3/25 WWE at MSG – Omansky’s detailed report on Styles-Owens MOTN, crowd reactions, Coach

WWE Live Show Results
March 25, 2016
New York City at Madison Square Garden
Report by Mike Omansky, PWTorch correspondent

Estimated Crowd: full; just shy of a sell-out. 13,000-14,000 range. The return date is Saturday, July 16. Tickets went on-sale after the show at the box office and Ticketmaster with the pre-sale code WWE GARDEN.

The show lasted three hours, 30 minutes (7:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.), including intermission. Packed card; the crowd began tiring out by the last two matches, which were two of the biggest. However, the crowd was still into both matches.

(1) Dolph Ziggler beat The Miz. Ziggler pinned Miz with a superkick in a fast-paced back-and-forth opener. (*1/2)

(2) U.S. champion Kalisto beat Rusev (w/Lana) with the Salida del Sol and pin. Rusev took off the turnbuckle padding, threw Kalisto into it, and Kalisto jumped up to use his finisher. (*1/2)

After the match, Ryback came out and attacked Kalisto.  Sin Cara ran in to make the save. Ryback returned to grab the microphone; said that Kalisto and Sin Cara need to understand that a big man beats a little man every time. He wanted a match with Sin Cara right now.

(3) Ryback beat Sin Cara with Shell-shock and the pin in under three minutes. No offense by Sin Cara. Squash.

(4) Sasha Banks & Becky Lynch beat Team B.A.D. (Naomi & Tamina). Banks beat Naomi with a backstabber followed by the Bank Statement submission.  Standard Divas fare. (*)

(5) Big Show & Kane beat The Wyatts (Bray Wyatt & Erick Rowan w/Braun Strowman). Show used the Knockout Punch on Rowan, then Kane as the legal man used the chokeslam to get the pin. Fans were into the match – they sensed the “star power.”  Wyatt looked good, and had strong offense on Show.  Strowman interfered a few times along the way. (**)

(6) Divas champion Charlotte (w/Ric Flair) beat Natalya in a non-title match. Charlotte rolled up Natalya after a distraction on the apron from Flair. (*)

After this match, a special ring announcer for the next match was introduced: Jonathan Coachman. Coachman said that he was asked to come back to WWE; he wanted to do it at MSG. He then wanted to introduce his friends, the Dudleys. The Dudleys came to the ring and Coachman said a number of fans had a question for them, so he thought he wouldd ask it: “Where are the tables?” Bubba Ray became incensed, threatened Coachman, and out came the Usos.

(7) WWE tag champions New Day (Xavier Woods & Big E. w/Kofi Kingston) beat The Dudleys and The Usos in a triple threat match to retain the tag belts. After all six were involved at the end, Xavier came off the top rope onto Devon for the pin. Long match, but pretty good. Fans were into New Day, who got a face pop coming in and leaving. (**)

After the match, Coachman jumped back into the ring with New Day, took off his shirt to reveal a “WWE New Day” shirt underneath, and danced with them.

(8) IC champion Kevin Owens beat A.J. Styles with a pop-up powerbomb and pin after an excellent wrestling clinic. Styles was well received, as was Owens.  The match was full of good moves and counter moves. The crowd was getting tired, but still clearly into the match. Loads of classic Styles moves. Best match of the night. (**1/2)

After the match, Owens wanted to attack Styles again, who of course tossed him around. Styles then took the mic to thank the fans and say that the Madison Square Garden atmosphere is everything that he always heard it was.

(9) Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose beat WWE World Hvt. champion Triple H & Sheamus in a solid main event tag match. Reigns pinned Sheamus with a spear for the win. Reigns got a mixed reaction coming in, although a little more cheers than boos. During the match, he was cheered once he got the hot tag, but booed heavily hitting Sheamus, and another sequence against Hunter. Ambrose got a huge reaction coming in; Hunter also got a face reaction coming in. At first during the match, Hunter did not want to face Reigns, but he did come in when tagged to attack Reigns. Good match overall. (**)