Tag: wwe madison square garden

Report: Madison Square Garden to host upcoming WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event

Posted on by Joseph Currier

This summer, WWE could be bringing Saturday Night’s Main Event to Madison Square Garden in New York City.

WrestleVotes reports that WWE is planning for a Saturday Night’s Main Event special to be held at the “World’s Most Famous Arena” on July 18. That date would coincide with Fanatics Fest 2026, a convention in NYC that WWE and its stars are involved with.

The SNME date has not been officially announced by WWE yet, but that could change soon. WWE will be at MSG for Raw next Monday (March 30) and at The Theater at MSG for NXT on Tuesday (March 31).

Though SNME is a classic WWE program dating back to the 1980s, it has only ever been held at MSG once before: a 2007 episode during the show’s brief revival. It returned again in December 2024 and now airs live on Peacock a few times per year.

Fort Wayne, Indiana will host the next SNME event on WWE’s calendar. That show is being held at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum on May 23.

During his retirement tour, John Cena spoke about how happy he is that MSG is once again becoming a significant arena for WWE. Because of the costs involved, there was a period where WWE largely avoided running televised events at the venue. Raw and SmackDown now make regular stops at MSG, and this would be WWE’s first streaming special there since 2015.

WWE selling ‘exclusive’ ring canvas opportunity

Posted on by Joseph Currier

If you have $400 to spare, your name could appear on the ring canvas for an upcoming episode of WWE Raw.

WWE is offering fans the “exclusive opportunity” to have their names “immortalized in WWE history” for the March 30 episode of Raw at Madison Square Garden. Those who pay $399.99 will have their name featured on the ring, and they’ll then receive a framed collage with that piece of match-used canvas.

“Monday Night Raw has been a wrestling institution for decades, and for the first time ever, you can own a piece of the action with this framed collage, fitted with a piece of match-used canvas featuring your name as you saw on TV,” the WWE Shop description says. “This 10″ x 20″ piece showcases iconic RAW imagery, celebrating the spectacle and excitement of WWE’s flagship show from March 30, 2026. What sets this collage apart is the inclusion of a genuine piece of match-used canvas featuring your own personal dedicated piece of history.”

It’s noted that the framed collage will be shipped no later than April 24.

The March 30 episode of Raw is happening on the road to WrestleMania 42. CM Punk, Roman Reigns, and Brock Lesnar are among the wrestlers who will be appearing. It will be one of the last times Punk and Reigns interact before their World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania.



























WWE Raw sets MSG return, several more TV dates announced

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE is heading back to the “World’s Most Famous Arena” for one of the last Raws before WrestleMania 42.

It was announced today that the Monday, March 30 edition of Raw will be held at Madison Square Garden in New York City. A ticket pre-sale will begin at 10 a.m. Eastern time next Monday (January 12) using “SOCIAL” as the access code. The general public on-sale will then start on Tuesday, January 13.

CM Punk, Stephanie Vaquer, Becky Lynch, Rhea Ripley, Jey Uso, Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods, and Penta are among the wrestlers advertised for the show.

WWE was recently at Madison Square Garden for a November 2025 episode of Raw, with the show being John Cena’s last time appearing at MSG as an active wrestler. Cena spoke to the Raw Recap podcast about the historical significance of pro wrestling at MSG.

“I think the significance of this building should never be lost on sports entertainment,” Cena said. “I know that there are events that are bigger and bolder and can fit more people. But I believe we can learn a lot from history, and I think that every person in WWE should understand the history of this place.

“And that way when they’re awarded the opportunity to stand on the canvas, this building shouldn’t just mean something to me. And over the years, I’ve seen the importance kind of erode away. And I think it’s got a resurgence now. And I’m very, I’m very — that makes me feel good. Because this is a place where if you are allowed to perform here, you are a professional.”

This is one of nine new TV dates that WWE announced today:

  • Friday, March 6: SmackDown at Moda Center in Portland, Oregon
  • Monday, March 9: Raw at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington
  • Friday, March 13: SmackDown at PHX Arena in Phoenix, Arizona
  • Monday, March 16: Raw at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas
  • Friday, March 27: SmackDown at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  • Monday, March 30: Raw at Madison Square Garden in New York City
  • Monday, April 6: Raw at Toyota Center in Houston, Texas
  • Friday, April 10: SmackDown at SAP Center in San Jose, California
  • Monday, April 13: Raw at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California

The April 13 event will be Raw’s go-home show for WrestleMania 42.

