By Bryan Revello, Editor-in-Chief,
Photo courtesy of Getty Images
WWE Live Event Review – Hulk Hogan Appreciation Night
2/27/15
Madison Square Garden, New York City
I said it last night and I will say it again. This was probably the best WWE house show that I have ever attended and I am a 35 year old male that has attended many over the years.
WWE really went out of their way to make this MSG show a BIG DEAL including appearances by legends like Hulk Hogan, Jimmy Hart, Ric Flair, Triple H, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall. The Hulk Hogan segment was very enjoyable and it was cool to be there as they raised an official banner to honor the legend up in the MSG rafters.
Chris Jericho also appeared for a highlight reel segment that turned into a surprise match against Luke Harper. Jericho looked really good in the ring also.
Most of the matches were strong and the young roster was on full display. It felt even more special for me as a fan that has seen many of these young workers rise up on the Indy scene over the last 5-10 years and now they are major players in WWE coming down the entrance ramp at MADISON SQAURE GARDEN.
Other cool notes from the show:
- Dean Ambrose was over-as-hell.
- The New Day got the worst live reaction I have seen in a while. They were supposed to be faces against Cesaro and Kidd but they were jeered heavily.
- The Bellas and Paige as super hot in-person.
- Very cool little touch on the Cena vs. Rusev match – The arena purposely turned off all of the house lights and turned off all video screens with just spotlights on the ring like an old school boxing match. It was a very cool effect and it was even funnier watching all the kids and their parents trying to ration why the lights and video screens “stopped working.” The match itself was good.
- They played a taped message from Triple H earlier in the show which made his live appearance later on all the more exciting.
- Coming out of intermission, the main video screen started to play a promo by Bray Wyatt with no audio which led to the video cutting out and the fans instinctively took out their cell phones in anticipation of Wyatt’s entrance only to hear Fandango’s music come on a moment later. It was obviously a technical glitch on WWE’s part but watching all the confused fans was somewhat amusing.
- Wyatt and Orton both got huge reactions to their entrances but was probably the snoozer of the night in the ring. Maybe it was just a clash in styles but the match felt more plodding and there were some “boring” chants.
- The main event was fun. Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns were both super over and the kids fanbase seemed to love both.
Here are some pictures and videos from the event!