Madison Square Garden is as synonymous with WWE as it is with boxing, and both have a legacy in that arena that spans several different eras of greatness. From Friday night fights in the 30s and 40s to the first WrestleMania, the strength of the building, rebar aside, is based on a foundation of vivid memories accompanying millions of words written on the subject.
Tonight, RAW is not just live from The Garden but live and ‘on the road’ to Mania with a big-time main event pitting CM Punk and Seth Rollins against each other in a steel cage match. With Cody Rhodes scheduled for tonight, there was a chance we could get some surprises that we “could not see” coming.
Roman Reigns Out His Cage And In Punk-Rollins’ Business
Main Event: Seth Rollins vs. CM Punk—Steel Cage Match
The hot CM Punk crowd was not shy about letting fans watching at home know who they were rooting for, and when Punk was set to make his entrance, the fans began chanting his name with Rollins on the big screen. Seth did not seem fazed as the crowd sang along with every note of his “Cult of Personality” theme. The focus on Punk’s eyes as he walked towards the cage was enough to give chills, and it was certainly enough to give Punk the edge.
The two started right away and did not even wait for the cage to be locked or for Punk to disrobe from his branded merch. They broke out into a fistfight with legendary boxing trainer Freddie Roach watching from ringside.
Rollins had a ‘Pillman’ vibe tonight, and it was difficult to assess just how far he’d go in this match with Punk. He launched Punk into a viscous ‘buckle bomb’ that produced a diabolical smile from Seth as if he was more focused on causing damage and not as much on winning.
It was a complete and utter Punk crowd as they urged him to drop another “savage” elbow from the top turnbuckle—he obliged. Then, as they called for another, Punk climbed to the top of the cage, but Rollins made it to his feet, and then the top of the cage with Punk before Punk could complete the high-risk maneuver. They battled on top of the cage, with the drone shot coming in clutch before Rollins dropped Punk from the top with a superplex.
Punk called for the GTS, but Seth countered into the STF (a callout to Cena’s win over Punk years ago), but Punk was able to reverse. Rollins landed ‘the stomp’ and covered for near-fall, and that sequence sent the crowd into another Punk chant. They attempted to rally their guy as Rollins set up for a stomp from the turnbuckle. Punk tripped Seth and managed another GTS for yet another near fall, but now the crowd was singing Seth’s music.
Punk appeared to have the match in hand, but Seth baited him into continuing with the cage door wide open, and when Punk took the bait, Seth used the opportunity to reverse. Instead of taking the exit himself, he decided to hit Punk with a ‘super stomp’ from the middle buckle.
As Seth sat in the corner admiring his handy work, he was suddenly snatched out of the ring. When the camera panned, it was Roman Reigns who helped Seth win the match, but it was only to get his hands on both men. He dropped Seth with a Superman punch and then gave him his own stomp for good measure.
The crowd was going insane and chanting ECW in honor of The Wiseman in attendance. Roman had Rollins set up on the steel stairs when Pearce and company stopped him from further hurting Seth. That is when Roman set his eyes in the ring and could see Paul helping CM Punk to his feet. Roman demolished Punk in front of Paul in full prayer mode. The crowd chanted OTC (how quickly they forgot to riot for Punk) as RAW’s credits popped up on the screen.
Is John Cena The Bigger Fan Favorite Than Cody Rhodes?
“It was an easy decision,” Cody said mockingly of John Cena’s decision not to attend tonight’s RAW: THE GARDEN EDITION. Many believed that John Cena could make a surprise cameo tonight because ‘The Garden’ has that allure, but Cody made it clear off the jump of his promo—after acknowledging the legendary building with one of the hottest RAW crowds of the year.
Rhodes was forced to carry the feud on Friday Night SmackDown solo dolo as well, and he went dark—not that anyone can blame him. Rhodes ‘begrudged’ some things of Cena and understood others, but he was worked up enough to drop another curse.
“At a certain point, you must look over, and you have to say, ‘John, sit down you G** D*** moron!” Cody used the coach-player analogy and admitted that a ‘part-time Cena’ is better than most full-timers. He was forceful and honest, but you can see the cracks of respect and admiration in his promos. You can respect John, and he deserves it, but that kind of conscious admiration can also keep some fighters from ‘going all out’ on fight nights, something that Cody accused Kevin Owens in their feud circa 2024.
