WWE Reportedly Sets All-Time Record At Madison Square Garden Live Event

Business is booming for WWE right now, with the promotion reportedly setting an all-time record at the recent Madison Square Garden live event.

"Fightful Select" has reported that the December 26 live event at the iconic New York venue is the highest-grossing domestic non-televised event in the history of the promotion. The show saw CM Punk wrestle for the first time since his return to WWE, defeating former "NXT" North American Champion, Dominik Mysterio, whom he will face once again at a live event in California. The report added that WWE has stated internally that the show was sold out, with WrestleTix revealing that over 15,000 tickets were sold for the show. 

"Fightful" has also revealed that the live event in Baltimore, featuring the "WWE SmackDown" roster, was the highest-grossing non-televised WWE show in the region.

The stacked card at the Madison Square Garden show featured several of "WWE Raw's" top stars, including the likes of Rhea Ripley, Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre, Becky Lynch, and Cody Rhodes. Rollins and McIntyre closed out the event, where the former retained his WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Finn Balor and Damian Priest retained their tag team titles against Sami Zayn and Jey Uso, while WWE Women's World Champion Rhea Ripley defeated Ivy Nile and Shayna Baszler in a triple threat match.

The "Raw" and "SmackDown" rosters have a string of live events lined up ahead of the new year. This week's "SmackDown" will air a best-of show, recapping the highlights of 2023 from the blue brand, much like the "Raw" show on Christmas day.

DX To Reunite For WWE Live Event At Madison Square Garden

WWE Hall of Famers DX have been announced for the upcoming WWE live event at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

MSG announced today that Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Sean "X-Pac" Waltman, and "Road Dogg" Brian James will be reuniting DX for the March 22 live event.

MSG tweeted, "JUST ANNOUNCED: D-Generation X returns to The Garden for the first time in over a decade! See @TripleH, @ShawnMichaels, @TheRealXPac & @WWERoadDogg on the @wwe Road to WrestleMania on March 22!"

It was previously announced that the MSG show will be headlined by a six-man match with Seth Rollins and The Authors of Pain vs. Samoa Joe, Big Show and Kevin Owens. WWE Women's Tag Team Champion Asuka vs. RAW Women's Champion Becky Lynch is also being advertised. Other Superstars advertised to appear are WWE United States Champion Andrade, Rey Mysterio, Rusev, Bobby Lashley, Drew McIntyre, Ricochet, Aleister Black, The Street Profits, Charlotte Flair, AJ Styles and Randy Orton.

Tickets for WWE's return to MSG officially go on sale this Friday. The Ticketmaster pre-sale is going on now with the code SOCIAL.

Rumor Mill - ROH Reportedly Contemplating Legal Action After WWE’s Involvement In Cancelled MSG Show

Dave Meltzer talked about the cancelled ROH Madison Square Garden show on his Wrestling Observer podcast,

“As of right now they [Ring of Honor] are out of the date. A WWE official, who is not Vince McMahon, called up and told Madison Square Garden to cancel the show and they did and there’s a lot of unhappiness going around. There may be legal action. There may not be legal action. They [Ring of Honor] are contemplating legal action. Evidently the Garden believes that they had the right to do it.”

Meltzer elaborated further and pointed out that Ring of Honor did not come to Madison Square Garden. Meltzer claims that it was Madison Square Garden that came to Ring of Honor,

“Madison Square Garden was looking. The word was out that they were looking for someone to come in because WWE was not running enough dates. It’s not like they’re on bad terms; but, it’s like three dates a year. We want more wrestling so somebody else wants to run a date, they can run a date. So they are out there doing that and Ring of Honor goes and books a date. Then WWE calls and they say, ‘Well you can’t have the date.’ I think it makes MSG look real bad. The WWE, I don’t know. Does someone want to file an anti-trust case against them? I don’t know.”

Meltzer questions WWE’s decision making when it comes to making enemies with Sinclair. According to Meltzer, Sinclair owns approximately 54 FOX stations, some of which will run Smackdown beginning in 2019. Meltzer adds,

“I don’t know if you want the people who own a bunch of stations that you’re on to be mad at you. I don’t think that’s smart.”

