The crowd at Madison Square Garden ate it up. But behind the curtain at WWE’s Saturday Night’s Main Event, the Knicks-heavy production left some of the company’s key decision makers cold.
According to WrestleVotes Radio on Fightful Select, via the Wrestling Observer, the folks who call the shots day to day weren’t exactly enthusiastic about how much Knicks content made the final cut of SNME. The show featured NBA Finals MVP Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns in prominent spots, including a main event segment where Brunson handed the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy to Roman Reigns.
Backstage, people understood why WWE leaned into it. The Knicks just won their first title in 53 years. That’s a big deal in New York, and MSG is hallowed ground for both the Knicks and WWE. But some inside the company thought it went a step too far. One thing that complicates the reaction: not everybody in pro wrestling is a sports fan. That disconnect reportedly contributed to the muted enthusiasm.
KAT got physical during Danhausen’s match against JD McDonagh, chokeslamming McDonagh and Dominik Mysterio. Later, Brunson walked to the ring with Reigns, and the hometown crowd acknowledged both champions. Reigns even got to hold the Larry O’Brien trophy for a moment. Then Seth Rollins, Reigns’ SummerSlam opponent, tried a sneak attack and was joined by Brunson’s rival, Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton.
Danhausen had become closely linked to the Knicks during their playoff run. He reversed his curse on the team, and they promptly ripped off 13 straight wins. The streak ended in the NBA Finals when the Knicks lost Game 3 to the San Antonio Spurs at home. But they rallied from a 29-point hole in Game 4 and closed out the series in five, thanks largely to Brunson’s 45-point outburst. He took home Finals MVP.
WWE clearly wanted to capitalize on the moment and the venue. MSG crowds are notoriously hot for hybrid sports-entertainment crossovers. But the backstage reaction suggests a tension that’s been there for a while: how much real sports should WWE platform when its core audience is there for the spectacle, not the stats?
The company hasn’t commented publicly on the internal chatter, and there’s no word on whether future shows will dial back the athlete cameos. For now, the takeaway is that even a title win in a city that loves its basketball doesn’t guarantee a unanimous thumbs-up from the people running the show.
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