John Cena happy to see significance of WWE at MSG returning

Posted on by Joseph Currier

John Cena is happy to see Madison Square Garden once again becoming a significant venue for WWE.

On Monday night, Cena was at the “World’s Most Famous Arena” for his last-ever Raw appearance. He kicked off the show with a promo and competed in a six-man tag match, teaming with Sheamus & Rey Mysterio to defeat The Judgment Day. Before the episode, Cena recorded an interview for the Raw Recap podcast and reflected on the importance of MSG.

“I think the significance of this building should never be lost on sports entertainment,” Cena said. “I know that there are events that are bigger and bolder and can fit more people. But I believe we can learn a lot from history, and I think that every person in WWE should understand the history of this place.

“And that way when they’re awarded the opportunity to stand on the canvas, this building shouldn’t just mean something to me. And over the years, I’ve seen the importance kind of erode away. And I think it’s got a resurgence now. And I’m very, I’m very — that makes me feel good. Because this is a place where if you are allowed to perform here, you are a professional.”

Due to the cost of running TV at the venue, WWE largely stayed away from Madison Square Garden for televised events during the 2010s. From 2009 until 2019, WWE ran house shows at MSG but only had one pay-per-view there and one WWE Network special. The company has now returned to having MSG as a regular stop for Raw and SmackDown episodes.

Cena only has two WWE appearances left after last night’s Raw. He’ll compete at Survivor Series on November 29 and then have his last match at Saturday Night’s Main Event on December 13.

WWE 2025 schedule update: Post-Christmas MSG event, AEW head-to-head

Posted on by Josh Nason

Image: WWE

There are two new updates for the WWE schedule the rest of 2025 according to Thursday’s WrestleVotes Radio.

WWE not running MSG after Christmas

The annual tradition of WWE running Madison Square Garden for a live event right after Christmas appears to be done, for this year anyway, as the outlet report it’s not happening in 2025.

The reason is likely because WWE is running the famed arena on Monday, November 17 instead for a live edition of Raw that will also serve as John Cena’s final appearance in the building as an active wrestler.

WWE PLEs vs. AEW PPVs taking a pause for now

WrestleVotes also reported that as of now, there are no more planned head-to-head battles between WWE/NXT PLEs and AEW pay-per-views for the duration of 2025. That, of course, would begin after next Saturday’s Wrestlepalooza which will see AEW run All Out at 3 PM Eastern with Wrestlepalooza starting several hours later.

AEW has three PPVs remaining after next weekend (WrestleDream, Full Gear, and Worlds End) and there are no WWE or NXT PLEs announced for those same dates as of now.

WWE to hold NXT Roadblock special at The Theater at MSG

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE NXT is coming to New York City next month for a special TV episode.

It was announced today that NXT Roadblock will be held at The Theater at MSG on Tuesday, March 11. The episode is airing live on The CW at 8 p.m. Eastern time that night.

The Theater at MSG is a smaller venue located inside Madison Square Garden. The venue previously hosted an NXT house show in 2016. Without factoring production configuration, it has a capacity of 5,570.

Madison Square Garden itself is hosting WWE Raw on March 10, the night before Roadblock.

Roadblock tickets are going on sale to the general public this Friday (February 14) at 10 a.m. Eastern time. A pre-sale will begin at 10 a.m. this Wednesday and last through midnight on Thursday with “NXTLIVE” as the access code.

Since debuting on The CW last October, NXT has traveled outside the WWE Performance Center for select television episodes. Roadblock is taking place just over a month before NXT’s Stand & Deliver PLE, which will be held in Las Vegas during WrestleMania weekend.

WWE Raw returning to Madison Square Garden in March 2025

Posted on by Joseph Currier

On the road to WrestleMania 41, WWE will be holding an episode of Raw at Madison Square Garden.

It was announced last night that the Monday, March 10 episode of WWE Raw will take place live from Madison Square Garden in New York City. It’s the first time Madison Square Garden has hosted Raw since 2022, and it will be the first time Raw has taken place from MSG during the Netflix era.

Tickets are going on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. Eastern time on Friday, January 10.

WWE was at MSG on Thursday night for its annual post-Christmas house show, headlined by World Heavyweight Champion Gunther defeating Damian Priest in a steel cage match. The show ended with CM Punk — wearing a towel and shower cap — saving Priest from an attack.

Raw moves to Netflix starting with its January 6 episode from the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California.

The MSG Raw episode is happening just under six weeks before WrestleMania 41, which is being held at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Saturday, April 19 and Sunday, April 20.

Logan Paul says wrestling for WWE at Madison Square Garden is a dream come true

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Tonight’s WWE SmackDown is going to be a memorable moment for Logan Paul.

