WWE Live from MSG

RATING LEVELS: 

Curt Hennig – A “GOAT” show, as Perfect as possible

Watch It – A consistently good show worth watching in its entirety

Watch It…With Remote in Hand – 3 or more above-average ratings 

High Risk Maneuver – Mostly filler, inessential, but 1-2 good matches

DUDleyville – Zero redeeming qualities, chore to watch

WWE Live from MSG - October 2015

New York, New York

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into tonight's show, the WWE World Champion is Seth Rollins, the United States Champion is John Cena, Kevin Owens holds the Intercontinental Championship, and Charlotte is the Divas Champion. The New Day are the reigning WWE World Tag Team Champions.

COMMENTATORS: Rich Brennan, Byron Saxton, and JBL

The first stop on Brock Lesnar's "Go To Hell" Tour is Madison Square Garden, but its not the Beast who kicks off the show - its Sheamus and Rusev taking on Dolph Ziggler and "The Viper" Randy Orton. Orton is particularly fired up tonight, playing to the crowd a bit more than usual in his entrance. From the onset, having the crowd "dark" rather than lit up gives the show a different feel and really helps put the focus on the in-ring action. The heels do a nice job of cutting the ring in half during this one, punishing Ziggler with all sorts of slams and submissions. I particularly liked the way Rusev would either grab Dolph's arm or just step on it while tagging in his partner to make sure the Showoff couldn't reach the corner - a small thing that adds realism to the contest. Orton's hot tag got the audience on their feet, the RKO minutes later getting the biggest pop of the match. Nothing special, but not bad. (2.5/5)

After the match, Rusev grabs a mic and blames his partner for the loss, which leads to Lobsterheard hitting him with a Brogue Kick and telling him to kiss his "arse." This is followed by a video recap of the latest events in the Dual Kane storyline and some words from Kane.

Back in the ring, Stardust vs. Neville is our next match, a continuation of their summer rivalry. Neville's athleticism is always fun to watch and, considering how much time they've spent in the ring together, it doesn't surprise me that his chemistry with Cody is pretty good..but the crowd just seemed to care less and less with each second passing, popping for a Neville's moonsault, but not really reacting to anything Stardust did (even when he ludicrously donned Neville's cape). Neville's Red Arrow sealed this largely unremarkable match. (1.5/5)

Renee Young is in the back with "The Advocate" Paul Heyman who cuts a promo about the greatness of Madison Square Garden and his client, Barack Lesnar. Good promo, but not essential enough to warrant a bonus point.

Team Bella arrives next for their 6-woman match against Team PCB - who really shouldn't be referred to as that anymore considering that Paige has explicitly turned on them TWICE now. I would've much preffered this to be Nikki and Alicia (with Brie on the outside) vs. Charlotte and Becky as it just makes absolutely no sense that the faces would want to team up with Paige after she  verbally assaulted them and then deserted them in their match less than a week ago. Becky and Alicia start things off, Paige tagging herself in and delivering some big knees to Fox. A small "We Want Sasha" chant breaks out but dies down rather quickly (or is muted by the audio department?). Nikki is brought in and the heels take control, Alicia getting back in before Brie gets tagged in to keep the match from getting anywhere above average. Compared to Nikki and Alicia, Brie is noticeably less confident and capable. Charlotte comes in for the hot tag and goes for the Figure 8, but Paige tags herself in, costing the good gals the advantage. Brie is back in briefly before Alicia gets in to deliver a textbook suplex and lock in a headlock. Nikki keeps the pressure on with a front headlock of her own, the crowd dying down as its pretty hard to cheer a face-in-peril when said face is not really a face. Charlotte and Becky's refusal to tag in got a great response, but it also led to Team Bella getting cheered, which seems to run a bit against what the division needs: clear faces and clear heels. The in-ring action wasn't particularly bad at any point, but the idea of "addition by subtraction" would've made it much better, specifically keeping Brie on the outside as a manager and not having Paige in this one at all as her inclusion defied logic. (2/5)

Breast Cancer commercial. Man, unlike the Beast in the East special from July, this show is coming off more and more like an episode of Smackdown or something - recycled matches from RAW and loads of video recaps and backstage segments.  

The Intercontinental Championship is on the line next as Kevin Owens defends against Chris Jericho. Finally we get something fresh! Rich Brennan notes that winning the title here would make Jericho a 10-time Intercontinental Champion. Before the match begins, Y2J cuts a promo about how tonight is the 25th Anniversary of his very first professional match, shouting out to Lance Storm (who gets a respectable pop and is sitting in the front row), his father Ted, and even Don Callis. Jericho finishes his promo with his catchphrase and one has to wonder why no one considered having Owens cut him off - something a braggart heel like Owens would do so well. The match kicks off with Owens and Jericho trading control before the violent Quebecer slows things down with a classic headlock. From here, Jericho fights his way out and ends up back on offense for a stretch, using his speed and agility to outmaneuever his opponent. A "This Is Awesome" chant breaks out, though, it's not really warranted. Owens counters a Lionsault and hits his cannonball before heading to the top rope to attempt a senton (which is countered). Jericho locks in the Walls, but Owens is able to reach the ropes, not yet out of gas. Jericho connects with a Codebreaker but can't make the cover. Owens hits a superkick that would make Shawn Michaels jealous, but ends up in trouble nonetheless, having to escape another Walls of Jericho by poking his opponent in the eye and scoring a flash pin. Solid finish to a good, but not necessarily great match. More time might've got it there. (3/5)

Yet another commercial hyping NXT and then yet another video package. The amount of filler on this show is getting to be a bit much.

