3/12 WWE in New York City, N.Y. at MSG: Bray defends against Cena, Orton battles Cena again, Lesnar vs. Owens, Shane returns to MSG

WWE LIVE EVENT REPORT – RAW & SMACKDOWN
MARCH 12, 2017
NEW YORK CITY, N.Y. AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN
REPORT BY MIKE OMANSKY, PWTORCH CORRESPONDENT

-The crowd was just shy of a sell-out.  Packed, with one smaller upper section not sold.

-Return date announced: Friday, July 7. Tickets on sale today with presale code:  NYCWWE

-Partial stage used for entrances.

-Shane McMahon came out first to open the show. He said hasn’t been in an MSG ring for eight years. A.J. Styles walked out and complained that he should have the WrestleMania title match.  Shane said he has had many opportunities and can have one more right now. He said he has a match.

(1) Randy Orton beat A.J. Styles with an RKO and a pin. Same finish as TV this week with Styles leaping from outside of the ring.  Solid match, fans into both men.

(2) Rhyno & Heath Slater & Kalisto beat Breezango (Tyler Breeze & Fandango) & Curt Hawkins ending when Rhyno gored and pinned Breeze. Good action.

(3) Dolph Ziggler beat Apollo Crews after a rake of the eyes and a kick. Not much to this.

(4) Dean Ambrose beat The Miz and Baron Corbin and Luke Harper when Dean pinned The Miz with Dirty Deeds. Great action, some occasional alliances, but mostly ever man for himself.

(5) Brock Lesnar pinned Kevin Owens after an F5 at just 2:13. Big pop for the pin. Owens attacked Brock as he was removing his shirt and started attacking, including a cannonball in the corner. Lesnar then blocked him and hit a series of suplexes.

(6) Nikki Bella & Becky Lynch & Tamina Snuka & Asuka beat Mickie James & Alexa Bliss & Natalya & Carmella (w/James Ellsworth) when Asuka submitted Carmella. Fast action.

(7) American Alpha beat The Usos to retain the WWE Raw Tag Team Titles. Nothing special.

(8) Bray Wyatt pinned John Cena to retain the WWE Universal Title in 24:00. Wild match. Great back and forth action, each man kicking out of the other’s finishers. Wyatt finally seemed to knock Cena out. Then he grabbed the belt, laughed, and started to leave but got counted out. Shane McMahon walked out and ordered the match to restart with no DQ rules. That led to tables, fighting in the crowd, and use of chairs. Ultimately, Wyatt won with a low blow and a pin. After match, Wyatt wanted to put Cena through a table, but Cena recovered and gave Bray an AA through a table.

NOW CHECK OUT THIS RECENT REPORT: 2/26 WWE in Cedar Rapids, Iowa: Wyatt vs. Cena vs. Corbin vs. Harper, American Alpha vs. The Usos vs. Breezango

Please send any news tips and results to: pwtorch@gmail.com. For instance, let us know if you hear a pro wrestling reference on a popular talk show, see a pro wrestling related Tweet or Instagram from celebrity, hear an ad for matches advertised for an upcoming WWE event, or anything else pro wrestling related that’d be of interest to our readers. 

If you attend a live event, please send results. We don’t set up correspondents ahead of time and count on readers like you to send an email with a report on live events you attend – not just WWE, but also ROH, NXT, international groups. and anything else.