Madison Square Garden has always been among the most important venues for professional wrestling. Historically, it was home base for the World Wide Wrestling Federation when it operated out of the Northeastern United States under the old regional territory system. And these days WWE tends to bring a little extra magic when it puts on a show at the "World's Most Famous Arena."
This episode of "Raw" already had that magic built in because it was John Cena's final Monday night as an active competitor. That alone sold out MSG, but fans also got a big title change, a hefty Survivor Series: WarGames title match announcement and three massive unannounced names returning to make their presence felt.
'Raw' results
John Cena, Rey Mysterio and Sheamus defeated The Judgement Day (Dominik Mysterio, Finn Balor and JD McDonagh)
Solo Sikoa defeats Dolph Ziggler
Maxxine Dupri defeats Becky Lynch to win the Women's Intercontinental Championship
Gunther defeats Je'Von Evans
Cena's last 'Raw' match exceeded expectations
It looked like Cena was having a lot of fun partnering with Sheamus and Rey Mysterio in a six-person tag match against The Judgement Day. You couldn't wipe the smile off the trio's faces as they hit each other's signature moves, including a triple Five Knuckle Shuffle that commentator Joe Tessitore brilliantly called "The 15-Knuckle Shuffle." Come to think of it, we also got a 30 Beats of the Bodhran and a double 619 -- or 1,238 -- from Mysterio.
We know Cena is going to defend the Intercontinental Championship against Dominik Mysterio at Survivor Series: WarGames in Dom's hometown of San Diego, which reminds me of the John Cena vs. Edge "home and home" series from 2006 -- only this time Cena won the title in his hometown of Boston and Dom will likely reclaim it in San Diego. So, I'll admit, when I heard the announcement that it was going to be a six-person tag match, I shrugged. I wanted Cena's last "Raw" match to be a singles match with meaning, but my mind changed when I saw the sheer joy this match brought to the participants.
More 'Raw' takeaways
• MSG was a stage big enough to see Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns square off to end the show. With those two rounding out the two men's WarGames teams, the match becomes absolutely star-studded and more interesting. There are now lots of ways to go with the match, with no shortage of interesting combinations for pairings in the ring. I still believe the team of The Vision (Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed), Logan Paul, Drew McIntyre and now Lesnar will prevail, setting up future feuds and world title challenges against the baby-faced team of CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso and Reigns.
• NXT star Je'Von Evans continued to elevate his stock in his Last Time Is Now tournament match against Gunther. Evans is already so good at just 21 years old. He seemed to be defying gravity as he flew around the ring.
It was also nice to see Gunther back. With the win over Evans, he seems poised to win the tournament and retire Cena.
• Maxxine Dupri got a terrific "MSG moment" by defeating Becky Lynch for the Intercontinental title, thanks to a distraction from AJ Lee, who seems to have a Lynch match awaiting her in the near future. Rhea Ripley asked for some time with Lee backstage, which implied Lee might join the Survivor Series mix.
• Welcome back, Dolph Ziggler! The former two-time world champion was a surprise entrant in the Last Time Is Now Tournament against Solo Sikoa, who won the match. I have never seen the Samoan Spike look so deadly as when it hit Dolph. Ziggler is a machine and hasn't missed a beat, however. Could we see him and Zack Ryder, who joined "SmackDown" this past Friday, more in WWE?