WWE Comments On ROH/NJPW Booking MSG During WrestleMania 35 Weekend Next Year In N.Y.

As noted, Ring Of Honor (ROH) and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) are teaming up to co-promote the G1 Supercard at Madison Square Garden during WrestleMania 35 weekend, as they run the venue on April 6th, the night before WWE’s biggest show of the year at what has long been considered WWE’s home turf at MSG.

Following the announcement earlier this week, ROH COO Joe Koff spoke with the New York Post to comment on the historic event coming up next April.

Koff gave credit to the promoters of the “All In” event for selling out 10,000 seats in rapid fashion as something that was an eye-opener for ROH and other promoters/promotions in the industry.

“It certainly changed the landscape in the thinking of what is is possible and I think in this world of possibility I think they really clearly illuminated what is a possible,” Koff said. “I think if there was ‘All In’ or not, because of the weekend and what it represents, and our involvement always in that weekend, we probably would have thought a little more cautiously about the size of the crowd. [‘All In’] certainly didn’t hurt.”

Koff then spoke about the process of putting together the event and sealing the deal with the executives at The Garden, commenting on WWE getting involved, which resulted in dates and plans being shuffled around.

“I think that’s a question better asked of Madison Square Garden because we were very aggressive in wanting that date and we thought we had that date, but we did what we had to do as a business,” Koff said. “[MSG] did what they had to do as a business and I guess all of a sudden there was a phone call and we were able to work it out. … That’s probably their story to tell because they made the call [to us] and said let’s get on the phone and see if we can work this out. They wanted us. They knew that we would be good promotion. I think they were just looking for a satisfactory outcome for all parties.”

In addition to Koff talking to the New York Post, WWE issued a very brief one-line statement regarding the situation:

“MSG is, of course, free to work with ROH however they want,” said WWE in a statement released publicly to the media.

Check out the complete Joe Koff interview with the New York Post at NYPost.com.