This Day in Wrestling History - "Just In Case You Forgot Who The Hell I Am..."

After a grueling eight-month rehab from a torn quadrciceps muscle, Triple H made a triumphant return at Madison Square Garden.
January 7, 2002

Five years later he would tear the right quad muscle during the New Year's Revolution pay per view.
January 7, 2007

Triple H at The Garden

Thank you, @TheGarden. Nothing like performing at #WWEMSG. pic.twitter.com/35pHwpD5Hm

— Triple H (@TripleH) March 26, 2016

Daniel Bryan to Return to WWE for “Daniel Bryan Night” at Upcoming MSG Live Event

The official website of Madison Square Garden, TheGarden.com, has announced that the March 25th live event will be billed as “Daniel Bryan Night.”

Daniel Bryan will be attending the event, which will also feature the following:

– Roman Reigns vs. Sheamus (with Triple H)

– Kevin Owens vs. Dean Ambrose (30-minute Iron Man match for the IC title)

– Kalisto vs. Alberto Del Rio (US Title match)

– Big Show vs. Bray Wyatt

– AJ Styles makes his MSG Debut

Plus, there will be appearances by Ric Flair, New Day, Demon Kane and more.

Hulk Hogan, Vince McMahon And Roddy Piper Talk WWE WrestleMania I For MSG Network

The MSG Network will air a special on WWE's WrestleMania I tonight at 10:30pm, as detailed below. The special is narrated by actor Ben Stiller and will feature the late Roddy Piper, Vince McMahon, Hulk Hogan, Mean Gene Okerlund, Cyndi Lauper and others. The following was issued:

"THE GARDEN'S DEFINING MOMENTS" SERIES CONTINUES WITH "WRESTLEMANIA I" PREMIERING FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12 AT 10:30PM

New York, NY (February 11, 2016) – MSG Networks (NYSE: MSGN) continues the special 20-part television event "The Garden's Defining Moments" presented by SAP with - "WrestleMania I." The event that launched the WWF (now WWE) into the stratosphere and married sports and entertainment for the first time, set a then record for pay-per-view buys in the United States.

"The Garden's Defining Moments: WrestleMania I," narrated by Ben Stiller, premieres Friday, February 12 at 10:30 pm on MSG Network, following MSG's telecast of the Rangers \ Kings game. Interview subjects include Vince McMahon, Hulk Hogan, the late Roddy Piper, Cyndi Lauper, Mean Gene Okerlund and more.

More?

Video: The Kliq surprises the WWE fans who recorded the MSG "Curtain Call"

Update On WWE Network MSG Special

WWE Network will be airing the October 3rd WWE live event from Madison Square Garden, featuring Brock Lesnar's return. This card will certainly be changed soon but here's the current line-up:

* John Cena vs. Seth Rollins
* Sheamus vs. Randy Orton
* Dolph Ziggler vs. Rusev
* Cesaro vs. Kevin Owens
* Appearances by Lesnar, Paul Heyman, Chris Jericho and others

Recap of Hulk Hogan Appreciation Night at Madison Square Garden

Tonight’s WWE Live Event at Madison Square Garden was billed as Hulk Hogan Appreciation Night, and the show featured numerous special guest appearances for the Hogan ceremony. The segment featured appearances by Ric Flair, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Jimmy Hart and Triple H. During the segment, Madison Square Garden revealed a Hulkamania banner which will permanently hang in the rafters of MSG, alongside the Championship banners for the Rangers and Knicks. Throughout the Appreciation night segment, Hogan was said to be very emotional, and he became particularly emotional when they unveiled the banner.

This Day in Wrestling History - "Just In Case You Forgot Who The Hell I Am..."