Then, surprisingly, the crowd broke into a “Let’s go Cena/Cena Sucks” chant. It caught Cody off-guard, but he reacted well and played into the crowd’s enthusiasm. A crowd at ‘The Garden’ will always be unpredictable. That’s what makes them so great, but after years of this same audience booing the squeaky-clean Cena, they now relish in his ‘EXTREME’ turn (a fan holding an “if Punk loses, we riot” sign should tell you everything).
Cody said he was the ‘captain’ now before dipping out for the night, and while he has carried this thing alone post-Chamber, there is a hope that Cena’s next appearance on WWE programming will come by next Monday on RAW in Brussels. Still, you must give Cody so much credit for digging deep into these past two promos.
Logan Paul Not Laughing; Gets Salty w/Schulzy
Logan Paul started out his segment alone, but he had two impromptu guests by the time it was finished. Paul came out to some of the loudest boos of the night—if WWE is going to give him mic time like that, then they should give him a ‘gimmick show’ like “MIZ TV” or something similar—and started insisting that the numerous celebrities in attendance for tonight’s RAW, and the trend altogether, was because of him.
He eventually singled out comedian Andrew Schultz, who has a new Netflix special out now (“Life”). When Logan asked Schultz who he came to see, the comedian affectionately known as “Schultzy” admitted that he was there to see the cage match that everyone else was hyped to see. Logan gave him the pass on that one, after all, it is a PLE-level match, but he took exception with Schultz’s admission that AJ Styles was the ‘draw’ for tonight’s RAW. Logan and Styles have been beefing, so the confession irritated the former U.S. champ enough to attack and drag Schultz over the barricade.
AJ Styles eventually came out to make the save, and he continued to yell at Paul to come back to the ring while he ignored the sourpuss facials. This could be a great match, but you have to wonder if Paul can get over on AJ and whether AJ is willing to put Paul over at this stage in his career.
New Day vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. & Dragon Lee
The tag match has been building for weeks, and not long after Kofi and Woods turned heel on Big E. It is not the payoff many hoped for when The New Day turn happened, but nobody doubts these teams’ ability to put on a show. It was a terrific match, and it felt like we could get a clean finish considering LWO are the faces and everyone in the locker room hates New Day now.
But a man wearing all black clothes with an American-themed Lucha mask jumped the barrier and attacked the Luchas. It was clearly Chad Gable, but Pat was too scared of ‘liable’ to admit it. The match ended in a DQ but with an interesting new wrinkle added to the equation.
Later, Chad, wearing the same clothes as the masked man, was interviewed in the back and claimed that it was not him under the ‘The Patriot’ inspired Lucha mask. He was hilarious, and just as the interviewer pushed back by calling him a liar, you could see a man in the same clothes (but wearing the same shoes as the attacker) was being arrested and being escorted outside of the arena. We all got swerved, and it was great, but it was a fresh direction, and we were all here for it.
Rhea Ripley Exploits WrestleMania ‘Loophole’
When a superstar wins the Rumble or Chamber, they are guaranteed a shot against each champion of RAW and SD. That usually means more for the challenger than the champion, but Rhea does not care at all as she was still reeling from losing her world title to Iyo Sky.
Sky came out to get her flowers after defeating Rhea last week, but Bianca came out to keep herself in the spotlight—that’s her right after winning the Chamber. Eventually, Rhea came out and demanded to know why Bianca was out there during her match. Bianca had every right, but Rhea needs someone to blame—or maybe it is just a ploy to wedge herself into a triple-threat title match at WrestleMania?
Bianca and Rhea went at it with Sky, the champ, in the middle as an afterthought—and when Sky tried to get a word in, she was face-palmed by Rhea and then by Bianca. Sky slapped the taste out of both women’s mouths and stormed off, frustrated by the disrespect.
Other Tidbits/In-Ring Action
- Raquel Rodriguez defeated Bayley to become the #1 contender for Lyra Valkyria’s IC title.
- Tons of celebrities were in the building tonight, many with shows on Netflix, but a special shout out to Amanda Serrano, boxing’s undisputed champion set to face off with Katie Taylor in the trilogy following their two classics.
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