September 10 WWE SmackDown Reportedly Draws Highest Gate In Show's History
A history-making WWE SmackDown at MSG
Sep 13, 2021
The September 10 episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown was well received by fans and pundits alike, and the show from Madison Square Garden has another reason to be notable.
According to Ariel Helwani of BT Sport, the SmackDown from Madison Square Garden in New York last week was the highest grossing SmackDown gate of all time.
The historic episode of the blue brand, which returned to WWE's traditional home of MSG for the first time in two years, was a highly promoted show which heavily marketed the appearances of the likes of Brock Lesnar - making his first WWE television appearance in 18 months - WWE Hall Of Famer Edge, the recently returned Becky Lynch and John Cena, who wrestled in a dark-match after the television broadcast went off the air.
With a show that saw Edge face Seth Rollins in a SummerSlam rematch, Lesnar confront Universal Champion Roman Reigns, and the return of Finn Balor's alter-ego 'The Demon King', WWE did a good job of producing a high-level television product that fans - both live and watching from home - were interested in seeing.
Michael Cole stated during the show that Madison Square Garden was a sell-out with a live attendance of 14,425, although WrestleTIx estimates that the final attendance was closer to 13,000.