison Square Garden’s website lists a “special attraction WWE Universal Championship match” between Owens and Lesnar for the venue’s SmackDown brand house show on Sunday, March 12th. If that does happen, it would be the first time Owens and Lesnar have faced each other.
Despite it currently being listed as a title match, that could change with Owens defending his Universal Championship at Fastlane on March 5th.
The inclusion of the two Raw stars is the most noteworthy thing about the advertised MSG card, but some of the show’s other matches could give an indication on SmackDown’s post-Elimination Chamber booking. The full card scheduled for the New York City house show is:
John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt for the WWE Championship
Kevin Owens vs. Brock Lesnar (w/ Paul Heyman) in a special attraction match for the WWE Universal Championship
Dean Ambrose vs. Baron Corbin vs. The Miz (w/ Maryse) for the Intercontinental Championship
Luke Harper vs. Randy Orton
American Alpha vs. The Usos for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship
Apollo Crews vs. Dolph Ziggler
Nikki Bella, Becky Lynch, Naomi & Tamina vs. Alexa Bliss, Mickie James, Natalya & Carmella (w/ James Ellsworth)
Rhyno, Heath Slater & Kalisto vs. Breezango & Curt Hawkins
At the first official press conference to hype the upcoming “Triple G” Gennady Golovkin-Daniel Jacobs boxing fight at Madison Square Garden, both the Garden and HBO thanked World Wrestling Entertainment for their flexibility in moving an event already scheduled on March 18.
According to MSG Executive Vice President of Marquee Events and Operations Joe Fisher, to make the fight happen, WWE needed to move a show they already had booked that night in the building.
“A lot of you don’t know this, but I really need to thank the WWE. Everybody says ‘why the WWE?’ Well, we had an event booked on March 18, with the WWE, and they are just tremendous partners. They realized the magnitude of this event. And the fact that we needed to have it here. It had to be at Madison Square Garden. So with their cooperation, and partnership, they were willing to move off the date, and made this date possible. So I really, really want to thank all the great people at WWE.”
Later, Peter Nelson, EVP of HBO Sports, also showed his appreciation, adding, “I want to echo Joel’s moments about the WWE, and the spirit of partnership that they shared in moving an event so that this event could take place in its natural habitat.”
The fight was announced on December 17, and features two guys known for their power. Featuring Golovkin, one of the sport’s top pound-for-pound fighters, the bout could become boxing’s Fight of the Year, as well as its best selling pay-per-view.
The crowd was pretty packed. There were a handful of unsold seats at the upper level, but most of the Garden was quite full. A return date was announced with Brock Lesnar scheduled for the show on March 12th, 2017 as part of the ”Road to WrestleMania” tour.
– SmackDown Tag Team Champions Randy Orton & Bray Wyatt defeated American Alpha, The Usos, Breezango, Heath Slater & Rhyno, and The Ascension to retain their titles
This was a six-team tag turmoil match with multiple falls involved. Two teams started and had a match, then the winners stayed to face next team, and so on. Orton & Wyatt last defeated American Alpha to retain their titles. They had beat The Usos prior to Chad Gable & Jason Jordan entering as the last team in the match.
– SmackDown Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss defeated Becky Lynch to retain her title
– Apollo Crews, Jack Swagger & Mojo Rawley defeated The Vaudevillains & Curt Hawkins
Crews got the win for his team. After the match, Hawkins stayed in the ring and said he was robbed, and would not leave until he had another match. He challenged anyone in the locker room, and out came James Ellsworth to a strong reaction.
– James Ellsworth defeated Curt Hawkins in seconds with the No Chin Music.
– Dolph Ziggler defeated Intercontinental Champion The Miz in a non-title steel cage match
While this had been advertised as an IC title match, The Miz said that he had his lawyer get the match changed so that he wouldn’t have to defend the title in NY. It was a strong match with near falls and climbing the cage. Maryse slammed the door on Ziggler as he tried to exit the cage. Good effort by both. Ziggler won when he hit the superkick and got the pin.
– Nikki Bella defeated Natalya
Carmella came from the locker room to try to distract Bella, but Bella threw Natalya into her. She followed that up with the Rack Attack and pin.
– Baron Corbin defeated Kalisto
Typical match between these two, but it was very well executed. Kalisto used his speed and Corbin used his power. Corbin hit the End of Days for the pin.
– WWE Champion AJ Styles defeated Dean Ambrose and John Cena in a triple threat match to retain his title
This was the best match of the night. The finish saw Styles grabs a chair, jump in the ring, and hit Cena (who was down) with it several times, then he hit Ambrose with it as well. Styles pinned Ambrose to win the match.
All three got their big moves in. Both Cena and Styles got huge reactions coming in, although it was a mixed reaction for both. Ambrose got all cheers, but not quite as loud.
Submitted by Mike Omansky & Charles Machalow from Madison Square Garden
– The Usos defeated The Club (Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows)
This was a good, fast-paced opener where all four had their working shoes on. The crowd was into the Usos. Anderson was pinned after a kick to the head by one of the Usos and a splash off the top rope by the other. The match went about 15 minutes.
– Apollo Crews defeated Sheamus
Crews won with a roll-up in an adequate match. Nothing special. People seemed to like Crews.
– Alberto Del Rio defeated Zack Ryder
Del Rio won with the armbar in a fast-moving competitive match. Crowd was into both guys. Numerous near falls near the end.
– Backstage, a Kevin Owens promo aired. He said he plans to win the triple threat match tonight and leave the Garden with the title.
– Mark Henry & Jack Swagger defeated the Social Outcasts (Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel)
Very one-sided match with some comedy by the victims. Henry pinned Axel with the World’s Strongest Slam. Good for what it was.