The WWE Tag Team Championships are on the line next with The New Day defending against The Dudley Boys. Like the prior match, this is an opportunity for The Dudleys to capture their TENTH WWE Tag Team Championships. The New Day arrive first to a sizeable reaction, cutting a funny promo about their opponents tendency to make dated 90s references before starting a "Save The Tables" chant. The Dudleys then come out, obviously amped to be back in the most famous arena in the world. Kofi and D'von start things off and an audible "We Want Tables" starts. A ton of quick tags happen from there, no one getting a clear advantage until Xavier thwarts the Dudleys' signature headdrop spot. From here we got standard action, not dissimilar to the superior 6-man we got on RAW this week (unsurprisingly, having Woods and Cena in the match made it seem that much more exciting). The finish was well-executed and the post-match added some drama, but this rivalry is ready for a stipulation bout (and its rather obvious what that stip should be). There is nothing left to accomplish with these teams squaring off in regular ol' tag bouts. Also, if there are plans to bring in Spike Dudley, tonight would've probably been the best opportunity for it...unless there's a show in Phillie coming up? (2.5/5)

Jon Stewart is in the house. Hopefully he won't play a role in tonight's US Championship match.

We get yet another video package, this one hyping up the long-running rivalry between Big Show and Brock Lesnar. Their history is undeniable, but that doesn't mean I'm more interested in this match than I would be in Lesnar vs. Cesaro or Lesnar vs. Ambrose or Lesnar vs. just about anybody else. 

The Big Show comes out first and a "Suplex City" chant starts before Brock Lesnar even arrives. Lesnar looks to be in incredible shape, the Conqueror smiling a little bit as he strolls to the ring with Paul Heyman. The Big Show overpowers Lesnar at the start, tossing him over the top rope early on, establishing his size and strength advantage over the Beast. Watching Lesnar work as the clear babyface, getting almost manhandled by The Big Show, is a fun change of pace, though, Lesnar doesn't play the underdog for long. After a flurry of impressive suplexes, Lesnar dumps Big Show down with a fireman's carry and then F-5s him in short order. Too brief to be considered even remotely special. It was a total waste of time to build Big Show up over the past few weeks if you are going to have him lose in under 5 minutes here. The post-match only further establishes the impotency and irrelevancy of Big Show. No Lesnar showing of the past year has been "bad," but this one seems like the most inessential and lazily booked. (2/5)

Main event time - John Cena vs. Seth Rollins for Cena's United States Championship in a cage match. A "John Cena Sucks" chant welcomes Da Champ, who takes the time to give a hug to the widow of Arnold Skaaland sitting in the front row. Thanks, JBL, I was wondering who that ol' biddy was. The crowd is alive for this, giving loud mixed reactions to both competitors. Fairly standard action, though there were some highlights - Cena hitting a bulldog on Rollins from the top and, later, delivering an electric chair, Rollins reversing Cena's leg drop from the corner into a sit-out power bomb, Rollins getting in his signature rolling duplex combo, etc. As the match wore on, Cena and Rollins noticeably milked things to stretch the match, but that's not to say the deliberate pacing was ineffective - a sequence at the cage's door helped raise the suspense that the prior several minutes lacked and the pinfall and escape attempts from then on got huge reactions as the audience came to believe that either man could reasonably win. Rollins' innovative use of the cage door towards the end added an exciting transition to the match and, this time around, the "This Is Awesome" chant seemed at least somewhat deserved. As one might have expected, Kane arrived to play spoiler, keeping Rollins from a guaranteed victory and allowing Cena to score the win. The post-match was precisely what one would've expected as Kane took out the Architect with a chokeslam and a tombstone piledriver. All in all, an above average match but far from essential viewing. (3/5)

With an average match rating of 2.36-out-of-5, Live from MSG lacked the uniqueness that made Beast in the East one of the more enjoyable shows of 2015. If this is what the WWE is presenting at its house shows, I'm not too eager to spend money on a ticket one. Most of the matches were carbon copies of matches from previous Network specials and recent episodes of RAW. With absolutely no twists or turns and a crowd that seemed more than willing to sit back and accept what it was getting (I was expecting a bit more of a rowdy atmosphere considering how much of this show would qualify as "same old shit"), the best way to describe this show would be lackluster. Unsurprisingly, it also registers as the lowest scoring modern show I've seen on the Network since Survivor Series 2014. Recommended for Owens completists and any left on Earth whose still craving a Cena/Rollins match. 

FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuever