3/12 WWE Live Event Report from New York City, N.Y. at MSG: Theory vs. Seth in a cage headlines MSG, Charlotte vs. Deville, Cody vs. Solo Sikoa, Bray no-shows

WWE LIVE EVENT REPORT
MARCH 12, 2023
NEW YORK CITY, N.Y. AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN
REPORT BY MIKE OMANSKY, PWTORCH CORRESPONDENT

Estimated Crowd: 9,000+ range

(1) Becky Lynch & Bianca Belair & Asuka & Nikki Cross & Candice LeRae beat Bayley & Iyo Sky & Dakota Kai & Piper Niven & Carmella when Belair pined Bayley with a kick and a slam in about 20:00. Good action throughout. Asuka was the most popular with the fans. Niven hit some power moves.

(2) Ricochet won a 19-man battle royal to earn a title match right afterward against Gunther. Participants included Drew McIntyre, Dominik Mysterio, Bobby Lashley, Damian Priest, Johnny Gargano, Bronson Reed, L.A. Knight, Santos Escobar, Miz, Baron Corbin, Dolph Ziggler, Otis, Mustafa Ali, Dexter Lumis, Rick Boogs, Karrion Kross, Rey Mysterio, and Sheamus. Lumis was the first eliminated. Lashley had the most eliminations. Dominik eliminated his father Rey. The final four were Sheamus, Drew, Ricochet, and Dominik. While Sheamus and McIntyre were arguing mid-ring, Dominik attacked them from behind and tossed both over the top rope. Ricochet had a brief battle with Dominik and kicked him over the top. Very good match.

(3) Gunther (w/Imperium members) beat Ricochet to retain the Intercontinental Title. It was a competitive back-and-forth match ending with a powerslam. Imperium members were tossed by the referee to the back. Very good match.

(4) Cody Rhodes beat Solo Sikoa by DQ. Cody hit the Crossroads and appeared to be on the verge of a win when the Usos charged the ring and broke up his cover at two. The ref DQ’d Sikoa. They attacked Cody three-on-one, but Sami Zayn charged to the ring to help Cody clear the ring. Very good match prior to the finish.

(5) Braun Strowman beat L.A. Knight with a powerslam in under a minute. Strowman was a substitute for Bray Wyatt.

(6) Charlotte Flair beat Sonya Deville and Liv Morgan in a triple-threat match to retain the Smackdown Title. Late in the match, Deville tossed Morgan into a corner. Flair then applied her Figure-Eight submission on Deville for the win. They worked hard, but the crowd was not as excited about this one as other matches.

(7) Austin Theory beat Seth Rollins in a cage match in about 20:00 to retain the U.S. Title. Theory used a low-blow to get the win. Very good match. They took turns trying to escape the cage and took turns slamming each other into the cage. There were two refs: one in the cage, one outside the door. Near the end, the ref in the cage was knocked down. Rollins had Theory pinned, but there was no one to make the count. Rollins called for a second ref to come into the cage. When a second ref slid into the ring, Theory kicked out at two. The second ref then went to tend to the first ref. Theory hit a low blow and his finisher. The second ref turned around and counted the pin.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Very strong show overall. No shortage of talent. They announced a return date of Friday, July 7 for a live Smackdown.

(If you attend a live event from WWE, AEW, or any other wrestling promotion, please send a report formatted like the above report with as much detail and analysis as you like to pwtorch@pwtorch.com.)