Whats the big deal about MSG?

[TheDieselTrain]

Always wondered this. WWE often touts it as the best arena in the world. As someone who hasn't been there before why is it "the worlds most famous arena?" Is it just because its in New York City? What makes it the best?

[Deleted]

Because in the old territory days it was the WWF's flagship arena where they ran all their big shows.


It's also the most historic venue in New York City. the supposed "entertainment capital of the world"


And the "if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere" saying about New York is also true of MSG and the MSG crowds are one of the main thing Vince bases his creative decisions on.


They don't run it on TV or PPV anymore due to there being taxes and fees that make it cost prohibitive, but they run house shows there now and then and the last time I checked (a few years back) they make more effort than any other house shows and apparantly Vince has been known to stand at the curtain watching intensely during MSG shows.


edit Just realised I didn't really answer the question of why its historic, but hopefully the trivia was of interest

[Urfarkendarf]

Oct 23, 2014 16:51:09 GMT -5 @graant said:

They don't run it on TV or PPV anymore due to there being taxes and fees that make it cost prohibitive, but they run house shows there now and then and the last time I checked (a few years back) they make more effort than any other house shows and apparantly Vince has been known to stand at the curtain watching intensely during MSG shows.

Not entirely true. They still do TVs/PPVs there on occasion (i.e. Survivor Series 2012), but there are regularly house shows there. Every year around xmas time is probably the biggest house show of the year that they do and they usually will run a couple of other ones throughout the year, but not quite the fanfare the xmas show gets.

As someone who has attended multiple events at MSG, the question has already been answered. Its basically the "home" arena of WWE and the amount of big moments in the company's history that have occurred there are beyond numerous. That's not even touching the amount of huge events that have occurred there completely unrelated to WWE. Its also recognizable in its architechture (i.e. its ceiling). I personally don't like MSG all that much as an arena. If you're in one of the ends (i.e. basketball or hockey) you can feel extremely separated from the action. Thats not even getting into how much it costs for some events there. Its easy to get to though (Penn Station is right underneath it) and I have had some memorable times there, but for the most part I would say MSG is very overrated from just an arena standpoint. There are other arenas locally (Barclay's Center in Brooklyn, Prudential Center in NJ) that are much better experiences, then again those two are also much newer. MSG was a shithole for a long time and the bathrooms still smell like pee, but the recent renovations have made it a bit better.

[Deleted]

Great posts so far, I just wanted to add that I miss the alleyway type entrance to the ring that many classic PPVs had. Royal Rumble 2000 and Survivor Series 2002 stick out in my mind both for being fantastic shows and for that entrance aisle.

With it now having the usual titantron whenever the tapings are held there it just feels wrong.

[Woo]

I love MSG. Anytime you'd watch a PPV and you'd see the entrance way on the hard cam you'd know it was in MSG and it felt special.

[Eunös ✈]

I went to the Royal Rumble in 2008 there,

Fantastic atmosphere , Was always my aim in life to A. Go to the Royal Rumble live b. Go to a show in Madison Square Garden

So I pretty much killed 2 birds with 1 stone.

Anyway it's pretty much where WWE/F/WF did a lot of their stuff back in the 80's etc.

[Martin: #TeamBella Treasurer]

I liked when they did that Raw show towards the end of 2009 and used the small entrance instead of the big Raw set.

[Sephiroth]

It makes Chinese food taste soooooo good, but its so bad for you.

[FAR5222]

Oct 23, 2014 17:09:25 GMT -5 Urfarkendarf said:

Oct 23, 2014 16:51:09 GMT -5 @graant said:

They don't run it on TV or PPV anymore due to there being taxes and fees that make it cost prohibitive, but they run house shows there now and then and the last time I checked (a few years back) they make more effort than any other house shows and apparantly Vince has been known to stand at the curtain watching intensely during MSG shows.

Not entirely true. They still do TVs/PPVs there on occasion (i.e. Survivor Series 2012), but there are regularly house shows there..

That was 2011. They haven't done Raw in MSG since 2009. And that Survivor Series was the last PPV there.

I prefer MSG over anything else in the tri-state area because of the feeling you get when you step inside and see the sights and then when you actually step in the arena with the set is awesome.

[xCompackx]

Oct 23, 2014 17:54:52 GMT -5 Martin: #TeamBella Treasurer said:

I liked when they did that Raw show towards the end of 2009 and used the small entrance instead of the big Raw set.

Royal Rumble 2008 was great for that too. Goes to show how a minimalist setup can be beneficial.

[Deleted]

I believe its called "sodium."

In all seriousness. Amongst other things like being in NYC, I think being the first arena like that to be built on top of an active subway platform really made it stand out as kind of a modern day roman colosseum of sorts because it bascially allowed people to get there really easily?

I dunno though.

[Lancers]

I've noticed they do more television tapings at Barclays Center. Is MSG now primarily a house show venue?

[TOK Hehe'd Around & Found Out]

Oct 23, 2014 18:42:39 GMT -5 Lancers said:

I've noticed they do more television tapings at Barclays Center. Is MSG now primarily a house show venue?

More or less. The hassle of getting all of the production equipment into Midtown Manhattan plus paying extra for union stagehands as required in MSG makes it barely profitable to do, if at all profitable. Barclays is in an easier location by automobile to get to, plus doesn't require the use of Local 1 because its Brooklyn location.

[Heartbreaker]

I cannot be the only one who read this as "What's the big deal about Metal Gear Solid?".

[fw91]

MSG is way better than Barclays imo. Barclays takes forever to get inside, and MSG is very easy to get to via mass transit

[Deleted]

In addition to the already stated reasons it probably has at least something to do with the fact that Jess McMahon promoted boxing and wrestling matches at MSG going back to the 1920s(even though that was a different incarnation of the Garden). It's the spiritual home of the WWE.

[Crappler El 0 M]

Even outside wrestling it's a world famous arena in the media capital of the world that goes back decades. It's a prestigious for its history.

[bootytea]

I just don't like when they try and force MSG moments and then keep telling us it was an MSG moment.

Maybe it was that RAW in 2009 where they kept forcing the idea down the viewers throat with Hornswoggle getting pedigreed and Kofi doing that boom drop.

It is a historic venue so I fully understand the pride about having a show there.

[rocket]

Oct 23, 2014 20:19:48 GMT -5 Crappler El 0 M said:

Even outside wrestling it's a world famous arena in the media capital of the world that goes back decades. It's a prestigious for its history.

Yeah, it's been considered a mecca for boxing and basketball as well.

I swore I heard something that the post-renovations setup make it hard to tape tv there. What's definite is they got rid of that entrance ramp

[abjordans]

When WWE was just a northern territory it was where they ran their big shows

It was the home of the first WM.

It is on NYC and has A LOT of history and prestige.

Duh.