Why does Honky Tonk Man tell such easily disprovable lies?
If you're being especially generous (including events where the world title went on before the interval, and Honky wrestled in the final match), he main evented MSG 6 times. One of those was a sell-out.
HTM "main-evented" during the peak of the wrestling boom, and sold out once. Nash main-evented during the nadir, and sold out twice. Nash wins again.
March 1996. WWF house show in New York, NY at Madison Square Garden headlined by Diesel/Michaels vs. Bret/Undertaker, drew 17,000 (14,824 paid) paying $299,596, which was the first sellout at MSG for a non-PPV since 1989, & also set an all-time record domestic house show gate.
May 1996. WWF house show in New York, NY at Madison Square Garden headlined by Diesel vs. Shawn Michaels, drew 18,800 (16,564 paid) paying $319,411, which was the first time in 11 years that WWF had two straight MSG sellouts, & the first indoor non-PPV house in WWF history to top $300,000.
Here's what Meltzer wrote.
"9/29 MSG show, 3,917 fans paid $146,437. The strange part is it comes just a few months after the WWF set consecutive gate records for non-PPV shows at MSG with legitimate overflow sellouts of the building scaled for 16,227 for pro wrestling on 3/17 (17,000 fans; 14,824 paid; $299,596; Diesel & Michaels vs. Bret Hart & Undertaker main event) and 5/19 (18,800 fans; 16,564 paid; $319,411; Diesel vs. Michaels cage match main event). The two shows were the first non-PPV events to legitimately sellout MSG since 1989."
The best Bryan Danielson could do was 12,000 fans in 2015 in tag team with Reigns against Rollins/Kane. And even then Hogan was main draw as it was Hogan appreciation night.
