WWE Friday Night SmackDown returned to Madison Square Garden in a major way and it paid off quite literally. The 9/10 episode of the blue brand featured appearances by Brock Lesnar, Edge, Becky Lynch, a Finn Balor back in “Demon” form and a heelish Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks, all of which added up to being reportedly the highest grossing gate in the series’ 20+ year history. Ariel Helwani of BT Sport shared the news via social media:
Last night’s WWE Smackdown at MSG produced the highest grossest Smackdown gate of all time, per sources. Not just in NY. Of any city ever for any SD. (Smackdown has been around for 20 years.)
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) September 11, 2021
This news caught wind with Paul Heyman, a featured player on the 9/10 episode, which in turn then caught wind of SmackDown’s “Head Of The Table” in Roman Reigns:
ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR TRIBAL CHIEF!@WWERomanReigns @WWEUsos @btsportwwe @arielhelwani @FOXTV @TheGarden https://t.co/F42lyMrNux
— Paul Heyman (@HeymanHustle) September 11, 2021
Needle Moving. https://t.co/rze4WVxWcU
— Roman Reigns (@WWERomanReigns) September 11, 2021
The now history-making episode kicked off with Roman Reigns being interrupted by Brock Lesnar and was cut in half by a 30-minute bout between Edge and Seth Rollins that saw the former being escorted off in an ambulance to further an injury angle. In addition the SmackDown’s Women Champion in Becky Lynch begrudgingly signed the dotted line to face Bianca Belair at Extreme Rules and The Usos ended up retaining their Tag Team Titles against The Street Profits via a disqualification loss.