Paul will make his Madison Square Garden debut when he competes on tonight’s SmackDown from New York City. He’s facing off against LA Knight and Santos Escobar in a triple threat Money in the Bank qualifying match.

On social media, Paul posted a photo from Madison Square Garden and wrote that wrestling at the World’s Most Famous Arena is a dream come true.

Paul also shared a post from 2019 where he promised that he would fight at Madison Square Garden soon.

“I posted this five years ago, Madison Square Garden, in 2019. I said I will fight right there soon,” Paul said. “Five years later your boy is wrestling front and center at Madison Square Garden tonight.”

Prior to tonight, Paul has only ever wrestled on SmackDown once, winning an Elimination Chamber qualifying match this February. All of his other matches have taken place at WWE PPVs/PLEs. If Paul qualifies for Money in the Bank, it will be his second straight year competing in the men’s ladder match.

Paul is the current United States Champion and is expected to defend the title against Knight at SummerSlam this August.

Here’s everything that’s been announced for tonight’s SmackDown:

  • Bloodline Acknowledgement Ceremony for Jacob Fatu
  • Men’s Money in the Bank qualifying match: Logan Paul vs. LA Knight vs. Santos Escobar
  • Women’s Money in the Bank qualifying match: Jade Cargill vs. Tiffany Stratton vs. Candice LeRae
  • Women’s Money in the Bank qualifying match: Naomi vs. Blair Davenport vs. Indi Hartwell

VIDEO: Roman Reigns attacks Brock Lesnar at WWE Madison Square Garden house show

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE has released video of the show-closing angle from Saturday night’s house show at Madison Square Garden.

After Brock Lesnar retained his Universal Championship against Austin Theory in the main event of the house show, he was attacked by Roman Reigns. Lesnar was able to fight off Reigns and then fight off The Usos. But as Lesnar had Paul Heyman cornered, Reigns hit Lesnar in the back with a steel chair.

Reigns attacked Lesnar with the chair and the ring steps. With Lesnar bloody from the attack, Reigns gave him a Rock Bottom on the steps. The show ended with Reigns standing over Lesnar while holding both the WWE Championship and Universal Championship title belts. Reigns told Lesnar to acknowledge him.

Reigns also had a title defense at Madison Square Garden, retaining against Seth Rollins.

The Madison Square Garden house show had been mentioned on Raw and SmackDown leading into last night. Theory wasn’t revealed as Lesnar’s opponent until their match was about to start.

A winner-take-all title unification match between Lesnar and Reigns will headline WrestleMania 38 night two on Sunday, April 3. The show is being held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Bobby Lashley pulled from WWE MSG house show advertising

Posted on by Ethan Renner

Bobby Lashley is no longer being advertised for WWE’s upcoming Madison Square Garden event.

WWE Live: Road to WrestleMania is set for Madison Square Garden on Saturday, March 5, a show that was originally advertised as being headlined by Brock Lesnar defending the WWE Championship against Lashley. The advertising has been changed to simply state that Lesnar will defend the WWE title on the show, with all references to Lashley removed. 

Lashley, 45, suffered a shoulder injury in his Royal Rumble match against Lesnar on January 29. His only match since was at Elimination Chamber on February 19, where an angle was shot to quickly take him out of the match. In storyline, it was explained as “concussion protocol.” 

Dave Meltzer reported on Monday that Lashley was visiting Birmingham, Alabama to have the shoulder injury examined, likely at the world-renowned Andrews Sports Medicine & Orthopedic Center. If the injury required surgery, Lashley would be expected to miss months of action. 

The Road to WrestleMania show at MSG is a dual-branded house show. The current advertised lineup: 

  • Brock Lesnar will defend the WWE Championship
  • Roman Reigns will defend the WWE Universal Championship
  • Raw Women’s Championship: Becky Lynch (c) vs. Bianca Belair vs. Rhea Ripley
  • Ronda Rousey & Naomi vs. Charlotte Flair & Sonya Deville
  • SmackDown Tag Team Championship: The Usos (c) vs. Big E & Kofi Kingston
  • Seth “Freakin” Rollins appears
  • Drew McIntyre appears
  • AJ Styles appears 
  • RK-Bro appears 
  • Sasha Banks appears

DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: History of pro wrestling at MSG in 1875

Posted on by Karl Stern

On this week’s DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show, it’s the debut of a new series looking at the history of pro wrestling at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Perhaps the most famous arena in the world, MSG has changed quite a bit over the years and we will talk about the venue’s different owners and locations as well. 