After a grueling eight-month rehab from a torn quadrciceps muscle, Triple H made a triumphant return at Madison Square Garden.
January 7, 2002

Five years later he would tear the right quad muscle during the New Year's Revolution pay per view.
January 7, 2007

The Kliq Members Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Sean Waltman and HBK Discuss the MSG Curtain Call Incident

WWE.com has posted a new interview up with Kliq members Kevin Nash, Sean Waltman, Shawn Michaels and Scott Hall. The interview was conducted during the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony, and below are some highlights of the interview, which focuses on the famous MSG Curtain Call incident in 1996. Click here.

WWE Returns to Madison Square Garden

WWE returns to Madison Square Garden for a WWE Live Event on March 8th. The updated card features Daniel Bryan vs. Kane with Triple H at ringside, John Cena and Batista vs. Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton and The New Age Outlaws vs. Cody Rhodes and Goldust vs. The Uso's.

This Day in Wrestling History - "Just In Case You Forgot Who The Hell I Am..."

After a grueling eight-month rehab from a torn quadrciceps muscle, Triple H made a triumphant return at Madison Square Garden.
January 7, 2002

Five years later he would tear the right quad muscle during the New Year's Revolution pay per view.
January 7, 2007

Photo: Triple H at Madison Square Garden During the Renovation

WWE’s Bruno Sammartino, Triple H on MSG’s ‘The Garden Transformed’

WWE refers to Madison Square Garden as “the house that Bruno built.”

Now area pro wrestling fans will get a chance to see Bruno Sammartino receive a VIP look at the Garden being rebuilt.

Sammartino and 13-time WWE champion-turned-executive Triple H will be featured in Part 2 of the five-part MSG series “The Garden Transformed: Year Three” on Saturday at 10:30 p.m. The series will begin Friday night at 11 p.m. for the first of five consecutive nights, in conjunction with the completion of the final phase of the Garden’s $1 billion transformation.

The series will feature notable figures from some of the sports that define the Garden’s history, including the Knicks (Raymond Felton and Tim Hardaway Jr.); Rangers (Henrik Lundqvist); college basketball (coaches Jim Boeheim and Steve Lavin); and boxing (former world champs Larry Holmes and Miguel Cotto, and Long Island’s own Gerry Cooney).

But Sammartino was arguably the Garden’s biggest draw. According to WWE.com he was responsible for selling out the building 187 times during his career, which included runs as champion from 1963-71, and 1973-77.

“Even around the world, this is how they know me,” Sammartino, who along with Triple H donned a hard hat to view the construction, said in a quote released from Saturday’s episode “…In Argentina, in Brazil, I remember going to Australia, all the trips I did in Japan, you know how they’d advertise me? ‘From Madison Square Garden, Bruno Sammartino.’”

The appearance dumps yet another shovel of dirt on the hatchet buried between Sammartino and WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon. Sammartino, who wrestled for Vince’s father, Vincent J. McMahon, engaged in a longtime feud with the younger McMahon, largely for content on TV Sammartino felt was inappropriate.

Sammartino returned to the WWE fold this year -- largely thanks to Triple H helping to facilitate a truce -- and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame last April 6 at MSG, the night before WrestleMania XXIX at MetLife Stadium.

Show schedule:
Friday: Episode 1 – 11:00 p.m. (following Knicks vs. Raptors)
Saturday: Episode 2 – 10:30 p.m. (following Knicks at Raptors)
Sunday: Episode 3 – 10:30 p.m. (following Rangers at Lightning)
Monday: Episode 4 – 10:00 p.m.
Tuesday: Episode 5 – 8:30 p.m. (following Rangers at Panthers)

source: newsday.com

This Day In Wreslting History - Hulk Hogan Signs With TNA Wrestling

Hulk Hogan and TNA shocked the world with a press conference at Madison Square Garden announcing that he had signed with the company. The press conference had been publicly billed as promotion for Hogan's second autobiography. Hogan did a morning signing session at a Barnes & Noble, then went to Madison Square Garden for the conference.

The conference today featured Eric Bischoff introducing Hulk Hogan. Hogan talked about TNA and stated he was becoming a "partner" in the company and that he was feeling great and looking forward to being a part of the company.

