WWE's Vince McMahon To Meet With MSG Officials This Week
Apparently to discuss Axxess, and absolutely not ROH.
WWE Chairman Vince McMahon is reportedly set to meet with Madison Square Garden officials later this week.
Joe Peisich of the Barnburner Fired Up podcast reports that WWE are apparently still in the hunt for a WrestleMania Axxess location ahead of next year's show in New Jersey. MSG, their favoured option, is currently unavailable, having been pre-booked by Ring Of Honor for an historic show in co-operation with NJPW on 6 April - the day before WWE's supershow.
"McMahon does have a meeting in place with the people of MSG. He's having meetings with MSG next week about this. This will be the first time WWE will sort of need MSG to promote fan Axxess."
You get the impression Vince isn't happy at all about the Sinclair upstarts stepping on his turf, and it's eminently likely his showdown talks with the venue could conclude with an ultimatum: kick ROH out, or lose our business. With the company almost literally swimming in cash, a financial sweetener is not out of the question either.
ROH announced their historic G1 Supercard in conjunction with New Japan Pro Wrestling this past July. The show, scheduled for the night before WrestleMania - and competing directly with NXT TakeOver across town in Brooklyn - sold out in under an hour of tickets going on sale. The news must have went shockwaves through Stamford; WWE hasn't sold out their spiritual home in years. Using Axxess to leverage ROH out of the building might seem petty - but there's a good reason WWE has all that cash.