We begin by going back to the original Gilmour’s Gardens (soon to be MSG) and the first wrestling star there: Andre Christol and the great tournament of 1875.

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Edge comments on facing Kevin Owens at WWE MSG house show

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Image: WWE

With COVID-related changes disrupting the card for Sunday night’s house show at Madison Square Garden, WWE brought Edge to New York City for a first-time match.

Edge defeated Kevin Owens in a steel cage match in the main event of the Madison Square Garden house show. WWE Champion Big E was originally supposed to defend his title against Owens and Seth Rollins in a triple threat steel cage match, but Big E and Rollins weren’t at the show. Rollins indicated on Twitter that he had tested positive for COVID-19.

On Instagram, Edge wrote about wrestling Owens for the first time. Edge noted that facing Owens was on his short list of things to do when he was told that he’d be able to wrestle again:

Funny thing happened on my way to Detroit. I ended up in Madison Square Garden in a cage match against Kevin Owens. When I first got word I could wrestle again, this match was on my short list of things to do before I retire(for the last time). Have a feelin we’ll see each other again.

An NXT Championship match with Tommaso Ciampa retaining against Pete Dunne was also added to the Madison Square Garden house show.

Edge will be in Detroit for tonight’s Raw, which is set to feature a segment where The Miz and Maryse will “renew their wedding vows.” Edge vs. Miz is set for this Saturday’s WWE Day 1 pay-per-view.

Lesnar appearance, Edge vs. Rollins set for WWE SmackDown at MSG

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Image: WWE

Brock Lesnar will be in the building when SmackDown comes to Madison Square Garden next week.

WWE has announced that Lesnar will appear on next Friday’s SmackDown episode at MSG. It will be Lesnar’s first appearance on WWE programming since returning at SummerSlam last month and confronting Universal Champion Roman Reigns.

Lesnar made his return after Reigns retained the Universal Championship against John Cena in the main event of SummerSlam. Lesnar and Reigns went face-to-face before Reigns backed off and left the ring.

There was a segment on tonight’s SmackDown where Paul Heyman, who was Lesnar’s advocate before managing Reigns, received a phone call from Lesnar. Heyman later told Reigns that Lesnar will be at SmackDown next Friday.

Prior to SummerSlam, WrestleMania 36 was the last time that Lesnar had appeared in WWE.

It’s also been announced that next Friday’s SmackDown will feature Edge and Seth Rollins facing off in a SummerSlam rematch. Edge defeated Rollins in their first meeting.

Here’s the full list of what’s been announced for next Friday’s show:

  • Brock Lesnar appears
  • Edge vs. Seth Rollins
  • A contract signing for Becky Lynch and Bianca Belair’s SmackDown Women’s Championship match at Extreme Rules

WWE confirms September return to Madison Square Garden

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE is officially returning to Madison Square Garden this September.

WWE confirmed today that the Friday, September 10 episode of SmackDown will take place at Madison Square Garden in New York City. PWInsider first reported the date of the show last week. It will be the first WWE event at “The World’s Most Famous Arena” since a December 2019 house show.

Tickets to the SmackDown episode at Madison Square Garden will go on sale via Ticketmaster at 10 a.m. Eastern time on Friday, July 9.

WWE was set to hold a house show at Madison Square Garden in March 2020, but that couldn’t happen due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Madison Square Garden’s first full-capacity event since the start of the pandemic was a Foo Fighters concert that took place last month.

This will be the first SmackDown episode to be held at Madison Square Garden since September 2019. Raw and SmackDown both came to Madison Square Garden that month for what were the first episodes of WWE television at the venue since 2009.

WWE is returning to touring starting with the Friday, July 16 edition of SmackDown at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.

WWE returning to Madison Square Garden for SmackDown episode

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE is returning to Madison Square Garden for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

PWInsider reported on Thursday that the Friday, September 10 episode of SmackDown will be held at Madison Square Garden in New York City. It will be the first WWE event at Madison Square Garden since a December 2019 house show.

WWE had been set to hold a house show at Madison Square Garden in March 2020, but the pandemic prevented that from happening. Madison Square Garden returned to full capacity with a Foo Fighters concert taking place there this past Sunday.

In September 2019, Raw and SmackDown came to Madison Square Garden for what were the first episodes of WWE television at the venue since 2009.

WWE is returning to touring starting with the Friday, July 16 episode of SmackDown at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. WWE has announced their schedule of tour dates through the Monday, September 6 edition of Raw at the FTX Arena in Miami, Florida.