TNA President Dixie Carter gave a short speech saying she was looking forward to working with Hogan and that while they have great ratings for a Thursday night, Hogan would be the "boost that TNA needed." SpikeTV's Kevin Kay was also in attendance and gave a brief statement about the network working with Hogan.

A Q&A session was then held, but was said to mostly be fluff fan type questions, although one fan did ask Hogan whether working with Vince Russo would be an issue. Hogan responded that as long as Russo stayed in his place and didn't cross him, there would be no issues. Hogan then said that if he did, Hogan would have to take care of it.

When the topic of Eric Bischoff came up, Hogan did not say Bischoff was working with him in TNA but noted they have other side projects they are working on. Obviously, Bischoff came into the company with Hogan.

Hulk Hogan discussed signing with TNA during the final few minutes of an interview on CNN's Larry King Live.

King asked Hogan whether he would be wrestling for the company after they aired footage of today's press conference from New York City. Hogan responded that he didn't know what he would be doing for the company yet and that he would be testing himself on the upcoming Hulkamania tour of Australia.

Hogan also threw out the idea of doing an American Idol-type of reality series to find the "next" Hulk Hogan, a reality show concept Jimmy Hart had discussed wanting to see in a 2008 pwinsider.com interview.

source: pwinsider.com

Triple H & Bruno Sammartino in NYC

Triple H noted in his Twitter that he and Bruno Sammartino were going to Madison Square Garden today for a show about the history of the Garden. That may be something being filmed for the MSG Network I was told by a WWE source, but I'm not 100% sure on that.

Sammartino will also gift a replica championship belt to the Italian American Museum as part of the Feast of San Geanaro in Little Italy in NYC later today. Bruno will be signing all weekend at the feast.

source: pwinsider.com

Scott Hall Comments on the MSG Curtain Call Incident

"I had already given my notice, I gave 90 days written notice to Vince (McMahon) that I didn't want my contact to run over. I didn't say I was leaving, more on the line of lets talk about new terms and then later Kevin Nash gave his, Kev left a week after me. I figured I'm leaving anyway but I'm still wrestling in the semi main event every night, Kev is in the main event.

"It was Diesel and Shawn in the main event and I was wrestling Triple H because Goldust was injured, so they moved Triple H up to that slot, he was brand new to the company and was still kind of doing that rich boy thing and we saw he was a really talented guy and we liked him straight away. We snapped him up really quick because we needed a designated driver.

"As far as the infamous curtain call it wasn't planned, I had my match with hunter and it was one of the best matches I had in my career. Pat Patterson was the booker at the time and he pulled me and Hunter aside, gave us some ideas and we followed them and the match was great. There was an intermission when they set up the cage for Kev and Shawn's match and Vince told me to meet him in his office in Madison Square Garden and when I was in there talking to him Shawn came strolling in and said after the match he wanted Hunter and myself to come out, and Vince went along with it.

"We had permission, it wasn't some kind of outlaw renegade move to hurt the company, which is what everybody seems to say. For me, I felt the responsibility to go out there and say good bye to the fans at MSG, and thank you for supporting me all of these years. That is the last time the four of us have ever been together at one time."

New York Orders Madison Square Garden To Move

Madison Square Garden, the most famous Arena in the world and for much of the WWF/WWE's history, their most important venue, was officially informed today that their lease to operate on their current location has been officially limited to the next decade.

The New York Council voted 47-1 yesterday to limit the lease as they want the venue to move to another location in order to expand and modernize Penn Station, the train station that sits underneath the property.

MSG, owned by Cablevision, is in the midst of a self-financed renovation that has cost nearly one billion dollars.

The venue has hosted more WWF/WWE title changes than any other venue as well as three Wrestlemanias, the first Summerslam, the first Elimination Chamber bout and many, many other important moments in WWE history.

The story has turned into a major story in the NYC area.

The current version of MSG opened in 1968. It is the fifth location for the Arena since the original opened in 1879.

source: pwinsider.com