WWE Returning to MSG for First RAW, SmackDown TV Events in 10 Years

WWE RAW and WWE SmackDown will be held for the first time in 10 years at the 'World's Most Famous [...]

By Ryan Droste

WWE RAW and WWE SmackDown will be held for the first time in 10 years at the "World's Most Famous Arena," Madison Square Garden, this September.

WWE announced their return to MSG on Tuesday. Though the company has held the 2013 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony, in addition to several house shows, at the venue over the last 10 years, the last time RAW or SmackDown was filmed at the venue occurred on November 16, 2009 (Monday Night RAW).

This comes after New Japan Pro Wrestling and Ring of Honor sold out MSG earlier this year during WrestleMania weekend, an incident that WWE was not too pleased about. The Garden has long been seen as WWE's home venue, with the company having held top cards there for decades. And outside of a few shows, McMahon organizations (WWWF, WWF, WWE) have also been pretty much the only wrestling promotions to book MSG for most of that time.

RAW will be held on September 9th, while SmackDown will also take place at MSG the very next night on September 10th. WWE issued a video of Bayley making the announcement. The company is promoting that fans should register for a pre-sale at this point, with the pre-sale date to be announced later.

The timing for this show is interesting as Mexico's AAA wrestling promotion will hold an event at MSG on September 15th, just a few days later. Two weeks later, New Japan Pro Wrestling is running the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City.

Some of WWE's most memorable events have occurred at MSG, including (but not limited to): Hulk Hogan's first WWF championship victory over the Iron Sheik in 1984, the first SummerSlam in 1988, SummerSlam 1991 (Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect, Randy Savage/Miss Elizabeth wedding), WrestleMania X (Razor Ramon vs. Shawn Michaels Ladder Match, Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart, Bret Hart winning the title from Yokozuna later in the show), RAW in 1997 where Steve Austin gave Vince McMahon the Stunner for the first time, SummerSlam 1998 (Austin vs. Undertaker, Triple H vs. The Rock), Royal Rumble 2000 (Triple H vs. Mick Foley), Royal Rumble 2008 (John Cena's surprise entrance), and countless more.

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