3/25 WWE in NYC – Report on Hunter & Sheamus vs. Reigns & Ambrose, Reigns’s reaction, MSG attendance, more

WWE Live Show Results
March 25, 2016
New York City at Madison Square Garden
Report by Romeo Colon, PWTorch reader (@ThePrideofNYC)

There were sections of the arena blocked off. Lots of scattered empty seats four minutes until belltime, but the seats filled up and the arena looked full right as the show started.

There were a lot of families and kids. Attendance was less than previous house shows I attended here. WWE plugged Raw in Brooklyn on Monday and showed The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels in a WrestleMania classic match before the show.

The MSG return date is July 16 for the “Summerslam Heatwave Tour.”

(1) Dolph Ziggler beat The Miz in 17:00. Dolph got a nice pop for being the first babyface. Miz got good boos for his heel antics. Ziggler did the HBK Sweet Chin Music “tuning up the band” to no avail, then Miz failed on a figure-four attempt. Dolph hit the Fameaser for a close two count. Miz then connected with the figure-four a second time, but Dolph escaped. The crowd was really behind Dolph. Miz went for an axe handle off the top rope, but got superkicked for the 1-2-3.

(2) U.S. champion Kalisto beat Rusev (w/Lana) in 10:00. Kalisto came out to a nice pop. Rusev and Lana came out to huge boos. Lana ran down the Knicks and bragged about her upcoming marriage to Rusev.

Afterward, Ryback came out to attack Kalisto. Sin Cara made the save, then Ryback got on the mic and said the little guy can never beat a big guy. He challenged Sin Cara to a match…

(3) Ryback beat Sin Cara with Shell-shock in 3:00. Ryback got the crowd to chant “Feed Me More” as the heel.

On the video screen, the Dudleys cut a promo about being proud to be back home. They declared they would be new tag champions after beating New Day and The Usos later.

(4) Sasha Banks & Becky Lynch beat Team B.A.D. (Naomi & Tamina).  Sasha got the biggest pop of the night to this point. Becky got worked on by the heels for the majority of the match, then Sasha did a lot of booty shaking to mock Naomi, to the delight of the crowd. Sasha won with the Bank Statement. Both Sasha and Becky signaled for the Divas Title belt around their waist celebrating on the turnbuckles.

(5) Big Show & Kane beat The Wyatts (Bray Wyatt & Erick Rowan w/Braun Strowman and without Luke Harper). Show got a surprisingly big pop and Kane got an even louder pop. Bray and Kane started. Bray played to the crowd and looked good despite injury rumors. Big Show chopped the heck out of Rowan. It was really loud five rows away from ringside. Kane won with a chokeslam on Rowan. Show and Kane then double-chokeslammed Strowman after the match. The crowd really loved Show and Kane, who also posed for selfies. That was one of the more interesting things I’ve seen.

[Intermission. WWE announced the July 16 return date.)

(6) Divas champion Charlotte (w/Ric Flair) beat Natalya to retain the Divas Title. The crowd was mixed – the family-friendly crowd loved Natalya, while the smart fans loved Charlotte and Ric. Charlotte tried the Sharpshooter during the match, but it did not work. Natalya then busted open Charlotte on the lips. Great sequence of reversals from figure-fours to Sharpshooters, then Flair got on the ring apron. He got smacked, but Charlotte sneakily rolled up Natalya for the win. The crowd loved the match. Natalya got a huge “Thank You Natty” chant afterward.

(7) WWE tag champions New Day (Xavier Woods & Big E.) beat The Dudleys and The Usos in a three-team match to retain the WWE Tag Titles. Entertaining, comedy-style match. The Coach took off his jacket to reveal a “New Day” t-shirt and danced terribly with them. Fun overall with a lot of crowd interaction.

(8) IC champion Kevin Owens beat A.J. Styles to retain the Intercontinental Title in Styles’s MSG debut match. Nice pop for both. Owens yelled at the ref not to let A.J. touch the belt before the match. So, A.J. touched it and Owens complained. I yelled “KO Mania” and Owens pointed at me, saying “you got it.” A.J. and Owens technically stole the show, but the crowd wasn’t as loud as for the prior tag match. Owens won with a pop-up powerbomb. He then heeled on A.J. after the match, but A.J. fought him off. He then got on the mic and told MSG they were everything he heard they were. Great match.

(9) Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose beat WWE World Hvt. champion Triple H & Sheamus in a tag team main event. Sheamus got little reaction, Hunter got a superstar pop, Ambrose did too, and Reigns got a superstar pop mixed with boos. Ambrose took an extended beating from both heels until Reigns got the hot tag to a huge pop. The match finish: Hunter hit the Pedigree on Reigns, but Ambrose broke up the pin and hit Sheamus with a suicide dive. Sheamus eventually tagged himself in and got speared by Reigns for the loss. Huge pop for the finish. Reigns and Ambrose celebrated to close the show.