– Chris Jericho defeated Neville
This was advertised as a street fight but the match was contested under normal rules. Big reaction for Jericho coming in. He did a heel promo in the ring to try and turn the crowd. The audience did the opposite of everything he said. Some good moves by Neville with some good back and forth action. Jericho won with the Codebreaker after Neville came off the top rope.
– John Cena defeated AJ Styles
Terrific match that went over 35 minutes. Anderson and Gallows accompanied Styles to the ring and interfered several times. They were thrown out by the ref after about 10 minutes.
The match had sections where Styles “outwrestled” Cena to escape. Crowd was incredibly into this and were split between the two. Both kicked out of each other’s finishers along the way and kept up a pretty intensive pace the longer the match went.
About 30 minutes in, there was a ref bump and Cena made Styles tap out with no ref. Anderson and Gallows ran in again, double-teamed Cena, and threw Styles on top. Heels pushed the ref in the ring, but Cena kicked out at two. Shortly after there was a second ref bump.
Anderson and Gallows again jumped in to beat up Cena, but the Usos ran out to make the save. The two tag teams fought and cleared each other out. The ref recovered and Cena hit the AA for the win. Really impressive for a house show match.
Crowd was mostly happy to see Cena win and he got a better reaction than anyone else on the show.
– Becky Lynch defeated Natalya
Lynch won after reversing a Sharpshooter attempt into a Dis-Arm-Her. Not much to this, fans didn’t seem to care.
– There was a video with Seth Rollins saying he’s in New York and better than everyone else here.
– WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day defeated The Wyatt Family in a 6-man tag
There was non-stop action in this match. Big E and Kingston double-teamed Rowan and got the pin. Very strong performance by Bray Wyatt. All six men worked hard.
– WWE World Heavyweight Champion Dean Ambrose defeated Kevin Owens & Seth Rollins to retain his title
Owens tossed Rollins then Ambrose hit Dirty Deeds to pin Owens. Very solid match.
There were funny spots where Rollins and Owens would throw each other out of the ring. Both a table and chair were brought into play along the way. Crowd was tired by this point but still liked the match, though they didn’t care about it as much as Cena vs. Styles. Fans were strongly behind Ambrose but seemed to like all three.
There was a return date announced for December 26th and it was billed as a WWE Holiday Tour show. Tickets were available after the show and are on sale on Ticketmaster now with the presale code WWELIVE.
Editor’s note: This was the show that was scheduled to be Daniel Bryan Appreciation Night, but was changed last minuted because of Bryan “asking for time off”.
Submitted by Mike Omansky
– Dolph Ziggler def. The Miz
Superkick and pin, in a fast paced back and forth opener.
– U.S. Champion Kalisto def. Rusev (w/Lana)
The finish was Rusev taking padding off the turnbuckle, throwing Kalisto into it, who then jumped up to use the Salido Del Sol finisher for the win.
After the match, Ryback came out and attacked Kalisto. Sin Cara ran in to make the save. Ryback returned to grab the microphone, and said that Kalisto and Sin Cara need to understand that a big man beats a little man every time and wanted a match with Sin Cara right now.
– Ryback def. Sin Cara
ShellShock and pin in under 3 minutes. No offense by Sin Cara.
– Becky Lynch & Sasha Banks def. Naomi and Tamina
Banks beat Naomi with a back stabber followed by the Banks Statement submission. Standard divas fare.
– Big Show & Kane def. Erick Rowan & Bray Wyatt (w/Braun Strowman)
Show uses knockout punch on Rowan. Kane, the legal man, used a chokeslam to get the pin. Fans were into the match. Wyatt looked good, and had strong offense on Show. Strowman interfered a few times along the way.
– Divas Champion Charlotte (with Ric Flair) def. Natalya in a non-title match
Charlotte rolled her up after a distraction on the apron from Ric.
– After this match, a special ring announcer for the next match was introduced: former WWE broadcaster and current ESPN on-air talent Jonathan Coachman.
Coachman said that he was asked to come back to WWE, and wanted to do it at MSG. He then wanted to introduce his friends, the Dudleyz. Dudleyz came to the ring, and Coachman said a number of fans had a question for them: “Where are the tables?” Bubba Ray became incensed, threatened Coachman; and out came the Usos.
– WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day (Xavier Woods & Big E) w/Kofi def. The Dudley Boyz and The Usos in a triple threat to retain the titles.
After all six were involved at the end, Xavier came off the top rope onto Devon for the pin. Long match, but pretty good. Fans were into New Day who got a face pop coming in and leaving. After the match, Coachman jumped back into the ring with New Day, took off his shirt to reveal a New Day shirt underneath, and danced with them.
– I-C Champion Kevin Owens def. AJ Styles to retain.
Finish was a pop-up power bomb and pin after an excellent wrestling clinic. Styles was well received, as was Owens. Match was full of good moves and counter moves. Crowd was getting tired, but still clearly into the match. Loads of classic Styles moves. Best match of the night. After the match, Owens wanted to attack Styles again, who of course tossed him around, Styles then took the mic to thank the fans and say that the Madison Square Garden atmosphere is everything that he has always heard about it.
– Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose def. WWE Champion HHH & Sheamus
Reigns pinned Sheamus with a sphere for the win. He got a mixed reaction coming in, although a little more cheers than boos. During the match, he was cheered once at a hot tag, but booed heavily hitting Sheamus, and another sequence against HHH. Ambrose got a huge reaction coming in. HHH also got a face reaction coming in. HHH at first didn’t want to face Reigns, but did come in when tagged to attack him. Good match overall.
Notes:
– The show lasted 3:30 including intermission. The crowd began tiring out by last two matches. However, they were still into them both.
– Return date: Saturday, July 16th – Tickets on sale after show at box office, and via Ticketmaster. Ticketmaster presale code: WWE GARDEN
